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Mr. R. Philupps,



countenance, I clung to the belief that the latter was a female;

whatever the sex was, it was terribly afraid of the former, a fact

which probably had something to do with the circumstance that

it suffered more during the voyage than the other, and never

seemed fully to recover from its ill effects.


The arrangement of the colours of this species is well

shown by Mr. Gronvold, but there should have been more of the

golden yellow in the region of the chin. His painting was taken

from No. 2 bird, which was placed in a small cage for the

occasion and was very nervous on being so closely scrutinised.

The position is consequently unnatural, and the loose grasp of

the perch misleading. When free it is a tight, lively, active bird

with a firm and tenacious grip of the perch, which is well

represented in the line drawings which were taken from the

other when loose in the garden.


The Museum Catalogue gives the total length of the adult

male as 8 inches, which is a trifle less than that of the Blue¬

cheeked species. The latter is probably familiar to most of our

readers ; and the Golden-throat is very like it in general shape and

carriage. But the Golden-throat lacks an almost imperceptible

turn up of the nose that gives the adult male Blue-cheek a

cynical, supercilious, Laughing-Jackass-like expression which in

some examples is very taking.


My male Golden-throated Barbet had a great deal to say

for himself. I11 a manner that is so characteristic of these

Barbets, his language was remarkably forcible, but, in this

species, was not objectionable. Now and then, for a time, he

uttered the pleasing bubbling note of the Blue-cheeked Barbet,

which however was at length entirely abandoned; is this call

natural to the species or was it borrowed? I am unable to say.

His own proper call had no uncertain sound about it, and was

ceaselessly poured forth from his leathery throat with the violence

of water from a fire-hose. It was something between the go-

back of the common Guinea Fowl and the too-rook of the Senegal

Touraco, with variations, and was continued with irrepressible

obstinacy notwithstanding an occasional shower from the garden

syringe. No 2, unable to suppress himself entirely, would

occasionally attempt to have his little say, but he so promptly



