PELTOPS BLA] NVILLEI.

Broad-billed Flycatcher,

Eur laimus Blainvil el Garn ML, Vi & AL11©@, ] ». OS pl : —Hy | -Gui
y . ‘pyee } - L Vdd, pt 19 _ Finse l, Neu Guu
Peltops Blainvii il \\ acier.- Gi , ; ren, B lp. 66 B ). ( Sp. 1. p. 169 | icl H t
} I Ve yI.- veich, | andb. Mer )
fies. 39 E S019 SC J ry Lj ~ x . . lerop. ). IS, a1. 440.

rene) Pp. 160.—Gray, Cat. Mam ee
p. 19.—Id P. 7 186] } {33 \"\ I. Pp 7 . J umm. xe, N. Guin.

lea, p. 160.

 

S 562, p. 165 -(sray nd- YS Q1¢ , ,
1872, p. 177.—Id. P.Z.S. 1873 ; 'Y, Hand-l. B. i. p. 319.—Sel, Ibis,
~, p- 8 1 j . J 43. D. 696
Frolla Blainvillei, Less. Traité. p. 260
Platysomus Blainvillei, Swains. Classif. B. jj p. 2

Tats curious form of Flycatcher is only found in New Guinea and Mysol, Von Rosenbere having discovered
it in the latter island. Che original specime 8 Drocor

Dorey in New Guinea: and Mr. Wallace
iso met with it in the north-western part of the « , While Signor d’Albertis shot an example at
Sorong. So rare has the speci s always been in coll

( s t a special examination of its structure has
always been difficult; thus the bird has until lat ly been placed with the Broad-bills (Eurylemide). Dr.
Selater was the first to rec: ze inities is; and I cannot do better than quote his
observations on the subject :

“The genus 2 (tops, containing the singel species P. B of New Guinea, has been usually referred
to the Eurylemine, or Broad-bills. d the er i) thus formed united in the same family with the Rollers
(Coraciadee), the Todies (Todide), and the Motmots (Momotide). or, at all events, placed in their
immediate neighbourhood. Seyeral errors e, In my opinion, embraced in this classification.

“Tn the first place, Ps fops has nothing whatever to do with the Kurylemide, being a truly Muscicapine
form allied to Monarcha and Macha s the most casual examination of its structure at once
shows. The mistake, no dou it, comes from thi ewhat exaggerated form of the bill in Peltops, and
from its general coloration resembli that of ¢ s. The rarity of Pe/tops has prevented the
error from being discovered. On exami o t ving of Pe it will be seen that the first primary is
short or ‘spurious ’ (as in all the true Oscines hen it exists at all. In Cymbirhynchus there are ten fully

formed primaries. There is also a cor spicuous difference in the size of the feet in the two forms, these
Organs being strong and thick in C, s, while they are feeble and weak in Pe/tops, as in other
Muscicapidee. The relegation of oe to the \uscicapidee also removes an anomaly in geographical
distribution, it SP abetonsily atrance that e exclusively Indo-Malayan type, such as the

oO other Vis

Eurylemide, should have a single outlier in New Guinea.”
*nelndis ie wings and tail;

General colour, both above and below, glossy black, including the wing nd in ’
1 under tail-coverts crimson. Potal length

ear-coverts and a patch

on the interscapulary region white: rump, vent, upp

on ; ore re
7 inches, culmen 0°95, wing 3-9. tail 3-4, ta ;
feb YY ; a ATA >» when in London.
My Plate is drawn from S r d’Albertis’s Sorong specimen, W ich he kindly lent me when
a c c OlT i PuO!I 1 i Citi » Ut

The figure is life-size.

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