364 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES. 



18. Calliste versicolor. " Sour-sop Bird." 



Male. Front, crown, and occiput of a bright deep chestnut-red ; 

 upper plumage golden fawn-color, clearest on the sides of the neck 

 and on the rump, in some positions showing a pale greenish-silvery 

 gloss ; upper tail-coverts bluish-green ; lores and partly under the 

 eye black ; sides of the head and ear-coverts dull dark-green ; tail- 

 feathers black, except the two middle ones, which, with the outer 

 margins of the others, are bluish-green ; quills black, conspicuously 

 edged with bluish-green ; wing-coverts black, with their exposed 

 portions bluish-green ; under wing-coverts of a light salmon color ; 

 the under plumage is changeable according to position ; viewed from 

 the bill downward it is of a light bluish-lilac, the blue color deepest 

 on the lower part of the throat and the upper part of the breast ; on 

 a side view the abdomen is of a purplish-red ; the feathers of the 

 upper part of the throat are tipped with gray ; the under tail-coverts 

 are bright cinnamon color ; tipper mandible black ; the under, light 

 brownish horn color ; tarsi and toes black. 



Length, 6\ in. ; wing, 3 ; tail, 2I ; tarsus, \\. 



The female differs in having the top of the head of a lighter chest- 

 nut color, and the upper plumage of a pale green ; the under plu- 

 mage has the same colors as the male, but much subdued ; the abdo- 

 men, sides, and under tail-coverts are of a light cinnamon color ; the 

 wings and tail are black, but margined with a paler bluish-green ; 

 the markings about the head and on the throat are similar to those 

 of the male, li iris hazel." 



Length, 6 in. ; wing, 3I ; tail, 7.\ ; tarsus, ^|. 



Types in National Museum, Washington. 



Remarks. This fine new species belongs to the group which 

 contains C. vitriolina, cay ana, cyanolama, and cucullata; it some- 

 what resembles the latter, a species I have never seen, but accord- 

 ing to the plate (Mon. of Calliste, Scl.), the colors of the present 

 bird are generally darker, with no tendency to ochreous-yellow 

 above, as in C. cucullata, and the abdomen is purple instead of red- 

 dish ochreous ; the crown is of a clearer and brighter chestnut-red. 

 It is larger than any of its allies ; and a strikingly different character 

 is its very large and stout bill, exceeding in size that of any of them I 

 am acquainted with, being fully as large as the bill of Tanagra cana. 



No species of Calliste appears to be on record before from any of 

 the West India islands proper. There are five specimens in the 

 collection, three $ and two 9 procured in February, 1878. "Fre- 

 quents the mountain ridges and valleys." 



