48 VIOLET PLANTAIN-EATER. 



been first accurately described by Mr. Isert, in 

 the Berlin Transactions. Its length is about 

 nineteen inches, of which the tail measures about 

 one third: the colour of the whole bird is a fine 

 deep violet, except on the lower part of the wings, 

 where the quill -feathers are bright purple or rather 

 crimson, tipped with violet, and the crown of the 

 head, which is also purple : beneath each eye is a 

 white streak pointing backwards to a considerable 

 distance: the bill is large and thick, but not long 

 in proportion, and is remarkable for the unusual 

 structure of the upper mandible, which rises up- 

 wards at the base, where it forms a kind of vault or 

 arch over the base of the forehead : it is of a yel- 

 low colour, stained with red towards the tip : the 

 legs are rather short than long, but very stout, and 

 of a blackish colour ; the feet being disposed as in 

 the generality of birds, or with three toes forwards 

 and one backward. It is found in the province of 

 Acra in Guinea, and is said to live principally on 

 the fruit of the Musa or Plantain-tree. It is ex- 

 tremely rare, and Mr. Isert, its describer, informs 

 us that notwithstanding all his care, he could only 

 obtain a single specimen. 



In the publication entitled Museum Leveri- 

 anum I have myself described this bird as a spe- 

 cies of Cuckow, under the name of Cuculus regius: 

 the description was made from a very fine draw- 

 ing, in which the toes were represented as of the 

 scansorial kind, viz, with two toes before and two 

 behind. This circumstance, added to an evident 

 alliance in many points between this bird and the 



