14 
PICARIAN BIRDS. 
Giant Plantain- The sole representative of this genus (Gorythceola cristata) is 
Eater. the largest of all the family, measuring nearly 3 feet in length, and 
is remarkable for its tine crest and varied colouring. The upper surface is blue, 
the head and crest bluer, the tail-feathers yellow with blue bases and a broad bar 
of black near the end; neck blue with the chin and cheeks white; rest of under 
surface of body rufous brown; bill yellow with the tip scarlet; eye red. This 
handsome bird is found all over the forest district of West Africa from Sene- 
GIANT PLANTAIN-EATER (£ Bat. size). 
gambia to Angola, and extends throughout the Congo region to Equatorial Africa. 
Mr. Btittikofer says this plantain-eater is confined exclusively to the virgin forest, 
where it lives in companies of five or six together in the crowns of the tallest 
trees, generally out of reach of gunshot. It feeds upon a kind of bush-plum and 
other wild fruits, of which an enormous quantity are sometimes found in its 
crop. 
R. BOWDLER SHARPE. 
