SPHECOTHERES VIRESCENS, Vieillot, 

 Green Sphecotheres. 



PLATE LXXIX. 



S. olivaceo-viridis ; gula, pectore nuchaque griseis ; capite, genis, pteromatibus, re- 

 migibus, rectricibusque nigris ; his quatuor mediis exceptis albis exterioribus 

 rachi exteriore toto albo ; oculorum ambitu nudo rubroque. 



Le Sphecothere vert ; Sphecothere virescens, Vieill. Gall, des Ois. pi. 147- 



Choucari vert; Graucalus viridis, Quoy 8f Gam. Voy. par Le Freya. aut. du Monde, pi. 21. 



Sphecotheres viridis, Vig. Sf Horsf. Trans. Linn. Soc. vol. xv. p. 215. 



\\ e agree with Messrs Vigors and Horsfield, regarding the situation of 

 this bird in our natural systems, viz. at the extremity of the Laniadce and 

 close to Gracaulus. In this latter genus we cannot place it, its only point 

 of agreement being the proportions of the wings. Sphecotheres has the 

 space between the rictus and the eyes, and around the eyes, naked ; in 

 Gracaulus they are clothed. In the former the bill is strong, rounded on 

 the culmen ; in the latter it is very much dilated at the base, compara- 

 tively flat, and strongly carinated. The tarsi in both are comparatively 

 short ; but, in the present genus, they are proportionally much stronger, 

 and with the scaling very decidedly marked. In Gracaulus the exterior 

 feather of the tail is always considerably shorter than the others ; in our 

 genus they are very nearly equal, and it entirely wants the sharp and 

 pointed feathers on the rump. We may here remark, that we cannot 

 agree with M. Temminck in placing among the Gracauli those richly co- 

 loured birds, and those not possessing the sharp feathers on the rump and 

 part of the back, such as his Ceplephyris lobatus and bicolor, but would re- 

 strict the types to Gracaulis Menalops and mentalis, and to Ceplephyris 

 fimbriatus, Temm. ; all those birds having the typical rump feathers, the 

 colours shades of grey, black, or white, and found in Africa, India, and 

 New Holland. 



0.2 



