THE PLANTAIN EATERS 1777 



through the foliage of the trees, hidden by the resemblance of their color to that of 

 the surrounding foliage. Their food consists of different kinds of wild fruits, and 

 insects were never found in dissected specimens. A very interesting fact has been 

 discovered with respect to the coloring matter in the wing of the touracous, which 

 consists of a kind of copper called turacine. It was at one time supposed that 

 this coppery impregnation of the coloring, matter of the bird's wing could be ac- 

 counted for by its picking up grains of malachite, but the touracous are birds which 

 live in trees, and do not apparently descend to the ground, while the red feathers 

 have been assumed by specimens in captivity, some of which molted more than 

 once. 



The sole representative of this genus (Corythceola cristata) is the 

 largest of all the family, measuring nearly three feet in length, and is 



sT IcHlLcllH 



Eater remarkable for its fine crest and varied coloring. The upper surface 

 is blue, the head and crest bluer, the tail feathers yellow with blue 

 bases, and a broad bar of black near the end; neck blue, with the chin and cheeks 

 white; rest of under surface of body rufous brown; bill yellow with the tips scarlet; 

 eyes red. This handsome bird is found all over the forest district of West Africa 

 from Senegambia to Angola, and extends throughout the Congo region to Equa- 

 torial Africa. Mr. Biittikofer says this plantain eater is confined exclusively to the 

 virgin forest, where it lives in companies of five or six together in the crowns of 

 the tallest trees, generally out of reach of gunshot. It feeds upon a kind of bush 

 plum and other wild fruits, of which an enormous quantity is sometimes found in 

 its crop. 



112 



