DICAAUM FULGIDUM, Selater.
Rosy-flanked Flower-pecker.

Diceum fulgidum, Sclater, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1883, p. 56.

 

Two specimens of this apparently new Diceum were contained in Mr. Forbes’s first collection from Timor
laut. It differs from D. zgnicolle from the Aru Islands, with which we have compared it, in having the rosy
tint spread over the whole of the under surface, so that there is no olive on the flanks, but the lower abdomen
and under tail-coverts are of a pale fawn-brown colour. It must be also very closely allied to D. heense of
Salvadori, from the Kei Islands; but this is described as having the abdomen olivaceous, yellow in the middle.
Having regard to the way in which the different Molucca Islands possess their own peculiar species of
Diceum, it is not unreasonable to suppose that the birds coming from Timor laut will also be found to be
specifically distinct from the Flower-peckers of the neighbouring islands.

The following description is from the type specimen, which was kindly lent to me by Dr. Sclater.

Adult male. General colour above dark purplish blue ; wing-coverts like the back ; quills black, externally,
slightly glossed with purplish blue, a little more distinct on the innermost secondaries ; tail-feathers purplish
blue like the back, but slightly duller; lores black; sides of face, cheeks, and ear-coverts black, with a
slight gloss of purplish blue; a very narrow line of black bordering the rami of the lower jaw; under
surface of the body pale scarlet, richer on the fore neck and breast, and extending in a rosy tinge
over the sides of the body, the lower flanks and vent being of a light fawn-brown; the chin whitish, and
the centre of the body also mixed with white, the bases of the feathers being of this colour; in the centre
of the breast a faintly indicated blackish spot; thighs black; under tail-coverts pale rose-colour; under
wing-coverts and axillaries white ; edge of wing and adjacent coverts black ; quills blackish below, narrowly
edged with white along the inner web; “bill, legs, and feet black ; iris black” (AZ. O. Forées). Total
length 3°65 inches, culmen 0:4, wing 2°15, tail 1°25, tarsus 0°59.

The figures in the Plate are drawn from the typical example above mentioned.
[R. B. SJ

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