Adult male. General colour above glossy dark purple, with a concealed spot of white on the sides of the 

 lower back, the feathers composing this spot being white, "with more or less purple towards the 

 tip of the inner web ; lesser and median wing-coverts like the back ; greater coverts, bastard- 

 wing, primary-coverts, and quills black, externally dull blue ; upper tail-coverts like the back ; 

 tail-feathers blackish glossed witli blue ; lores velvety black ; cheeks and ear-coverts black washed 

 with purplish blue ; throat and chest dark smoky brown, the fore neck and chest with hoary grey 

 margins to the feathers, the throat rather darker and having dusky blackish shaft-stripes ; sides 

 of the upper breast more or less purplish blue, the feathers tipped with the latter colour, which 

 extends some way down the sides of the body ; entire abdomen, flanks, and under tail-coverts 

 white ; the white feathers of the lower breast where they adjoin the brown throat washed with 

 smoky brown and having blackish shaft-streaks ; axillaries dark purplish blue with brown bases ; 

 under wing-coverts dark sooty brown washed with blue; quills dusky below, lighter brown along 

 their inner face : " bill brownish horn-black ; legs dark fleshy brown ; iris dark greyish brown " 

 (Neuwied). Total length 6 - 6 inches, culmen 055, wing 5, tail 2 - 75, tarsus 0'5. 



The female differs from the male in being duller blue and not so purple, but is otherwise similarly 

 coloured. On the sides of the upper breast the blue ends to the feathers are less conspicuous 

 and duller blue. 



Young. Much more dingily coloured than the adults. Above sooty-brown slightly glossed with blue, 

 the feathers having more or less obsolete pale margins ; wing-coverts also dull blue with pale 

 brown edges ; quills and tail-feathers blackish glossed with steel-blue or greenish ; lores dusky ; 

 cheeks, ear-coverts, and sides of neck brown, as well as the sides of the breast and flanks ; throat 

 and chest pale brown, the feathers of the latter edged with white ; breast, abdomen, and under 

 tail-coverts pure white ; axillaries smoky brown ; under wing-coverts brown edged with white. 

 Tail less foi'ked than in the adult. 



Sometimes the under tail-coverts exhibit a brown shaft-streak, and still more rarely a pale 

 shade of brown in the centre, but never to the extent of P. purpurea or P. furcata. The white 

 belly and under tail-coverts in both the old and young birds are generally sufficient to distinguish 

 the species. 



The wing varies somewhat in specimens from different localities, as will be seen from the 

 following list : — 



Those from Mexico have the wing 5 - 45 inches. 



,, „ Yucatan „ „ „ o'lo „ 



„ „ Guatemala „ „ „ 5T-5'65 „ 



„ „ Honduras „ „ „ 5-3 „ 



„ ,, Costa Rica „ „ „ 5'0-5'3 „ 



,, „ Panama „ „ „ 5-0o-o'4>o „ 



„ „ Colombia „ „ „ 5-0 „ 



„ „ Ecuador „ „ „ 53 „ 



„ Trinidad „ „ „ 5"0 „ 



„ „ Guiana „ „ „ 4'9-5T5 „ 



„ ,, Upper Amazons „ „ „ 4*7-5 - „ 



„ Para „ „ „ 5-0-5-3 



„ „ Bolivia „ „ „ 5-4 „ 



Thus it appears that the Central-American specimens are, on the whole, a little larger than 

 those from South America. 



