T O D Ü S MU L T ICOLOR.
Tod. fronte et loro /a vis ; corpore super lore plumisque auriculdribus viridibus ; ad basin mandibuke in/erioris lined albâ
oriente, et per semimciam, in penis currente ; infra hanc notâ coeruleâ latera colli tegente, gulamque ferè cingente ;
gulâ splendide coccineâ ; pectore abdomineque medio cinerascenti-albis, hoc colore in coccineum ad latera transemte ;
crisso sulphureo ; rostro pallidè fusco ; tarsisflavescenti-fuscis.
Long. tot. une. ; rostri, % ; alee, 1-f- ; caudoe, 1-J-; tarsi, -§-.
Forehead and space between the bill and the eye yellow ; all the upper surface and the ear-coverts green ; a stripe
of white commences at the base o f the lower mandible and extends for half an inch down the neck ; this mark
is succeeded by a patch of bright blue, which is widened so as nearly to surround the lower p art o f the
throat, which is bright crimson ; chest and centre of the abdomen greyish white, passing into scarlet on the
flanks ; under tail-coverts sulphur yellow ; bill light brown ; legs yellowish brown.
Todus multicolor, Gould, in Proc. of Zool. Soc. Part V. 1837.
I am unable to state the precise locality from whence this beautiful species was received: it has been for some
years in the Museum o f the Zoological Society of London, and formed a p art o f the extensive collection presented
to that Society by N. A. Vigors, Esq., but has never before been characterized as distinct from Todus
triridis. O f this peculiar form, distinguished by a bright scarlet throat, I ain. acquainted with three distinct
species.
The present bird may be distinguished from the others, by the diversity o f colours, more particularly
by the yellow mark between the bill and the eye, and by the bright blue mark on each side o f the neck. I t
is also smaller than Todus viridis in all its proportions.
The sexes o f this group do not offer any external difference in the markings. Their food consists of
insects o f various kinds, particularly spiders. They incubate in holes in the earth. They inhabit exclusively
the islands o f the West Indies, and the adjacent p a rt o f the South American continent.
I have given two figures o f the bird o f the natural size.