////: ///;/:/; 



;///. i.vi \ / 



i ,'. 



The crest on tin- top .if tin- head is d.-ep j.urjil.- -black. :m,l tli.- n:iki-<l skin round tlif >-\> -. 

 which forms a kind of wattle over the nostrils aiul In-low the chin, is u bright scarlet. The 

 up|*-r surface of tin- Uxly is pun- -il\.T \\ lilt.-, delicately ]ieiicilUxl with wavy black lines. 

 The tail is also whit.-. ]M-ncillf<l iH.ldly \\ith |.la<-k. .-xwpt the two central feathers, which are 

 wholly whit<*. 1"H^'. aii-1 nirvixl. The Im-ast aiul alHlonicii an- of the sjinif d<.-p purple-Mark 

 as the -ivt. The rolots of the female are quite dissimilar, so that the bird would hardly ! 



., 



PBKAltANT.-TTU 



recognized aa belonging to the same species. She is much smaller in size, has a smaller crest, 

 and a shorter tail, of a brown color, streaked on the outer feathers with black and white. 

 Instead of .the silvery-white of the male, her back is grayish-brown, irregularly marked and 

 waved with narrow black bars. The breast and abdomen are grayish-white, marked with 

 brown and barred with black. (For illustration, see page 470.) 



THE very handsome FIREBACK is an Asiatic bird, inhabiting Sumatra, and in all prol>a 

 bility several other neighboring localiti--^. 



The popular name of Fireback is very appropriate, being given to the bird on account of 

 the fiery red feathers which decorate a considerable portion of the back. It is remarkable for 

 the great size of the naked skin about the eyes, which nearly covers the whole head, running 

 over the ears and forehead, and descending well In-low the chin. The color is of a bluish 

 purple during the life of the bird, but after its death the color darkens into dark brown, as i* 

 generally the case with bare skin both in beasts and birds, and in the stuffed species it shrinks, 

 like wetted leather, and entirely loses its former fulness and shape. 



