48 



with this species. During his fifth journey in the interior of Brazil in 1823, Natterer found it 

 abundant in the months of April and May at Porto do Eio Parana, on the Eio Grande, just 

 within the confines of the province of Minas Geraes, Natterer tells us that it is common on the 

 banks of the river, in small flocks, usually of two or three individuals, though upon one occasion 

 more than thirty were observed together. They sit upon the dry twigs of the highest trees, and 

 hunt after butterflies. In the morning they occasionally descend to the sandy flats by the water 

 to bathe. Natterer describes a female as having the bill pale brownish yellow, with the point, 

 a long spot in the middle, which is three times as long in the upper mandible, and the space 

 round the nostrils blackish brown; the nostrils circular; the tongue thin, small, and pointed, 

 one third of the length of the bill ; the naked ring round the eye blackish brown ; the feet 

 black, and the base of tarsi yellowish. In one specimen almost the whole of the upper mandible 

 was dark brown ; in another the front half of the lower mandible was black. 



In Professor E^einhardt's excellent treatise on the avifauna of the campos of Brazil we are 

 told that Dr. Lund sent to Copenhagen a single female example of this Jacamar, obtained in 

 August 1834 near Sao Domingo, in the south-western corner of Minas Geraes, near the confines 

 of Goyaz. This would be a little north of the district where Natterer met with it. 



The male of Brachygalha melanosterna is above of a dark sooty brown, with the middle of 

 the back and edging of the wings and tail, except on the primaries, glossed with dark bronzy 

 green ; on the sides of the head the brown is rather lighter, and the chin and upper part of the 

 throat are quite white with a slightly rufescent lower margin ; the rest of the body below is of a 

 deep black, with a slight bronzy wash on the breast, a large patch of pure white occupying the 

 centre of the belly, but not extending onto the crissum. The under surfaces of the wings and 

 tail are black, a narrow white band crossing the remiges at their bases. In the dried skin the 

 bill is of a pale whitish horn-colour, with a longitudinal dark patch running along the upper 

 mandible on each side ; the feet are dark brown. 



I have not yet had an opportunity of examining a female of this species, which is still rare 

 in collections ; but Hr. v. Pelzeln has kindly informed me that, judging from Natterer's marked 

 specimens in the Imperial Cabinet at Vienna, there is little difl'erence between the sexes, the 

 female being slightly smaller in dimensions. 



This second species of the white-billed section of the genus Brachygalha may be readily 

 distinguished from B. alhigularis, the only other known species of the group, by the sides of the 

 head being brown, and the white being restricted to the upper portions of the throat. 



The following are the dimensions of the two examples of the present species in my own 

 collection. The figure (Plate XV.) is taken from Natterer's specimen. 



Ko. 



Sex. 



Mus. 



Patiia. 



Long, tota, 



alae, 



caudae, 



rostri 



1. 



6 



P. L. S. 



Rio Parana [Natt.). 



6-2 



2-9 



2-2 



1-9 



2. 



6 



P. L. S. 



Bolivia. 



7-0 



2-8 



21 



1-8 



