Most unwillingly I have again in this instance anticipated my friend Dr. Horsfield in describing this bird, which he found in Java, and which I engraved after one sent from Ceylon, without knowing it had also fallen under his observation.
The figure is less than the natural size, which is nearly that of our European species. Bill an inch and a half long from the gape, and black. Nostrils small, basal, round, not sulcated, partially defended by incumbent hairs; at the angle of the mouth is a row of short, stiff bristles; a black line commences from the nostrils, passes under the eye, and terminates with the ears. The upper part of the head, neck, and between the wings, rufous. The rump and upper tail-covers pale blue: the chin and throat sulphur tinged with rufous, where an irregular and narrow collar of black crosses the neck. The remaining under parts yellowish-green. Wings and quills fulvous green, the latter tipt with black, and all the inner shafts more or less rufous: the second quill longest, and the lesser quills and tail-feathers notched at their tips. Tail green, slightly forked; the tips and under side dusky-black, and three inches and a half long. Wings, when closed, four inches one line in length. Vent blueish-white.
The females in this genus may generally be distinguished by the two middle tail-feathers being but slightly or not at all elongated.
_Testa orbicularis vel globosa. Spira depressa vel paululum elevata. Apertura integra. Labium exterius marginatum. Operculum nullum._
Shell orbicular or globose. Spire depressed, or but slightly elevated. Aperture entire. Outer lip margined. Operculum, none.
_H. testâ depressissimâ, ferrugineo-marmoratâ et bifasciatâ, umbilico magno, profundo, aperturâ auriformi; labio exteriore incrassato, margine interiore dente obsoleto._
Shell much depressed, marbled and doubly-banded with ferrugineous. Umbilicus large, deep. Aperture ear-shaped. Outer lip thickened, reflected, with a gibbous obsolete tooth within.
A shell no less remarkable for its form than its extreme rarity. The mouth bears a most striking resemblance to the human ear; and the only specimen known in this country is the one here figured, from the cabinet of Ch. Dubois, Esq., who obligingly favoured me with it for examination; neither does the exquisite work on the Land Shells, by M. de Ferrusac, now publishing at Paris, contain this species among the numerous matchless figures already given of this family.