This difference in the sexes is the more remarkable as both the male and the female 
are equally brilliantly coloured, and on the head and neck, which are the brightest parts 
of the body, they do not shew a single tint in common, excepting in the black lores and 
chin. 
Dr. Sclater in his paper on the American Barbets in the “ Ibis ’ (V. c . ) , mentions that 
the specimens from Nanegal and Esmeraldas, on the opposite sides of the Andes, are slightly 
larger, though not otherwise different from those of Bogota. Mr. Salvin also notices that 
this difference is chiefly observable in the bill, which is longer and stouter and of a clearer 
yellow colour in the former, and also that in the Ecuadorean bird the red of the breast does 
not spread downwards over the chest. W e have been unable, however, to discover 
sufficient differences to form a specific distinction, and in this respect our conclusions agree 
with those of Messrs. Sclater and Salvin. 
In specimens shot by Mr. Fraser at Esmeraldas, Ecuador (P.Z.S, 1860, p. 297), that 
naturalist found vegetable matter in the stomach, and with reference to two other specimens 
obtained by him at Nanegal (Ic. p. 95) he says:— “ The gizzard contained green fruit with 
« minute seeds. The bare skin round the eye is yellowish.” With specimens from 
Pallatanga, Ecuador (P.Z.S. 1859, p. 146), the following note was given Irides red, 
“ bill greenish-yellow, legs and feet green ; gizzard contained fruit and remnants of insects. 
“ Found solitary in high trees; somewhat stupid. 
From these statements their food appears to be similar to that of the other Barbets. 
We are unable to ascertain any information as to their breeding habits, which, however, 
are probably similar to those of the rest of the family. 
Figures 1 and 2 in the plate are drawn from specimens in our own collection from 
Bogota and the third is from that of Messrs. Salvin and Godman from Ecuador, and repre- 
sents the young bird in the transitional state of plumage, which first led to the identification 
of the supposed two species as sexes of one and the same bird. Good figures of the male 
and female are likewise given in the “Revue Zoologique” for 1849. 
