Zoological Illustrations Volume Ii Part 15

GENERIC CHARACTER.

Xenops. (_Hoffmansegg. in Illiger. Prod._ p. 213).

_Rostrum mediocre, r.e.c.t.u.m, acutum, valde compressum, inverse cultratum_, i. e. _culmine recto, gonyde recurva ascendente. Nares basales, laterales, ovatae, parvae, patulae. Lingua--? Pedes mediocres, congrui. Digiti antici basi coadnati, laterales subaequales. Hallux digitum medium aequans._ Illiger.

Bill moderate, straight, acute, much compressed, and inversely curved; the top of the upper mandible being straight, and the edge of the lower ascending or recurved. Nostrils basal, lateral, oval, small, and covered by a naked membrane. Tongue--? Feet moderate, claws united at their base, the lateral ones nearly equal; the hind claw as long as the leg and the middle toe.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER.

_X. supra fusco-rufa, infra griseo-fusca; mento, superciliis maculisque jugularibus et pectoralibus albentibus; maculo infra aures niveo; remigum secundorum nigricantium basi fulva, apicibus marginibusque rufis._

Above reddish-brown, beneath grey-brown; chin, eyebrows, and spots on the throat and breast, whitish; beneath the ears a snowy spot; lesser-quills blackish, the base fulvous, the tips and margins rufous.

Xenops genibarbis _Illiger Prod._ p. 218. (1811.)

Neops ruficaudus _Vieillot. Orn. Elem._ p. 68. (1816.)

A very extraordinary and not inelegant little creature, having a bill totally different from any other bird. Its general habit evinces a close connexion with the _Sittae_, particularly those of New Holland; some of which have their bills (which are slender) slightly inclining upwards, thus forming a connexion between _Xenops_ and the straight billed _Sittae_ of the old world.

The figure is of the male, and its natural size; the head dark brown with pale spots; the back of a reddish tinge, and the rump and tail rufous; tail much rounded, and of twelve feathers; the three outer and the two pair in the middle entirely rufous, the other pair having the inner shafts black; the greater quills black; the last having an internal bar of pale fulvous.

Beneath the eye a spot of white downy feathers, with a dusky border above and below; there is a little difference between this and Illiger's bird, but it may be only s.e.xual.

Inhabits Brazil, but is rare.

Pl. 101

[Ill.u.s.tration]

PAPILIO Evander.

GENERIC CHARACTER.--See Pl. 92.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER.

_Pap. (Tro. dent.) Alis dentatis, nigris; posticis supra maculis quinque violaceo-chermesinis; anticis subtus fascia albida, transversa, media._ G.o.dart.

Pap. (Tro. dent.) Wings dentated, black; posterior above with a five-cleft, violet-crimson spot; anterior beneath with a transverse, central, whitish band.

P. Evander. _G.o.dart, En. Meth._ _vol._ ix. _p._ 32. _no._ 18.

Both s.e.xes of this newly described insect are here, for the first time, figured; that above is of the male, and beneath is represented the under side of the female. The crimson spots (which finely relieve the brownish velvet-like black on the upper surface of the wings) are, in some lights, most beautifully glossed with changeable violet, and appear either darker or paler according to the position in which the insect is viewed.

Southern Brazil is, undoubtedly, more rich in this splendid family than the northern provinces of that vast country. I never saw this species except in Rio Janeiro, where it is common: nor do I know of any other, belonging to the division of _Trojani_, which have the lower wings sharply dentated, and with an appearance of obsolete _acute_ tails; a character more developed in the female of this species than in the male.

Pl. 102

[Ill.u.s.tration]

PAPILIO Nox.

GENERIC CHARACTER.--See Pl. 92.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER.

_P. (Troj. orb.) Alis immaculatis fuscis, inferis...o...b..culatis, ecaudatis; fronte, striga laterali subthoracica anoque rubris._

P. (Troj. orb.) Wings immaculate, brown; lower orbicular, not tailed; front, lateral stripe on the thorax beneath, and tip of the body red.

The colours of this insect are unusually sombre, and present a striking contrast to the gaudy tints by which the majority of these gay creatures are ornamented; it is so far remarkable, but it is more interesting to the entomologist, as being an unpublished addition to this genus. It was discovered in Java by Dr. Horsfield; and the drawing was made from an unique specimen which I observed while engaged in a long and laborious arrangement of the Linnaean _Papilionidae_, (as they now appear at the India House,) collected by that zealous naturalist for the India Company.

Between the nerves of the anterior wings (which are remarkably large) are parallel central stripes, of a darker brown; a character common to many Indian species, but not found, I believe, in any of those from the New World.

Pl. 103

[Ill.u.s.tration]

AMPULLARIA fasciata,

_Banded Apple Snail._

GENERIC CHARACTER.