104 PURPLE-CROWNED TURTELINE. 



the variety mentioned by Latham and Temminck, 

 in which the crown of the head, instead of a bright 

 ruby or amaranth colour, is of a very deep purple, 

 and altogether devoid of the yellow encircling band 

 so conspicuous in the true P. purpuratus. Mr Swain- 

 son, again, has described, in the paper formerly al- 

 luded to, a supposed female or young bird, in which 

 the ruby- coloured crown is merely indicated by a 

 spot of dull lilac in front of the head, and the yellow 

 line encircling the crown is only visible near the eye. 

 Under such circumstances, it is difficult to say what 

 the plumage of the female actually is, and whether 

 the varieties described are to be attributed to age, 

 immaturity, or local distribution, or are really indi- 

 cative of specific distinctions. Future and more ex- 

 tended observations can alone determine these ques- 

 tions. 



The length of this species is from nine to ten inches. 

 The bill, about half an inch long, is of a grey colour ; 

 the tip or horny part of the upper mandible mode- 

 rately arched, that of the lower suddenly contracted 

 where it forms the darker portion of the bill. The 

 forehead and crown is covered by a patch of rich 

 amaranth or rose-lilac colour, bordered round by a 

 narrow band of king's-yellow. The cheeks, occiput, 

 and sides of the neck, are of a delicate greenish-grey, 

 the chin and throat of a pale gamboge-yellow. The 

 feathers upon the lower part of the fore-neck and 

 breast, are of a peculiar form, their colour a deli- 

 cate pale-green, tipt with cinereous or ash-grey, 



