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very handsome birds in captivity in Quito, and they seemed to

take readily to a seed diet, which was most probably varied by a

little fruit. The total length of the bird is 7 inches. The beak

is short, thick, and black, with some black feathers around the

base. The head and throat are pale blue, slightly mixed

with green, and which shades from the neck into olive-green on

the back. The entire under parts are a deep yellow, with an

olive-green shading on the breast, where the blue of the throat

leaves off. The rump is bright chrome-yellow, and the wings

and tail are black, with each feather rather broadly edged with

the same shade of blue as the head. I believe the female has

scarcely any blue on the head, and also lacks the yellow rump.

I regret that I have only the skin of a male with me to refer to,

for I am, unfortunately, writing this article away from home,

and it is, therefore, not so complete in detail as I should wish it

to be. This seems to me to be another of the Ecuadorian birds

well adapted for cage life, especially so, if one takes into con¬

sideration its fine form and colouring, the temperate region it

comes from, and that it seems to do well on a seed diet. We

never met with this bird at a higher altitude than Quito.


Another still more beautiful, but considerably smaller,

Tanager, coming from the same part, is the Black - necked

Tanager, as it is called in the S. Kensington Museum ('Eziphonia

nigrico llis). It seems a mistake to call this little bird black¬

necked, for the only real shade of black about it is 011 the throat,

cheeks, and at the base of the beak. The head and neck are a

clear bright blue, while the back, wings, and tail are a deep

violet black. The rump, breast, and underparts are all bright

yellow. The beak is very short, and the entire length of the

bird does not exceed 4^ inches. I never saw this bird actually

in Quito, although I have no doubt it is at times met with in the

gardens there ; but within twenty-minutes walk of the town I

saw it. I was told by residents there, that they had kept it in

captivity frequently, and for this reason I mention it here. I

am sure it would be an exceedingly nice bird to keep, with

such bright vivacious habits as it has. The female is quite

different from the male, and very little less beautiful. She is

entirely green, with the exception of the turquoise-blue on the

head and a shade of yellow on the forehead. These birds feed

on seeds, insects, and fruit.


A little lower down on the Western side, we secured one

specimen only of the rare Compsocoma notabilis. This is a very

close ally to the Blue-shouldered Tanager. The arrangement



