Volume I Part 21 (1/2)

I introduce the description of this diminutive and undescribed sh.e.l.l from its affinity with the last, and as forming a most interesting transition from the Mitres to the Olives: agreeing with the former in the structure of the pillar and the sculptured spire, and with the latter in its general form and _prima facie_ appearance. Its perfect resemblance, in fact, to a small olive, may have occasioned its being hitherto overlooked. The spire is slightly wrinkled and striated; the teeth on the pillar very near each other, slender, and four in number. The colour pale yellowish; the mouth darker, and the tip and base purple. The whole sh.e.l.l is scarcely half an inch long.

It was received from the South Seas.

Pl. 49

[Ill.u.s.tration]

OXYRHYNCUS cristatus.

_Crested Sharpbill._

GENERIC CHARACTER.

_Oxyruncus_ Temminck.

_Rostrum breve, rectissimum, basi trigona, ultra basin attenuatum, apice acutissimum; mandibula superiore supra rotundata, utrisque integris. Nares basales, nudae, membrana partim tectae, apertura lineari ad marginem rostri approximante. Pedes breves, validi, digito medio longiores; digitis anterioribus tribus, exteriore connexo, interiore fisso; halluce valido._

Bill short, very straight, base trigonal, beyond attenuated to a very fine point; upper mandible above rounded, both entire. Nostrils basal, naked, partially covered by a membrane; aperture linear, near the margin of the bill. Feet short, strong, a little longer than the middle toe; anterior toes three, the outer connected, the inner cleft; hind toe strong.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER.

_O. supra olivaceo-viridis, subtus flavescente-albus, maculis nigrescentibus; capite crista coccinea inc.u.mbente; capitis lateribus lineis transversis flavescente-albis._

Above olive-green, beneath yellowish-white, with blackish spots. Head with an inc.u.mbent crimson crest; sides of the head and neck with transverse yellowish-white lines.

An elegant and (to the ornithologist) a highly interesting bird, considered with much judgement by Professor Temminck as a new genus, having the perfect bill and habit of the Wryneck, but totally unlike that bird in the position of its toes, which in this are not placed in pairs. The Professor has slightly described it, in the new edition of his _Manuel_, without a _specific_, but under the _generic_ name of _Oxyruncus_, the spelling of which must be presumed as an error of the press: no mention, however, is made of the beautiful crimson colour which adorns the crest.

Total length near seven inches. Bill eight-tenths in length from the gape; general colour of the bird olive-green, becoming nearly white on the under part, and on the transverse stripes on each side the neck, front and temples, where there are also obscure bands of black; crown with a concealed crest, which is vivid crimson at the base and blackish at the tips; inner margin of the covers, quills and tail blackish; inner covers yellowish; chin, neck and breast banded with blackish lines, which are broken into spots and stripes beyond.

Inhabits Brazil, but is very rare.

Pl. 50

[Ill.u.s.tration]

ALCEDO Asiatica.