72 



FOREIGN BIRDS FOE CAGE AND AVIARY. 



doubtless their price, which is now very high, may be 

 expected to become fairly reasonable. 



YELLOW-\^^NCED SuGAR-BiKD (Uoercha ctjanea). 

 It is bright purplish blue, with the lores, a space 

 enclosing tTie eve, the mantle, wings and tail black; 

 the crown pale "blue ; inner webs of wing feathers and 

 under wing-coverts sulphur yellow, whence its trivial 

 name; bill black; feet carnation red; iris dark brown. 

 The female is green, dark above, yellowish and indis- 



at the migrating season they feed greedily on soft 

 saccharine fruit^i, oranges for example, and then come 

 even into the gardens of the settlers." (" Syst. Uebers. 

 der ThieiB Brasiliens," 3, p. 151.) According to Bart- 

 lett, this bird is " common at certain seasons " in 

 Eastern Peru (P.Z.S., 18?3, p. 260). Taczanowski in 

 his " Ornithologie du Perou," Vol. I., p. 437, does not 

 even give as much information respecting the wild life 

 as this. W. A. Forbes, who would have given informa- 

 tion if he could, says (Thf Ibis. 1881, p. 330): "Only 



Yellow-wingei) Sugar-bird. 



tinctly streaked below ; wings and tail blackish, edged 

 with green ; inner webs of wing feathers and under 

 wing-cuverts yellow. 



This bird ranges from Southern Mexico southwards 

 to south-east Brazil and Bolivia, and occur.s in Cuba. 



It may readily be distinguished from any species of 

 IJacnis or from othiT birils of more nearly related 

 genera by its slender curved bill and its colouring. 



Burmei^ter observes of this species that " in tho 

 entire forest region of tropical Brazil, from Kio de 

 Janeiro northwards to Para, and further upwards to 

 Guiana and Colombia, it is everywhere known and 

 nowhere rare. Insects are its chief article of diet, but 



once did I come across this bird — a single specimen in 

 immature plumage that I saw in the garden at 

 Estancia." 



Salvin {The Ibis, 1888, p. 257) states that it is com- 

 mon at Yucatan and occurs at C'uba, but he tells us 

 nothing about its habits. I do not think the habits of 

 birds greatly interested him, he was more devoted to 

 classification. 



Mr. C. F. Underwood (The Ibis, 1896, p. 435) tells 

 us that the native name of the bird in Costa Rica is 

 " Picudo " ; and in the same volume, p 517, Mr. (J. E. 

 Lodge, in his "Notes on West Indian Hummingbirds," 

 remarks : " In this clump of bamboos, too, were several 



