PTILOPUS FISCHERI, Brig

Fischer’s Fruit-Pigeon.

gem.

Ptilinopus fischeri, Briggem. Abhandl. nat. Ver. Bremen, v. p. 82, Taf. iv.
Piilopus fischeri, Elliot, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1878, p. 571; Meyer, Ibis, 1879, p. 135,

 

Dr. Fiscuer is principally known to science as the discoverer of the beautiful new Polyplectron schleier-
macheri from Borneo; but previously to his visiting that country he forwarded to the Darmstadt Museum a
series of birds from the island of Celebes, amongst which were some new and interesting species. This
collection was described by the late Dr. Briggemann ; and although many of the novelties made known by
the latter gentleman were forestalled by Count Salvadori in a previously published paper, there were yet a
few which remained and will remain to the credit of Dr. Briiggemann, and will serve to perpetuate the
memory of this young and talented naturalist, whose early death was a veritable loss to science.

The Ptilopus fischeri is, as Mr. Elliot well remarks, so distinct a species that it cannot well be mistaken
for any other member of the genus Pé/opus. In its pale-coloured head it approaches the white-headed
group which embraces P¢. cinctus of Timor, as pointed out by Dr. Meyer; but its reddish side-face at once
distinguishes it, to say nothing of many other points of difference.

It is a native of Celebes ; and Dr. Meyer states that the Leiden Museum has recently obtained a series
from the southern part of the island, so that it is in this locality that the species must be looked for. The
birds of Celebes, are many of them so local in their distribution that it is quite possible that it is confined to
Southern Celebes alone.

Dr. Meyer has been so good as to lend me a specimen for the purposes of the present work ; and I append
a description of the bird, as follows :— . ; .

Above dark slaty grey, including the lesser and median wing-coverts, the greater series brownish towards
their tips; quills slaty blackish, the primaries narrowly See with white towards the end of the a
webs, the secondaries margined externally with yellow ; tail-feathers green, shot with bronzy green, black

on the inner webs of all but the two centre feathers; at the end of the tail a grey band, except on the two

centre feathers ; crown whitish grey; round the hind neck a ring of slaty black ; feathers in oe : a
round the eye, as well as the ear-coverts, dark crimson; cheeks and throat white ; rest of ee au — 0
rey, the thighs and flanks more decidedly ashy ; oe ee creamy
ering the shaft on the inner webs of the feathers.

lent to me by my kind

body cream-colour washed with ¢
buff, mottled with broad slaty grey stripes, bord ; ;
1 31 mlitemme ‘e drawn from a specimen

The figures in the Plate are about the size of life, and are drawn a S|

friend Dr. A. B. Meyer, of Dresden.

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