XANTHOTIS cY RYSOTIS.

Golden-eared Honey-eater,

Philedon ne Lesson, Voyage de la Coquille, Zool. i. p. 645, pl. 21 (1826).—Rosenb, Malay Arch. p. 395

Myzantha flaviventer, Lesson, Man. d’Orn. ii. p. 67 (1828).

Myzantha chrysotis, Lesson, Traité d’Orn. p. 302 (1831).—Td, Compl. Buff., Ois. p. 594 (1838).

Bs aoriynchus chrysotis, Gray, Gen. B. ii. Pp. 126 (1846).—Bp. Consp. i. p. 390 (1850).—Sclater, Proc. Linn
Soe. B poe (1858).—Gray, Cat. Mamm. etc. New Guinea, Pp. 25, 56 (1859).—Finsch, Neu-Guinea,
p. 165 (1865).

Xanthotis chrysotis, Bp. Comptes Rendus, xxxviii. p. 262 (1854).—Meyer, Sitz. k. Akad. Wien, Ixx. pp. 113, 207
(1874).—Salvad. Ann. Mus. Civic. Genov. Vull. p. 401 (1876), x. p. 147 (1877), xvi. p. 78 (1880).—1a,
Orn. Papuasia e delle Molucche, ii. p- 347 (1881).

Ptilotis flaviventris, Gray, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1858, p. 190.—Id. Cat. M
Zool. Soc. 1861, p. 429.

Pitilotis chrysotis, Gray, Proc. Zool. Soc. S59 eles
Guillemard, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1885, p. 642.

Xanthotis flaviventris, Reichenb, Handb. Meropine, p. 139, fig. 3512 (1862).

Anthochera chrysotis, Gray, Hand-list Birds, i. p. 159, no. 2070 (1869).—Rosenb. Malay Arch. p. 553 (1879).

Xanthotis rubiensis, Meyer in Madarész, Zeitschr. ges, Orn. i. p, 289 (1884),

amm. etc. New Guinea, p- 95 (1859).—Id. Proc.

5.—Gadow, Cat. Birds in Brit. Mus. i. p. 238 (1884).—

 

Tue present species is the Papuan representative of the Australian X. filigera, and is found in many parts
of North-western New Guinea and the neighbouring island of Mysol. It is not found in Waigiou, as stated
by Dr. Gadow (4.¢.), as in this island the allied species X. fusciventris of Salvadori takes its place. The
specimen in the British Museum from Waigiou belongs to the latter species, which is easily recognizable,
being, indeed, allowed by Dr. Gadow, though he refers the only specimen in the Museum to X, chrysotis.
There is considerable variation in a series of specimens, some showing a more rufous coloration on the
under surface than others, and in many specimens the grey ear-spot is nearly obsolete. These differences
seem to us to be due sometimes to age, and sometimes to the preparation of the skin, and we cannot
perceive any specific characters sufficient to separate X. rudiensis of Dr. Meyer (2 ¢.). The latter
gentleman has been so kind as to send us over the types of X. rudbiensis, as well as the birds he considers
to be true _X. wanthotis, and after comparing them with the series in the British Museum, we believe the
two species to be inseparable.

Dr. Guillemard has lent us the specimen from which the following description is taken :—

Adult male. General colour above dark brown mottled with yellowish olive; wing-coverts like the back ;
the outer greater coverts, bastard-wing, primary-coverts, and quills dusky brown edged with brighter olive-
yellow, the secondaries margined with dull olive; upper tail-coverts and tail-feathers dusky brown, edged
with yellowish olive; crown of head greener than the back; lores dusky; below the oa vane patch ; ear
coverts dark slaty grey, with a tuft of bright yellow below the hinder part; cheeks and sides of face dark a
throat ashy grey; fore neck and chest olive-greenish, becoming yellower towards the breast, which is du :
fawn-brown washed with olive-yellow ; abdomen, sides of body, and flanks fawn-brown ; thighs and under
tail-coverts light brown washed with buff; under wing-coverts and ae ae ee
edge of the wing; quills below dusky, tawny along the inner edge : ; bill and . Coe CS
(EL Guillemard). Total length 8 inches, culmen 1-15, wing 4:1, tail 3, tarsus is ye

The figures in the Plate represent an adult bird of the natural size and in two positions. yé é

P 5 RS ts ; -, Guillemard’s collection.
from the specimen aboye described in Dr. Guille [R. B. S.]

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