PT EROGLOS SUS DERBIANUS .
The Earl of Derby’s Aracari.
S p e c i f ic C h a r a c t e r .
Pter. rostro castaneo, antice in brunnescenti-nigrum transeunte, ad basin fascia angustafavescenti-
albida cincto: viridis, supra brunneo parum tinctus ; capite cosrulescenti-viridi; remigibus
nigrescenti-brunneis; rectricum intermediarum duarum apicibus castaneis; orbitce rufo-
brunnece ; tarsi cceruleo-plimbei.
Bill rich chestnut, passing into deep brownish black on the middle of the upper and the anterior
portion of the lower mandibles, the sides of the base of both having a narrow band of
yellowish white ; the upper surface of the body green, with a slight tinge of brown; all
the remaining plumage green, with the exception of the back of the head and neck, which
are stroDgly tinged with blue, the primaries, which are blackish brown, and the tips of the
two middle tail-feathers, which are chestnut; space round the eyes reddish brown ; tarsi
blueish lead colour.
Total length, l4 i to 15 inches; bill, 3 f ; wings, 5 ; tail, 5; tarsi, l i .
Aulacirhunchus Derbianus. Gould, Proceedings of Zool. Soc., Part III. p. 49.
F or the loan o f the only example of this fine species which has come under my notice I am indebted to the
kindness of the Earl of Derby, whose valuable collection has so often afforded me the opportunity of examining
rare and new species. In naming this new bird after so distinguished and honourable an individual, I am
influenced partly by the interest which His Lordship takes in the promulgation of science, especially ornithology,
and partly by the desire I feel to testify my respect and gratitude.
As far as I have been able to ascertain, this species is an inhabitant of the Cordillerian Andes, from which
country it came, although by au indirect channel, into the possession of Lord Derby, who kindly forwarded it
to me for the purpose of its being figured and described.
It differs from Pteroglossus sulcatus (the only known species with which it is likely to be confounded) in
being more robust in size, and in having a more powerful and less attenuated bill, the basal angle of which is
not carried near so far back as in Pter. sulcatus: the brown tips of the middle tail-feathers of the present
species, a character never seen in P. sulcatus, will also serve at all times to distinguish them.