forms an oblong protuberance, wlucli is rounded off towards the vertical extremity, and divided
from tbe base o f the bill b y a distmct line as shewn in the accompanying cut. The bend of
the wing in the present bird and a narrow margin o f the basal portion of the outer primary
are white. The specimen, now in the collection o f ilessrs. Salvin and Godman, from which
our description and figure are taken, was procured on the lagoon o f Tambo, in tbe month ot
November, 1857, hy 5Ir. Henry Whitely. In this bird, the b ill is marked “ lavender-colour,”
and the head-shield “ white.” But this would appear to b e different in the breeding season,
as Dr. Hartlaub describes the head-shield as red in one o f his specimens, and this is also the
case in an example o f this species in the collection o f the British Museum.
The specimens o f this species, in the Paris iluseum, from which Hartlaub’s description and
Gay’s figure were taken, were collected during the voyages o f D ’Orbigny and Castelnau
and Deville in various parts o f Bolivia. Those o f the latter travellers are stated to have been
procured in the vicinity o f La Paz. Under these circumstances it appears strange that the
name c7zz7ens25 should have been applied to them; Gay’s assertion, that this species is “ very
common” in that country being unquestionably incorrect
On the lagoon o f Tambo, in the Talley o f the same name on the western coast o f Southern
Peru, 'Wliitely met with large numbers o f this Ooot, but found them shy and difficult to shoot.
Tschudi informs us that the species occurs all along the western slope o f Peru, from the seashore
up to an elevation o f 14,000 feet. In the lagoon o f .Tunin he tells us it was very
common, and was killed b y the Indians, dried and kept for food.
The only other locality recorded for this species is the highlands o f Ecuador between
lilobamba and Mocha, where Fraser procured a single example in 1869. Fraser describes the
frontal-shield o f his specimen as “ delicate orange blending into lemon at the sides and back,"
the b ill as “ flesh-coloured, the point being blueish,” and the “ legs and feet delicate slate-colour.”
Fraser’s specimen is now in the Bremen Museum.
Our figure represents the bird reduced to one h alf its natural size.
A ugust, 1868.