226 SENEGAL TOURACO. 



three species*, Linnaeus confounded them under 

 one. More recently the Cape Touraco has been 

 separated as distinct, on account of the white mar- 

 gin of its crest ; and that which Buffon describes as 

 having this part purple, has also received a specific 

 name. There yet remains, however, at least two 

 other species, both having green crests, but one is 

 with and the other without a reddish margin. These 

 two have not only been confounded by Wagler, but 

 the whole genus again thrown into confusion by his 

 unwarrantable attempt to substitute his own new 

 names, not only for the species but for the genus. 



In this state of things, it seems best to retain 

 the name of Buffonii^ first given by Yieillot to 

 the species, so well recorded by Edwards. That 

 most accurate writer, in describing his Touraco, 

 says, that " the very tips of the feathers on the crest 

 are red," and that " under the eye is a white line 

 which extends a little further back than the black 

 one, but does not come forward so near the billt." 

 Neither of these characters appear in the Senegal 

 species. In three specimens, now before us, there is 

 no red whatever on the margins of the crest, neither 

 is there any white stripe beneath the eye. The 

 authors of the Illustrations of Ornithology, who 

 seem to consider the Senegal species the same as 

 that described by Edwards, have doubtless been led 

 to do so by the confusion of the synonyms given by 

 Wagler and Yieillot, for nothing can be more clear 



* Hist. Nat. des Oiseaux, Ed. Sonnini, vol. xvii. p. 343*. 

 t Edwards' Nat. Hist, of Birds, vol. i. Plate 7. 



