A NEW BIRD. 259 



lowed the observer's great prize, the Drepano- 

 ris Alhertisi, which is so rare that evea to 

 many of the natives it was a surprise. At 

 the first glance this bird does not appear to 

 deserve a place in the remarkable family. It is 

 about the size of our common crow, brown 

 on the back, and lavender-gray below, with a 

 curved bill more than three, inches long. But 

 closer study reveals several peculiarities : a bai'e 

 space of bright blue around the eye, brilliant 

 green on the throat, and a pair of feathery 

 tufts standing up on the forehead like horns, 

 with the crowning attraction of two pairs of 

 fans, one behind the other on each side of the 

 breast, capable of being folded smoothly against 

 the body, or spread wide in two gorgeous 

 semicircles altering the entire outlines of the 

 creature. The first of the two admirable or- 

 naments, when in repose, appears of the same 

 violet-gray hue as the breast; but when raised 

 the bases of the feathers are seen to be of a 

 brilliant red, giving the effect of longitudinal 

 stripes. The second pair is much longer, with 

 deep margins of splendid purple instead of the 

 stripes. When the possessor of all this splen- 

 dor spreads its four fans, it also erects the long 

 tail and opens it widely into a fifth fan, which 

 produces an astonishing effect. 



Another of D'Albertis's contributions to the 



