442 Zoological Society. 



PROCEEDINGS OF LEARNED SOCIETIES. 



ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



February 26, 1839.— The Rev. F. W. Hope, in the Chair. 



Mr. Eraser exhibited a new species of Corythaix, which he pro- 

 ceeded to characterize as follows : 



CouYTHAix MACRORHYNCHUs. CoT. rostvo frtBgraudi aurantiaco, 

 ad basin sanguineo ; capite, crista, collo pectoreque viridibus ; 

 crista ad apicem alba, el jmrpureo notatd ; lined alba infra oculos 

 excurrente ; dorso alisque metallice purpureis ; priinariis sari' 

 guineis nigro marginaiis ■ vaudd superne metallice viridi ; femo- 

 ribus cauddque sid)tiis nigris ; iarsis nigris. 



Long. tot. 14 poll. ; rostri, l^ ; alee, 6 ; caudae, 6 ; tarsi, \\. 



Hah. ? 



This species of Corythaix lived for some time in the Society's 

 Menagerie, having been purchased from a dealer who was unac- 

 quainted with its locality. 



Compared with the known species of the genus, it approaches 

 most nearly to the Corythaix Persa of authors, but from this it may 

 readily be distinguished by its smaller size ; and the form, compara- 

 tively large size, and colouring of the beak. The colouring of the 

 plumage also diiFers in some respects : like C, Persa, the head, neck, 

 and breast are green, but the feathers on these parts are of a deeper 

 hue than in that species ; the feathers of the crest, instead of being 

 simply tipped with white, having a white transverse line near the 

 apex, but at the apex they are purple-black. Minute black feathers 

 encircle the eye, and a white stripe extends from beneath the eye 

 on to the ear. The beak is much arched above, and somewhat in- 

 flated at the base ; the nostrils are very large, and not hidden, as in 

 C. Persa, by the decumbent feathers, these extending only to the 

 posterior angle of the nostril. The upper mandible is of a bright 

 yellow colour, excepting all that portion which lies below and be- 

 hind the nostrils, which is of a brilliant red colour ; the lower man- 

 dible is of the same red tint, but tipped with yellow. Both mandi- 

 bles present simple sharp-cutting edges, in this respect exhibiting a 

 different structure from that observable in the allied species, C. Persa 

 and C. Buffonii, in which the mandibles have their cutting edges 

 serrated. The back and upper surface of the wings are of a deep 

 purple -blue tint, exhibiting in certain parts greenish reflections. 

 The primaries (with the exception of the first quill) and the second- 

 aries (with the exception of the three or four innermost quills) are 

 red, margined with black ; the shafts of these feathers are also black. 

 The outer primary is black, and the two or three following feathers 

 are broadly margined externally with the same colour. All the 

 wing feathers are black at the base ; on the outermost feathers the 



