AULACORAMPHUS DE RBI AN US. 
The Earl of Derby’s Groove-bill. 
Specific Character. 
Aid. rostro castaneo, antice in brunnescenti-nigrum transeunte, ad basin fascia august a /laves- 
centi-albidd cincto; rectricum intermediarum duarum apicibus castaneis. 
General plumage green, slightly tinged with brown on the upper surface of the body, strongly 
with blue on the back of the head, the nape and cheeks, and fading into white on the chin ; 
primaries blackish brown; two middle tail-feathers largely tipped with chestnut; basal 
portion of both mandibles and the apex of the upper chestnut-red, the remainder of the 
bill black, with the exception of a narrow line of white, bordering the sides of both man¬ 
dibles at the base; orbits lead-colour ; irides yellow ; legs and feet lead-colour. 
Total length, 15 inches; bill, 3i; wing, 5; tail, 5 ; tarsi, li. 
Aulacorhynchus Derbianus, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part III. p. 49. 
Pteroglossus Derbianus, Gould, Mon. of Ramph., pi. 32.—lb. Sturm’s Edit., pi. .—Gray 
and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. ii. p. 404, Pteroglossus, sp. 27- 
Aulacoramphus Derbyanus, Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., p. 96, Aulacoramphus, sp. 5. 
For the loan of the only examples of this fine species that have come under my notice, I am indebted to the 
kindness of the late Earl of Derby, whose valuable collection so often afforded me opportunity of examining- 
rare and new species. In naming this new bird after His Lordship, I was desirous of paying a just tribute 
to one, who during a long life took the greatest interest in the promulgation of the natural sciences, parti¬ 
cularly that of Ornithology, and of evincing my sense of the many favours he accorded to me. 
In the former edition of this work I gave the Cordillerian Andes, in a wide sense, as the habitat of this 
species, but I have since ascertained that Dr. Poeppig of Leipsic found it in Peru, anil Mr. Bridges in 
Bolivia, near the margins of the rapid mountain streams at Ronco, in the country of the Yuracuri Indians; 
consequently those countries are its true and native habitat. It is a very fine species, and possesses cha¬ 
racters by which it may be readily distinguished from every other ; it is most nearly allied to A, sulcatus , 
but is of a more robust form, has a stouter and less attenuated bill, the basal angle of which is not carried 
so far back as in that species, and has the two middle tail-feathers tipped with chestnut, a character never 
seen in A. sulcatus. The Messrs. Sturm inform us that Dr. Poeppig has given a full description of this bird 
in “Frorieps Notizen” (vol. xxxi. No. 21, or No. 681, Supplement), and that he there states its cry is loud 
and disagreeable ; that it carries its tail erect with a bobbing motion, like that of the Wagtails, both while 
perched on the trees and when on the ground; that it lives in the woods, and is very rare. Messrs. Sturm 
add, that Dr. Poeppig had further informed them, that, like the Pteroglossus Beauharnam, it is a native of the 
Peruvian Andes, particularly the province of Huanuco, at an elevation of 8000 feet above the level of the 
sea; that, like its congeners, it deposits its eggs in hollow trees, and that they are of a shining whiteness, 
like those of the Kingfisher (Alcedo Ispida ). We are further indebted to the Messrs. Sturm for a knowledge 
of the young bird, which differs considerably from the adult. The bill is shorter, the sulci but indistinctly 
and not deeply impressed, and the serratures entirely absent; the chestnut-red colouring of the bill is also 
more diffused, and is only observable on the middle of the culmen, being replaced by blackish brown on the 
tomise and under mandible ; the line at the base of the mandibles is dirty white, instead of white, as in the 
adult; the colour of the plumage is similar, but lighter and less pure, especially on the under surface; the 
tail is remarkably different, all the feathers being very pointed, especially the middle ones, which have also 
a chestnut-brown spot very near to, but not quite at, the tip. 
The figures are of the natural size. 
