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PURPLE-RDMPED SUN-BIRD. 



tions ; the remaining under parts, saffron-yellow ; 

 the wings are brownish black ; the tail black ; the 

 centre long feathers glossed with steel-blue, and 

 somewhat spatulate at the tips. The female is de- 

 scribed by Le Vaillant as above of a reddish grey 

 tinted with olive, and as wanting the long feathers ; 

 the belly and under parts, however, continuing yel- 

 low. 



"We also have specimens of a Sun-bird from the 

 vicinity of Sierra Leone, possesing a similar dis- 

 tribution of markings and of the same size, but the 

 tints are somewhat different. The whole upper 

 parts, together with the throat and breast, are of a 

 rich bronzed purple, showing very little indication 

 of green in any light, and having the violet of the 

 rump scarcely distinguishable from the other plu- 

 mage ; the yellow under parts are of a decidedly 

 deeper tint, approaching almost to gallstone-yellow ; 

 the true tail is perfectly square, whereas, in the first 

 described, we have thought it slightly graduated. 

 These, however, we consider here as merely local 

 variations. Another closely allied bird is the 



