PTEROGLOSSUS BITORQUATUS, rig. 
Double-collared Ara^ari. 
Specific Character. 
Pter. mandibula inferiore albidd, fascia obliqud apicali nigra ; guld guttureque castaneis, hoc 
sabtus nigro marginato ; torque pectorali august a sulphured. 
Male. —Head black; sides of the neck and throat chestnut, bordered below by a narrow band 
of black, to which succeeds a similar one of sulphur-yellow; breast, back of the neck and 
rump blood-red; abdomen and under tail-coverts sulphur-yellow, the latter tinged with 
rufous ; thighs olive; upper surface, wings and tail dark olive-green; upper mandible 
greenish yellow ; under mandible white, with an oblique mark of black occupying the 
apical half; both mandibles bounded at the base with a narrow raised belt of whi te, within 
which is a thread-like line of white, and on the lower mandible a broader line of black ; 
irides orange-coloured, with a black spot on each side at their inner margin, giving the 
pupil an horizontal-oval appearance; round the eye a greenish grey ring, the remainder 
of the orbits beautiful vermilion-carmine red ; legs dark greyish green. 
Total length, 14 inches; bill, 3 tw ; wing, 4i; tail, 5f; tarsi, li. 
Pteroglossus bitorquatus, VIg. in Zool. Journ., vol. ii. p. 481.—Gould, Mon. of Ramph., pi. 16. 
—Ib. Sturm’s Edit., pi. .—Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. ii. p. 403, 
Pteroglossus, sp. 5.— Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., Pteroglossus, sp. 5. 
- nigridens, Wagl. 
This bird was first characterized as new to science by the late Mr. Vigors, who took the description given 
by him in the second volume of the “ Zoological Journal ” above-quoted, from a fine specimen then in his 
possession, but since transferred to the Museum of the Zoological Society of London ; and who states that 
the specific name bitorquatus was suggested by the tw T o narrow bands, one of yellow, the other of black, 
which surrounds the chest. 
In my former account of this species, I spoke of it as being remarkable for its rarity as well as its 
beauty and elegance of form,—Mr. Vigors’s specimen, one in the collection of the late Earl of Derby, and 
a third in the Museum at Berlin, being all that bad then come under my notice; the bird is, however, no 
longer rare, numerous specimens having been recently transmitted to this country and to the continent. 
My own collection contains fine examples procured by Mr. Wallace in the neighbourhood of Para, on the 
Lower Amazon ; and other specimens, also procured by that gentleman in the same locality, form part of 
the National collection. 
The Messrs. Sturm state, in their edition of this work, that the yellow crescent is only found on the breast 
of the females, and that the male is entirely devoid of it; but I suspect that this is not always the case, as 
it is very conspicuous in one of the specimens at the British Museum, which I have no doubt is that of a 
male. To those gentlemen I am also indebted for the following description of the soft parts, the colouring 
of which was previously unknown to me :—“ Iris orange-coloured, with a black spot on its inner margin 
on each side, so that the pupil appears horizontal-oval; ring surrounding the eye grey ; the rest of the 
orbits beautiful red, such as would be produced by mixing carmine and vermilion.” 
The Plate represents this species in a state of excitement at the sight of a snake ; it must not, however, 
be understood that the bird feeds upon these animals; they are merely so represented to show how readily 
(as mentioned by Prince Maximilian of Wied) they are excited by the sudden appearance of any unwonted 
object. 
The figures represent the two sexes of the natural size. 
