28 B O A T — B I L L .
Cancroma cancrophaga, Lin. Syß. i. p. 233. 2.
La Cuilliere brune, Brif* Orn* v. N° 509. 2.— Buf. Oif. vii. p. £43.—««
PI* Enl. 869.
Tamatia, Rati Sjn» p. 116. iz.'—Will. Orn. p. 318. pi. 7,8*
Lot.
Description, g I Z E of the laft. Head and creft the fame : the upper parts,
inftead of afh-colour, are of a pale rufous Brown: the tail
rufous alh : the under parts wholly of a cream-colour: bill and
legs yellow brown.
I find thefe birds vary much : in the firft place, the crefts are
by no means of equal lengths ; fince the cinereous one, mentioned
by Buffon, had a fhorter creft than the brown fort; whereas in-
thofe which came under my infpeftion, it was juft the contrary;
and in one fpecimen the creft was fcarcely manifeft: the bills'
too vary in colour; fome are black, others brown, and in one
which I faw it appeared to have been yellow. I f I may be allowed
a conje&ure, it is, that the cinereous, or firft-defcribed, is-
the male, the plain brown one the female, and the fpotted variety
of Brijfon a young male; and that the crefts of both are equal,
when in an adult ftate. In the PL Enl. I obferve a patch of
grey in the middle of the greater wing coverts, which is not in
any fpecimen that I have feen. The figure referred to in Brown
is not good,being too fhort and fquatj that in Hift. des Oif. much
worfe, though the bill and creft are well exprefied: both thofe
in the PI. Enl. are fufficiently expreffive 5 and it is to be hoped,
that our reprefentation will likewife give a juft idea of fo curious
a bird.
1.
V a r . B.
BROWN B.
This
B O A T - B I L L .
This fpecies, for I refer all that has been treated of above to
one only, inhabits Cayenne, Guiana, and Braßl', and chiefly frequents
fuch parts as are near the water : in fuch places ir perches
on the trees which hang over the ftreams, and, like the Kings-
fifher, drops down on the filh which fwim beneath. It has been
thought to live on crabs likewife, whence the Linn<ean name;
but thip is not clear, though it cannot be denied; yet we are certain
that fifh is the moft common if not the only food.
P la c e a nd
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