147 



CINNYBIS FLAGKANS. 



(FLAME-BREASTED SUN-BIRD.) 



JEthopyga flagrans, Oustalet, Journ. de l'lnstitut, 1876, p. 108. 



<$ ad. fronte et vertice violaceis, metallice cyanescenti-viridi nitentibus : nucha, collo postico, clorso et scapula- 

 ribus olivascenti-flavis, interscapulio aui'antiaco lavato, uropygio magis olivaceo : supracaudalibus 

 metallice viridibus : rectricibus nigris metallice violaceo aut viridi marginatis : alis nigris, plumis 

 olivaceo marginatis : capite laterali, mento gulaque nigris : pectore pallidissime olivascenti-flavo : 

 striga lata, aurantiacEi a gula mediana usque ad pectus extendente, versus abdomen pallidiore : sub- 

 caudalibus pallide olivascenti-flavis : remigibus infra brunneis, intus albidis : subalaribus albis vix fiavo 

 lavatis : rostro et pedibus brunnescenti-nigris : iride saturate brunnea. 



Hab. in insula Philippinensi " Luzon " dicta. 



Adult Male. Forehead and crown violet, shaded with metallic bluish green ; nape, back of the neck, back 

 and scapulars olive-yellow, shaded with orange between the scapulars, and more olive on the rump ; 

 upper tail-coverts metallic green ; tail black, with the feathers edged with metallic violet and green ; 

 wings black, the feathers edged with olive ; sides of the head, chin, and throat black ; breast very pale 

 olive-yellow ; from the middle of the throat, below the chin, extends down the centre of the body a 

 sharply defined broad band of deep orange, which gradually fades away entirely on the abdomen ; under 

 tail-coverts pale olive-yellow ; under surface of the wings brown, with the coverts and the inner margins 

 to the quills white, the former slightly washed with yellow; bill and. legs brownish black; irides dark 

 brown. Total length 4 inches, culmen - 7, wing 2, tail l - 3, tarsus 0-5. 



Hab. Island of Luzon, in the Philippine archipelago. 



The type specimen, apparently a fully adult male, is in the Museum of the Jardin des Plantes, in 

 Paris. 



It undoubtedly belongs to the large genus Cinnyris ; but, from the very peculiar colouring 

 of the plumage, it cannot be placed in any of the groups which I have hitherto recognized, 

 possessing, as it does, a broad flame-coloured band down the centre of the throat and breast — a 

 character which at the present time is quite sufficient to distinguish this bird from all the other 

 members of the family. 



M. Oustalet, who first recognized this species as new, found it amongst a small collection 

 sent home from the Philippines by a young traveller, M. L. Laglaize, who collected it on the 

 25th of June at a place called Lagune, on the island of Luzon. 



M. Oustalet, in his original article upon this species, makes a few remarks upon the value 

 of some of the commonly received genera of Sun-birds, with a slight sketch of their geographical 

 distribution, and observes that, previous to the discovery of this bird, only two species were 

 known from the Philippines, viz. C. speratus and C. jugularis. Since M. Oustalet wrote the 



