IIG 
EEAITTIFITL BIEDS. 
colours. The head, the neck, and the belly are glit- 
tering green; the feathers which cover these parts 
liave the lustre and softness of velvet to the eye and 
to the touch ; the back is changeable violet ; the 
wings are of the same colour, and appear, according to 
the lights in which they are held, blue, violet, or deep 
black, always, however, imitating velvet. The tail is 
composed of twelve feathers, the two middle ar.e the 
longesb, and the lateral ones gradually diminish ; it is 
\’iolet or changeable blue above, and black beneath. The 
feathers which compose it are as wide in proportion as 
they are long, and shine both above and below with 
the brilliancy of polished metal. Above the wings, 
the scapulars are ver}^ long and singularly formed ; 
their barbs are very short on one side, and very long 
on the other. These feathers dre of the colour of 
polished steel, changing into blue, terminated by a 
large spot of brilliant green, and forming a species of 
tuft or appendage at the origin of the wings. * Below 
the wings spring long curved feathers, directed up- 
wards ; these are black on the inside, and brilliant 
green on the outside. The bill and feet are black. 
