OPISTHOCOMUS. 53 



Adult male. General colour above bottle-green with white shaft- 

 streaks to the feathers of the hind-neck and mantle as also some 

 of the lesser upper wing-coverts, the median and greater coverts 

 edged with white at the tips ; outer margin of wing buff ; 

 primary-quills chestnut with dark tips, secondaries for the most 

 part bottle-green : lower back blackish, the feathers downy in 

 texture ; tail broadly tipped with but¥ ; crest ferruginous with 

 blackish ends ; chin, throat, and breast buff ; abdomen and sides 

 of body deep chestnut. 



Total length 555 mm.,cuhnen 29, wing 310, tail 265, tarsus 53, 

 middle toe and claw 08. 



The bird described is from the Abary River. 



Adult female. Similar to the adult male. 



Breeding-season. " December to July" (Qiielch). 



Aest. " The nests are made solely of a slightly concave mass of 

 dried twigs and sticks taken from the plants on which they are 

 built, and loosely laid on top and across each other, are placed 

 in conspicuous positions high up over the water or soft mud, on 

 the top of or amongst the bushy growth, where they are fully 

 exposed to the direct sunshine^'' {Quelcli). 



Eggs. " Two eggs seem to be the usual complement ; in fact, 

 I was told they never lay more than two eggs at one nesting, 

 but in a few nests there were certainly three eggs" {Quelcli). 



Range in Sritish Guiana. Abary River (^McConnell collection) ; 

 Berbice River {Quelch). 



Extralindtal Range. North Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, 

 Bolivia. 



Habits. Schomburgk, who met with this species (Reis. Guian. 

 iii. p. 712), writes : — " I have only once, during my four years' 

 stay in British Guiana, met with this Ijcauliful and proud bird ; 

 and that was in the well-wooded borders of the Takutu River. 

 I found a flock of several hundreds. They ke{)t iij) a continuous 

 cry, and thus botrayeil themselves. They j)erched on bushes 

 or low trees and chased each other from branch to branch, while 

 others ran about on the ground : the worn tips of the tail- 

 feathers Ijespeaks the latter habit. The food consists of fruiln 

 and berries. It has a peculiar and unpleasant smell, wliich one is 

 al)le to detect before seeing the bird. This scent is su])posed to 

 be j)roduced by its feeding on Arum leaves. I doubt that, as the 

 leaves have quite a ditferent smell to that of liie bird. I do not 



