MYZOMELA w IGRITA, Gray.

Black Honey-eater,

Myzomela nigrita, Gra , Proc. OMe 5
ui eu oe pp. Ne 190.—Id. Cat. Mamm. & Birds of New Guinea, pp. 23,
ee e ee ae p. 155, 1861, p. 434.— Rosenb. Journ. fiir Orn. 1864, p. 122.—
Mee bas ace ee tee ae 1988 (1869).—Salvad. Ann. Mus. Civic. Genov. viii. p. 400
ee I 34 (1878).—Id. Proc. Zool. Soc. 1878, p. 97—W. A. Forbes, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1879

p. 265.—D?Albert. & Salvad. Ann, Mus. Civic. Genov. xiv. p. 75 (1879) poe eee

New South Wales, iv. p- 469 ( .—Ramsay, Proc. Linn. Soc.

ae eee mee Malay. Arch. p. 553 (1879).—Salvad. Ann. Mus. Civic.
ee a ) : a oe e delle Molucche, ii. p- 291 (1881).—Id. Rep. Voy.
; eee ol i. Birds, p. 81 (1881).—Sharpe, Journ. Linn. Soc., Zool. xvi. p. 437 (1883).—Gadow
at. Birds in Brit. Mus. ix. p. 139 (1884). —
Nectarinia nigrita, Finsch, Neu-Guinea, p. 163 (1865).
Myzomela erythrocephala (nec Gould), Meyer, Sitz. k, Akad. Wien, lxx. p. 204 (1874)
Myzomela meyeri, Salvad. Ann. Mus. Civic. Genovy. vii. p. 947 (1875), |
Myzomela pluto, Salvad. MSS., Forbes, Proc, Zool. Soc. 1879, p. 266.

 

Tuts peculiar little Honey-eater was discovered by Mr. A. R. Wallace in the Aru Islands, and was described
by the late Mr. G. R. Gray, who omitted to mention in his description anything about the white
under wing-coverts, an error corrected by Count Salvadori. It is replaced in the Solomon Islands by
a closely allied form, JZ. tristrami, in the Admiralty group by J. pammelena, and in New Ireland by
M. ramsay. The latter differs in its smoky black colour, and the first-named by its yellowish bill.

Considerable difference in size is exhibited in a series of this species, and the late Mr. W. A. Forbes, who
wrote a most useful memoir on the genus AZyzomela, has given a table of measurements to show that the
birds from New Guinea and the islands in the Bay of Geelvink (Jobi and Miosnoum) are the same as the
typical examples from the Aru Islands. Count Salvadori also adopts this view, but Dr. Gadow tries to prove
that JL. ngrita occurs in Western and Southern New Guinea and the Aru Islands, being replaced by
M. pammelena on the north coast of New Guinea with its islands, the Admiralty Islands, and the Solomon
group also.

Besides the islands of Jobi and Miosnoum, the species has been found at Dorei by Mr. Wallace, and
at Rubi in North-western New Guinea by Dr. Meyer. In South-eastern New Guinea Signor D’Aibertis
met with it on the Fly River, and it has been procured at East Cape by Mr. Hunstein. More recently
Mr. Forbes obtained specimens on the Astrolabe Mountains.

The following is the description of a pair of birds sent to us by the last-named gentleman :—
lack, both above and below; quills and tail-feathers black ; axillaries and

Adult male. General colour | af
“bill black; legs and feet lavender-blue; iris

under wing-coverts white, the edge of the wing black :
black” (HZ. O. Forbes). Total length 4 inches, culmen 0°59, wing oo

Adult female. Different from the male. General colour oe dusky brown ee _ i ol a i i
coverts an quills dusky blackish, edged with olive ; upper tail-coverts like the ae a oh ae oe
crown of bead like the back, the forebead dull crimson ; lores and sides of face dull crimson, He
under surface of body dusky, washed with olive, the

dusky ;

9-25, tail 1°55, tarsus 0:50.

“te le ile OP ms
ear-coverts dusky like the crown ; a
sides of body and flanks dusky ; thighs and under tail-coverts
low dusky, white along the inner edge: “ bill black ;
3:7 inches, culmen 0°59, wing 2°0,

cheeks and throat ;
centre of the abdomen olive whitish ;
overts and axillaries white; quills be

” (CH. O. Forbes). Total length

under wing-c

legs and feet dark yellow ; iris blue-grey

tail 1:3, tarsus 0°50.
The Plate represents

by Mr. H. O. Forbes in the Astrolabe Mountains. fe TS

i it air 7 5} ‘1 ZS C llected
male and female 0 ‘ the na ural S1Ze, drawn fi om the pat of specimens CO
a 2 ¢ c f S

a)

AZ