S p e c i f i c C h a r a c t e r .
Pter. t/orso inferiore, uropygio, et caudce tectricibus splendidi sanguineis; corpore irferioreftwo,
pectore superiore sanguineo tincto, inferiore mttd coloribus nigro et sanguineo commixtis,
fasciata.
CrowD of the head, sides of the face, chin and upper part of the back shining greenish black;
wings and tail dull brownish green ; lower part of the back, rump and upper tail-coverts
rich blood-red ; under surface yellow, stained on the chest with blood-red, and crossed on
the breast by a band of mingled black and blood-red ; thighs chestnut; bill bordered at
the base by a narrow line of dull white ; the remainder of the bill yellowish horn-colour,
with a broad stripe o f black along the upper mandible near the cutting edge and a narrow
line in the centre of the culmen ; upper mandible black.
Total length, 18 inches; bill, 5 ; wing, 6 v ; tail, 7*1 tarsi, lv.
Pteroglossus erythropygius, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., P a rt X I. p. 15. Ib. Zool. of the
Voy. of H .M.S. Sulphur, Birds, p. 45. pi. 28.—Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds,
vol. ii. p. 404, Pteroglossus, sp. 15.—Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., p. 94, Pteroglossus,
sp. 15.
T h e great country lying to the northward of the Isthmus of Panama h a s a fauna which is in a great
measure peculiarly its own ; it is true, that genetically many of the forms are die same as those of other
tropical portions of America, but the species are unquestionably different. I he accompanying Plate
represents one if not two species of Pteroglossus, x o i there is at least another, belonging to the same genus,
which appears to be exclusively an inhabitant of Central America, by which I would be understood to mean
in a wide sense—Mexico. I have said that the accompanying Plate represents either one or two spec.es;
and it will be seen that some difference occurs in the figures which were taken from two unique
specimens, one in my own collection, the other in the Museum of the United Service InstUution. The latter,
which is represented in the foremost figure, formed part of the collection made by B. B. Hims Esq
Surgeon B.N., the naturalist attached to the Expedition under Captain Sir Edward Belcher, B.N., of H.M.S.
Sulphur, and was obtained at Realejo, on the shores of the Pacific in Central America : the precise locality
in which the specimen in my own possession was procured is not known with certainty.
Mr Hinds’s bird differs from mine in being of a much larger size, in having t e un er man Eg e o a near y
uniform straw-wbite, and the breast much less stained with scarlet. If hereafter it should be found that
the two birds are different species, the term sanguineus might not he an inappropriate name for the smal
bird Both the specimens or species in question are nearly allied to the Pteroglossus torjuatus of Wagler
(P r eg a lis of Lichtenstein, and of the former edition of this work), but the total absence of the crescentic
brown collar at the nape of the neck will at all times distinguish them from that spec.es : the markings of
their bills are also very different. .
The specific name of erythropygius was given to this bird to indicate the rich scarlet colouring of its rump,
which hue is also extended over the whole of the upper tail-coverts.
The figures are of the natural size.