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VIOLET PLANTAIN-EATER. 
Musophaga viotacsa, Lsert. 
PLATE XIX. 
Black, glossed with violet ; crown and quill-fcatliers, crimson ; 
bill yellow, tipt with red ; beneath the eye a white stripe. 
Mnsophaga violacea, lsert , Berlin Tr. — Cuculus regius, Shaw, 
Mus. Lee. 167. pi. 40 Mnsophaga violacea, Cuvier, Tem- 
minok, Latham, Shaw, Vieillot, &.c. &e. &c. 
Our admiration of this noble bird may perhaps be 
thought too great, when we esteem it as one of the 
princes of the feathered creation. Other birds are 
pretty, handsome, splendid, gorgeous, beautiful ; but 
the colouring of this is regal. The shining black 
purple of the general plumage contrasts in exqui- 
site harmony with the deep lilac crimson of its wings, 
the peculiar tint of which is certainly unequalled 
in any other known bird. The beak, although 
remarkably large, does not seem at all dispropor- 
tionate, for it is neither fantastically formed like the 
horn-bills, or monstrously large as those of the tou- 
cans, while the rich yellow, passing into crimson, 
with which it is decorated, gives a relief to the dark 
colour of the plumage, and must add considerably 
to the beauty of the living bird. 
