^ CALLISTE ATRICAPILLA. 



THE BLACK-CAPPED TANAGEK. 



PLATE XXXIII. Fig. 1 <?, 2 ?. 



Taa. (Aglaia) atricapilla, Lafr. R, Z. 1843, p, 290. 



Calliste atricapilla .... Bp. Consp. p. 235. 



Sclater, Contr. Orn. 1851, p. 59; P. Z. S. 1855, 

 p. 168; List of Bog. B. p. 30; P. Z. S. 1856, 

 p. 259 ; Syn. Av. Tan. p. 85. 



Chalcothraupis atricapilla, Bp. Rev. et Mag. de Zool. 1851, p. 144; Note 

 s. 1. Tang. p. 19. 



Procnias heinei Cab. Mus. Hein. p. 31. 



Bp. Rev. et Mag. de Zool. 1851, p. 134; Note s. 1. 

 Tang. p. 8. 



Mas adultus. Argenteo-caerulescens, alis caudaque nigris, illo 

 colore limbatis : pileo nigerrimo : gutturis et pectoris pluma- 

 rum basibus nigris, apicibus autem acuminatis et colore clare 

 viridibus : rostro pedibusque nigris : long, tota 4-8, alse 2'8, 

 caudse 1*7 poll. Angl. 



Fcemina. Viridis, pileo obscure : gutture mari simili, sed pallidiore. 



There is rather greater difference between the male and female of 

 this species than is usually met vpith in the birds of this genus, but 

 its form is otherveise typical ; and, although I acknovyledge that such 

 facts ought to be of considerable weight in determining natural affi- 

 nities, I do not think them sufficient for distinctive generic characters 

 in the absence of structural variation. As a general rule certainly, 

 species of the same natural genus correspond in the variations of sex 

 and age, but exceptions are by no means infrequent. A faraihar in- 

 stance is that of our Song Thrush and Blackbird {Turdus musiciis 

 and Turdus meruld). There is the greatest structural similarity be- 

 tween these two birds, and it appears to me quite unnatural to range 

 them further apart than as, perhaps, the heads of two different sec- 

 tions of the genus Turdus ; but, as everyone knows, there is no sort 



