P R C N I A S melanocephaliis . 

 Black-headed Fniiteater, 



GRNERIC ClIAUACTEIl. — Sce PI, 21. 



Specific Character. 



P. olha-'viridis, suhtm Jiavescens, striis fuscis transversis, capite omnino ni- 

 gro. 



Olive-green, beneath yellowish, with dusky transverse strife. Head en- 

 tirely black. 



Another new and very rare bird of this singular genus, 

 inhabiting, like all the other species, the tropical regions of 

 America. I met with it in Brazil but twice in the forests of 

 Pitanga, not far distant from Bahia ; and my hunters were at a 

 loss for its name, never having seen it before : the eyes in the 

 fresh bird are of a beautiful crimson. 



Its total length is nine inches and a quarter ; the bill is nine 

 lines from the gape to the tip, and four from the base of the nos- 

 trils, at which part the bill is not so proportionably broad as in 

 the Swallow Berryeater (pi. 2 1 .) : the colour blueish-black, paler 

 at the base : the whole head, sides, chin, and part of the throat 

 are black, the feathers of the crown a little lengthened and 

 pointed, giving a slight appearance of a crest : the wings and 

 tail are dusky-black on the inner shafts and green on the outer; 

 the whole of the upper plumage olive-green, and of the under 

 pale greenish-yellow crossed with short dusky transverse lines 

 from the breast downwards; under wing and tail-covers the 

 same. Tail four inches from the base, slightly divaricated, and 

 of twelve feathers. Wings four inches and a half, the lirst quill 

 very short, the third, fourth and fifth of equal length. Legs 

 black. 



This was a male bird : the female I have not seen, 

 n. -25. 



