Zoological Illustrations Volume I Part 21

I introduce the description of this diminutive and undescribed sh.e.l.l from its affinity with the last, and as forming a most interesting transition from the Mitres to the Olives: agreeing with the former in the structure of the pillar and the sculptured spire, and with the latter in its general form and _prima facie_ appearance. Its perfect resemblance, in fact, to a small olive, may have occasioned its being hitherto overlooked. The spire is slightly wrinkled and striated; the teeth on the pillar very near each other, slender, and four in number. The colour pale yellowish; the mouth darker, and the tip and base purple. The whole sh.e.l.l is scarcely half an inch long.

It was received from the South Seas.

Pl. 49

[Ill.u.s.tration]

OXYRHYNCUS cristatus.

_Crested Sharpbill._

GENERIC CHARACTER.

_Oxyruncus_ Temminck.

_Rostrum breve, rectissimum, basi trigona, ultra basin attenuatum, apice acutissimum; mandibula superiore supra rotundata, utrisque integris. Nares basales, nudae, membrana partim tectae, apertura lineari ad marginem rostri approximante. Pedes breves, validi, digito medio longiores; digitis anterioribus tribus, exteriore connexo, interiore fisso; halluce valido._

Bill short, very straight, base trigonal, beyond attenuated to a very fine point; upper mandible above rounded, both entire. Nostrils basal, naked, partially covered by a membrane; aperture linear, near the margin of the bill. Feet short, strong, a little longer than the middle toe; anterior toes three, the outer connected, the inner cleft; hind toe strong.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER.

_O. supra olivaceo-viridis, subtus flavescente-albus, maculis nigrescentibus; capite crista coccinea inc.u.mbente; capitis lateribus lineis transversis flavescente-albis._

Above olive-green, beneath yellowish-white, with blackish spots. Head with an inc.u.mbent crimson crest; sides of the head and neck with transverse yellowish-white lines.

An elegant and (to the ornithologist) a highly interesting bird, considered with much judgement by Professor Temminck as a new genus, having the perfect bill and habit of the Wryneck, but totally unlike that bird in the position of its toes, which in this are not placed in pairs. The Professor has slightly described it, in the new edition of his _Manuel_, without a _specific_, but under the _generic_ name of _Oxyruncus_, the spelling of which must be presumed as an error of the press: no mention, however, is made of the beautiful crimson colour which adorns the crest.

Total length near seven inches. Bill eight-tenths in length from the gape; general colour of the bird olive-green, becoming nearly white on the under part, and on the transverse stripes on each side the neck, front and temples, where there are also obscure bands of black; crown with a concealed crest, which is vivid crimson at the base and blackish at the tips; inner margin of the covers, quills and tail blackish; inner covers yellowish; chin, neck and breast banded with blackish lines, which are broken into spots and stripes beyond.

Inhabits Brazil, but is very rare.

Pl. 50

[Ill.u.s.tration]

ALCEDO Asiatica.

_Asiatic Kingsfisher._

GENERIC CHARACTER.--See Pl. 26.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER.

_A. capite nigro, fasciis transversis cyaneis, postice cristato; auribus cyaneis; mento, gula, strigaque laterali colli albescentibus; dorso nitide caeruleo; corpore subtus rufo._

Head black, transversely banded with mazarine blue, the hinder part crested; ears blueish; chin, throat, and lateral stripe on each side the neck whitish; back s.h.i.+ning light-blue; body beneath rufous.

OBS. This bird Dr. Horsfield tells me is his _Alcedo meninting_ described in the Linn. Transactions.

The general resemblance between this and the European Kingsfisher may have been the cause why it has remained hitherto unnoticed by ornithologists. It bears, however, on closer inspection, a strong and peculiar distinction in the crest at the back of the head, in being much smaller in size, and especially as inhabiting the hottest parts of India; while our own braves the cold of a Siberian winter.

Total length six inches, of which the bill from the angle of the mouth to the tip occupies one inch and three-quarters, and is black, with the under mandible paler; the ears and the upper part of the head and neck are blueish-black, transversely banded with somewhat crescent-shaped narrow bands of a rich deep blue, which are broken into spots on the crest and ears: from the base of the under mandible is a black stripe richly glossed with blue, and carried down on each side the neck, between which and the upper part is a whitish stripe beginning just behind the ears (this in the European species is rufous). The wing-covers, scapulars and lesser quills are blackish glossed with blue, the two former having a bright spot at the end of each feather; superior and greater quills entirely blackish; down the middle of the back, rump, and tail-covers, light and vivid blue, with a slight tinge of greenish; chin and throat cream-colour; line between the nostrils and eyes, margin of the shoulders, under wing-covers, and all the lower parts of the body, rufous; tail deep and obscure blue; legs red.

My specimen came from some part of India; I have met with others from the same place; and Dr. Horsfield has likewise observed it in Java.

Pl. 51

[Ill.u.s.tration]

COLIAS Pyrene.

_White African Colias._

GENERIC CHARACTER.--See Pl. 5.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER.

_C. alis albis; anticis supra punctulo nigro subcentrali oblongo ad apicem approximante; posticis margine integerrimis; singulis subtus puncto ocellari lineisque fulvis undulatis: s.e.xibus similibus._

Wings white; anterior with a small, nearly central, oblong, black dot nearest the tip; margin of the posterior wings very entire, beneath all with a brown ocellate spot and undulated fulvous lines: both s.e.xes alike.