CYCLOPSITTA MELANOGENYS.
Black-cheeked Perroquet.

Psittacula melanogenia, Rosenberg, Tijdschr. voor Nederl. Indié, xxix. p. 142 (1866).—Schlegel, Nederl.
Tijdschr. voor de Dierk. iii. p. 330 (1866).—Rosenberg, Reis naar de Zuidoostereilanden, p, 49
(1867).—Gray, Hand-l. of Birds, ii. p. 168 (1870).—Schlegel, Mus. Pays-Bas, Psittaci, p. 35 (1874).

Psittacula melanogenys, Finsch, Papag. ii. p. 627 (1868).

Cyclopsittacus melanogenys, Salvadori, Annali Mus. Civic. Genov. ix. p. 14 (1876-7).—Id. op. cit. x. p. 29 (1877).

 

I wave figured in my different works several species of these little Perroquets, which appear to form a small
group inbabiting only New Guinea and the adjacent Papuan islands, and extending into North-eastern
Australia.

During the course of the present work several new species have been discovered ; and the most of these
belong to the orange-breasted section of the genus Cyclopsitia.

As Count Salvadori remarks, the distribution of these birds is truly remarkable, especially as regards
the present bird and its two nearest allies: thus C. melanogenys is found in the Aru Islands, and is replaced
in South-eastern New Guinea, where so many of the birds are identical with Aru species, by C. swavessima ;
while on the Fly river, which is an intermediate locality, occurs C. fuscifrons. Von Rosenberg procured
examples of the present bird in the three islands of Wokam, Wonoumbai, and Mikor (all in the Aru
group), where they are known to the natives by the name of Joa. Professor Schlegel gives a_ full
description of the bird, and makes the following remarks, which I extract from his paper :—

«The Aru group produces a little Psittacula which has escaped the researches of Mr. Wallace, but of
which M. von Rosenberg has furnished us with four individuals, viz. an adult male and female, and two spe-
cimens marked as males but wearing the livery of the females. This species is allied by its general form
and its system of coloration to our Psittacula gulielmi IIT. which inhabits Salawati and the neighbouring
coast of New Guinea; and it appears to replace it in the Aru archipelago. I, is, however, much smaller in
size, all its colours are less vivid, the black bar on the ear-coverts is proper to both sexes, the yellow of
the loral region is replaced by white, and the blue of the forehead and the superciliary streak are also
blackish ; the greater under wing-coverts, instead of being uniform blackish, are yellowish and only tipped
with blackish ; the quills have all of them, excepting the first two, a very large yellowish band on their inner
web, whereas in P. gulelmi IIL, this band is either in no way pronounced, or slightly indicated, passing
insensibly to blackish, and confined to the secondary quills. The chest is always tinged or washed with
yellow or orange-red.”

The following is a translation of the description given by the learned Professor :—

Adult male. General colour grass-green, passing to yellowish green on the lower parts and to blackish
on the inner webs of the quills. Forehead, region of the eye, and the whole of the posterior portion of the
ear-coverts and the moustachial plumes of a slightly pronounced black ; behind the region of the ear a very
large patch extending onto the chin, of a white colour, washed with orange-yellow ; the chest of a dark
orange-rufous, not very bright ; lower edge of wing, as also the outer edge of the primaries, blue; lesser
and median under wing-coverts yellowish green, passing into blue towards the edge of the wing ; greater
under wing-coverts yellowish, but blackish at the tip; inner web of the quills, with the exception of the
first two, having a very large yellow band.

The female and the male in imperfect plumage are distinguished from the adult male in the colour of the
large patch behind the region of the ear, which is not white, but of a lively orange-yellow, the part of which
occupying the chin passes into a greyish blue; lastly the chest is simply washed with orange-yellow. Von
Rosenberg gives the colours of the soft parts as follows :—‘ Bill, feet, and iris dark greyish brown.”

The figures in the accompanying Plate are of the size of life, and are a male anda young bird from the Aru
Islands.