PTEROdxLOSSlEF® MAM . « , M d
OcuM kRichkr M
lluVnmndel & Viclltn
PTEROGLOSSUS MARINE, Gould.
Duchess of Leuchtenberg*’s Ara^ari.
S p e c i f i c C h a r a c t e r .
Pter. mandibula superiore p a l tide stramineo-flava unicolore, maculis ad tomias n ig r is ; inferiore
ochraceo-flavo unicolore.
Crown of the head black ; nape, upper part of the back and rump very deep blood-red ; back,
wings and tail dark olive-green; primaries black, edged with dark olive-green; cheeks and
throat chocolate, bordered below by a narrow line of black, beyond which is a broad
crescentic band of rich blood-red, succeeded by a still broader band of dull black ; remainder
of the under surface pale yellow, stained with blood-red immediately behind the black
band, particularly on the sides; under surface of the wings pale yellow; thighs dark olive;
upper mandible straw-yellow, with a narrow interrupted streak of black along the denti-
culations; under mandible uniform ochreous-yellow; at the base of both mandibles a narrow
raised band of pale yellow; irides crimson; orbits deep blood-red, with a ring of cobalt-
blue next the p u p il; legs and feet olive-green.
Total length, 14 inches; bill, 3 ; wing, 4 f ; tail, 5 f ; tarsi, 1.
T h e Banded Araparis are some of the most striking and beautiful of the forest birds inhabiting the borders
of the River Amazon. They constitute a little group unequalled among the Toucans for the grace and
elegance of their form, and' are distinguished above all others by the rich colouring of their under surface,
with the curl-crested species at their head as the largest, and the present diminutive one at the other
extremity. • As the name Beauharnasius, in honour of the late Duke of Leuchtenberg, has long been associated
with this group as the specific appellation of the former, I have thought it not inappropriate to name
the smaller species in honour of the widow of a prince distinguished for his love and support of science,
and whose premature death all naturalists must deplore.
The native habitat of this species is the woods clothing the sides of the Lower Amazon, whence numerous
specimens have been sent by Mr. Hawkswell; all of which were precisely alike, both in size and in colouring.
The species to which the present bird is most nearly allied is the P.Jlavirostris, but it differs in being of a
smaller size, in the uniform colouring of the upper mandible, in which there is no trace of the orange mark
beneath the nostrils so observable in that species, and in the lower mandible being wholly ochraceous,
instead of being straw-white with a streak of ochraceous along the side only.
The sexes appear to be precisely alike in colour, and it is only by her somewhat smaller size that the
female may be distinguished from the male.