RAVENS. 



28 = 



-deep violet, and shines with a beautiful green light when seen in the rays of the sun ; the quills are 

 red, tipped with violet, and shaded with lilac ; the bare places round the eyes are also red, and are 

 thrown into strong relief by a dazzling white streak, which passes beneath them ; the feet are black, 

 the eyes brown. The young are without the small red velvety feathers upon the top of the head, but 

 in other respects their plumage resembles that of the old birds. The length of this species is about 

 twenty inches, the wings and tail measure eight inches and a half. 



We are acquainted with but few particulars concerning the Banana Eater, which, until the last 

 few years, has been numbered amongst the greatest rarities of our collections ; but we learn from 

 travellers that it inhabits the western coast from Senegambia to Lower Guinea, living in pairs, and 

 passing nearly the whole of its life in the same locality ; its movements, habits, voice, and food, seem 

 to differ but slightly from those of its congeners with which we are more familiar. 



THE WHITE-CHEEKED HELMET BIRD (Coryt/iai.r lellCOtis). 



We are much better informed as to the habits of 



The HELMET BIRDS (Coryihaix). These elegant and brilliantly-coloured birds are slenderly 

 formed, with rounded wings, of which the fifth quill is longer than the rest. The tail is of medium 

 size, the beak short and triangular, furnished with a slight hook at the extremity of the upper 

 mandible ; the nostrils are partially covered by the feathers on the brow, the plumage is rich ; upon 

 the head the feathers are prolonged so as to form a kind of helmet composed of green feathers. The 

 wings are of an uniform purplish red, and the eyes surrounded by a bare flesh-coloured ring. All 

 the various members of this group are remarkably alike, both in their appearance and mode of life. 



THE WHITE-CHEEKED HELMET BIRD. 

 The White-cheeked Helmet Bird {Corythaix leucotis) is an inhabitant of Abyssinia; die colour 

 of this species is for the most part green : the beak and wings are deep greenish violet, the tail is, 



