T U R A C 0. 



readily understood, in so far as they have any popular 

 interest. 



TOURACO (PLANTAIN-EATER, Musophaga'). A 

 limited group of African birds, of which the place is 

 not very clearly defined. They agree in the form of 

 the wings and tail with some of the gallinaceous birds 

 of the forests of central America ; and they have, like 

 them, three toes to the front, with a short membrane 

 between the bases, but the outer toe is in general 

 reversible, so as to make a perching though not a 

 climbing foot, as it is in many of the owls. They are 

 inhabitants of the close and rich woods by the banks 

 of the rivers, and subsist chiefly upon different species 

 of plantains and other succulent fruits. They nestle 

 in holes of trees, and rarely quit the thick woods, or 

 even alight on the ground within them. They can 

 find appropriate nesting places with very little labour 

 in the kinds of forests which they frequent; as there 

 are always many of the trees in a state of natural de- 

 cay, or internally reduced to powder by the labours 

 of those insects popularly known by the general 

 name of white ants. In their nests in the holes of 

 the decayed trees, the female deposits four white 

 eggs of rather a round shape, upon which she, alter- 

 nately with the male, performs the incubation with 

 great assiduity. The young birds' remain in the 

 company of their parents until the season of incuba- 

 tion again comes round. We shall shortly notice the 

 two genera or sub-genera, the one of which has 

 received the name Corythaix, as including the Touracos 

 properly so called ; and the other that of Musophaga, 

 or the plantain-eaters. 



CORYTHAIX. These have the front plumed to 

 the base of the bill, and a moveable crest on the top 

 of the head. 



Buffons Touraco (C. Buffonii). General colour 

 of the upper part bright green, with the quills and 

 tail-feathers violet-blue ; the head with an erectable 

 crest situated on the nape ; the lesser coverts of the 

 wings green, the middle ones greenish-blue, and the 

 larger clouded with the same violet-blue as the quills 

 and the rump; a black spot under each eye; the 

 under parts green, but a little paler in the shade than 

 the upper parts ; the bill carmine-red ; and the feet 

 black. The length of the mature bird is about seven- 

 teen inches. This species occurs in many of the 

 more richly-wooded parts of the American continent ; 

 it t is a very beautiful bird, and, as far as is known, 

 very gentle in its manners. 



Green and White-crested Touraco (C. Persa). This 

 species has been, oddly enough, called a cuckoo by 

 some of the authorities. The upper parts of it very 

 deep and brilliant green with purple reflections ; two 

 white streaks across the region of the eyes, with a 

 streak of purple between them ; the naked membrane 

 surrounding the eyes red ; the head ornamented with 

 a crest of numerous long and thread-shaped feathers, 

 which are distributed in two rows that meet along 

 the mesial line of the head ; these feathers are the 

 same green as the rest of the upper part for the prin- 

 cipal part of their length, and white at the tips ; the 

 rump is blackish-green ; the upper coverts of the tail 

 very deep green ; the primary quills are bright chest- 

 nut-red ; the mandarin red, margined with brown ; 

 the tail-feathers deep green on the upper side, and 

 blackish on the under, with the tips black ; the lower 

 parts green ; the feathers on the thighs streaked with 

 black ; the bill whitish ; the feet blackish ; the length 

 eighteen inches ; and the habitat the rich woods of 

 tropical Africa. 



Red-crested Touraco (C. erythrolapha). Upper 

 parts copper-green, with very bright metallic lustre ; 

 the crest on the head forms a sort of helmet, 

 consisting of two close rows of very fine feathers 

 about two or three inches long, which meet together 

 at the top, and there form a red crest, which gra- 

 dually passes into the deep green, which is the general 

 colour of the upper part of the head ; the primary and 

 secondary quills are of a beautiful red, pale on the 

 inner webs ; the tertiaries and the coverts of the 

 wings are green, with reflections of blue ; the tail- 

 feathers and their coverts are deep and rich bronze- 

 green on the upper side, and a line of green on the 

 under ; on each side of the head there is a large 

 patch of white which extends up to the forehead, 

 near which it acquires a reddish tinge ; the borders 

 of the eyes are purple-red, with a tinge of blue ; the 

 bill is yellow ; the feet are ash colour ; the length is 

 about seventeen inches ; and the habitat Southern 

 Africa. 



These are the leading crested species, with the 

 forehead feathered down to the base of the bill ; and 

 from the short notice which we have given, it will be 

 readily understood that they are very rich ornaments 

 in the luxuriant forests of which they are natives, from 

 their beauty, their size, and their gentle and inoffen- 

 sive manners. 



MUSOPHAGA. These are understood to feed more 

 exclusively on the banana and other sweet and suc- 

 culent fruits, than the members of the preceding divi- 

 sion. Like them, their place in the system has been 

 misunderstood by some. They may be considered as 

 the birds which, in their general characters, approach 

 nearest to the Alectoridce among the gallinaceous 

 birds. See ALECTOR and GALLINID^:. They have 

 the upper mandible advanced on the head in a horny 

 plate, which partially recurves over the front. 



Gigantic Plantain-eater (If. gigantea). The upper 

 parts bright shining blue ; the head advanced with a 

 black crest showing brilliant reflections of blue; the 

 quills blue with black tips ; the tail-feathers black, 

 with a transverse band of russet; a gorget of bright 

 green upon the throat ; the under parts bright brown 

 with clouds and glosses of red ; the bill yellow-orange ; 

 and the feet black ; the length five-and-twenty inches ; 

 so that in its own section, and generally among birds 

 of such brilliant plumage, this splendid species merits 

 the name of gigantea. It is a native of the equa- 

 torial parts, and the south of Africa. 



Varied Plantain-eater (M. variegata). The upper 

 parts grevish-ash, with an elongated spot of a blackish 

 colour along the centre of each feather ; a crest of 

 elongated thread-shaped feathers on the top of the 

 head, which, with the cheeks, throat, and upper part 

 of the neck, are maroon-brown : the quills are black, 

 variegated with white ; the tail-feathers slate-grey 

 with black tips ; the under parts are white with a 

 narrow blackish stripe along the middle of each fea- 

 ther ; the bill and feet black ; the length eighteen 

 inches ; and the native habitat the tropical part of 

 Western Africa. 



Violet Plantain-eater (M. violacea). Upper parts 

 purple, with violet reflections ; a large streak of white 

 behind the eye ; the quills crimson-red ; the tail-fea- 

 thers unequal in length, the central ones being the 

 longest ; the under part purple, marked with cloudings 

 of ash-colour ; the bill yellow, with the base of the 

 mandibles covered by a naked skin, studded with red 

 tubercles and extending to the eyes ; the feet of a 



