194 CHATTERER. 



and with brown on the back; breast, vent, and belly pale cinereous; 

 upper wing coverts cinereous black, the under whitish, with pale 

 dusky bars ; quills hoary black, the prime ones tinged with black 

 towards the ends ; upper tail coverts dull white ; tail almost truncated, 

 consisting of eight feathers,* blackish above, and hoary beneath, the 

 three outer ones with pale tips; legs black, strong; hind toe strong, 

 and all the claws hooked, sharp, and black. 



The two sexes nearly alike. 



This bird lives the whole year at Calcutta, but is very rare, and 

 seldom seen ; frequents groves, and lives chiefly on insects : is the 

 Murasing of the Mussulmans. I am indebted for the above account 

 to Dr. Buchanan. 



28— UMBRELLA CHATTERER. 



Ampelis umbellata, Umbrella Ampelis, Nat. Misc. V. xxi. pi. 897: 

 Cephalopterus ornatus, Ann. du Mas. d'Hist. Nat. 75. p. 235. pi. 15. 

 Umbrella Chatterer, Shaw's ZooL x. 437. pi. 39. 



SIZE of a Jay. Bill stout, black ; general colour of the plumage 

 black ; on the crown a large crest, tending forwards, almost over the 

 bill ; all round the eyes the feathers are long and loose, and those on 

 the throat greatly elongated, extending quite to the breast, and are 

 there capable of elevation ; in which case, the parts beneath, and the 

 neck before, seem bare ; the crest, and neck feathers before, have a 

 gloss of violet, but the rest of the bird is deep black ; tail rounded 

 in shape, and the wings reach to about the middle of it ; legs short, 

 scaly, and black. 



The native place of this curious bird does not seem to be clearly 

 ascertained, but supposed to be Brazil. 



* So in Dr. Buchanan's Manuscript. 



