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.
OXYRHYNCUS cristatus.
Crested Sharpbill.
Generic Character.
- Oxyruncus Temminck.
- Rostrum breve, rectissimum, basi trigonâ, ultra basin attenuatum, apice acutissimum; mandibulâ superiore suprà rotundatâ, utrisque integris. Nares basales, nudæ, membranâ partim tectæ, aperturâ 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. suprà olivaceo-viridis, subtùs flavescente-albus, maculis nigrescentibus; capite cristâ coccineâ incumbente; capitis lateribus lineis transversis flavescente-albis.
- Above olive-green, beneath yellowish-white, with blackish spots. Head with an incumbent crimson crest; sides of the head and neck with transverse yellowish-white lines.
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.