220 



GENERAL LOTEN'S SUN- BIRD. 



Nectarinia Lotenia, LINNJEUS. 



PLATE XXIII. 



THIS bird is one of the Nectariniadas first and origi- 

 nally described by Linnaeus in the Syst. Naturce, from 

 specimens sent to him by General Loten, Governor 

 of Ceylon, and named in honour of that gentleman, 

 " qui hortum lotanicum primus in India condidit^ 

 et tot raris avibus me aliosque dotavit." From 

 the improper synonymes of Gmelin being ap- 

 plied to the description, the original name lias 

 been long given to another and very different bird 

 (N. splendida^ Shaw, Plate V.), and we think it 

 only due, both to its discoverer and first describer, 

 to restore its former title. We have not seen 

 specimens either from Ceylon or any of the East 

 Indian Islands, all those which we have received 

 being from various parts of Continental India. Mr. 

 Jerdon states it to be tolerably common in the 

 Carnatic and on the west coasts of the peninsula, 

 frequenting both gardens and jungles. Specimens of 

 the male before us are in entire length five inches ; 

 that of the bill to the forehead, which is consider- 

 ably hooked, showing a difference when compared 

 with the same member in the next, one inch. The 



