Volume 17, Plate VIII / Ornithology (Birds)

White-Bodied Grakle

Lamprotornis leucogaster

The least and loveliest of its group, this little grakle bears scale-like body feathers of metallic hue that shift from richest purple to deep lilac, almost red, by changing light. The male is satiny blue glossed with purple over head, neck, breast, and back, snowy white beneath, while the very different female is varied with ferruginous upon brownish-black above and white striped below, the bird measuring six inches.