166 



GROOVE-BILLED BARBUT. 



Pogonias sulcirostris, LEACH. 



Black ; lower part of the back and sides of the body white, 

 under parts crimson ; breast with a black bar ; bill, in the 

 adult, with two distinct grooves on each side ; orbits naked. 



Pogonias sulckostris, Leach, Zool. Miss Pogonias laevirostris, 

 Leach, Auctorum. 



WESTERN AFRICA seems almost the peculiar habita- 

 tion of a very singular race of Barbuts, whose bills, 

 of enormous thickness, are armed with tooth-like 

 processes. The Barbuts, according to Mr. Burchell, 

 climb trees something in the manner of woodpeckers, 

 and perforate them to extract the insects hid in the 

 bark ; but further than this, their natural history is 

 entirely unknown : the stiff bristles round the bill, 

 and which in the present species are particularly 

 strong, is no doubt intended to confine the struggles 

 of their captured prey. 



Upon attentively comparing specimens of Dr. 

 Leach's Pogonias Icemrostris with others of his 

 sulcirostris, we feel persuaded that they are but one 

 species in different stages of growth ; Icemrostris we 

 consider as the young bird, which has not yet ac- 

 quired either the teeth or the grooves which so re- 



