J84 NAMAQUA, OR WHITE-VENTED SUN-BIRD. 



brown, glossed with blue. The chin is dull black, 

 and the fore part of the neck and breast are purplish 

 brown having purple and green reflections, shading 

 into blackish brown on the flanks and upper part 

 of the belly, and which again runs into white on 

 the vent, flanks, and under tail-coverts. From each 

 axilla springs a tuft of bright orpiment-orange 

 plumes, contrasting decidedly with the otherwise 

 comparatively sombre appearance of the bird. The 

 specimens in our own collection, above alluded to, 

 are above entirely clove-brown, the breast and thuoat 

 only shewing a dark and metallic lustre. The length 

 is from four and a half to four and three-fourths of 

 an inch. 



The female is described by Le Yaillant as of a 

 greyish brown above (probably of the brocoli or hak- 

 brown which marks the same parts of the male), 

 and beneath of a dirty white. The young, again, . 

 are said to be of a reddish brown above, below of a 

 reddish white, and the males in this state can be 

 distinguished by a pale yellow spot which marks 

 the position of the axillary tufts. 



