remarkable Birds from South America. CI 



wings and tail, are dark green, becoming lighter and brighter 

 on the rnmp and upper tail-coverts. The throat, upper 

 breast, and the sides of the body, the sides of the head, and 

 a frontal line are of a lighter or more yellowish green. The 

 belly and under tail-coverts are clear yellow. The head 

 above is ornamented by a plaque composed of flat metallic 

 feathers of unsurpassed beauty. Tiiey might be classed as 

 being like mother-of-pearl with a glittering hue of opal 

 (which peculiarity induced Natterer to call the species 

 Pipra opalizans) , but at the same time may be observed a 

 rich coruscation on it of the purest gold and silver. 



It is impossible to get an idea of the brightness of the cap 

 of Pipra opalizans without having seen the bird, and I think 

 it might well be called the finest bird in existence. It may 

 be added that on the neck the metallic feathers of the cap 

 become lengthened and pointed to the tip, and here they 

 are somewhat expanded, forming a sort of crest. The upper 

 mandible is plumbeous at the base, becoming Avhiter on the 

 apical portion. The under mandible is white, legs and toes 

 flesh-coloured. 



My specimen has the wings and tail in moult, and 

 unfortunately, from an accident, has lost the tip of the upper 

 mandible, therefore its measurements are not of much use. 

 They are about as follows : long. tot. 95, al. 51, caud. 26, 

 culm, about 9, tars. 13^ mm. 



As already pointed out by Johann Natterer, the nearest 

 ally of Pipra opalizans is P. nattereri, Sol. ; but the latter 

 species has the cap of the head pure white, and has a white 

 rumpj which in P. opalizans is green like the back. 



My specimen, which I believe is novv the only one in exist- 

 ence in any public or private collection, was obtained by 

 Mr. Albert Scl.ulz near Ourem, on the Rio Guama, which 

 joins the Amazons near Para, south-east of that city, on the 

 2nd February, 1894. The sex is labelled as '' $ juv. (?)," 

 which is evidently an error, and there is a note on the back 

 of the label that the sexual organs were undiscernible and 

 that it was probably '' <^ ad." The iris is marked as pale 

 yellow ['' hellgelb ''). 



