68 Mr. Swainson on the 



black; glossed with blue in every part but the wings and tail. 

 The crown has a concealed crest of buff-coloured feathers, and on 

 the rump is a broad band of the same tint. The vent and under 

 part of the flanks are deep rufous ; tail-covers black ; under wing- 

 covers snowy white. On closely examining the tarsi of the spe- 

 cimen in my collection, (the only one I have the means of consult- 

 ing,) I find they do not naturally belong to the bird. This artifice 

 was formerly much resorted to by bird-stuffers, who thought it no 

 sin to give new legs to a bird when its own were unserviceable. 



In the sale catalogue of Mr. Hullet's collection, this bird is 

 stated to have been sent from Buenos Ayres. 



Bill T 7 ^, wings 3, tail 3. 



Naturalists have hitherto considered this as a variety of T. 

 eristaiusy but even admitting that the difference in their plumage is 

 not very considerable, the more lengthened, pointed, and attenuated 

 form of the bill, in this bird, at once points it out as a species in- 

 termediate between T. cristatus and T. tenuirostris : I therefore feel 

 happy in recording it under the name of Desmaresti, as a just tri- 

 bute of respect to that celebrated ornithologist, who has illustrated 

 the Tanagrce of Linnaeus in one of the most splendid publications 

 of the present day. 



9. Tachyphonus Tenuirostris. Sp. Nov. 



T. violaceo-niger ; scapxdaribus albis ; caudce tegminibus inferioribus mfis ; 

 rostro gracilL 



Glossy blue-black ; scapulars white ; under tail-covers rufous ; 

 bill slender. 



Description. — In its general proportions this is rather smaller 

 than the preceding ; the bill, in particular, is much more slender, 

 the culmen more arched, and the lateral margins are more than 

 usually inflexed. The general colour of the whole bird is a deep 

 and glossy raven black ; but the scapular, and parts of the lesser 

 wing-covers, are pure white, and the under tail-covers deep rufous. 

 The wings and tail agree in their structure with those of the more 

 typical species. The bill and tarsi are black ; and the latter ap- 

 pear rather lengthened. The dispersion of Mr. Hullet's cabinet 



