14 



PICARIAN BIRDS. 



Giant Plantain- The sole representative of this genus (Corythceola cristata) is 



Eater. the largest of all the family, measuring nearly 3 feet in length, and 

 is remarkable for its line crest and varied colouring. The upper surface is blue, 

 the head and crest bluer, the tail-feathers yellow with blue bases and a broad bar 

 of black near the end ; neck blue with the chin and cheeks white ; rest of under 

 surface of body rufous brown ; bill yellow with the tip scarlet ; eye red. This 

 handsome bird is found all over the forest district of West Africa from Sene- 



OIANT PLANTAIN-EATEB (jt nat. Size). 



gambia to Angola, and extends throughout the Congo region to Equatorial Africa. 

 Mr. Biittikofer says this plantain-eater is confined exclusively to the virgin forest, 

 where it lives in companies of five or six together in the crowns of the tallest 

 trees, generally out of reach of gunshot. It feeds upon a kind of bush-plum and 

 other wild fruits, of which an enormous quantity are sometimes found in its 

 crop. 



R. BOWDLER SHARPE. 



