THK Si'PKRi; TAXAGKR. 5 



green ; under surface of the body deep purplish blue, passing into 

 silvery blue on the breast ; the middle of the throat and the chin 

 black, divided one from the other by a line of greenish blue ; length 

 5 -ft inches ; bill black ; legs dark brown ; iris of eye brown. 



The female resembles the male, excepting that its colouring is less 

 brilliant. 



The Superb Tanager is a native of Pernauibuco, and, according to 

 W. A. Forbes, is believed to be peculiar to that province, from which 

 place " skins are occasionally received by the dealers in Paris and 

 elsewhere." 



"It is a species often seen, too, alive in the Zoological Gardens of 

 Europe, though no naturalist seems to have yet met with it in the 

 wild state. It does not appear to be common in Pernambuco, at least 

 I only met with it twice ; once near Macuca, where I shot a female 

 out of some bushy capoeira, and again at Quipapa, where I saw what I 

 believe was this species in the virgin forest. The bird, however, was 

 perched, at a great height from the ground, on the topmost branches 

 of a large tree, and only the brilliant orange of the rump was visible. 

 Whilst staying at Cabo, a freshly shot adult of this bird was also 

 brought to me to skin." 



Herr August Wiener says : " In the market-places of Rio de 

 Janeiro, Bahia, or Pernambuco, the most beautiful Tanagers can be 

 bought at ad. per head ; in England they are worth 2 each, and but 

 rarely offered for sale." 



Now, in the above mentioned market-places, one would be able to 

 obtain Calliste tricolor and C. /estiva, as well as C. fastuosa. The former, 

 which inhabits Rio Janeiro and Bahia, differs from the Superb Tanager 

 in having the lower half of the orange patch on the back replaced by 

 green ; whilst C. /estiva from Pernambuco, Rio Janeiro, Bahia, and San 

 Paulo, has the whole of the posterior half of the back bright green. 

 These, of course, are not the only differences. 



The nest and eggs of the Superb Tanager and its near relatives 

 seem not to have been described ; but they are probably not unlike 

 those of other species of Calliste, the nests of which are cup-shaped, 

 with plenty of moss outside, sometimes mixed with slender twigs ; the 

 inside lined with fine roots and horse-hair ; the eggs with a greenish 

 ground tint, densely speckled and spotted with some shade of brown 

 and lavender. An illustration of the egg of one of the species of 

 Calliste seemed to me to resemble that of a Warbler rather than of a 

 Finch. 



The best sized cage in which to keep the Superb and allied 



