EUCEPHALA CiERULEO-LAVATA, Gould. 



Reeves's Sapphire. 



Eucephala aeruleo-lavata, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, part xxviii. p. 306. 



Among the numerous persons whose acquaintance and friendship I have had the pleasure of making during 

 the progress of the present work, no one is more highly valued by me than Mr. Thomas Reeves of Rio 

 de Janeiro, a gentleman who has at all times most liberally furnished me with whatever information he could 

 acquire respecting the species inhabiting Brazil, and moreover enriched my collection with some species 

 I could not have procured elsewhere ; among which must be enumerated a very fine example of the bird 

 figured on the annexed Plate. This new and interesting bird Mr. Reeves informs me is found at St. Paul's, 

 and this unfortunately is all that he is enabled to tell me respecting it. This example is the only one 1 



have seen. 



The Eucephala aeruleo-lavata is a stout and rather large species for a Humming-Bird, and differs widely 

 from every other that has come under my notice ; in its proportions it may be said to be perfect ; its bill 

 being moderate in size, and its tail, which is slightly forked, well balanced when compared with its body and 

 wings ; for its colouring I must refer my readers to the accompanying figures and the following detailed 



description. 



I am not quite satisfied that a place in the genus Eucephala is the proper position for this bird among the 

 Trochilidse, and I feel that I might, without overstepping the bounds of propriety, have constituted it the 

 type of a new genus. 



Crown of the head greenish blue, not very brilliant, but having a few conspicuous small bright-blue fea- 

 thers intermingled ; throat and chest bright greenish blue, passing into purer green on the flanks ; back of 

 the neck, and back, deep grass-green ; wings purplish brown ; upper tail-coverts bronzy orange ; under tail- 

 coverts bronzy purplish brown ; two middle tail-feathers deep purplish bronze ; the next on each side is 

 washed with bronze on its outer margin ; the remaining feathers purplish black; thighs greyish white ; the 

 bill appears to have been reddish flesh-colour at the base of both mandibles and black at the tip. 



The figures are of the natural size. The plant is the Nematanthus ionama. 



