PHONYGAMA HUNSTEINI, § sharpe.

Hunstein’s Manucode.

  

Phonygama hunstein, Sharpe, Journ. Linn. Soc. London, xvi. pp. 442, 443 (1882).—D’Hamony. Bull. Soc.
Zool. France, 1886, p. 510.—De Vis, Ann. Rep. Brit. New Guinea, p. 60 (1890).—Id. Colonial Papers,
no. 103, p. 112 (1890).—Id. Ibis, 1891, p. 36.—Salvad. Agg. Orn. Papuasia, ii. p. 149 (1890), iii. App.
p. 239 (1891).—Sharpe, Bull. Brit. Orn. Club, iv. p. xiii (1894).—Rothschild, Novit. Zool. iii. pp. 11,
233, 235, 246 (1896).
, Manucodia hunsteini, Salvad. Ann. Mus. Civic. Genov. xviii. p. 426 (1882).—Id. Orn. Papuasia, iii. App. p. 551
= (1882).
. roe Manucodia thomsoni, Tristram, Ibis, 1889, p. 554.
Phonygama thomsoni, Salvad. Age. Orn. Papuasia, ii. p. 149 (1890), iii. App. p. 239 (1891).—Id. Ann. Mus.
Civic. Genov. (2) x. p. 832 (1891).—De Vis, Rep. Coll. British New Guinea, p- 112 (1890).—
Rothschild, Novit. Zool. iii. pp. 11, 235 (1896).

 

Tus Manucode was described by me in 1882 from a specimen sent by the late Carl Hunstein, and
supposed to be from. South-eastern New Guinea. That this locality is erroneous can hardly be doubted,
as the real habitat of the species is now known to be Fergusson Island, in the D’Entrecasteaux group.
Here it has been found by Mr. Basil Thomson, and also by Mr. Albert Meek, who says that it is met
with in the hills, but seldom below 1500 feet.

Hunstein’s Manucode is a large species, remarkable for its dull coloration, as compared with the
metallic colours which adorn the other species of the genus. The green colour of the head,
contrasting with the purplish-black colour of the upper and under parts, is also of a similar tint and
of an oily-green lustre, without any remarkable gloss. Another peculiarity of the species, which both
myself and Canon Tristram failed to observe, is the “ hen *-shaped tail, as the Hon. Walter Rothschild
points out. The tail-feathers slope downwards on each side from the central pair; and Mr. Rothschild,
who has several specimens in his collection, remarks :—‘‘The webs of the central rectrices in the
fully adult male stand nearly perpendicular at the tip, but they are not twisted so far as to Open
again as they do in Manucodia comri.” The female does not differ in colour from the male, but the
wing is a trifle shorter.

A young bird in Mr, Rothschild’s museum is nearly black, with a slight gloss of dull steel-green,
but with no purple on the back, wings, or tail. The head is black, with scarcely any steel-green gloss,
and the crest-feathers are scarcely indicated. The under surface of the body is dull black, with scarcely
any gloss except on throat.

Mr. Basil Thomson says that the convolutions of the windpipe are extraordinary, the latter being coiled

 

under the skin.
The figure in the Plate has been drawn from the type-specimen in the British Museum.

imp

Png. UY
Vinterre Bre