Volume Ii Part 20 (1/2)
PLATYRHYNCHUS cancromus. fem.
_Short-tailed Flatbill._
GENERIC CHARACTER.
_Platyrhinchos_, Temminck. _Sw. Zool. Ill._ (div. I.) Vol. i. pl. 13.
_Rostrum tenue, breve, valde depressum, frontis lat.i.tudinem superans, mandibulae superioris abrupte aduncae, et ad apicem emarginatae, marginibus dilatatis, et inferioris margines superplicantibus. Nares medii, basi membrana pennis minutis instructa obtecta, apertura parva, rotunda, terminali, tantum non nuda. Rictus ampli, ad mandibulae superioris basin vibrissis rigidis armati. Pedes sedentes, graciles, digitis lateralibus imparibus, digito exteriore ad medii digiti articulum primum annexo, halluce valido._
Bill thin, short, very much depressed, broader than the front of the head; the upper mandible abruptly hooked and notched at the tip; the margins dilated, and folding over those of the under mandible; nostrils central, the base covered with a membrane having minute feathers, the aperture small, round, terminal, and nearly naked; mouth large, armed above with stiff bristles; feet sitting, slender; lateral toes unequal, exterior united to the middle as far as the first joint; hinder claw strongest.
SPECIFIC CHARACTER.
_P. (fem.) supra olivaceo-fuscus, infra pallide fulvus; jugulo albo; genis pennisque spuriis nigris; striga ante et pone oculum, maculoque auriculari albentibus._
(Female) above olive-brown; beneath pale fulvous; throat white; ears and spurious quills black; stripe before and behind the eye, and spot on the ears whitish.
Platyrhinchos cancromus. (male?) _Temminck_ and _Laugier_. _Pl. Col._ _Pl._ 12. _f._ 2.
The remarkable breadth of the bill, and the extreme shortness of the tail, in this bird, render it a very singular little creature. Though a native of Brazil, I never met with it during my travels in that country; and the only specimen I have yet seen belongs to Mr. Leadbeater. The figure of _P.
cancromus_ of Professor Temminck, differing only from this bird in having a yellow crest, leads me to believe they are s.e.xes of the same species; this being the female bird. The tail in the male appears to be somewhat longer, but this may be an error of delineation, and the description has not yet been published.
The figure is of the natural size, and below is an outline of the bill and nostrils; these latter are depressed, and the base covered with thickset feathers; the aperture is naked, round, and piercing the membrane in a lateral direction, midway between the ridge and margin of the bill, and at the end of the nasal membrane. The plumage above fulvous brown: darker, and tinged with reddish on the margin of the quills and tips of the wing covers: spurious quills and stripe beneath the eyes black: the upper part of the ears are also black, the lower half whitish yellow; chin and throat whitish; breast and body beneath pale fulvous brown; tail remarkably short, and not projecting beyond the wings; upper mandible black, lower white.
Since the publication of the remarks on this genus at Plate 14, a further consideration of the subject induces me to adopt the opinion of Professor Temminck, in placing the _Todus Platyrhynchos_, Gm., and its allies, under a distinct genus; or, in other words, of detaching from this group the second division annexed to my former definition of this genus. Still, however, the close affinities I have there pointed out, render the generic situation of several of these birds very doubtful; because the transition from one to the other is so gradual that even the most accurate set of generic characters, founded on the bill, will not clearly define the limits between the genera _Platyrhynchus_ and _Muscipeta_. Their anatomy might do so, but on this subject we are quite ignorant.
I can gather nothing from the characters which Dr. Horsfield has given in the Linnaean Transactions of his new genus _Eurylaimos_; which does not perfectly agree with those of _Platyrhynchus_. It appears to have precisely the same formation of bill, nostrils, legs, &c. as _P. cancromus_, but in a higher state of development; thus strengthening the opinion I have above expressed.
Pl. 116
[Ill.u.s.tration]
MUSCIPETA barbata,
_Whiskered Flycatcher._
GENERIC CHARACTER.
_Rostrum latum, valde depressum, lateribus aliquando dilatatis, culmine prominente, mandibulae superioris apice adunco, plerumque emarginato, marginibus mandibulae planae inferioris margines superplicantibus. Nares basales, membrana obtectae, apertura terminali, ovata, vibrissis longis armata._
_Ob. Pedes mediocres vel breves, digito exteriore ad medii articulum secundum annexo, interiore et medio ad basin mod annexis._