RED-BELLIED CURUCUI. 



17 



belly, sides, and under tail-coverts of a" beautiful 

 red : the thighs blackish : upper surface of the tail 

 green, similar to the back, except the three outer 

 feathers, which are blackish, and crossed with 

 narrow transverse lines of grey ; tail itself wedge- 

 shaped : legs brown. The female is said by Buffon 

 to differ in having those parts, which are of a fine 

 brilliant green in the male, black grey, and en- 

 tirely without gloss : the undulating lines on the 

 wings are also less conspicuous : and three of the 

 outer tail-feathers have the webs marked with black 

 and white : the upper mandible is not yellow, but 

 brown, and the red colour does not extend so high 

 on the breast. 



This bird is said to vary very much, and Marc- 

 grave mentions one which had the wing-coverts 

 plain brown : the bill ash-coloured, irides saffron- 

 coloured, and without the bare spot under the eye 

 mentioned by Brisson in his description. 



There is another variety described and figured 

 by Buffon : the beak of which is exactly similar 

 both in shape and colour : but the whole bird is of 

 a cinereous grey, with very slight traces of green 

 gold, on a close inspection, especially on the back 

 and middle tail-feathers : the lower part of the 

 belly and vent only are red: and the tail itself 

 very long, having the outer webs of the three la- 

 teral feathers and the tips plain white : the three 

 outer quills are also marked with black and white 

 on the exterior webs. 



This is a very solitary bird, being found only in 

 the thickest forests, and in the pairing time there 



v. IX. p. i. 2 



