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Show 178 ON SUPPOSED NEW SPECIES OF AMERICAN BIRDS. [Feb. 18, 9. Descriptions of two supposed new Species of South- American Birds. By A. BOUCARD, C.M.Z.S. [Beceived February 4, 1879.] (Plate XVII.) 1. CHIROMACH,ERIS CORONATA, n. sp. (Plate XVII.) Head black encircled by yellow feathers forming a coronet; back, tail-, and wing-coverts silky black; wings and tail brownish black, paler internally ; throat and breast black ; abdomen and under tail-coverts grey with a whitish spot in the centre of each feather, but this can only be seen by separating the feathers; under wing-coverts white with yellow edges; bill on the upperside black, paler underneath ; feet yellow. Total length 3 | inches, bill 4 | lines, wing 2 inches 3 lines, tail 1 inch. Hab. Columbia. Mus. Boucard. The present bird is the seventh of this interesting genus, and cannot be confounded with any of the other species. The single specimen, from which the figure is taken, is a fine male, and came in a large collection of birds sent from Bogota. 2. LAMPORNIS VIOLICAUDA, var. ? Upper surface purplish black, lighter on the rump; tail-coverts and central tail-feathers black ; lateral tail-feathers metallic purple, with the tip and external edge of each feather dark blue; chin and breast black, with a line of lustrous purplish black feathers commencing at the angle of the bill and passing down the sides of the neck; abdomen black in the centre, paler on the sides, with a line of white feathers on each side as in L. violicauda ; under tail-coverts purplish black ; bill and feet black. Total length 4 inches 2 lines, bill 9 lines, wing 2 inches 6 lines, tail 1 inch 5 lines. Hab. Brasilia. Mus. Boucard. I have only one male specimen of this bird. It is closely allied to L. violicauda, from which it differs chiefly in its colour. Possibly it m a y be a melanism of that species. |