PTEROGLOSSUS ULOCOMUS. 
Curl-crested Ara^ari. 
Specific Character. 
Pter. rostro elongato, mandibuUs albo serratis, ad basin fascia angustd castanea circiimdatis; 
superioris culmine aiirantiaco lined sordide cceruled utrinqiie marginato, lateribus aurantio- 
rubris ; inferiore stramined, in aurantiacwn ad apicem vergente ; naribus lined albd cinctis: 
plumis capitis, genarum, nucliceque foliiferis, illius crispis nigris, Jiarim spatulatis, genarum 
stramineis nigro apiculatis; cervice, dorso, pectorisque lateribus coecineis; alis, caudd, 
femoribusque olivaceis ; remigibus brunneis ; guld, pectore, abdominis medio crissoque Jiaves- 
centibus, pectoris plumis coccineo marginatis. 
Beak lengthened, both mandibles edged with thickly set white serratures; the upper has the 
culmen orange, bordered by a narrow longitudinal stripe of dull blue extending nearly 
to the tip, below which the sides of the mandible are fine orange red; a white line 
surrounds the apertures of the nostrils; the under mandible is straw-coloured, becoming 
orange at the tip; a narrow band of rich chestnut encircles both mandibles at their base ; 
crown of the head covered with a crest of curled metal-like feathers, without barbs, of an 
intense black and very glossy; as they approach the occiput these appendages gradually 
lose their curled character and become straight, narrow and spatulate. The feathers of 
the cheeks have the latter form, but are more decidedly spatulate; their colour is yellowish 
white, each having its extremity tipped with black; occiput and upper tail-coverts deep 
blood red; chest delicate yellow, with slight crescent-shaped bars of red; sides yellow 
richly stained with red; back, tail and thighs olive green j quills brown; tarsi lead colour. 
Total length, 18 inches; bill, 4; wings, 5f; tail, 74; tarsi, 2t. 
Pteroglossus idocomus. Gould, Proceedings of the Zool. Soc., Part l.^p. 38. 
Abundant as are the treasures which science has received from the Brazils, the valuable addition of this 
beautiful bird to our ornithological stores, further illustrates the riches of that luxuriant portion of tropical 
America, and also confii-ms the opinion long entertained, that there are yet many rarities to he discovered 
in its extensive forests. Although our collections already abound with the productions of districts adjacent to 
cities and of easy access, such is not the case as it regards the almost unexplored districts of the interior, 
whence we only occasionally derive specimens, proving how much we are yet ignorant of, and how much 
remains for future discovery. 
Interested as I have always been with this singular family, it was with no small degree of pleasure that 
I hailed the arrival of so fine a species, particularly as it offers to our observance in the covering of its 
head a feature entirely new among the Pteroglossi. I regret that it is beyond the efforts of our pencil to 
do strict justice to the rich appearance of these glossy and curiously curled appendages, which in substance 
can only be compared to the metal-like feathers found in some species of the Gallince ,—the extreme 
ends of the neck- and wing-feathers of the Gallus Somerati, Temm., for instance. This structure appears to 
consist in a dilatation of the shaft of each feather, or perhaps an agglutination of the web into one mass. 
Two examples of this species formed part of a collection of rare birds brought to this country from Rio de 
Janeiro. Of these I was so fortunate as to obtain the finest, which is in all probability a male: it is now in 
the Museum of the Zoological Society of London. The other, which is considered a female, is preserved in 
the British Museum. 
The habitat of this species is probably in the almost untrodden forests whieh border the river Amazon, as, 
since the arrival of the pair alluded to, I have seen a third, having a label attached intimating that it was 
received from Para. 
