382 



920. Acmonorhynchus vincens. Legge's Flower-pecker. 



Prionocliilus vincens, Sclater, P. Z. S. 1872, p. 729 ; id. Ibis, 1874, 

 p. 2, pi. i, figs, i & ii ; Hume, S. F. ii, p. 455, iv, p. 403 ; id. Cat. 

 no. 240 ter ; Sharpe, Cat. B. M. x, p. 72. 



Pachyglossa vincens (Scl.), Legge, Birds Ceyl. p. 577, pi. 20. 



Fig. 105. Head of A. vincens. 



Coloration. Male. Whole upper plumage aud wing-coverts and 

 sides of the head and neck very dark bluish ashy approaching to 

 black ; wings and tail glossy black, all the tail-leathers except the 

 two median pairs broadly tipped with white and the quills with a 

 broad band of white on the inner webs ; chin, throat, breast, and 

 under tail-coverts white ; remainder of lower plumage bright 

 yellow ; under wing-coverts and axillaries white. 



Female. Eesembles the male, but the black of the upper plumage 

 is replaced by greenish brown ; wings and tail not quite so black. 



Iris brownish red ; bill black, leaden at base ; legs and feet 

 blackish (Legge). 



Length about 4 ; tail 1'3 ; wing 2*35 ; tarsus '45 ; bill from 

 gape *45. 



Distribution. Ceylon only, in the forests of the low hills of the 

 Southern Provinces. 



Genus PIPRISOMA, Blyth, 1844. 



The genus Piprisoma contains two species which Sharpe places 

 with Prionocliilus^ but which I prefer to keep separate on the 

 ground of their having but nine primaries. 



In Piprisoma the bill is of much the same shape as in Acmono- 

 rhynchus but proportionally shorter. Viewed from above the bill 

 is nearly an equilateral triangle with the two sides sinuated. In 

 this genus the plumage is dull and the sexes are alike. Both species 

 are resident over the whole area they inhabit. 



Key to tlie Species. 



a. Upper plumage and sides of the head ashy 



green ; lower mandible coarse P. squalidum, p. 382. 



b. Upper plumage and sides of the head green ; 



mandible slender , P. modestum, p. 383. 



921. Piprisoma squalidum. The Thick-billed Flower-pecker. 



Pipra squalida, Burton, P. Z. 8. 1836, p. 113. 

 Frmgilla agilis, TicMl, J. A. 8. B. ii, p. 578 (1833). 

 Parisoma vireoides, Jerd. Madr. Journ. L. S. xi, p. 8 (1840). 



