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VIOLET PLANTAIN-EATER, 



Musophaga violacea, ISERT. 

 PLATE XIX. 



Black, glossed with violet ; crown and quill-feathers, crimson ; 

 bill yellow, tipt with red ; beneath the eye a white stripe, 



Masophaga violacea, Isert, Berlin Tr. Cuculus regius, Shaw, 

 Mus. Lev. 167. pi. 40 Musophaga violacea, Cuvier, Tem- 

 minck, Latham, Shaw, Vieillot, &c. &c. &c. 



OUR admiration of this noble bird may perhaps be 

 thought too great, when we esteem it as one of the 

 princes of the feathered creation. Other birds are 

 pretty, handsome, splendid, gorgeous, beautiful ; but 

 the colouring of this is regal. The shining black 

 purple of the general plumage contrasts in exqui- 

 site harmony with the deep lilac crimson of its wings, 

 the peculiar tint of which is certainly unequalled 

 in any other known bird. The beak, although 

 remarkably large, does not seem at all dispropor- 

 tionate, for it is neither fantastically formed like the 

 horn-bills, or monstrously large as those of the tou- 

 cans, while the rich yellow, passing into crimson, 

 with which it is decorated, gives a relief to the dark 

 colour of the plumage, and must add considerably 

 to the beauty of the Hying bird. 



