PTEROGLOSSUS INSCRIPTUS, Swamson, 
Lettered Ara9ari. 
Specific Character. 
Mas. Pter. rostro Jlavo, nigro serrato; culmine, apice, J'asciaque hasali nigris: olivaceo- 
viridis, subtus citrinus ; capite collogue atris ; crisso coccineo. 
Foem. Capite collogue brunneis. 
Male. Bill yellow, with a basal band of black and a black culmen and tip; the serrations 
being also marked by irregular barbs of black; the bare space round the eye and tarsus 
greenish brown ; head and throat glossy black; wings, back, and tail olive green ; rump 
scarlet; under surface lemon yellow. 
Female. Resembles the male with the usual difference of brown for black. 
Total length, 12 to 13 inches; beak, H; wing, 4; tail, 5; tarsus, H. 
Pteroglossus inscriptus. Swains., Zool. Illust., vol. 2. pi. 90. Wagler, Syst. Avium. 
For fine examples of tliis interesting bird I am under obligations to Lord Stanley, to whose liberality I have 
frequently been indebted for the loan of specimens from his rich and valuable Museum. Independently of the 
fine pair in this collection, I have seen a female at Edinburgh : these, with the original example in the 
possession of W. Swainson, Esq., are, as far as I have been able to learn, the only specimens in England. 
It appears to he a bird of the greatest rarity, and only to be found in the remote and untrodden parts of the 
country destined by nature for its abode ; and which, according to the best information I can collect, is 
Guiana, the low and swampy districts of which, abounding in luxuriant palms, &c., afford it a retreat, from 
which there will doubtless be yet obtained many ornithological productions at j)rcsent unknown. 
The Lettered Ara^ari takes its specific character from the peculiar markings of the mandibles, which in 
some measure resemble Hebrew characters, and these, with its diminutive size, distinguish it from every 
other species. 
Inhabits Guiana, 
