PACHYCEPHALA ARCTITORQUIS, Selater.

Narrow-collared ‘Thickhead.

Pachycephala arctitorquis, Sclater, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1883, p. 55, pl. xu.

 

Tue present species of Pachycephala was discovered in the Tenimber Islands by Mr. H. O. Forbes, and
belongs to the fourth section of the genus as arranged by Dr. Gadow in the eighth volume of the
‘British Museum Catalogue of Birds,’ with this reservation, that the character of the back being ‘“ dusky
black” belongs only to P. monacha and not to P. leucogaster, which has a grey back.

P. arctitorquis closely resembles P. leucogaster in its grey back and black cap, but differs in having a much
narrower black collar across the throat and consequently a greater amount of white on the throat, while
round the hind neck in P. arctitorguis is an indistinct collar of paler ashy, which separates the cap from the
mantle.

Mr. Forbes tells us that this species is very common everywhere in the Tenimber Islands, frequenting
trees, but by no means unfrequently descending to the ground.

Adult male. General colour above slaty grey, with indistinct dusky shaft-lines on the mantle-feathers ;
least wing-coverts like the back, median and greater wing-coverts also slaty grey, with blackish shaft-lines
and concealed blackish bases; bastard wing, primary-coverts, and quills blackish, externally edged with
slaty grey, more broadly on the secondaries ; upper tail-coverts rather more dingy than the back, and
having narrow blackish shaft-streaks ; tail-feathers blackish, broadly edged with slaty grey, and all distinctly
waved with transverse cross lines of black; the tips also very narrowly fringed with lighter ashy ; crown of
head and nape black, forming a cap ; lores, feathers round the eye, and ear-coverts also black ; cheeks and
entire throat white, surrounded by a black pectoral collar, which ascends on the sides of fhe throat and joins
the black ear-coverts; sides of the neck and sides of the fore neck light pearly grey; remainder of under
surface ashy white ; thigh-feathers dusky, with whitish tips; under tail-coverts, under wing-coverts, and
axillaries white, the latter with ashy bases; quills dusky blackish below, ashy white along the edge of the
inner web; “Dill, legs, and feet black ; iris dark brown” (1. O. Forbes). Total length 6 inches, culmen
0:6, wing 3:15, tail 2-5, tarsus 0°9.

Adult female. Different from the male. General colour above ashy olive-brown, with somewhat of a
rufous tinge; lesser wing-coverts dull rufous brown; median and greater coverts dusky, externally edged
with rufous brown, lighter on the latter; bastard wing and primary-coverts blackish, narrowly edged with
rufous; quills blackish, edged with rufous, more broadly on the secondaries, the innermost of which are
entirely dull rufous; upper tail-coverts pale dull rufous; tail-feathers ashy olive-brown, washed on their
edges with rufous; head dull rufous, contrasting slightly with the back ; lores ashy whitish, as also the
feathers round the eye; ear-coverts and sides of neck dull rufous; cheeks and throat white, narrowly
streaked with tiny lines of black; remainder of under surface buffy whitish, longitudinally streaked with
black, except the flanks, which are pure white; the sides of the breast slightly tinged with rufous ; thighs
ashy; under tail-coverts white ; under wing-coverts and axillaries dull white ; quills dusky below, ashy along
the inner web; ‘upper mandible soot-brown, lower the same at tip, but at base pale flesh-colour ; legs and
feet lavender-pink ; irides dark brown” (H. O Forbes). Total length 6 inches, culmen 0°6, wing 3,
tail 2:4, tarsus 0°95.

The Plate represents a pair of birds, of the size of life, drawn from the typical specimens lent to us by
Dr. Sclater: they are now in the British Museum, Reese

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