192 THE 3ENEGA.L SUN-BIRD. 



different appearance than what is seen upon another 

 change ; this is what suggested the name of " Protce" 

 to Le Vaillant, who considers that this species and 

 some others thus display themselves during the time 

 of courtship as an attraction to the other sex. This 

 beautiful plumage ceases with the season of incu- 

 bation, and the male assumes nearly that of the fe- 

 male, which is of a uniform wood-brown tinted with 

 yellow on the belly and vent ; the bill and legs are 

 in this sex brown, while in the opposite they retain 

 at all seasons their deep black colour. In an inter- 

 mediate state of plumage the upper parts are of a 

 reddish brown, and the lower parts of a yellowish 

 wood-brow T n, having the splendid feathers of the 

 throat and breast appearing among it ; on the belly 

 and vent the feathers have the centres darker, giving 

 a streaked appearance to those parts. In none of 

 the conditions of plumage have we any trace of the 

 axillary tufts seen in the two last birds. Caffraria 

 and Senegal are the localities generally assigned to 

 this species, our own specimens were received from 

 the vicinity of Sierra Leone, while Le Vaillant states 

 that it is found on several parts of both the east 

 and west coasts. 



