122 



FOREIGN BIRDS FOR CAGE AND AVIARY. 



the earth ; they nest on a platform built of sticks or 

 twigs, upon which they lay two to three, or even'_" five," 

 pure white, greenish, or bluish-white eggs.* Their flight 

 is easy and graceful, but probably not sustained. 



These birds have short stout bills, usually prominent 

 crests ; short and rounded wings, and a long rounded 

 tail, consisting of ten feathers; the feet are short in 

 ihe shank, and the toes are semi-zygodactyle, the outer 

 toe being capable of movement both backwards and 

 forwards. 



One interesting peculiarity of these birds seems to me 

 to 'be a conclusive answer to those who assert that a 

 feather when once perfected is incapable of change, since 

 the 1 crimson colouring in the feathers of Touracous is 

 soluble in water, leaving the webs pale and washed out 

 in appearance ; nevertheless after the feathers have be- 

 come dry the pigment is gradually replaced. This pig- 

 ment, which has been called " Turacin," has been proved 

 to contain copper.t 



It has been asserted that the Touracous do not differ 

 sexually, and so far as plumage goes this statement is 

 tolerably correct, but a comparison of the beaks of the 

 two sexes shows that Jie male invariably has a decidedly 

 longer and narrower beak than the female. 



Mrs. Johnstone fed her Touracous upon cut- up banana, 

 soaked biscuit squeezed dry, sweet-water grapes, and 

 mealworms, caterpillars, including silkworms, and later 

 bread and milk, not made sloppy. As .she was success- 

 ful in breeding with these birds we may take it that 

 this food is satisfactory. 



SENEGAL TOURACOU (Titracus persa). 



Back, body of wing, and tail glossy violet ; flights, 

 except the outer one, brighit icirimson, with (black edges 

 and shafts; head, neck, front and centre of chest grass- 

 green ; bare ocular patch scanlelt, with ia band of white 

 ft at hers in front and below, which is divided on (the 

 cheek by a ibliack patch ; resit of body (below black with 

 a violet shade ; under wing-coverts dark brown, partly 

 washed with green ; flights (below as above ; bill deep 

 o!ive, yellowish on edges ; tfeet black ; irides hazel. 

 Female apparently larger, and with shorter, stouter 

 Hab., West Africa, from Senegambia to the 

 ( ',wigo. 



All we know about the wild life of this ispecies is that 

 '.i probably corresponds with that of its allies. It is 

 rare in the market, but the London Zoological Society 

 has received a good many examples, the first specimen 

 exhibited in their Gardens having been presented as 

 Jong ago as 1858. B.USS evidently confounds it with 

 some southern species, so that it seems doubtful whether 

 the species received at Amsterdam dn 1851, those owned 

 by Baron von 'Comely in 1884, etc., were really this 

 species, 'thong'.: iit is extremely probable that (they were. 



BCFFON'S TOURACOU (Turacus buffoni). 

 Differs from T '. persa in having a broad jet-black 

 band below the eye and no white band beneath it. but 

 times a narrow white line. Female with a notice- 

 ably shorter Ibiill. Hab., "West Africa, from the Congo 

 to Senegal." (Shelley.) 



Mr. R. Kemp, in an article on ibhe " Birds of South- 

 Sierra Leone (The Ibis, 1905, p. 226) says : 

 "Irides dark hazel; bill dull blood -red ; orbit scarlet; 

 feet and claws black. This Touraco probably breeds in 

 May and June, as a hen obtained dn the latter month 

 contained in its ovary an almost fully -developed egg." 



* Five is a number given by Dr. Stark, but must, I think, be 

 an error; two is certainly the usual number of eggs laid. 



t The green plumage contains iron, but not copper. 



Captain Shelley ("Catalogue of Birds," Vol. XIX., 

 p. 439) .throws some doubt upon the validity of this 

 species ; but if his account of tod soft parits in T. pet-fa- 

 is correct, there should be no difficulty in distinguish- 

 ing the living birds ttrom each other. 



T. persa T. buffoni. 



Bill deep olive, yellowish Bill dull blood -red. 



on eases. 



Feet black. 

 I rides hazel. 

 Orbital ring scarlet 



Feet Wack. 



J rides daik hazel. 



Orbital ring scarlet. 



The totally different colouring of the (bill should be- 

 amply sufficient to indicate at least a right to sub- 

 specihc rani? for T. buffoni. It first reached the London 

 Zoological 'Gardens in 1862, tsince which time i&pe<cimens 

 have been occasionally received up to 1892 at (leas 

 also in the Berlin Gardens. 



iScHALOw's TOURACOU (Turacus schaloivi). 



Back and body cf wing glossy green partially shaded 

 with blue ; flights crimson and black as usual : 

 violelt ; head, neck, and chest grass-green ; feathers of 

 crest and nape tipped with white ; bare orbital skin 

 bright red, 'bounded in (front by a white band from the 

 lores and below by black feathers expanded into a patch 

 across the cheek ;' behind itihe latter a second white iband 

 extends to beyond (the ear-coverts ; lower breast 

 remainder of under parte dusky slate-colour washed wit.i 

 glossy green; bill orange; feet Mack; iricles (brown. 

 Female not differentiated, but doubtless with shorter 

 and stouter bill. Hab., " Mossamedes and Benguela to 

 the western shores otf Lake Tanganyika" (Shelley); 

 German E. Africa (Neumann). 



In Layard's " Biirds of Soutth Africa," p. 143. we read : 

 "This beautiful species was first discovered by the 

 Zambesi Exploring Expedition."* "It likewise ocvurs 

 in South- Western Africa, where Monteiro discovered it 

 in Benguela. He gives the following notes concerning 

 it : " They are sometimes brought to Benguela for sale 

 by the negroes from Bibe. Appears to be much rarer 

 than the C. erifthrolopha. I have seen both pretty 

 abundantly to the interior of Novo Redondo." 



The Zoological iSociety of London acquired this bird 

 by presentation in 1899, and it was still living in 1901. 



LIVINGSTONE'S TURACOU (Turacus livingstonii). 



Differs from the preceding in its shorter crest and 

 greener tail. Hab., " East Africa from the Ugogo to the 

 Zambesi " (Shelley) ; Zululand (Woodward). 



In the Museum there are sexed examples from Ny;i 

 land, in which the male is more golden-green on the 

 mantle- and wings than the female ; the feathers of the 

 mantle fringed with gold instead of blue. Oddly enough, 

 in a paper on birds collected in Nyassaland (Tit? /'//>. 

 1893/p. 9). Captain Shelley say.* :" " Twelve specimens 

 of both sexes, showing that they are perfectly alike in 

 plum 



Messrs. R. B. and J. D. S. W T oodward (The Ibis, 

 1898, p. 225) say : " We were repaid for our trouble in 

 coming here, as we obtained some very interesting 

 birds, one of which was Livingstone's Plantain- 

 (Turacus lirini/.--fnii}. the finest, of the three S 

 African Louries. We knew it to be an unusual species 

 by its cry before we shot it; it much resembles Turacus 

 but has a taller and more conspicuous crest." 



According to Lieut. -Col. W. H. Manning, the native 



* He confounds it with T. Jii-int/ rcfore I quote no 



furt'i' lity. 



