95 



purple it actually is. On the other hand his descrip- 

 tion of the male's gleaming plumage with its glancing 

 play of colour is so accurate, that I cannot do better 

 than quote it here. "This is the least, and may be 

 " almost pronounced the most lovely species of the 

 " group ; for although it has not such a gorgeous dis- 

 " play of many colours as some of its companions, the 

 "inimitable richness and variability of the scale-like 

 " feathers of the body, renders it quite a gem among 

 "birds. The colour of these feathers is metallic, and 

 " all the same ; but with this diflference, that in some 

 " lights they appear of the richest purple, and in 

 " others of the deepest lilac, so as to appear almost 



" red The male has the whole 



"of the head, neck, breast, back, middle tail-feathers, 

 " and the greatest part of the wings, of a rich soft 

 "satiny appearance, — of the deepest and richest blue, 

 " glossed with purple when held from the light, but 

 " which changes to a fire-coloured red, resembling 

 "lake, when the bird is held between the light and 

 " the spectator. This colour, upon the lesser quills 

 " and the lateral tail-feathers, only covers those parts 

 "which are exposed; the rest, and the whole of the 

 " primary quills are black. From the breast to the 

 " under tail-coverts, the plumage is of a snowy white- 

 " ness." 



The range of this species extends throughout 

 West Africa ; in the Gambia they are not uncommon, 

 chiefly within about 50 miles of the coast, where the 

 bush is in most places thicker than farther inland, 

 and apparently more suited to their requirements. 

 Near Bathurst, the capital, one meets with them in the 

 thickets which border the road running through the 



