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i

THE

BIRDS OF NEW GUINEA

AND THE

ADJACENT PAPUAN ISLANDS,
INCLUDING MANY
NEW SPECIES RECENTLY DISCOVERED

IN

AUSTRALIA.

BY

JOHN GOULD, F.R.S.

COMPLETED AFTER THE AUTHOR’S DEATH

BING

kh. BOWDLER SHARPE, F.LS. &e,

ZOOLOGICAL DEPARTMENT, BRITISH MUSEUM.

 

VOLUME I.

 

I) ON 1D ON
HENRY SOTHERAN & CO. 36 Pal Cre Dani iene

1875-1888.

[All rights reserved. |

 
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PLD TSE? Oma —

In fulfilment of the promise made by the Publishers to the Subscribers, and in accordance
with the intention of the late Mr. Gounp, the present work has been brought to a close
with the issue of the Twenty-fifth Part. For the last thirteen of these parts, which have
appeared since the author’s death, I have been solely responsible, as will be seen by the
initials appended to the foot of each article; and I greatly regret that the pledges given
to the Subscribers have necessitated the curtailment of the work at a period when the
development of European enterprise in New Guinea and the neighbouring islands seems to
point to the discovery of many new and highly interesting birds. The recent finding of two
beautiful new Birds of Paradise in North-eastern New Guinea must be the forerunner of many
other discoveries, and it is to be hoped that the Subscribers will feel sufficient interest in the
subject to warrant the continuation of the present work, so that the Avifauna of Papuasia may
be completely illustrated. Should such a wish be expressed, I shall be only too happy to

continue the work.

R. BOWDLER SHARPE.

December, 1888.

 
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Tue halo of romance which for nearly a century has centred round New Guinea and its animals does not
get dimmed as time speeds on: indeed it shines more brightly than ever, and all naturalists who have
travelled in the Moluccas have either paid a visit to that wonderful island or are looking forward to the
time when they will be able to land upon its shores. Mr. Gould was perfectly right when he alluded to
the Birds of Paradise as being one of the most remarkable families of birds inhabiting the Papuan Sub-
region, and their presence alone is sufficient to warrant our recognition of a zoological area distinct from that
of the neighbouring Australian region. That there is a considerable affinity between the avifauna of Northern
Australia and New Guinea is proved by the presence of a Cassowary in Queensland and of a Malurus
in New Guinea; and this relationship is further accentuated by the presence in both subregions of such
genera as Ptilorhis, Microglossum, Tanysiptera, and a large number of species of Meliphagide. Of the
Lipotypes, or forms of birds conspicuous by their absence, in the Papuan and Australian Subregions,
perhaps the non-appearance of any species of Woodpecker is the most remarkable.

No other country has produced in recent times more novelties in the way of birds than New Guinea,
and every fresh expedition to the mountains of the interior appears to add to the number. Travellers of
many nationalities have contributed to the disclosure of the hidden ornithological treasures which have been
described during the last thirty years, as will be seen by the following brief resumé of the history of the
subject.

In 1858, Dr. Sclater published, in the ‘ Proceedings ’ of the Linnean Society of London, a paper on the
zoology of New Guinea. After visiting the museums of Paris and Leyden, and personally examining the
specimens which they contained from this part of the world, he drew up a list of animals and birds known
as inhabitants of the island, and he computed that of the former 10 species had been obtained, and of birds
170 species. The present extent of the described mammalian fauna I have no means of judging ; but in
1865, Dr. Finsch, in his ‘ Neu-Guinea,’ estimated the number of Mammalia at 15, and the birds at 252.
Of course, as Count Salvadori’s work deals with the ornithology of the Moluccas as well, no exact comparison
of the avifauna of New Guinea, as known in 1858 and as at present known in 1888, is presented; bat, as will
be seen below, the various expeditions which have taken place have added enormously to the number of
species, and we cannot suppose tbat the limit of our knowledge has yet been reached.

The area embraced by Count Salvadori’s ‘ Ornitologia della Papuasia’ is much the same as that admitted
by Mr. Gould when he commenced the present book, as the few species from Australia which he included
were only figured as a further Supplement to his ‘ Birds of Australia.’ It may be remarked, however, that
- of the 1030 species enumerated by Count Salvadori, only 300 have been figured in the present volumes,
and at least 700 remain to be described before a complete account of the ornithology of Papuasia will have
been attained.

From Dr. Sclater’s memoir before mentioned we take the following details of early exploration in
New Guinea. Although Birds of Paradise were often sent, in a mutilated state, in early times, and some of
them were figured in ancient books, very few other birds from this quarter of the globe were known to
Linneus, and our first real acquaintance with Papuan Ornithology is due to the French traveller Sonnerat,
who went there in 1771, and procured some plants and animals, principally on the island of Jobi, in North-
western New Guinea. The results of his discoveries were published in his ‘Voyage ala Nouvelle Guinée,’
in 1776. The French exploring-ship the ‘ Uranie’ procured a few birds in 1824, and the ‘ Coquille’ spent
;

twelve days ata harbour in North-eastern New Guinea, which they named ‘ Havre Dorey’ ; about fifty species

 
INTRODUCTION.

: ere described by Lesson. The voyage o
ined t of which were new to science and were described y L yage of
‘ds were obtained, mos ; seine Pan i ‘
of birds | tains the description and figures of some Papuan birds, \ Q y
’ 2 oe . alps f£ 3 .
pe i it as they he en to that of the ‘ Uranie aq
a alists attached to this expedition, as they had beer ‘
and Gaimard, the naturalists < Toyage an Pole Sud’ contained some more descriptions of Neem
) n the * Zoology’ of the ‘ Voyage an  § ne |
nee re ise in Papuasia seems to have stood still till quite recently, when a
FY rprise in Papuasia s ‘
Ti mdse n French enterprise
Guinea birds, and the

\ 1 ‘Pry d Ko at: se s “ten veltineny
i é c le i Gc sent from that region Some vV¢ ry Inte re Sting and 1 por ta it Nove Ities Th)
young naturalist, i f. L on Lag alze, :
. 5 5

the way of birds. ae | . ne
; Dutch, | ver, to whom belongs the western half of the island at the present time, were ery
The utch, however, f mo a
c 5 zac rable collections were made
ive in N Guinea during the second half of the century, and some admirable collectio ‘ y
active in New Guinee 2 se

) \ I : 2 ; , i seri Ss f 4 yuan birds in the
SO omon i c c . S

; os Care beens) a any of the species were figured by Temminck in
Leyden Museum, which is still one of its chief glories. Many of the pecte g y
i , : © J ahye > 2 “>
ié also by Muller and Schlegel in the well-known ‘ Verhandelingen,
the ‘ Planches Coloriées,’ and also by Muller and Sch g Be iy: _ 7
S iting | I Wor and acing the zoology of New Guinea as it were ona
While Dr. Sclater was writing his memoir, placing oy | a. a
ryman, A. R. Wallace, was at work on that wonderfu exploration
proper basis of knowledge, our great countryman, A. R. W allace, was ¢ K |

; ; : er ~.. allacel
of the Malay Archipelago which will render his name famous for all time. Most of Mr. Walla

1 the late George Robert Gray’s ‘List of the Birds of New
Guinea’ (1859) ; but any more species were described by the traveller himself, ad i moe cone list
of the Mammals and Birds of Papuasia and the Molaceas was given by Dr. Otto Finseh in his ‘ Neu-Guinea
und seine Bewobner’ (1865).

AN

.
mice,
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discoveries were epitomized and catalogued in

Fired by the success of the English traveller Wallace in their Fast-Indian Possessions, the Dutch nation
provided a sum of money for several years to compass the zoological e
the guidance of the late Professor Schlegel, s
Rosenberg, Hoedt, and others,

the Dutch nation Ww

xploration of Papuasia, and, under
everal energetic collectors were despatched, Bernstein, Von
who obtained extensive results, so that once more the scientific prestige of
and many islands, hitherto unvisited by Europeans, yielded
Then came the celebrated expedition of Dr. A. B. Meyer
of new species were discovered, t
Dr. Beceari, D’Albertis discovere

the southern and south-e

aS paramount in Papuasia,

A

important novelties, » whereby a further number
xtensive explorations of Signor D'Albertis and
d Drepanornis in the Arfak Mountains in ]
astern portions of New Guinea,
new genera of birds, many of which have been figured in the present work. Dr. Beccari sent somenigen
interesting and wonderful birds from the Arfak Mountains and many of the islands of the Papuan Subregion,
enterprising Dutch naturalist,

To this gentleman and to Mr.
Contributions to Zoological science,

During

0 be followed by the e

872, and Visiting afterwards

he met with Harpyopsis and other remarkable

where also the hunters employed by an Mr. Bruijn, have obtained many
rare and new Species,

Riedel science js indebted for many important

the time which

Englishmen had bee many of the outlying
y Z C 5

Guineas and Captain Lichards, Mr. Brazier, Mr, Cockerell,
Species of birds in the Solomon Islands, and quite
lit home a most interesting collec
Layard have also done much to e
Were also visited by Dr. F
Caroline Islands,

elapsed since Mr. Wallace’s

Successful labours in
0 busy in exploring

the Malay Archipelago,
groups of islands to the eastward of New
and other naturalists discovered many new
nergetic explorer, Mr. C. M. Woodford, has
ago. The Rey. George Brown and Mr. L, C.
al history of New Brit
owe much enduri;
celebrated []
West of New

recently an e
broug tion from this Archipel
xplore the natur ain and the adjacent islands, which
insch, to whom we ig work in the same locality and in the
The collectors of the am burg firm, Messrs.

Guinea,

Ponapé and other

Islands to the
schmidt will

Godefroy, have also explored
and the names of Kubary, Graeffe, and Klein-
always remain famous

on : amongst those of the explorers of these little-known and inaccessible
Ocalities, Kop the exploratio ’ the I oI

a poration of the Adwiralty S'oup of islands
expedition, Nor have Ey

d
we are indebted to the ‘ Challenger
IZlishmen

Goldie, Mr. Qet

irl;

been idle in their newly-ac
avius Stone,

and the well-ky
ine, have done

nce algo

Guinea, Mr,
Rey. Mr. Mac

from whe

quired province of South-eastern New
OWN missionaries the Rev. Mr. Lawes and the
0 procuring collections from the ne
collection

Ww DPE , a cesby
‘ onders ighbourhood of Port Moresby,
an Interesting :

r
Was sent by American explorer, Dr. James, The

a youtig

Ca

‘fa ay Ty OO eS Pa y > i —e ha - eo .
Pa SS RI Se man

 
|

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; ore

(

S

Most of Mr. Wall

cf

till quit

sch in his ‘Neu-Gy

y Lesson.

: The
Itten by Me

that 0

{
0}

. “STS, ( lloy
f the ot y d

VOVana
Wr vot

‘dniie. if

Iptions of \

Cc recently

dese
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; » Whe

ind Hn ig

Ort,
Ortant Novelties I
S Ih)

Present ti
ne, Wer
re very
re made fy
Pa Yuan |)
puan bird

Neured by |

indeli

‘ollections We

of

S10 the

Cmhininek jy

Guinea as it Were
Fe On a
tC wo) rf
nde rful eXploratigy

ace’s
Of the Birds of New
ida ost complete list
|

[nea

10ns, the Dutch nation

' Pan
apuasi rE and, under

[¢ hed, Bernstein, Von
CS lentifie prestige of
Europe ins, yielded
eby a further number
enor D'Albertis and

| visiting afterwards

id other remarkable
Cari sent some most
Papuan Subregion,
lave obtained mab)

or many iinportant

falay Archipelago,
eastward of New
‘overed many new
MI. Woodford, has
yn aud Mr. L, C.
‘nt islands, which

]
it

cality and in t
ive also explored
effe, aud Klem-
and inaccessible
ie * Challenger
th-eastern New
Lawes and the
f Port Moresby,
The

James,

INTRODUCTION. iil

Australians have also done much to increase our knowledge of the zoology of South-eastern New Guinea,
and the collections of the ‘ Chevert’ expedition and other explorers, Mr. Masters, Mr. Morton, Mr.
Pettard, and Mr. Broadbent, have been described by Dr. E. P. Ramsay at Sydney, or by ourselves here in
London. ‘The Astrolabe Mountains have been visited by Mr. Goldie, Mr. Hunstein, and Mr. H. O. Forbes,
and have yielded some surprising and beautiful novelties. Many of the species discovered originally in the
Arfak Mountains have now been found in the Astrolabe Range, which, however, appears to possess a
certain individual fauna, though we know so little of the mountain-ranges of the interior of New Guinea
that it would be impossible to affirm that any species is peculiar to any portion of the mountain system and
does not extend throughout its entire area.

Before concluding this sketch of zoological work in New Guinea and the Moluccas, we must allude to
the excellent results obtained by Mr. H. O. Forbes and his heroic wife in the Tenimber Islands. They
were the first Europeans to collect in the dreaded ‘Timor Laut group, and though compelled to work, through
the hostility of the surrounding natives, in a circumscribed space, the number of new species obtained
reflected the greatest credit on the energy of these brave travellers. Mr. Riedel’s. hunters have also
discovered a few new species on the Tenimber Islands.

In the pages of the present work frequent reference is made to the ‘Ornitologia della Papuasia e delle
Molucche’ of Count Salvadori. The present writer knows how difficult, in these days of many books, is the
task of the man who sets himself to write a monograph of any group of birds, and to write a complete account
of the avifauna of any country is even more tedious. Although the collections stored in the Museo Civico at
Genoa are most complete, the enthusiasm of the distinguished Director of that Museum, Marquis Doria,
having drawn thereto the collections of the Italian travellers, as energetic and full of purpose as he is
himself, yet the treasures in the other museums of Europe must be collated with the material accumulated
by Italy, if a complete account of the ornithology of New Guinea has to be compiled. Travelling,
therefore, from country to country, comparing the collections in his charge with those made by English,
French, Dutch, and German travellers, Count Salvadori may well be congratulated on the result which
his thoughtful earnestness obtained, and in the great work on Papuan Ornithology of which he is the author
he has raised up for himself an imperishable reputation. The best tribute which the present writer can
pay to his work exists in a reference to the number of times which he has been obliged to quote or to copy
Count Salvadori’s writings, because, on the subject of Papuan Ornithology, he left us little or nothing to

add to the information given by him in the ‘ Ornitologia della Papuasia.’

R. BOWDLER SHARPE.

 
 

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PLarE

18.

All,

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PREFACE.
INTRODUCTION.

Astur melanochlamys
Erythrotriorchis dorie .
Harpyopsis novee guineve
Baza gurneyi
Ninox odiosa

»,  forbesi

»  dimorpha
Epimachus ellioti

3 speciosus

Drepanornis cervinicauda
As albertisi
. bruijnii
Craspedophora magnifica
Seleucides nigricans )

» »
Paradigalla carunculata
Astrapia nigra
Lophorhina superba

RS minor

Diphyllodes respublica

i‘ gulielmi III.
3 speciosa
a chrysoptera

Cicinnurus regius
Parotia sexpennis
>, lawesi
Paradisea decora .

35 papuana }

3° 3

% apoda

as sanguinea
se raggiana

Manucodia comrii

. chalybea
Phonygama purpureoviolacea
Lycocorax obiensis

Ailureedus stonii

5 maculosus
a melanotis
es arfakianus
3 buccoides
4 melanocephalus

Scenopceus dentirostris .
Chlamydodera orientalis
“ occipitalis

Amblyornis inornata

5 subalaris
Xanthomelus aureus
Oriolus decipiens .
Cheetorhynchus papuensis
Dicranostreptus megarhynchus
Rectes leucorhynchus

5, cerviniventris

» uropygialis

?

jobiensis

aruensis . 5 .

CONTENTS.

VOLUME I.

Black-mantled Goshawk
Marquis Doria’s Goshawk
New-Guinea Harpy-Eagle
Gurney’s Cuckoo-Falcon
New Britain Hawk-Owl
Forbes’s Hawk-Owl
Salvadori’s Hawk-Owl
Elliot’s Promerops

Great Promerops .
Bennett’s Bird of Paradise
D’Albertis’s Bird of Paradise
Bruijn’s Bird of Paradise
New-Guinea Rifle-bird .

Twelve-wired Bird of Paradise

Wattled Bird of Paradise
Gorget Paradise-bird

Superb Bird of Paradise
Lesser Superb Bird of Paradise
Bare-headed Bird of Paradise
Waigiou Bird of Paradise
Magnificent Bird of Paradise
Golden-winged Bird of Paradise
King Bird of Paradise
Six-plumed Bird of Paradise
Lawes’s Bird of Paradise
Gyrey-chested Bird of Paradise

Papuan Bird of Paradise

Greater Bird of Paradise

Red Bird of Paradise : :
Marquis de Raggi’s Bird of Paradise
Curl-crested Manucode

Green Manucode . ;
Purple-and-Violet Manucode .
Obi Paradise-Crow

Stone’s Cat-bird

Queensland Cat-bird
Black-cheeked Cat-bird

Arfak Cat-bird

Barbet-like Cat-bird
Black-naped Cat-bird
Toothed-billed Bower-bird
Queensland Bower-bird
Large-frilled Bower-bird
Gardener Bower-bird
Orange-crested Bower-bird
Golden Bird of Paradise
Deceptive Oriole

Arfak Drongo

New-Ireland Drongo
White-billed Wood-Shrike
Fawn-breasted Wood-Shrike .
Rufous-and-Black Wood-Shrike
Jobi-Island Wood-Shrike
Aru-Island Wood-Shrike

Part

WANK
WALIIE

XXIV.

XXIII.
XXIV.
UL,

XII.
XXV.

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mo
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Se eS eS He HY
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coo Om

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1881.
1875.
1875.
1875.
1875.
1888.
1879.
1880.
1879.
1879.
1886.
1878.
1884.
1880.
1878.
1885.
1885.
1881.
1881.
1888.

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ASTUR MELANOCHLAMYS.
Black-mantled Goshawk.
Urospizias melanochlamys, Salvad. Ann. Mus. Civic. Genov. vii. p. 905 (1875).—Id. op. cit. xii. p. 38 (1878).—Id.

Orn. Papuasia e delle Molucche, i. p. 63 (1880).
Astur melanochlamys, Sharpe, Mitth. k. zool. Mus. Dresd. Heft iii. p. 355 (1878).

 

Tuts fine species is at present only known from the Arfak Mountains in North-western New Guinea, whence
the first specimens were sent to Europe by Mr. Bruijn and Dr. Beccari. We have also seen a specimen in
Dr. Guillemard’s collection from the same locality.

This Goshawk is a very distinct species, and belongs to the Austro-Malayan section of the genus Astur,
which embraces the species which have a rufous collar round the hind neck. It differs from all its allies,
however, by having the ear-coverts slaty black like the head and back, and by the deep vinous chestnut of
the under surface.

The following description was taken by us from the type specimen belonging to the Genoa Museum, a
sight of which was granted to us by Count Salvadori during his last visit to England :—

Adult female. General colour above deep black ; head black like the back, from which it is separated by
a broad well-defined collar of vinous chestnut; quills and tail black like the upper surface, the inner webs
rather browner, barred with black; entire sides of face black like the crown; throat also black, but mottled
with white bases to the feathers, many of the latter being white barred with black; remainder of under
surface of body deep vinous chestnut, with slightly developed whitish bars on the flanks and lower abdomen ;
under wing-coverts and axillaries vinous chestnut, with remains of lighter cross bars, the greater series and
the inner webs of the quills greyish white with a vinous tinge and barred with blackish. ‘Total length 15-2
inches, culmen 1:1, wing 10:0, tail 7°8, tarsus 2°65.

The Plate represents an adult bird of about the size of life, with a smaller figure in the background.
Both are drawn from a specimen procured by Dr. Guillemard in the Arfak Mountains, and kindly lent to us
by that gentleman.

[R. B. 8.]

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ERYTHROTRIORCHIS DORIA.

Marquis Doria’s Goshawk.

Megatriorchis dori@, Salvad. & D’ Albert. Ann. Mus. Civic. Genov. vii. p. 805 (1875).—Gurney, Ibis, 1877, p. 436.
—lId. Ibis, 1878, p. 87.—Salvad. Orn. Papuasia e delle Molucche, i. p. 41 (1880).—Gurney, List of
Diurnal Birds of Prey, p. 45 (1884).

Krythrotriorchis dorie, Sharpe, Journ. Linn. Soc., Zool. xvii. p. 406 (1884).

 

Tuts is one of the finest discoveries made by the celebrated Italian traveller D’Albertis during his voyage to
South-eastern New Guinea, and it is one of the peculiar forms which inhabit both that great island and
Northern Australia.

The original specimen came from Hall Bay, in South-eastern New Guinea, and this is the bird which
forms the principal figure in the Plate, and which we consider to be immature. The second specimen
figured in the Plate is apparently a fully adult bird, and was obtained by Mr. Goldie on the Astrolabe
Mountains in South-eastern New Guinea. We believe it to be an adult male, and the type to be an immature
female, notwithstanding some discrepancies in the proportions of the quills and tail-feathers exhibited by
the two specimens. If we are correct in thus assigning the relation of these two individuals, then it is
evident that the genus Megatriorchis is the same as the Australian genus L7ythrotriorchis, of which E. radiatus
is the representative species on the latter continent. A larger number of specimens is, however, requisite
to settle the point satisfactorily.

The following are exact descriptions of the two specimens referred to :—

Adult. General colour above glossy black, with nearly obsolete rufous margins to the feathers of the
upper surface; wing-coverts black, very plainly and broadly edged with chestnut; bastard-wing and
primary-coverts black, with indistinct bars of ashy brown, nearly obsolete on the bastard-wing ; quills black,
barred across with brown, these bars less distinct on the inner webs; tail-feathers black, barred with ashy
grey, about twelve bars being discernible on the central feathers ; the outer tail-feathers with about the same
number of brown bars, as well as one at the tip ; crown of head uniform black, the nape crested; feathers
below the eye and ear-coverts black, the feathers edged with rufous buff, imparting a streaked appearance ;
cheeks and throat rufescent buff, streaked with black down the centre of the feathers; remainder of under
surface white, broadly streaked with black, and marked slightly with chestnut, especially on the sides of the
body; the black bars rather broken up and in the form of large spots on the flanks, abdomen, and under
tail-coverts ; thighs broadly barred with black and white, with a chestnut spot im the centre of the black
bars ; under wing-coverts black in the centre, rufous or rufous white on the edges; the lower series
blackish, barred with ashy or greyish white like the lower surface of the quills. ‘Total length 20 inches,
culmen 1-05, wing 12:8, tail 10-0, tarsus 3:1.

Immature. General colour above brown, regularly barred across with lighter brown, the edges of the
feathers rather more rufous or fawn-coloured ; head brown, streaked with rufous, the feathers edged with
this colour and having creamy white bars ; broad eyebrow of white feathers streaked with black; a small
crest of pointed plumes; nape-plumes white, with a rufous tinge, and mesially streaked with black; bind
neck like the back, but more mottled with black spade-shaped terminal spots to the feathers ; wing-coverts
ashy brown, tipped with fawn-colour, and broadly barred across with darker brown; quills ashy brown,
broadly barred across with blackish brown for their entire length, the interspaces on the secondaries lighter,
these quills beiug much paler tipped ; upper tail-coverts and tail-feathers ashy brown, tipped with greyish,
slightly tinged with rufous on the former, the tail-feathers crossed with twelve bars of blackish brown; sides
of face and ear-coverts white, the feathers mesially streaked with dark brown, the ear-coverts tipped with
blackish brown, forming a distinct patch ; under surface of body creamy white, streaked with dark brown,
very narrowly on the throat, broader on the abdomen and lower breast, the thighs and under tail-coverts
with nearly obsolete mesial streaks; fore neck and breast broadly streaked with light rufous, browner on the
former, the breast-feathers with a shaft-streak of dark brown 5 under wing-coverts and axillaries white, with
a dark brown shaft-streak ; quills ashy below, white near the base, barred with dark brown, the bars about
nine in pumber: ‘bill black, the cere and eyelids ash-colour ; feet whitish grey; iris chestnut-brown ”
(D’ Abertis). Total length 7:5 inches, culmen 1:7, wing 13°7, tail 12-8, tarsus 3:4.

The principal figure in our Plate is drawn from the type specimen, MWegatriorchis dorie, which was kindly
lent to me by the Marquis Doria. The hinder figure is taken from the specimen in the British Museum,
which we have identified as the adult male of the species.

fR. B. $.]

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HARPYOPSIS NOVA GUINEA, samara

New-Guinea Harpy-Kagle.

Harpyopsis nove guinee, Salvad. Ann. Mus. Civic. Genov. vii. p. 682 (1875) ——Id. é& DVAlbert: tom, cit. pr, 805
(1875).—Salvad. op. cit. ix. p. 10 (1875), x. pp. 115, 117 (1877), xii. p. 36 (1878).—Gurney, Ibis, 1877,
p- 435; 1878, p. 87.—Sharpe, Mitth. k. zool. Mus. Dresden, i. p. 355, pl. xxix. (1878).—D’ Albert. &
Salvad. Ann. Mus. Civic. Genov. xiv. p. 28 (1879).—Sharpe, Journ. Linn. Soc., Zool. xiv. p. 627 (1879).
—Salvad. Orn. Papuasia e delle Molucche, i. p. 40 (1880), iii. App. p» 507 (1882).—D’Albert. New

Cinna Sea) eae (1880).—Sharpe, Journ. Linn. Soc., Zool. xvi. p. 424 (1882).—Gurney, List of

Diurnal Birds of Prey, p. 46 (1884).—Finsch u. Meyer in Madarész, Zeitschr, ges. Orn. iii. p. 2 (1886).

 

Tus magnificent bird of prey is one of the most important and at the same time one of the most
interesting of all the discoveries made by Signor D’Albertis during his travels in New Guinea. It
is a veritable Harpy, like the Harpy-Eagle of South America (Thrasaetus harpyia), which it so closely
resembles in outward form that we had great difficulty in finding characters for its generic separation
from the South-American bird. It has the crest differently formed to that of the true Harpy, and the
wing is shorter in proportion to the length of the tail; but there can be no doubt that the two forms
are intimately allied. How such a close similarity has been obtained between two Eagles inhabiting such
widely different localities as South America and New Guinea, the avifaune of which have, generally
speaking, very little in common, is a problem of geographical distribution which our present knowledge
has no means of explaining.

D’Albertis first met with the Harpyopsis at Andei, in North-western New Guinea, and bere it was
also procured by Dr. Meyer, whose specimen was beautifully figured by Mr. Keulemans in the
‘Mittheilungen’ of the Dresden Museum (4 ¢.). During his travels in South-eastern New Guinea
D’Albertis again met with the species in Hall Bay and on the Fly River, and a figure, copied from
the before-mentioned plate of Mr. Keulemans, is given in his work on New Guinea. Mr. Broadbent
found the Harpy at Fairfax Harbour, Port Moresby, and it was also procured by Mr. Hunstein in a
small island off East Cape.

Mr. H. O. Forbes has sent a beautiful example from the Sogeri district in the Astrolabe Mountains,
and Mr. Goldie has met with it in the same region. He says that the native name is “ Duna,” and
he also forwarded to England two white eggs supposed to be those of the Harpy, but they appeared
to us to be the eggs of some large Hornbill rather than those of a bird of prey.

Mr. Broadbent describes it as a ‘scrub bird,” but nothing definite of its habits has yet been
published. Signor D’Albertis shot a specimen on a tree stump, in the act of devouring a kangaroo
(Macropus papuanus).

The following is a description of the specimen procured by Dr. Meyer at Andei:—

Adult. General colour above brown, with a slight bronzy gloss in certain lights, most of the feathers
with a dull whitish edging, more distinct on the feathers of the head and neck, which are edged
with hoary whitish, and form rather a full crest; lesser wing-coverts conspicuously margined with
white, all the feathers dark brown before the tip, the greater series with one or two dark bars; quills
brown, regularly barred with darker brown, the terminal bar broader than the others; tail brown,
mottled with whity brown towards the base, and crossed with seven bars of darker brown, all the
feathers narrowly edged with whitish at the tip; lores and region of the eye bare, scantily baired ;
sides of face and sides of neck brown like the crest, with paler and more fulvescent margins; chin
whitish ; lower throat brown like the sides of the neck, and with the same pale edges; rest of under
surface white, ashy on the chest, some of the flank-feathers slightly washed with brown; under wing-
coverts white; lower surface of quills greyish white, with broad bars of dark brown, breaking up into
mottlings towards the base of the feathers: ‘bill blackish horn-colour; feet very pale yellow; iris
chestnut-brown.” — Total length 30°5 inches, culmen 2°5, wing 16°5, tail 14°6, tarsus 5-0.

In a male collected by Mr. Broadbent the eyes were recorded as dark brown, and the measurements
were as follows :—Total length 31 inches, culmen 2:7, wing 18°6, tail 15°5, tarsus 5:2.

Mr. Forbes’s specimen, a figure of which is given in the accompanying Plate, of about two thirds of

the natural size, measures as follows :—Total length 30 inches, culmen 2:2, wing 16:0, tail 15-5, tarsus 5-5.

[R. B. 8.]

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BAZA GURNEYIJ, Ramswy.

Gurney’s Cuckoo-Falcon.

Baza reinwardti (nec Mill. & Schl.), Tristram, Ibis, 1882, pp. 133, 141.
Baza gurney, Ramsay, Journ. Linn. Soc. xvi. p. 130 (1883).—Salvad. Orn. di Papuasia e delle Molucche, iii.
App., p. 506 (1882).—Grant, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1888, p. 188.

 

 

For a considerable time the Cuckoo-Falcon of the Solomon Islands was supposed to be specifically the
same as B. reinwardti, a species of somewhat extended distribution in Papuasia, as it occurs over the
greater part of New Guinea and Salwati, as well as in the islands of Mysol, Misori, Ceram, Amboina,
and the Ké and Aru groups. The history of the separation of the Solomon-Island bird is not very
clear, but appears to be somewhat as follows :—In 1880 Mr. E. P. Ramsay described Mr. Cockerell’s
collections from the Solomon group, and recorded an example of a Baza from “ Cape Pitt,” which
he said agreed exactly with Port-Moresby specimens. Later, in 1882, he described the species from
the Solomon Archipelago as Baza gurney?, aud he observes :—‘ When I first notified B. remwardti from
the Solomon Islands, I was under the impression I had a veritable Solomon-Island bird before me. It
now turns out that such was not the case: hence the mistake.” Mr. Ramsay omits to tell us where
the supposed ‘Cape Pitt” specimen really came from after all, and as he gives the localities for his
Baza gurneyi as “Ugi” (Rev. G. Brown) and ‘Cape Pitt” (Cockerell), it will be seen that he
has left the subject in a state of considerable uncertainty. What seems certain is that B. gurneyi is
confined to the Solomons, one of Lieut. Richards’s skins from Russell Island being now in the British
Museum (cf. Tristram, @ ¢.), and the same institution has recently received two specimens collected
by Mr. C. M. Woodford in Guadaleanar; the two last-named localities can be depended upon, as
well as that of the island of Ugi.

When writing his account of Baza reinwardti for his work on Papuan ornithology, Count Salvadori
remarks on a specimen collected by the Rev. G. Brown, but to which no locality was attached. This
specimen is in the Tweeddale collection, and agrees thoroughly with a New-Ireland specimen also
obtained by Mr. Brown and now in the British Museum, so that there can be little doubt as to the
habitat of New Ireland being correct for the first specimen, as suggested by Count Salvadori. Both
these individuals likewise agree with the specimen described and figured in the present work, which
is a male from New Britain, collected by the late Dr. Kleinschmidt. The truth is that B. gurneyi
is only an insular form of Papuan B. reinwardti, distinguished by its light under surface, broader
terminal black band to the tail, and almost pure white under wing-coverts. The birds from New Britain
and New Ireland are, again, a paler edition of B. gurneyi, with the same light under surface and white
under wing-coverts, but still further distinguished by the light grey bars of the under surface. They
are quite as worthy of a name as B. gurneyi; and as the Germans have called these islands by the title
of the Bismarck Archipelago, we will attach the name of the great Chancellor to the Cuckoo-Falcon
of that locality, as we fully believe it to be distinct. In the event of our surmise. proving correct, the
Plate of the present work must be referred to Baza bismareki.

The figure in the Plate is of the natural size and is drawn from the specimen mentioned above.

[R. B. S.J

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NINOX ODIOSA, Sclater.

New-Britain Hawk-Owl.

Minow teniata (?), Ramsay, Proc. Linn. Soc. N. S. W. i. p. 369 (1876).
Ninox odiosa, Sclater, P. Z.S. 1877, p. 108.—Salvad. Ann. Mus. Civic. Genov. xii. p. 41 (1878).—Ramsay, Proc.
Linn. Soc. N.S. W. iii. p. 249 (1879).—Salvad. Orn. Papuasia, ete. i. p. 86 (1880).—Id. Atti R. Accad.
Torin. xvi. p. 620 (1881).—Gurney, Ibis, 1882, p. 131.—Salvad. Orn. Papuasia, ete. iii. p. 511 (1882)

 

THE original specimen of this Owl was sent from New Britain by the Rev. George Brown, and since the
arrival of the first example, several more have been procured by Lieut. Richards, Mr. Kleinschmidt, Dr. Finsch,
and others ; but it appears to have been found only in New Britain, and not in any of the adjacent groups of
islands.

As suggested by Dr. Sclater in his description of the species, there can be no doubt that in many respects
the present bird is allied to NV. punctulata of Celebes; but there are so many points of difference that they
cannot be confounded together. In the Celebean bird the back is spotted, as well as the head, and there are
none of the white marks on the scapulars and wing-coverts which are conspicuous in NV, odiosa. Underneath,
the finely striated breast and abdomen distinguish the latter species from the thickly mottled and barred under
surface of V. punctulata.

The following is the description of the adult male :—

General colour above pale chocolate-brown, nearly uniform; the scapulars with concealed bars of white and
longitudinal ovate markings of the same on the outer web; the rump and upper tail-coverts with a few minute
spots or bars of pale ruddy brown ; wing-coverts nearly uniform, with a few spots and small bars of white,
larger and more conspicuous on the greater series, which have the same ovate markings as the scapulars ;
bastard wing pale chocolate-brown, the primary-coverts rather more dusky brown, both series being perfectly
uniform ; quills dusky brown, externally pale chocolate, with a few spots of white on the edge of the outer and
inner webs; head and nape dull umber-brown, profusely spotted with rather narrow bars of brownish white ;
nasal plumes brown with blackish centres ; above the eye a broad streak of white; feathers below the eye also
whitish ; the ear-coverts chocolate-brown, barred with blackish and having whitish shaft-lines ; throat white,
the feathers on the sides of the throat having blackish tips and forming a disk ; remainder of under surface
white, the feathers centred with narrow brown streaks, somewhat widening towards the ends ; sides of breast
chocolate-brown, mottled with spots and bars of white ; thighs dull white, slightly streaked on the upper parts
with chocolate ; under wing-coverts white with chocolate-brown tips ; axillaries and under wing-coverts white,
mottled with chocolate-brown on the edge of the wing, the lower series dusky brown barred internally with
yellowish white, thus resembling the lower surface of the quills ; ‘bill ash-colour; feet drab ; iris yellow ”
(Richards). Total length 10 inches, culmen 0:8, wing 6:4, tail 4-2, tarsus 1°3.

The specimen is one which Mr. Ramsay lent to us; it is a male procured by Captain Richards in New
Britain on the 30th of July, 1879, and is represented in the Plate of the full size. The description is taken
from the same specimen.

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NINOX FO RBESL Sclater.
Forbes’s Hawk-Owl.

Ninox forbest, Sclater, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1883, p. 52, pl. xi.

 

Tue present species, which has been named in honour of Mr. H. O. Forbes, who discovered it in the
Tenimber Islands, belongs to a little group of Hawk-Owls which have the head uniform. JW. squamipila of
Ceram has many points of resemblance to the subject of our present article, but is altogether of a darker
rufous colour, has the toes scantily feathered, the upper tail-coverts barred with white, and not more than
seven broad blackish bars on the tail-feathers. Below, both species are similar, but WV. forbesi does not have
the under wing-coverts barred as in JV. squamipila.

The nearest ally of V. forbes? is undoubtedly Minow hantu of Wallace from Bourou; but this bird, though
agreeing in the paler and more cinnamon-rufous colours of the plumage, is distinguished by its scantily
feathered toes, which have only a few hair-like bristles. Both species have the under wing-coverts uniform
like the breast 5 but WV. Aantw is a much darker bird, with broader bars on the tail-feathers and no white on
the wing-coverts ; the under surface also is more uniform cinnamon-rufous, and does not show the white bars
which distinguish WV. fordes?.

Mr. Forbes informs us that he only met with this species on one occasion in Timor Laut, and this was
during an excursion to the mainland on the 9th of August, 1882. While conducting a palaver with the
natives to obtain permission to shoot near the village of Loetoe, his native hunters managed to procure a pair
of this Owl while they were awaiting the result of Mr. Forbes’s negotiations with the villagers. The birds
were sitting in a thick bushy tree at no great height from the ground.

The following is a description of the typical specimen figured by Dr. Sclater :—

Adult male (type of species). General colour above reddish brown, rather more rufous on the upper
tail-coverts ; scapulars barred with white or yellowish buff, with narrow cross bars of dusky brown; wing-
coverts like the back, the greater series barred with dusky brown and fulvous or white ; bastard wing like
the other coverts ; primary-coverts nearly uniform dark brown, with slightly indicated reddish-brown cross
bars; quills reddish brown barred with blackish, the interspaces being paler and either fulvous or whitish,
the inner secondaries less barred; tail-feathers light rufous-brown, with eleven bars of dusky blackish on the
centre ones, sixteen on the outer feathers, which show whitish interspaces for more than half of the length
of the outer web; head and hind neck more dingy rufous-brown than the back, with the colour of which it
is in slight contrast; base of forehead aud lores white, extending above the fore part of the eye and having
black shaft-lines ; feathers below the eye and ear-coverts dingy reddish brown, like the head; base of cheeks
and base of chin white; throat and breast tawny rufous, the latter slightly mottled with paler cross bars
of fulvous or narrower ones of dusky ; abdomen and flanks barred broadly with white and more narrowly
with dusky brown, the latter with a conterminous line of tawny buff; thighs and under tail-coverts tawny
rufous, the latter barred with dusky and with broader bands of yellowish white; under wing-coverts and
axillaries tawny rufous, the edge of the wing white, the greater series of coverts and the quills below paler
and more yellowish buff, more reddish brown towards the end of the quills, which are barred across with
blackish brown ; ‘ bill pale corneous ; feet pale yellow, covered with bristly hairs, soles of feet nearly orange ;
iris rich golden” (ZZ. O. Forbes). ‘Total length 11-5 inches, culmen 1:05, wing 7°4, tail 4:5, tarsus 1-1.

The female bird, which was brought over by Mr. Forbes on his return from Timor Laut (too late for us
to figure on the Plate, which had unfortunately been printed off before Mr. Forbes’s arrival), ouly differs
from the male in being paler and in having the breast barred with pale cinnamon like the abdomen, but not
so broadly.

The Plate is drawn from the type specimen, which Dr. Sclater was kind enough to lend us, and portrays

the adult male, of about the full size, in two positions.

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NINOX DIMORPHA.

Salvadori’s Hawk-Owl.

Athene dimorpha, Salvad. Ann. Mus. Civie. Genov. vi. p. 308 (1874).

Ninox dimorpha, Sharpe, Ibis, 1875, p. 258.—Id. Cat. Birds in Brit. Mus. ii. p. 175 (1875).—Salvad. Ann. Mus.
Civic. Genov. x. p. 118 (1877), xii. p. 40 (1878).—Ramsay, Proc. Linn. Soc. N. S. Wales, iii. p. 248
(1879).—Salvad. Ibis, 1879, p. 319.—Id. Orn. Papuasia e delle Molucche, i. p. 83 (1880).

? Athene, sp., Ramsay, Proc. Linn. Soc. N. S. Wales, i. p. 388 (1876), ii. p- 19 (1877).

 

Wuen we wrote the second volume of the ‘ Catalogue of Birds’ this species was unknown to us, and we
were indebted to the kindness of Count Salvadori for a sketch of the type specimen, from which we gathered
that it might belong to the genus Glaucidium, or that it might even be the type of a new genus. The genus
Glaucidium, however, is unknown in the Australian region, and the discovery of a species in Papuasia would
have been somewhat surprising ; but an examination of a specimen of Minow dimorpha proves that all these
speculations were wrong, and that the bird is a true Ninox, as might have been expected from the locality.

Its position in the last-named genus Is very easily defined, for it can be recognized at once by its streaked
breast, spotted hind neck, and banded wing-coverts, the latter resembling the back. It was originally
discovered near Sorong, in North-western New Guinea, by Signor D’Albertis, and Mr. Ramsay has received
an adult and a nestling bird from the vicinity of Port Moresby ; of the identity of the latter specimen there
may be some doubt, but that the species occurs also in South-eastern New Guinea is unquestionable, as
Mr. H. O. Forbes has sent a specimen from the Sogeri district of the Astrolabe Mountains, of which we
give a detailed description :—

Adult. General colour above dark brown, regularly banded across with light rufous, whiter on the
scapulars, which have also large white patches externally ; wing-coverts like the back, the rufous bars
obscure on the lesser coverts, but especially distinct on the greater series, which resemble the quills ;
bastard-wing and primary-coverts blackish, with a few obscure rufescent bands ; quills blackish, banded
with rufous externally, the bands more ashy on the inner webs and at the ends of the feathers ; upper tail-
coverts like the back; tail-feathers blackish, barred with ashy rufous, the bands twelve in number on the
centre feathers, as well as the outer ones, on which, however, they are not strictly conterminous on both
webs ; crown of head blackish brown, streaked with tawny rufous, with which colour the feathers are edged,
the nape and hind neck being pale tawny rufous with large blackish-brown mesial spots ; lores white, with
some hair-like black plumes; eyebrows and base of forehead white, streaked with black ; ear-coverts ashy
grey, streaked with black; cheeks, feathers below the eye, and chin white with narrow black shaft-lines, the
hinder cheeks tinged with tawny buff and more broadly streaked with blackish ; sides of neck like the hind
neck ; throat, chest, and under surface of body pale tawny buff, streaked with black ; the lower breast and
abdomen rather whiter and more boldly streaked, sides of body and flanks buffy white ; thighs and under
tail-coverts white, the latter streaked with black ; under wing-coverts and axillaries pale tawny buff, streaked
with black ; quills below blackish brown, profusely banded with ashy brown or fulyous: “ bill lead-colour ;
toes yellow; iris yellow ” (D’ Albertis). Total length 11°5 inches, culmen 1-0, mnie fell, tevll G)%),
tarsus 1°3.

The figure in the Plate represents an adult bird, and is drawn from the specimen obtained by Mr. Forbes
and described above.

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EPIMACHUS ELLIOTI, wWara.
Biliot’s Promerops.

Epimachus ellioti, Ward, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1873, p. 743.—Elliot, Monogr. Parad. pl. 20.—Beccari, Annali Mus.
Civic. Genoy. vii. p. 710.—Salvad. op. cit. ix. p. 190.—Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. iii. p. 163.

 

I am fortunate in possessing the unique type of this splendid bird, which has been placed in the genus
Epimachus by Mr. Edwin Ward, the original describer, and allowed to remain there by Mr. Elliot and Mr.
Bowdler Sharpe, both of whom have recently monographed the Birds of Paradise. I retain it in the
genus Epimachus, but with some hesitation; for it differs considerably in its structure from -Z. speciosus,
the only other representative of the genus. I would point out the difference existing in the sharply ending
tail-feathers of the present bird, and still more the very different shape of the beautiful flank-plumes. In
E.. speciosus they form gracefully falling plumes illuminated by a subterminal metallic band; but in Z. ellioti
there are three series of plumes on the flanks, alike in colour, but differing in size. Whether these differ-
ences are generic will remain for subsequent writers to decide, when perfect specimens of both sexes of
Epimachus ellioti reach Europe. The style of coloration of the present bird is also very distinct, £7. speciosus
showing none of the beautiful velvety texture which strikes the observer at the first glance on beholding
E. elhoti.

At present we are in ignorance as to the habitat of the latter bird. A single skin came into the pos-
session of Mr. Ward, by whom it was described; and it afterwards passed into my hands, after being figured
in Mr, Elliot's Monograph of the Paradise-birds. Dr. Beccari, though he tried hard to discover the species
during his expedition to the Papuan Islands, did not succeed in discovering its home; but he believes that it
will ultimately be found to inhabit the mountains of Waigiou. One may be almost certain that the same
locality which possesses this brilliant species will also produce other interesting birds new to science.

The following is Mr. Elliot’s description of the typical specimen :—

‘Top of head rich amethyst ; occiput and sides of neck also amethyst, changing in certain lights to a rich
light greenish gloss; back, wings, upper tail-coverts, and tail brilliant violet-purple ; the wings and the
tail also marbled with a dark amethyst hue, like watered silk, changing according to the light ; throat and
upper portion of breast deep maroon colour, with purple reflections ; a narrow reddish purple band crosses
the lower part of the breast; sides of the breast, flanks, and rest of underparts dark green, the flank-
feathers much elongated, and stretching beyond the wings; beneath the shoulder of the wing spring two
rows of plumes, which are greenish at the base, graduating into deep purple, and terminating in a brilliant
metallic blue, very much narrower on the upper row than the lower one. The plumage of the entire bird
is very velvety in texture, and, with the exception of the metallic parts, appears black in ordinary lights ;
bill black, rich orange-yellow at the gape.”

The principal figure in the Plate represents the species of nearly the size of life, and is drawn from
the type specimen in my collection.

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EPIMACHUS SPECIOSUS.

Great Promerops.

Le Grand Promérops de la Nouvelle- Guinée, Sonn. Voy. N. Guin. p. 163, pl. 101.
Le Promerops brun de la Nowvelle- Guinée, id. tom. cit. p. 164, pl. 100.
Grand Promerops a paremens frisés, Buff. H. N. Ois. vi. p. 472.
Promerops de la Nouvelle-Guinée, Buff. Pl. Enl. vi. pls. 638, 639.

Upupa speciosa, Bodd. Tabl. Pl. Enl. p. 39.

striata, Bodd. tom. cit. p. 39.

New-Guinea Brown Promerops, Lath. Gen. Syn. 1. pt. 2, p. 694.

Grand Promerops, Lath. tom. cit. p. 695.

Upupa fusca, Gm. 5. N. i. p. 468.

magna, Gm. tom. cit. p. 468.

Le Promérops rayé, Audeb. et Vieill. Ois. Dor. i. pl. 7.

Le Promerops a large parure, Levaill. H. N. Promér. et Guép. pls. 13, 15.

 

 

Promerops striata, Shaw, Gen. Zool. viii. p. 144.
———— superbus, Shaw, tom. cit. p. 145.
Faleinellus superbus, Vieill. N. Dict. d’Hist. Nat. xxviii. p. 166.
magnificus, Vieill. tom. cit. p. 167.
Epimachus magnus, Cuvier, Régne Anim. i. p. 407.
superbus, Steph. Gen. Zool. xiv. p. 77.—Wagler, Syst. Av. Epimachus, sp. 1.—Less. Traité, p. 321,
Atlas, pl. 73. fig. 1.—Rosenb. J. f. O. 1864, p. 123.
Cinnamolegus papuensis, Less, Ois. Parad. Syn. p. 32.—Id. H. N. pls. 39, 40.

Epimachus speciosus, Gray, Gen. B. i. p. 94.—Schl. Mus. P.-B. Coraces, p. 94.—Elliot, Monogr. Parad. oll, xabK.
—Salvad. Ann. Mus. Civic. Genov. vii. p. 785, ix. p. 190.—Sharpe, Cat. B. ili. p. 162 (1877).
———— magnus, Bp. Consp. i. p. 411.—Wall. Ibis, 1861, p. 287.—Id. P. Z. S. 1862, p. 160.—Id. Malay Arch.

ii. p. 255.—Schl. J. f. O. 1861, p. 386.—Id. N. T. D. i. p. 332.
——— maximus, Gray, P. Z.S. 1861, p. 433.—Id. Hand-l. B. 1. p. 105.—Beccari, Ann. Mus. Civic. Genoy.
Vat J HHO Wore, USI7G, jo, Y49.

 

Ix spite of the long list of synonyms with which this species has been burdened by naturalists, the actual
information respecting its habits is almost wanting ; neither can I pretend to give a long account of the bird,
simply for the reason that there is nothing to tell. I cannot weary my readers with a dissertation on the
various incidents through which this fine Bird of Paradise has reached the very complicated synonymy which
has marked its scientific history. Suffice it to say that, owing to our meagre knowledge of the bird ina
natural state, the males and the females have generally been taken for separate species ; and although im-
perfect skins have been sent to Europe in some numbers for the last hundred years, we have had to wait
until quite recently for the gladdening of our eyes by the receipt of the perfect bird.

It is at once the largest and the most remarkable, if not the most beautiful, of the thin-billed Birds of

Paradise, which comprise the Rifle-birds, the Twelve-wired Se/eucides, and the lately discovered Sickle-billed
Drepanornis. Only two species of Epimachus are known—the subject of the present article, and L. elliot: ;
the latter is still represented by the single type specimen in my collection, the habitat of which, though
supposed to be the island of Waigiou, is not yet known for certain.

Mr. Wallace did not meet with the present species during his explorations in Papuasia. He says,
“This splendid bird inhabits the mountains of New Guinea, in the same district with the Superb (Lophorina
atra) and the Six-shafted (Parotia sexpennis) Paradise-birds, and, I was informed, is sometimes found in the
ranges near the coast. Iwas several times assured by different natives that this bird makes its nest in a
hole underground, or under rocks, always choosing a place with two apertures, so that it may enter at one
and go out at the other. This is very unlike what we should suppose to be the habits of the bird ; but it
is not easy to conceive how the story originated if it is not true; and all travellers know that native accounts
of the habits of animals, however strange they may seem, almost invariably turn out to be correct.”

The following note appears in Dr. Beccari’s Ornithological Letter :—

‘The Epimachi have been separated from the other birds of Paradise; but I think this is paradoxical.
The form and the length of the beak of Epzmachus maximus is most variable; the young males and females

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think at first that I had found the female of E. elliot? ; but I was mite Wi
at Waigiou, and will probably be EL. ellioti; but I was not able to return . ce . a - e ed. Epi.
Tints and Astrapia gularis are only found on ive highest and most difficult peaks of Mount Arfak,
nearly always above 6000 feet elevation. Specimens in dark plumage are common enonsii but those
aren have attained perfect plumage are rare, perhaps ee they take oe ge to Se it. Both
of them live on the fruits of certain Pandanacew, and especially on those of the Preycinetie, which are epl-

phytous on the trunks of trees. The irides of the Be Epimachus are a Pe

The descriptions are taken from Mr. Bowdler Sharpe's Catalogue of Birds. ;

Adult male. Above velvety black, with metallic feathers of coppery green on the head, middle of the back,
and rump; lores and renner on the side of the head metallic like the crown 5 entire under surface of
body velvety black, with a purplish brown gloss on the sides of the oy ; oo each side of the bas! springs
a tuft of sickle-shaped plumes in the shape of a fan, velvety black, tipped with a broad band of steel-blue,
before which is a narrow subterminal band of purplish blue; flank-feathers long and drooping, the outer
ones broadly tipped with metallic bronzy-green, before which is a double subterminal band of velvety black
and purplish blue ; wings velvety black, with a gloss of steel-blue ; tail-feathers black, all but the three outer-
most feathers washed with steel-blue, the two centre ones entirely of this colour; bill and legs black.

Total length 26 inches, culmen 2°85, wing 7:2, tail 16:7.

Female. Upper part of head brownish red ; rest of upper parts olive-brown, becoming slightly rufous on
the rump and upper tail-coverts; secondaries reddish brown, edged with rufous; primaries dark brown,
edge of outer web rufous; cheeks, throat, and upper part of breast brownish black ; underparts white,
narrowly barred with black ; tail light brown, with a rufous tinge ; bill long and slender, much curved, and,
with the feet and tarsi, jet-black.

The figures in the Plate, which represent a male of about two thirds the natural size, and a male and a

female very much reduced, are taken from a superb pair of skins in my own collection.

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DREPANORNIS CERVINICAUDA.

Bennett’s Bird of Paradise.

Drepanornis albertisii (nec Sclater), Sharpe, Journ. Linn. Soc., Zool. xvi. p. 445 (1882).—Salvad. Orn. Papuasia,
etc. 11. App. p. 552 (1882).
Drepanornis @albertistt, Ramsay, Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S. W. iv. p. 469 (1880).—Id. op. cit.viii. p. 28 (1883).

 

For some time it was suspected both by Mr. Ramsay and by ourselves that the Drepanornis from South-
eastern New Guinea was a different species from that of the Arfak Mountains, as the tail was always so
much paler than in the north-western bird. Unfortunately only female specimens were at first obtained
by the collectors in the Astrolabe Mountains, and it was only quite recently that Mr. Goldie succeeded in
procuring the males.

Dr. Bennett of Sydney, who has always proved himself a true friend to science, became the possessor of
specimens from the Astrolabe range in South-eastern New Guinea, and the British Museum is indebted to
his liberality for the beautiful skins which now adorn that collection. They were previously submitted to
Dr. Sclater, who exhibited them at a meeting of the Zoological Society on the 4th of December, 1883, and
gave to them the name of cervinicauda.

Mr. Ramsay bas likewise procured a series for the Sydney Museum, and has had the additional good
fortune to obtain the nest and egg of this new Bird of Paradise, which he describes as follows :—

“The nest is a thin, rather flat structure, built between a horizontal bough in a fork of a thin branch ; it
has a slight depression about one inch deep, a network of wire rootlets are stretched across the fork, and
the nest proper built on them ; it is composed of wiry grasses of a light reddish-brown colour, the platform
being of black wiry roots.

“The egg is in length 1°37, by 1 inch in breadth ; it is of a light dull cream-colour, with a reddish tinge,
spotted all over with oblong dashes of reddish brown and light purplish grey, closer on the thick end.”

It is unnecessarv to give a complete description of this species. It may be said to be exactly like
Drepanornis albertisi from North-western New Guinea, but distinguished by its much paler rump and tail.

The type specimens are figured in the Plate, a representation of the male and female being given of about
the natural size.

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DREPANORNIS ALBERTISI, Seiater.

D’ Albertis’s Bird of Paradise.

Drepanornis albertisi, Sclater, P. Z.S. 1873, p. 558, pl. 47.—D’ Albertis, ¢. c. p. 558.—Elliot, Monogr. Paradiseide,
jo, Di.
Epimachus wilhelmine, Meyer, J. f. O. 1873, p. 404.—Id. Ibis, 1874, p. 303.

 

Tus remarkable new form of Paradise-bird was one of the most interesting discoveries made by Signor
d’Albertis during his recent explorations in the island of New Guinea. He found it at Mount Arfak; and
almost simultaneously, Dr. Meyer discovered it in the same locality. We are also informed by Dr. Sclater
that previous to this, Baron von Rosenberg had seen a female in the collection of Mr. Van Duivenbode, at
Ternate, as long ago as April 1871 (cf Ibis, 1874, p. 187).

The following are the notes given by Signor d’Albertis with regard to its habits :—

** This will probably prove to be a new bird, both generically and specifically. It is a very rare bird, and
many of the natives did not know it; but others called it ‘Quarna.’ The peculiarity of this species consists
in the formation of the bill, head, and softness of the plumage. At first it does not appear to have the
beauty peculiar to other birds of this class; but when observed more closely, in a strong light, the plumage
is seen to be rich and brilliant : the feathers rising from the base of the beak are of a metallic green, and
reddish copper-colour ; the feathers of the breast, when smooth, are of a violet grey, and when raised form a
semicircle round the body, reflecting a rich golden colour ; other violet-grey feathers arise from the flanks,
which are edged by a rich metallic violet tint; and when the plumage is entirely expanded the bird appears
as if it had formed two semicircles round itself, and is very handsome.

“The tail- and wing-feathers are yellowish ; underneath they are of a darker shade. The head is barely
covered with small round feathers, which are rather deficient at the back of the ear. The shoulders are
tobacco-colour ; and under the throat black, blending into olive. The breast is violet-grey, banded by a line
of olive, the rest white. The beak is black, eyes chestnut, and the feet of a dark leaden colour.

«This species is met with in the vicinity of Mount Arfak. Its food is not known, nothing having beer
found in the stomachs of those prepared except clean water.”

The following complete descriptions are taken from Mr. Elliot’s ‘ Monograph of the Paradiseide : ’—

“© Vale.—Head covered with short, rather stiff, light-brown feathers, tipped with deep purple. Two
spots of metallic-blue feathers between the eyes and bill, projecting above the eyes like horns ; a spot of
bare skin behind the eyes apparently red. Neck and back rufous brown. Primaries blackish brown, edged
with light-rufous feathers on the outer webs. Secondaries light rufous brown on outer web, black on the
inner, edged with very light reddish brown. The three innermost secondaries light reddish brown on both
webs. Upper tail-coverts and tail bright reddish brown. Chin and throat metallic deep purple, black in
certain lights. Breast covered with long feathers, grey, with rich purple reflections, and edged on the
lower part with dull green, crossing the body in a narrow bar. From either side, near the shoulder of the
wing, spring two tufts of feathers that extend beyond the breast-shield, of an intense metallic fiery red,
tipped with purple. These when not elevated are altogether hidden by the outer feathers, which are
uniform purple like the breast. From the flanks, just above the termination of the breast-shields, on either
side project two long tufts of plumes, which extend to the end of the under tail-coverts, of the same colour
as the breast, brownish grey, each feather tipped with very brilliant deep purple. The abdomen and under
tail-coverts pure white, the former streaked with purplish grey on the upper portion. Bill very long,
slender, and much curved, black. Feet and tarsi dull lead-colour.

“«« Female.—Head chestnut brown. Back and wings rufous brown. Primaries and secondaries blackish
brown on inner web, outer web brown. Upper tail-coverts and tail light red. Chin and throat blackish
brown, each feather with a central streak of light brown. Breast light brown, irregularly barred with dark
brown. Flanks and lower parts of body yellowish brown, indistinctly barred with dark brown, except in the
centre of the abdomen, which is light reddish white. Thighs reddish, barred with brown. Under tail-
coverts pale reddish. Iris chestnut. Baill long, curved, and slender like that of the male, black. Feet and
tarsi lead-colour.”

For the opportunity of figuring the typical specimens of this bird, I am indebted to the courtesy of

ignor d’Albertis. The birds are represented about the natural size.

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DREPANORNIS BRUIJNIJ, Oustalet.

Bruija’s Bird of Paradise.

Drepanornis bruijnii, Oustalet, Bull. Assoc. Scient. de France, 1880, p. 172.—Salvad. Orn. Papuasia e delle
Molucche, ii. p. 553 (1881).—Guillemard, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1885, p. 649.

 

Ir is much to be regretted that we have been unable to procure a fully adult bird for our illustration of the
present species, for to all appearances the specimen which has been lent to us by Dr. Guillemard for the
purposes of this work is immature. At the same time it is somewhat singular that all the specimens so far
procured by Mr. Brujjn’s hunters in North-western New Guinea have been similar to the bird here figured.
Dr, Guillemard, who obtained two specimens during the cruise of the ‘ Marchesa’ with Mr. Kettlewell,
gives the following account of his getting them :—*‘ While in Ternate Mr. Bruijn showed me the skins of two
birds of the genus Drepanornis obtained by his hunters on the north coast of New Guinea a little to the

’

eastward of the mouths of the Amberbaki River. One was marked ‘female,’ the other ‘male’; but both
were destitute of any brilliant colouring whatsoever. .... . Mr. Bruijn informed me that his hunters had
obtained seven or eight examples of this species, but that, though of different sexes, they were all of the same
sober colouring. Judging from the habits of others of the Paradiseide, notably in the case of P. rubra, where
the immature males and females appear to live in districts quite apart from the adult male at certain seasons
of the year, and from the fact that in this group of birds the males are all of brilliant colouring, we can safely
predict that the adalt male of this species has yet to be discovered, and that it will probably show a
development of subalar plumes closely resembling that of D. albertisi.”

It is no doubt true that when the fully-plumaged male becomes known considerable resemblance to the
same sex of D. albertisi will be discovered, and a more accurate comparison of the two species will then be
possible ; but there can be no doubt that D. druijnii is a well-marked species, even when founded on the
immature bird. The size of the bil! alone is sufficient to distinguish it, and the distribution of the bare
patches on the face is also different; but the chief characters will no doubt be discovered when skins of the
adult male are sent to Europe.

The following is a description of the specimen kindly lent to us by Dr. Guillemard :—

General colour above brown, with a slight tinge of olive ; wing-coverts like the back, the outer median and
the greater coverts washed externally with dull fawn-colour; bastard-wing and primary-coverts dusky brown,
the latter shaded with fawn near the base ; quills dusky brown, externally pale olive-brown, the secondaries
washed with fawn-colour on the outer web; upper tail-coverts dull fawn-colour, washed with brown in the
centre ; tail-feathers clear fawn-colour ; crown of head blackish, the feathers being of a velvety texture ; the
hind neck also shaded with blackish ; sides of face bare; lores and a line of feathers from the gape along
the side of the face blackish, the cheeks whity brown, black anteriorly, followed by a broad malar line of black ;
throat and under surface of body pale fawn-buff, regularly barred with blackish, the throat and fore neck more
dusky and the cross bars smaller and more indistinct ; the abdomen clearer buff and the bars wider and more
distinct ; sides of body and flanks like the abdomen; thighs and under tail-coverts also fawn-buff, barred
with blackish ; under wing-coverts and axillaries paler fawn-buff than the breast and indistinctly barred ;
quills below dusky, fawn-buff along the inner edge. Total length 12 inches, culmen 2°7, wing 5°6, tail 4:3,
tarsus 1°20.

The figure in the Plate represents the bird of the size of life and is taken from Dr. Guillemard’s specimen
mentioned above.

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CRASPEDOPHORA MAGNIFICA.
New-Guinea Rifle-bird.

Le Proméfil, Levaill. Ois. de Parad. p. 36, pl. 16 (1806).—Less. H. N. Ois. Parad. pl. 29 (1835).

Falcinellus magnificus, Vieill. N. Dict. d’Hist. Nat. xxviii. p. 167, pl. G80. no. 3 (1818).

Epimachus splendidus, Steph. Gen. Zool. xiv. p- 77 (1826).

Epimachus magnificus, Wagler, Syst. Av., Epimachus, sp. 10 (1827).—Cuvier, Régne Anim. 1829, p. 440.—Less.
Cent. Zool. p. 22, pls. 4, 5 (1830).—Id. Ois. Parad. Syn. p. 27 (1835).—Id. H. N. Ois. Parad. p. 218,
pls. 32-34 (1835).—Bp. Consp. i. p. 412 (1850).—Gray, P. Z.S. 1859, p. 155.—Schl. J. f. O. 1861, p.
386; id. Mus. P. B., Coraces, p. 96 (1867).

Craspedophora magnifica, Gray, List Gen. B. p. 15 (1841).—Reichenb. Handb. Scansori@, p. 330, Taf. lexi. figs.
4089-91 (1850).—Wall. P. Z. S. 1862, p. 160.—Rosenb. J. f. O. 1864, p. 128.—Salvad. Ann. Mus. Civie.
Genov. ix. p. 191 (1874).

Epimachus paradiseus, Gray, Gen. B. ii. pl. xxxii. (nec Swains.).

Ptilornis magnificus, Gray, Handl. B. i. p- 105 (1869).

Ptiloris magnificus, Elliot, P. Z. S. 1871, p. 583.—Id. Mon. Parad. pl. xxiii. (1876).—Salvad. Ann. Mus. Civic.
Genov. vii. p. 785 (1874).

Ptilorhis superbus, Beccari, Ann. Mus. Civic. Genov. vii. p. 173 (1875).—Selater, Ibis, 1876, p. 252.

Pitlorhis magnifica, Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. iii. p. 158 (1877).

 

SEVERAL years ago I described and figured a species of Rifle-bird from North-eastern Australia as Prilorhis
magnifica; and for a long time it was supposed by ornithologists that one species was common to New
Guinea and the Cape-York peninsula. Mr. Elliot, however, in his work on the Birds of Paradise,
pomted out certain differences between these two forms, which appear to justify their specific separation,
aud adopted for the Cape-York species the MS. name of Ptilornis alberti, proposed by the late Mr. G. R.
Gray, after a study of the specimens in the British Museum. Mr. Bowdler Sharpe also concurs in the specific
separation of these two Rifle-birds ; and he points out that in the male of P. magnifica the breast becomes
purple below the double pectoral band, and has not the oily-green lustre which distinguishes the same sex of
P. albertt. 1 must also mention that the metallic lustre on the pectoral shields of these birds is of a different
hue, although perhaps the greatest difference between the two species is exhibited by the female birds. Thas,
the female of the New-Guinea Rifle-bird is entirely rufous on the upper surface, and has the head of
the same colour as the back, whereas in the female of Prince Albert’s Rifle-bird the head is ashy brown.
As is the case with so many of the birds of New Guinea, we know nothing of the habits of the Rifle-bird
inbabiting that region; but we may well suppose that they do not differ from those described by me in my
work on the Birds of Australia. Dr. Beccari states that the egos of the New-Guinea Rifle-bird have been
discovered by one of Mr. Bruijn’s hunters “in the branches of a tree called at Ternate ‘ Kaju tjapilong,’
which is the Calophyllum inophyllum.” He adds, “ At present I have not the eges before me; so I will write
about them more fully another time, when I have been able to examine the man who found them.”

The following descriptions are taken from Mr. Bowdler Sharpe’s Catalogue of Birds.

“Male. Top of head and occiput, centre of throat, and entire upper part of breast shining bluish green,
purple in certain lights ; entire upper parts deep velvety black, with rich dark purple reflections ; primaries
black, with green reflections ; a narrow line of green, red in some lights, beneath the metallic of the breast ;
flanks and abdomen purple ; side plumes also purple, basal half and filamentary ends black; two centre tail-
feathers shining green ; remainder velvety black, with green reflections on their outer webs ; bill, feet, and
legs stout, black.

“* Female. Above cinnamon-rufous, the wings and tail entirely of the same colour as the back, the inner
webs browner ; over the eye a narrow streak of white; lores and sides of face dusky brown, the former
washed with rufous ; the ear-coverts minutely streaked with rufous along the shafts of the feathers ; cheeks
white, the feathers somewhat scaly in appearance ; a malar streak of dark brown on each side of the throat ;

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6:6, tail 4°45, tarsus 1°65.
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the back; a tolerably well-defined white eyebrow, the feathers edged with brown; lores and ear-coverts

adult female, but of a deeper rufous, the head and neck rather dingier than

dusky chocolate-brown, with very few ochraceous shaft-streaks ; under surface of body dirty white, very
thickly barred across with black ; the flank-plumes elongated, but barred exactly like the breast; from the
base of the lower mandible a malar streak of dusky black, continued down the sides of the throat onto the
sides of the chest. Total length 14°65 inches, culmen 2°3, wing 6°95, tail 4-9, tarsus 1°65.”

[t will be seen that I have not followed the nomenclature employed by me in the Supplement to the ‘ Birds
of Australia.” The present bird and P. albert ought to be placed in a separate genus from that which
contains P. paradisea and P. victorie ; and I therefore propose to adopt Mr. G. R. Gray’s generic name of
Craspedophora for the above two birds.

The figures represent a male and a female, about the natural size, drawn from specimens in my
collection. :

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Twelve-wired Bird of Paradise.

Le Manucode a douze filets, Audeb. et Vieill. Ois. Dor. ii. p. 29, pl. 13.

Le Nébuleux, Levaill. Ois. de Parad. i. ols, 1G, 17.

Le Promerops multifil, Levaill, H. N. Promer. et Guép. pl. 17.

Paradisea nigricans, Shaw, Gen. Zool. vii. pt. 2, p. 489 (1809).
alba, Blumenb. Abbild. nat. Gegenst. pl. 96.—Schleg. J. f. O. 1861, p. 386.
resplendescens, Vieill. Nouv. Dict. xxviii. p. 165.—Id. Galerie Ois. p- 107, pl. 185.

Epimachus albus, Temm. Man. d’Orn. i. p. Ixxxvii—Wagl. Syst. Av. 1827, Epimachus, sp. 9.—Gray, Gen. B. ii.
p. 94.—Id. P. Z. 8. 1858, p. 190.—Id. List B. New Guinea, Di 2b O tel acer annem se
Wallace, P. Z. S. 1862, p. 160.—Schleg. Mus. P.-B., Coraces, p- 95.—Id. Nederl. Tijdschr. Dierk. iy.
p. 49.—Gray, Hand-l. B. i. p. 105.

Twelve-wired Paradise Bird, Lath. Gen. Hist. iii. p. 199, pl. 48.

Seleucides acanthylis, Less. H. N. Ois. Parad. pls. 36—38.—Id. Syn. p. 29.

Nematophora alba, Gray, List Gen. B. i. De Ls

Seleucides alba, Gray, List Gen. B., Addenda, p. 1.—Bp. Consp. i. p. 412.—Cab. Mus. Hein. i. p. 215.—Reichenb.
Handb. Spec. Orn. Scansoriz, p. 331, taf. 612, figs. 4092, 4093.—Wallace, Malay Archip. ii. p. 250.—
Elhot, Monogr. Parad. pl. xxii—Salvad. Ann. Mus. Civ. Genova, vii. p. 785.—Beccari, ¢. ¢. p. 713.—
Sel. P. Z. S. 1876, p. 252.

Ptiloris nebulosus, Licht. Nomencl. p. 10.

Seleucides resplendens, Rosenb. Nat. Tijdschr. Nederl. Ind. xxv. p. 238.—Id. J. f. O. 1864, p. 123.

Epimachus resplendens, Rosenb. Reist, naar Geelvinkb. pp. 101, 116.

Seleucides ignota, Salvad. Ann. Mus. Civ. Genova, viii. p. 403; ix. p. 191; x. p. 154.—D’Albert. & Salvad.
DD. Oli, WWo JD. LOW.
niger, Sharpe, Cat. B. iii. p. 159.

Epimachus resplendescens, Rosenb. Malay Arch. p. 552.

Seleucides nigricans, Salvad. Orn, della Papuasia &c. p. 561 (1881).

 

Tue list of names given above shows that this species of Bird of Paradise has been known to writers
for a long period. Most of the synonymy I have derived from Mr. Bowdler Sharpe’s ‘Catalogue of Birds,’
and from the more complete list of works given by Count Salvadori in his recently published book on the
birds of New Guinea. When I state that I have by no means exhausted the synonymy of the species as
set down by Count Salvadori, it may readily be imagined that the number of books in which reference is
made to the species is very large indeed. I have not, however, full space for such lengthened synonymy
in the present work, and must refer the reader to the above-mentioned volumes for further quotations.
The Twelve-wired Bird of Paradise is the only representative of the genus Seleucides, which belongs to the
slender-billed section of the Paradiseide. It is remarkable for its elongated flank-feathers, which are of a
fine yellow colour, and have six shafts produced into thread-like plumes, whence the bird has received its
ordinary English name. Unfortunately the beautiful yellow colour on the flanks fades away after death,
and becomes white, when the bird loses much of its original beauty.

With regard to the nomenclature of the bird, I have come to the conclusion that the first name, which
ought to be employed, is that of nigricans of Shaw, as has been set forth by Count Salvadori. As far as
we know at present, it is entirely confined to New Guinea, over the whole of which great island it
appears to be distributed. It is abundant on the Fly river, to judge by the large series obtained by
Signor D’Albertis during his residence in Southern New Guinea. He found it living solitary, and
frequently resting on the dead branch of a tree, uttering its note (which sounded like Co-co-co ) in the early
morning at the rising of the sun; during the day it was silent. Mr. Wallace, in his ‘ Malay Archipelago,’
gives the following account of the species :—‘‘ The Séleucides alba is found in the island of Salwatty, and
in the north-western parts of New Guinea, where it frequents flowering trees, especially sago-palms and
pandani, sucking the flowers, round and beneath which its unusually large and powerful feet enable it to

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an a few ents on one tree, after which ;

‘d. It seldom rests more than a few momen ae vhich it
eo fe DY ENOD IC: ~ oF aye > An Pp .

cling. et iftness, to another. It has a loud shrill cry, to be heard a long way,
Ss : Ee h creat swiitness, ; ae ae a : [
flies straight off, and with g ted five or six times in a descending scale ; and at the last note it senerally
‘ _ ; - : 7 ~ . IAP we Si
consisting of ‘cah, cah, repea i ee anabiis: although, perhaps, they assemble at certain times
: ite tar 8 t
are quite solitary

flies away. The males ld imens shot and opened by my assistant Mr. Allen, who obtained
All the speci S é J

1 ea ea we © achs but a brown sweet liqy;

like the true Parac his last vovage to New Guinea, had nothing in their stomachs but a veet liquid,
is fi ir ring his last voyage

this fine bird during yag

. yy ae o aoe DO
. sen feeding -y certainly, however, eat both fruit
of the flowers on which they had been feeding. The ainly, ; |
ca ecual 0100 hich I ilive on board a Dutch steamer, ate cockroaches and paya fruit
. o i TEN A ) which saw ¢ € : : j i ee
and insects ; for a specimen, ious habit of resting at noon with the bill pointing vertically upwards,
: Ten aenarchorcurions tabi sting ah
re ain i 11 red the body and formed a skeleton, which shows indisputably
? i y secure » j
s > passace atavia; and 1 secu ) ;
Hi aon aes a T rue is very long and extensible, but flat, and a little fibrous
that it is really a Bird of Paradise. The tongue is very g
C o J f
1:1, BP aradiaeas
ac > the true Paradiseas. a
at the end, exactly like : e the sleepine Sa
canna land of Salwatty the natives search in the forests till they find the sleeping-place : a bird,
n the isle alwatty Re ae joo
ich they know by seeing its dung upon the ground. It is generally in a low bushy od At night they
Po i il l t the birds with blunt arrows, or even catch them alive with a cloth. In
1 > tree, an r shoot the bir b
climb up the tree, and eithe ae : by then ae ng
New Guinea they are caught by placing snares on the trees frequented by them, in the same ay as the
ew ‘ j ght by {
ee,
ise-bir re caug alg1ou.
Red Paradise-birds are caught in Waig 7 a
ion has the present species been known to have been brought alive to Europe, a single
Only on one occasion has the present species | ie by Se
example having been procured by Signor G. E. Serruti im New Guinea, and_presentec oy him to the late
Xe mec g Cc s
r 1 Ter Tae: O ant nt : { urope.
King of Italy. It survived, however, only a few months in Et ro} 7
e C a . ° Spee oe Geral en £ pe aon
I take the following descriptions from Mr. Sharpe’s ‘ Catalogue of Birds ’:— | i |
ety black, with a strong gloss of oil-ereen when viewed from the
Adult male. General colour above velvety black, with a strong gloss of oil-green a e
is I: 1 a
1 ions; scapulars < ving-coverts resembling the back; greater coverts
light, with coppery bronze reflections ; scapulars and wing-coverts resembling the back ; gre

and secondaries fiery purple, the primaries black, with an external gloss of violet ; oo fiery purple; head
all round of a velvety texture, coppery purple above, oily green on the sides of the face and throat ; fore
neck and chest velvety black, forming a shield, somewhat shaded with oily green in the centre, the lateral
plumes all tipped with bright metallic emerald-green, forming a fringe ; rest of the under ue of ey
buffy yellow, the plumes of the flanks elongated and silky, and furnished with six threadclike shafts,
produced to a great length, and curved backwards on the body; under wing-coverts black ; bill black,
Total length 12 inches, culmen 2:7, wing 6°45, tail 3°15, tarsus 1-75; threads reaching 10:2 inches
beyond the flank-feathers.

Adult female.—General colour above bright chestnut-red; back of the neck and sides of the same black;
the feathers of the mantle also mottled with black, the bases of the feathers being of this colour; crown
of head and nape velvety black, with a purplish gloss when seen away from the light; wing-coverts and
secondaries chestnut-red, like the back, the primaries blacl

‘, chestnut on their outer webs ; tail uniform
chestnut ; space around and behind the eye bare

» aS also a spot on the auricular region; ear-coverts
black; sides of face and throat greyish white, faintly mottled with dusky bars of blackish; rest of under
surface of body buffy brown, washed here and the
somewhat irregular cross lines of bl
indicated on the abdomen

re with pale rufous, the whole transversely barred with
ackish brown, broader on the fore neck and breast, and more faintly
, and especially on the long fl
coverts bright chestnut, with dusky blackish cross b
tail 4°3, tarsus 1-7,

Young male.—At first rese

ank-feathers and under tail-coverts ; under wing-
ars. Total length 12°5 inches, culmen 2°55, wing 6°9,

mbles the adult female.

» mantle, and breast, the re
still entirely chestnut.
on the wings by a gradual change of fe
but more or less mottled with bl

A specimen collected by Mr. Wallace is in perfect
st of the body being in the chestnut plumage of
At the same time the beautiful purple colour is being put
ather, and not by a moult; half the inner secondaries are chestnut,

ae oy | i he purple colour appearing very plainly on the inner webs.

A © represents the male bird, of the natural size; and | have thought it necessary to give a
second illustration of this species, in order to Show some of th n :
represents a female and a young male jn
commencing to put on his ad

plumage as regards ‘its head
the female, the tail being

e changes of plumage. The second Plate

te Its first plumage, together with another bird, of the same sex,
wit livery,

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PARADIGALLA CARUNCULATA, Lesson.

Wattled Bird of Paradise.

Paradigalla carunculata, Less. Ois. Parad. p. 242 (1835); id. Rev. Zool. 1840, p. 1; Bp. Consp. 1. p. 414
(1850) ; Sclater, P. Z. S. 1857, p. 6; Wall. P. Z. S. 1862, p. 160; id. Malay Arch. il. p. 257 (1869) ;
Elliot, Monogr. Parad. pl. xvii. (1873); Salvadori, Ann. Mus. Civic. Genov. vil. p. 784 (1875) ;
Beccari, ¢. c. p. 711 (1875); Sclater, Ibis, 1876, p. 250; Salvadori, Ann. Mus. Civic. Genov. ix.
p. 190 (1877); Sharpe, Catalogue of Birds, iii. p. 165 (1877).

Astrapia carunculata, Eydoux et Souleyet, Voy. Bonite, p. 83, pl. 4 (1841); Gray, Gen. B. ii. p. 326 (1846) ;
Schlegel, J. f. O. 1861, p. 386; Rosenb. J. f. O. 1864, p. 131; Gray, Handl. B. i. p. 17 (1870).

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Tue extreme rarity of the present species in European collections may be imagined from the fact that Mr,

Elliot, when writing his monograph of the birds of Paradise five years ago, could only cite two specimens as

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existing in the museums of the world. One of these was the original specimen procured by MM. Eydoux and

Souleyet during the voyage of the ‘Bonite,’ and still preserved in the Paris Museum; and the second example

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was contained in the rich collection of the Philadelphia Academy. Since that time, however, perfect

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specimens have been obtained by the European travellers who have visited and explored the Arfak Mountains

in North-western New Guinea.

It appears, indeed, to be somewhat rare even in this part of the great Papuan island; for out of five

hundred and thirty-two specimens of Paradise-birds forwarded to Italy by Dr. Beccari and Mr. Bruijn, only

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or

fifteen belonged to the present species. The more recent explorers, MM. Laglaize and Raffray, have also

53

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met with the bird; and I possess in my own collection a fine pair procured by M. Laglaize in the Arfak

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Mountains.

Very little has been recorded concerning the habits of the Wattled Bird of Paradise, as the original

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discoverers did not themselves meet with the species in a living state; and the first person who has given

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us any account of the bird is Dr. Beccari, who has done so much to make us acquainted with the economy of
the Paradiseidee. In his Ornithological Letter, he writes:—‘‘As to Paradigalla carunculata, 1 shot one from
wy hut, whilst it was eating the small fleshy fruits of an Urtica. It likes to sit on the tops of dead and
leafless trees, like the Mino dumonti. The finest ornament of this bird are the wattles, which in the dried
skin lose all their beauty. The upper ones, which are attached one on each side of the forehead, are yellow ;
those at the base of the lower mandible are blue, and have a small patch of orange-red beneath. The
Arfaks call the Paradigalla ‘ Happoa.’”’

As is the case with so many of the Birds of Paradise, the genus Paradigalla contains but one single
species ; and indeed it is impossible to find any one which is nearly allied to it. Its somewhat elongated
tail places it close to Astrapia, which it also resembles in not possessing any of the wiry shafts which adorn
the tail-feathers of most of the forms of Paradiseide. A glance at the Plate of Astrapia nigra will show
how entirely different it is even from that, its nearest ally.

The following description is taken from Mr. Sharpe’s ‘ Catalogue of Birds ’:—

ce ii a

Adult male. General colour velvety black above and below, a little browner on the under surface ; wings
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and tail black, the inner secondaries with a purplish gloss under certain lights ; head glossed with metallic

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steel-green ; forehead, lores, and base of lower mandible bare; over each nostril a small tuft of black

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feathers; on each side of the base of the bill an erect wattled skin; round the eye a ring of black plumes ;

space below and behind the eye bare ; bill and legs black. Total length 11-2 inches, culmen 0°05, wing 6°15,
tail 4°85, tarsus 1:9.

Adult female. Similar to the male, but smaller.

The figures in the accompanying Plate represent the pair of birds in my own collection, obtained by M.

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Laglaize in the Arfak Mountains. For the opportunity of figuring the wattles as they appear in a state of
nature, I am indebted to my friend Mr. D. G. Elliot, who sent me a sketch of these parts coloured from the
recently killed bird by M. Raffray.

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ASTRAPIA NIGRA.

Gorget Paradise-bird.

Gorget Paradise Bird, Lath. Gen. Syn. i. p. 478, pl. 20 (1782).

Paradisea nigra, Gm. S. N. i. p. 401 (1788, ex Lath.).

Paradisea gularis, Lath. Ind. Orn. ii. p- 196 (1790).—Shaw, Gen, Zool. vii. pp. 69, 70 (1809).

Le Hausse-col doré, Aud. et Vieill. Ois. Dor. ii. p. 22, pls. 8, 9 (1802).

La Pie de Paradis, ou ? Incomparable, Levaill. Hist. Nat. Ois. Parad. i. pls. 20, 22 (1806).

Astrapia gularis, Vieill. N. Dict. d’Hist. Nat. iii. p. 37 (1816).—Id. Gal. Ois. i, p. 169, pl. 107 (1825) Less.
Traité d’Orn. p. 338 (1831).—Id. Ois. Parad. Syn. p. 18 (1835).—Id. Hist, Nat. p. 106, pls. 21-23.—
Schleg. J. f. O. 1861, p. 386.—Beccari, Ann. Mus. Civ. Genov. vii. p. 711.—Sclater, Ibis, 1876, p. 24 9.

Astrapia nigra, Steph. Gen. Zool. xiv. p. 75 (1820).—Gray, Gen. B. ii. p. 263 (1846).—Bp. Consp. i. p. 414
(1850).—Gray, P.Z.S. 1851, p. 436.—Wallace, P. Z.S. 1862, p- 154.—Finsch, Neu-Guinea, eles
(1865).—Wallace, Malay Archip. ii. p. 257 (1869).—Elliot, Monogr. Parad. pl. ix. (1873).—Salvad.
Ann. Mus. Civ. Genov. ix. p. 190 (1876).—Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. iii. p. 165 (1877).

Epimachus niger, Schlegel, Mus. P.-B., Coraces, p. 94 (1867)

 

Varrous authors have endeavoured to accomplish the difficult task of classifying and defining the limits of the
family Paradiseide ; and I can only think of two other groups which present the same obstacles to classification,
namely:—the Hornbills, where the shape of the casque is considered by some naturalists to be of generic, by
others of specific importance only; and the Malkoha Cuckoos (Phenicophaine), where the shape and
structure of the nostril varies so much as to induce some naturalists to place each species ina separate genus:
whilst by others the form of the nostril is reckoned to be only a specific character. Mr. D. G. Elliot placed
the Bower-birds along with the Paradiseide ; but Mr. Sharpe has not included them, and I learn from him
that they will be placed near the Thrushes in his arrangement of the class Aves. Professor Schlegel,
again, places the present bird in the genus Lpimachus near E. speciosus ; but I think that its stout bill,
so different from the sickle-shaped slender bills of the Epimachi, shows that the place of Astrapia is near
to the true Paradise-birds, though its long tail is very different in form from that of the other stout-
billed genera. I must say, however, that it seems to me impossible to keep such widely different forms of
birds under one genus; and I cannot help thinking that a family which includes such widely different forms
of birds as Astrapia, Lophorina, and the true Paradisee, may yet prove (strange as this may appear to most
persons) to be the proper recipient for the Lyre-birds (Menura) of Australia.

As in the case of the other Birds of Paradise, little is known of the habits of this grand bird; but Dr.
Beccari, who has shot the species in the Arfak Mountains, has given the following short account of its
capture :—* Epimachus maximus and Astrapia gularis are only found on the highest and most difficult peaks
of Mount Arfak, nearly always above 6000 feet elevation. Specimens in dark plumage are common
enough; but those which have attained perfect plumage are rare, perhaps because they take some years
to acquire it. Both of them live on the fruits of certaiu Pandanacez, and especially on those of the
Preycinetie@, which are epiphytous on the trunks of trees. The irides of the large Epimachus are dark brick-
red, those of the Astrapia almost black; the neck-feathers of the latter are erectable, and expand into a
magnificent collar round the head. The first day I went out at Atam, on June 23, I got both these species
(two specimens of each), besides one Drepanornis albertisi, three Paradigalle, one Parotia, and several other
wonderful kinds of birds. It was a memorable day, because I ascended one of the peaks, and was surprised
to find myself surrounded by four or five species of Vaccinium and Rhododendron, I also found an
Umbellifer (a Drymis) and various other plants common to the mountains of Java, and there were also some
mosses a foot and a half in height.”

The habitat of this Bird of Paradise is the north-west of New Guinea, though it is said, on native report,
to be an inhabitant of the Island of Jobi.

The following description is taken from Mr. Sharpe’s Catalogue of Birds.—‘ Adult male. General
colour above velvety black, with a purplish gloss ; the wings black externally, glossed with purple; tail-feathers
black, with wavy lines of dusky black under certain lights, the two centre feathers very long and glossed
with rich purple; feathers of the head black, dense and velvety in texture, with a steel-blue gloss; from the
nape a shield of golden green feathers springs; and the feathers of the hind neck are very long and tipped

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a band of brilliant golden copper, which extends from
rest of under surface of body rich

with the same golden green ;
the feathers of the throat also are steel-black, with
and encircles the throat ;
ast tipped with burnished emerald-green ; the sides of the

bill and legs black; ‘iris almost black’ (Beccar?).

behind the eye down the sides of the neck,
velvety grass-green, the lateral plumes of the bre
body and under wing- and tail-coverts dusky black ;
Total length 28 inches, culmen 1:6, wing 8°8, tail 7, centre feathers 18.”

The figures in the Plate are drawn from specimens in my own collection, and represent a male about
the size of life, with reduced figures of a male and female in the distance.

 

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LOPHORHINA SUPERBA.

Superb Bird of Paradise.

Loiseau de Paradis de la Nouvelle Guinée, dit le Superbe, Brisson, Orn. iii. p. 169 (1760).—D’Aubent. Planches
Fnluminées, iii. pl. 632 (1774).

Oiseau de Paradis a gorge violette, Sonn. Voy. Nouv. Guinée, p. 157, pl. 96 Ciz76):

Paradisea superba, Pennant, in Forster, Ind. Zool. p40 (i781) Scopoli, Del. Hann ef Blan Insubre i. p. 88
(1783).—Shaw, Gen. Zool. vii. p. 494, pls. 63-65 (1809).—Id. & Nodder, Nat. Misc. xxiv. pl. 1021
(1813).—Wagler, Syst. Av. Paradisea, sp. 5 (1827).—Wallace, Ibis, 1859) p. 111.

Superb Bird of Paradise, Lath. Gen. Syn. vol. i. part 2, p. 479 (1782).

Paradisea atra, Bodd. Tabl. Pl. Enl. D’Aubent. p- 38 (1783).

Le Superbe, Audeb. et Vieill. Ois. Dor. ii. pl. vii. (1802).—Levaill. Hist. Nat. Ois. Parad. i. pls. 14, 15 (1806).

Paradisea furcata, Bechst. Kurze Uebers. p- 132 (1811).

Lophorina superba, Vieill. N. Dict. d’Hist. Nat. xviii. p. 184 (1817).—Id. Gal. Ois. i. p. 149, pl. xevili. (1825).
—Less. Traité, p. 337 (1831).—Id. Ois. Parad. Syn. p. 12 (1835).—Id. Hist. Nat. Ois. Parad. pls. 13,
14 (1835).—Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av. p. 414 (1850).—Wall. Ibis, 1861, p. 287.—Salvad. Ann. Mus.
Civic. Genov. ix. p. 190 (1876).—Sharpe, Cat. Birds, iii, p- 179 (1877).

Epimachus ater, Schl. Mus. Pays-Bas, Coraces, p. 96, note (1867).

Lophorina atra, Wallace, Malay Arch. ii. p. 249 (1869).—Elliot, Monogr. Parad. pl. xi. (1873).—Salvad. Ann.
Mus. Civic. Genov. vii. p. 783 (1875).—Beccari, tom. cit. p. 712 (1875).—Sclater, Ibis, 1876, p. 251.

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To any one studying the Paradise-birds it soon becomes evident that there are several natural groups
comprising this interesting family. First of all there are the long-billed Epimachi and Rifle-birds, then the
larger species, with their enormously long flank-plumes of red or yellow, and lastly the smaller and more
fantastic kinds with decorated mantles and tails. Amongst the latter there is great diversity of form:
whether it takes the shape of a bare head, as in Schlegelia, or of an elongated racket to the centre tail-
feathers, as in Cictnnurus, or of an elaborated breast-shield, as in Diphyllodes, we find that there are scar
any two which are alike in ornamentation.

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Take, for example, the subject of the present article. It stands
apart from all the others in the extraordinary mantle, which it is able to elevate behind its head,—and also
in its remarkable breast-shield, unlike that of any known species.

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And this strikes me as being one of the
most curious phenomena connected with Papuan ornithology—that there should be all these isolated
genera of Paradisiide, many represented by a single species, and each so different.

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There seems to be
no connecting link between the genera—Parotia standing alone with its six racketed plumes
Semioptera with its streamlets on the wing, Schlegelia with its bare head, and so on
peculiar forms graduating into another.

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on the head,

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, hot one of these

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The subject of our article is a native of the north of New Guinea, and it is still one of the rarest of the
Paradisiide, specimens of it being still scarce in collections in this country.

Dr. Beccari does not give much information about the present species in his ‘Ornithological Letter ”
from North-western New Guinea. He merely observes :—** Lophorina atra is rather rarer than Parotia; but
I must teil you that the abundance of fruit-eating birds in a given locality depends principally on the season
at which certain kinds of fruit are ripe; therefore a species may be common in a place one month, and
become rare or completely disappear in the next, when the season of the fruit on which it lives has passed.”

The female of the Superb Bird of Paradise is similar in general appearance to that of Parotia, but is
of course a smaller bird. I take the following descriptions from Mr. Sharpe’s ‘Catalogue of Birds’: —

‘“ddult male. General colour above velvety black, somewhat glossed with bronzy purple; mantle produced
into an elevated shield, composed of velvety black plumes, glossed under certain lights with bronze ; Wwing-
coverts velvety black, rather more distinctly glossed with purple than the back ; quills and tail-feathers deep
black, glossed with steel-blue; lores and nasal plumes forming an elevated crest of purplish black feathers ;
crown of head, nape, and hind neck spangled with metallic steel-coloured feathers, each of which has a sub-
terminal bar of purple; sides of face, sides of neck, and entire throat deep coppery bronze; on the fore
neck and breast a pectoral shield of bright metallic green plumes, most of which have a narrow edging of

 
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brown, the feathers of the top and sides of the head blackish brown;
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the under surface buffy white, inclini
face barred across with dull brown ; under wing-coverts rufous, barred across with brown. ‘Total length
8:8 inches, culmen 1:05, wing 5:1, tail 4, tarsus 1°3.”

The principal figure. drawn in a state of excitement, is of the natural size, with a reduced male and

female in the distance.

 

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LOPHORHINA MINOR, Ramsay.

Lesser Superb Bird of Paradise.

Lophorhina superba minor, Ramsay, Proc. Linn. Soc. N. 8. Wales, x. p. 242 (1885).
Lophorhina minor, Finsch u. Meyer, Zeitschr. ges. Orn. ii. p. 376, pl. xvii. (1885).— Meyer, op. cit. iil. p. 181,
cum fig. (1886).

 

As Dr. Meyer has shown, the form of the head-shield in this species is different from that of Lophorhina
superba, and would be quite sufficient to distinguish it, without the additional characters of the nasal plumes
and the smaller dimensions, both of which serve to separate the south-eastern bird from its north-western
representative in New Guinea.

In the single adult male of Z. minor that has come under our notice, the nasal plumes are so disarranged
that we cannot make out their form for certain, but they appear to be erect instead of spreading out in a
small fan, as in LZ. superba. They are so figured by Dr. Madarasz in the ‘Zeitschrift’ above quoted, and
these plumes may be erroneously figured in our Plate of the present bird.

Lophorhina minor is so far only known from the Astrolabe Mountains in South-eastern New Guinea. The
person who discovered it appears to have been Mr. Hunstein, one of the most energetic explorers in that
region. He seems to have sent a considerable series of specimens from the Horseshoe range, as the
British Museum was able to secure a pair of adults and a young male out of the duplicates. Mr. Forbes
has more recently procured the species in the Sogeri district of the Astrolabe range; but unfortunately all
his specimens were out of plumage, having been collected during the rainy season.

The differences between the males of Z. minor and L. superba have been alluded to above, and they are
apparent on a comparison of the Plates.

The female appears to differ from the female of L. superba in being olive-brown instead of chestnut on
the back, and in having the wings bay externally instead of chestnut. The light eyebrow is also more
prolonged and the underparts paler buff.

The figures in the Plate, which represent a male and female of the natural size, have been drawn
from a pair of birds in the British Museum, collected by Mr. Hunstein.

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DIPHYLLODES RESPUBLICA.

Bare-headed Bird of Paradise.

Lophorina respublica, Bp. C. R. 1850, p. 131.

Diphyllodes respublica, Bp. Consp. i. p. 413 (1850).—Sclater, P. Z.S. 1857, p. 6.—Rosenb. J. f. O. 1864, p. 130.—
Elliot, Monogr. Parad. pl. 14. (1873).

Paradisea wilsoni, Cassin, Journ. Acad. N. Sci. Philad. ii. p. 133, pl. 15. (1850).—Gray, P. Z.S. 1861, p. 436.—
Sclater, P. Z.S. 1865, p. 465.—Schl. N. T. D. iii. p. 249 (1866).—Id. Mus. P.-B. Coraces, p. 87
(1867).—Gray, Hand-l. B. ii. p. 16 (1870).

Diphyllodes wilson, Wallace, P. Z. 5. 1862, p. 160.—Newton, Ibis, 1865, p. 343.—Wall. Malay Arch. ii. p. 248
(1869).

Paradisea calva, Schl. N. T. D. ii. p. 1 (1865).

Schlegelia calva, Bernst. N. T. D. iii. p. 4, pl. 7 (1866).

 

Tuts very beautiful Bird of Paradise was simultaneously described in the year 1850 by Prince Bonaparte
in Europe and by the late Mr. Cassin in Philadelphia, but apparently in each case from an imperfect skin.
Certainly the type of P. welsoni in the Philadelphia Museum has not got its proper head, although all the
rest of the body seems to be quite perfect ; and as Prince Bonaparte does not mention the head, which, if
it had been attached to the skin, could not have failed to attract his attention, we may suppose that,
as in Mr. Cassin’s specimen, the head of some other bird had been attached. Indeed the bare cranium is
one of the chief peculiarities of the species—so much so that Dr. Bernstein instituted a new genus
(Schlegelia) for it; but inasmuch as the allied species of Diphyllodes, if not absolutely bare, have the
cranium clothed only with short stubby plumes, I have not deemed the characters sufficient to warrant a
generic separation; this is also Mr. Elliot’s conclusion.

To Dr. Bernstein, however, belongs the credit of discovering the home of this fine species. He found
it in the island of Waigiou; and in the original note published by him, he thus characterized his proposed
Schlegelia calva:— Of the same size and general form as Paradisea speciosa and P. wilsoni; but the upper
part of the head, from the forehead even to the nape, covered with bare skin, broken only by some
transverse rows of little plumes. This bare skin is in the male of a very brilliant cobalt blue, in the female
of a dirty blue, varied with red and with grey. The rows of little plumes, of which we have just spoken,
answer almost to the sutures of the skull in young individuals. The other parts of the head and the chin
are black ; the posterior portion of the neck and the mantle are straw-yellow; the remainder of the back
is of a fine red like that which adorns the plumage of P. regia; the fore neck and pectoral shield are of a
beautiful dark green with metallic reflections ; the breast and belly are black. The distribution of the
colours in the female calls to mind those of the Wryneck (Jyna torguilla), especially on the lower parts.”

In a further communication Dr. Bernstein states that the young male exactly resembles the female, but
shows the velvety black plumes on the throat and lower part of the cheeks which are seen in the adult
male. In the third volume of the ‘Nederlandsch Tijdschrift’ the species is fully described by him, and he
writes in conclusion :—‘ This species, being distinguished from all the other known kinds of Paradise-birds
by its crown aud occiput being for the most part bare, I consider myself entitled to regard it as representing
a new genus. This genus is allied, on account of its two centre tail-feathers being elongated and spirally
twisted, to the genus Diphyllodes of Lesson, by the side of which it is convenient to range ite

‘This bird is found in the island of Waigiou; but it inhabits the parts of the country more or less in
the interior, and is much more rare than Paradisea rubra, which is moreover wet with in the adjacent island
of Gemien.” Afterwards, however, Dr. Bernstein procured the species in the island of Batanta; and ten
specimens of his collecting in these two localities are in the Leiden Museum.

The fieures in the Plate are of the natural size.
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DIPHYLLODES GULIELMI IIL, Meyer.

Waigiou Bird of Paradise.

Diphyllodes Gulielmi IIT., Meyer, P. Z.S. 1875, Darou

Paradisea (Diph.) Gulielmi III., Van M usschenbroek, Zool. Garten, 1875, p. 29.

Diphyllodes Gulielmi LI. (v. Mussch. in lit.), Meyer, Mittheilungen a. d. kgl. zool. Mus. Dresden, 1875, pp. 4-8,
jol,

 

THE present bird was discovered, in 1874, in the mountains of eastern Waigiou ; and a short description was
sent by Mr. S. C. T. Van Musschenbroek, the Dutch resident at Ternate, who is well known for his exertions
in the cause of science. The original communication was made through Baron von Rosenberg, who takes
the opportunity of remarking that it is also most likely to be found on the island of Batanta, as in general
respects the avifaunas of the two islands are identical. Of course there is the probability of the above
suggestion ultimately turning out correct; but it is a bold suggestion for a traveller of Von Rosenberg’s
experience to have made. The same paper expresses his opinion that the splendid new Paradisea
Raggiana is a manufactured species, a supposition equally untrustworthy! Dr. Meyer about the same time
communicated a note on the species to the Zoological Society, which I reproduce, as it so well expresses
the differences between it and its allies.

‘Notwithstanding there are more points of resemblance between the new species and Diphyllodes
speciosa and D. respublica than between it and Cicinnurus regius, some features immediately remind one of
the latter, e. 2. the red colour and structure of the glossy feathers of the upper parts, the webless tail-
shafts, at least at the beginning, and chiefly the similar fan, formed by elongated, broad and metallic-green-
edged feathers, on the sides of the breast, not quite but nearly of the same colour and size as in Cicinnurus
regius. This fan has been hitherto known to exist only in the latter species, except as regards the
homologous organization of the large Epimachus speciosus.

“ Diphyllodes Gulielmi IT. has nearly the same-shaped crest, inserted on the neck, as Diphyllodes speciosa ;
but the crest seems to be somewhat smaller, and the colour of it differs from that of the latter species, as
well as all other colours of the upper surface of the two birds, whereas the form and colour of the bill
appear to be very similar in the two species. The new bird shows nothing of the broad line of iridescent
feathers extending down from the chin over the breast, and nothing of the light-brown feathers of the
shoulders and of the neck occurring in Diphyllodes speciosa.

“ Diphyllodes Gulelm IIL. reminds one of D. respublica in the shape of the green velvet feathers of the
breast, and especially in the shape of the two elongated tail-shafts, with the single difference that these are
webbed in Diphyllodes respublica from the beginning, and that they do not project so far as in Diphyllodes
Gulielmi ITT. ; but the breadths of the webs agree. The colour of the web is between that of the button of
Cicinnurus regius, which is more of a green, and that of the web of Diphyllodes speciosa, which is more
of a blue.

“From this short comparison with the allied species, it follows that Diphyllodes Gulielni IIT. is a new
species with very characteristic features, not to be confounded for a moment with any other hitherto known.
These characteristic features are chiefly the shape of the elongated tail-shafts, with their web, the reddish
colours of nearly all the upper parts, the violet-coloured belly, and the fan-like tufts at the sides of the
breast.”

I here insert a description of the female, with which I have been kindly favoured by Dr. Meyer :—

Whole upperside olive-brown; chin, throat, breast, belly, abdomen and under wing-coverts hght yellow
with fine brown stripes; each feather has several such light and dark markings, the lines getting smaller
towards the upper part of the body; upperside of the wings brownish, secondaries and tertiaries margined
yellow on the outer webs; underside silver-grey, basal portions of the inner webs cream-coloured ; upper
part of shafts brown, lower part whitish, underside of tail changing into grey, outer web lighter, lower parts
of shafts white, upper part brown.

I owe the opportunity of figuring the present bird to the kindness of M. A. Bouvier, who lent the male
specimen in his possession to Mr. Sharpe to bring from Paris for the purpose of this work. The example
is intended for the Warsaw Museum.

Two males are represented in the Plate, of the natural size.

 

 

 

 

 
 

 
 
 

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DIPHYLLODES SPECIOSA.

Magnificent Bird of Paradise.

Oiseau de Paradis de la Nouvelle Guinée, dit Le Magnifique, Montb. Pl. Enl. p. 194, pl. 631.—Sonn. Voy. Nouv.
Guin. p. 163, pl. 98.—Levaill. H. N. Ois. de Paradis, 1. pls. 9, 10.

Magnificent Paradise-bird, Lath. Gen. Syn. il. p. 477, pl. 19.

Faradisea speciosa, Bodd. Tabl. Pl. Enl. p. 38.—Gray, Gen. B. p. 323.—Schl. Mus. P. B. Coraces, p. 86.—Id. N.
T. D. iv. p. 171.—Gray, Hand-l. B. u. p. 16.
magnifica, Gm. S. N. i. p.401.—Shaw, Gen. Zool. vii. p. 492, pl. 62.—Audeb. & Vieill. Ois. Dor. p. 15,
pl. 4.—Wagler, Syst. Av., Paradisea, sp. 4.—Less. Traité, p. 338.—Wall. P. Z. 5S. 1862, p. 160.
cirrhata, Lath. Ind. Orn. 1. p. 195.

Diphyllodes seleucides, Less. Ois. Parad. Syn. p. 16, pls. 19, 20.

———— magnifica, Gray, List Gen. B. 1841, p. 53.—Bp. Consp. i. p. 413.—Wall. Ibis, 1861, p. 287.—Rosenb.
Jp te ON 1S64 p30:

speciosa, Wallace, Malay Archipelago, ii. p. 247.—Elliot, Monogr. Parad. pl. 12.—Scl. P. Z. 5. 1873,

p. 697.—Wagner, J. f. O. 1873, p. 11, pl. 1, map 5.

 

 

Wuo was the original discoverer of this Bird of Paradise, seems to be a difficult question to decide; but it
was probably first introduced to the scientific world by Sonnerat, who figures it in bis ‘ Voyage a la Nouvelle
Guinée.’ Although Sonnerat doubtless procured specimens during his journey, and was thus the first to
bring them to Europe, Montbeillard’s work, in which a figure is also given, bears date two years before the
volume of the first-mentioned author. There can be no doubt, however, that of these two early figures,
one is a direct copy of the other; and from internal evidence in other parts of the ‘Planches Enluminées,’
I have every reason to believe that it was by no means an unfrequent practice for the authors of this
standard work to make up plates from the figures and engravings of other works and then to colour them
from the descriptions. Thus it is possible that Montbeillard’s plate was made up from Sonnerat’s already
published figure, and that the date on the volume is the year in which the work was finished, and not of the
actual part in which the plate of «‘ Le Magnifique” appeared. Certain it is, however, that the species was
very little known to the older authors; for after the works above mentioned, all the writers for years copied
Montbeillard’s plate into their books ; and it is equally certain that, until the last ten years, none but skins
of native preparation existed in the museums of the world. Recently, owing to the enterprise of the Dutch
naturalists, a good series of perfect skins have reached Europe, and good examples are to be found in the
British Museum and in my own collection. In Salwatti, according to Baron von Rosenberg, it cannot be
very rare, judging from the number of skins collected ; ar - it is found in the mountains both of this portion
of New Guinea and of Mysol. In the former place it is called by the natives Sadelo; and in Mysol its
name is drung-arung. The late Dr. Bernstein procured numerous examples at Sorong, on the coast of
New Guinea, facing Salwatti ; and Von Rosenberg likewise records that it is av inhabitant of the eastern
coast of the great island, where it is found both near the coast and in the interior. D’Albertis met with it
in Atam; and during his last voyage Von Rosenberg discovered it to be an inhabitant of the island of Jobi.

Nothing is known of the habits of this beautiful bird, as it was not met with in a state of nature by
Mr. Wallace. In his work on the Malay Archipelago is to be found the following note, from which it will
be seen how recent has been the acquisition of properly prepared specimens by European naturalists :—

«Fyrom what we know of the habits of allied species, we may be sure that the greatly developed plumage
of this bird is erected and displayed in some remarkable manner, The mass of feathers on the under
surface are probably expanded into a hemisphere, while the beautiful yellow is no doubt elevated so as to
give the bird a very different appearance from that which it presents in the dried and flattened skins of the
natives, through which alone it is at present known. The feet appear to be dark blue.”

The Plate represents two males of the size of life. The female is a little less than life-size.

 

 
 
 

 
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DIPHYLLODES CHRYSOPTERA, Gowda.

Golden-winged Bird of Paradise.

Diphyllodes chrysoptera, Gould, MS., unde
—— speciosa, var. chrysoptera, Elliot, Monogr. Parad. pl. 13.

 

I nave for a considerable time possessed specimens of the present bird, which I lent to Mr. Elliot for
of the

’

figuring in his monograph of the family. He does not, however, consider it more than a ‘ variety ’
ordinary species, as will be seen from the account which I extract from his work :—

«The only difference perceptibie between these specimens and those of the well-known species with which
I have compared them is that the wings are of a golden colour. In size they are equal. I do not consider
that there are sufficient grounds shown for naturalists to regard these birds as belonging to a species
distinct from the D. speciosa; and I have given a representation of them merely to exhibit a form of
variation to which perhaps D. speciosa is subject in certain localities. The exact place from which they
come is not known. . . . . The bird may be described as the same as D. speciosa with yellow secondaries.”

I have reproduced Mr. Elliot’s remarks because I wish my readers to know his exact opinion respecting
the birds, especially as I am compelled to differ from him entirely in his belief that the present bird is nothing
but a variety of D. speciosa. I possess two individuals of D. chrysoptera, both males, and agreeing with each
other; and considering that only during the past year a new and beautiful species of this very genus has
been discovered in the well-known island of Waigiou, I see nothing extraordinary in another island being
the habitat of this, to me, very well-characterized bird. I consider it perfectly distinct from D. speciosa ;
and I am certain that before long its proper habitat will be brought to light.

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CICINNURUS REGIUS.

King Bird of Paradise.

The supposed King of the greater Birds of Paradise, Edwards, Birds, iii. pl. 3 (1750).

Le Petit Oiseau de Paradis, Briss. Orn. ii. p. 136 (1760).

Paradisea Regia, Linn. S. N. i. p. 166 (1766).—Shaw, Gen. Zool. vii. pt. i. p. 497, pl. 67 (1809).—Less. Voy. Coq.
i. p. 658, Atlas, pl. 26 (1826).—Wagler, Syst. Av. Paradisea, sp. 7 (1829).—Gray, Gen. B. ii. p. 323
(1847).—Schl. Hand-l. Dierk. i. p. 332, Atlas, pl. 4. fig. 46 (1857).—Gray, Hand-l. B. ii. p. 16 (1870).—
Schl. M. P.-B. Coraces, p. 88 (1867).—Wall. Malay Arch. ii. p. 132 (1869).—Schl. N. T. D. iv. pp. 17,
49 (1873).—Wagner, Zool. Gart. 1873, p. 10.

Le Manucode, Buff. Hist. Nat. Ois. iii. p. 163, pl. 13.—Id. Pl. Enl. iii. pl. 496 (1774) —Vieill. Ois. Dor. (Oiseaux de
Paradis) ii. p. 16, pl. 5 (1802).—Leyvaill. Ois. Parad. i. pls. 7, 8 (1806).

Le Roi des Oiseaux de Paradis, Sonn. Voy. N. Guin. i. p. 156, pl. 95 (1776).

King Paradise-bird, Lath. Gen. Syn. i. p. 475 (1782).

Cicinnurus regius, Vieill. Gal. Ois. i. p. 146, pl. 96 (1825).—Bp. Consp. i. p. 413 (1850),—Elliot, Monogr. Parad.
pl. 16 (1873).—Salvad. & d’Albert. Ann. Mus. Civ. Genoa, 1875, p- 832.

Cicinnurus spiniturniz, Less. Ois. Parad. Synopsis, p. 14 (1835).—Id. Hist. N. Ois. Parad. p. 182, pls. 16,17, 18
(1835).

 

AtTHouGH one of the smallest of the Paradise-birds, the present species yields to none in the beauty of its
plumage or the elegance of its form; while its wire-like caudal plumes are just as remarkable in structure
as any of the fantastic decorations which adorn the larger kinds. Its range is, for a Bird of Paradise, rather
extended. It seems to be found all over New Guinea, as it has been met with in the Bays of Lobo and
Triton and, more recently, in the south-eastern part of the island, at Mount Epa, by Signor d’Albertis. A
large number of specimens were collected in Salwatti by the Dutch travellers Bernstein and Von Rosenberg,
as well as on the opposite coast of New Guinea, at Sorong &c. Von Rosenberg procured it in the island
of Jobie, and also in the islands of Woxam and Wonoumbai of the Aru group. It is from the last-named
islands and from Mysol that the largest number of specimens have come to this country, from the collections
of Mr. Wallace and, more recently, of Mr. Cockerell. Notwithstanding the fact that specimens from all
the above localities have been pronounced identical, I am in possession of facts which induce me to believe
in the existence of, at least, two species of King Birds of Paradise.

As regards the habits of the Creznnurus in Aru, it is impossible to do better than to quote the admirable
account given by Mr. Wallace in his ‘ Malay Archipelago.’ He says, “The first two or three days of our
stay here were very wet, and I obtained but few insects or birds; but at length, when I was beginning
to despair, my boy Baderoon returned one day with a specimen which repaid me for months of delay
and expectation. It was a small bird, a little less than the Thrush. Merely in arrangement of colours
and texture of plumage, this little bird was a gem of the first water; yet these comprised only half its
strange beauty. Springing from each side of the breast, and ordinarily lying concealed under the wings,
were little tufts of greyish feathers about two inches long and each terminated by a broad band of intense
emerald-green. These plumes can be raised at the will of the bird, and spread out into a pair of elegant
fans when the wings are elevated. But this is not the only ornament. The two middle feathers of the
tail are in the form of slender wires about five inches long and which diverge in a beautiful curve.
Almost half an inch of the end of this wire is webbed on the outer side only, and coloured of a fine
metallic green; and being curved spirally inwards, they form a pair of elegant glittering buttons, hanging
five inches below the body, and at the same distance apart. These two ornaments, the breast-fans and
the spiral-tipped ferlewines: are altogether unique, not occurring on any other species of the eight thousand
different birds that are known to exist upon the earth, and, combined with the most exquisite beauty of
plumage, render this one of the most perfectly lovely of the many lovely productions of nature. ay
transports of admiration and delight quite amused my Aru hosts, who a olan more in ‘ Burong raja
than we do in the Robin or Goldfinch. Thus one of my objects in coming to the far east was
accomplished. I had obtained a specimen of the King ind of Paradise, Se had been described by
Linneeus from skins preserved in a mutilated state by the naniyes| I knew Bo few eee oo ever
beheld the perfect little organism I now gazed upon, and how very imperfectly it was still known in Europe,
The emotions excited in the mind of

hitherto known only by description, fest
surpassing rarity and beauty, require the poetic faculty fully to express them. After the first
8 ass 5 C J a AA

a naturalist who has long desired to see the actual thing which he has
drawing, or badly preserved external covering, especially when that

thing is of

 

 

 

 

 
obtained, I went with my men into the forest ; and we were not only rewarded with another

King bird was
a little of the habits of both it and the larger species.

in equally perfect plumage, but I was enabled to see
es of the less dense forests, and is very active, flying strongly with a whirring

It frequents the lower tre
It eats hard stone-bearing fruits as large

sound, and constantly hopping or flying from branch to branch.
as a gooseberry, and often flutters its wings after the manner of the South-American Manakins, at which

times it elevates and expands the beautiful fans with which its breast is adorned. The natives of Aru call
it ‘ Goby-goby.”

The figures in the Plate represent a pair of male birds from Aru, of the size of life, with a reduced figure
of the female. According to notes made by Dr. Bernstein from the living bird, the male in breeding-
plumage has the bill of a pale reddish yellow; feet clear cobalt blue; iris brownish yellow, tinged with
grey. The female has the bill brownish black, passing to clear greenish brown near the angle of the gape ;

the gullet yellowish green, rather blackish ; iris brownish grey; feet of a clear blue.

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PAROTIA SEXPENNIS.
Six-plumed Bird of Paradise.

Le Sifilet de la Nouvelle Guinée, Montb. Pl. Enl. Ep plooss
TP’ Oiseau de Paradis a gorge dorée, Sonnerat, Voy. N. Guin. p. 158, pl. 97.
Gold-breasted Paradise-bird, Lath. Gen. Syn. li. p. 481.
Paradisea penicillata, Scop. Del. Faun. et Flor. Insubr. ii. [Do fis} (@x Som. )),
—— urea, Gm. 5. N. i, p. 402 (ex Lath.).
————  seusetacea, Lath. Ind. Orn. i. p. 196.—Shaw, Gen. Zool. vii. pt. 2, p. 496, pl. 66.—Wageler, Syst. Av.
Paradisea, sp. 6. :
Le Sifilet, Levaill. H. N. Ois. Parad. i. pls. 12, 13—Audeb. et Vieill. Ois. Dor., Parad. pl. 6.
Parotia sexsetacea, Vieill. Gal. des Ois. ii. p. 148, pl. 97.—Less. Ois. Parad. SDVWidls JD WO) ys, Wil los, 12
— aurea, Gray, List Gen. B. p. 39 (1840).
Paradisea sexpennis, Gray, P.Z.S. 1861, p. 436.—Schl. Mus. P.-B. Coraces, p. 92.—Gray, Hand-l. B. ii. p. 16.—
Sc lalea Nem Nes enivemtoat OF

Parotia seapennnis, Wall. Malay Archip. ii. p. 251.—Elliot, Monogr. Parad. pl. 10.

 

Ir is evident, from the recent researches of travellers, that we are at last beginning to solve the ornitho-
logical mysteries of New Guinea ; and if no other proof existed, the history of the present bird would furnish
us with one. It is now nearly one hundred years ago since the Six-plumed Bird of Paradise was figured by
Montbeillard ; and until about three or four years ago we knew of this beautiful species nothing but the
fact that a few specimens, of native preparation, existed in some of the great collections of Europe. Even
its exact habitat was unknown; but the correctness of the supposition that it came from New Guinea has
been amply proved by the imvestigations of recent travellers. The first person who procured perfect
specimens of the bird was Baron von Rosenberg. He discovered the species in the mountains of the northern
part of New Guinea; and after him, Signor d’Albertis: obtained it in the Arfak mountains, whence also
Dr. Meyer brought to Europe numerous examples. I am enabled to give an illustration of the bird from a
pair of his beautiful specimens, which are now in my collection.

The female was known to Lesson, by whom it was figured in his ‘ Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux de
Paradis’ (pl. 12); and at the same time he gives a curious illustration of a male in imperfect plumage,
retaining still some of the immature brown feathers on the breast. A better illustration of the female bird
is given in Mr. Elliot’s work. ‘The latter gentleman has figured the male with the white feathers protruding
far over the bill; and I recently saw a specimen with the feathers thus recurved, in the possession of
Professor S. L. Steere, of Michigan University. On his way through London, back to America, he very
kindly brought me the bird to examine ; and although ali the specimens which I have seen had these white
feathers reflected backwards so as to form a broad frontal band as represented in my plate, it was evident
that the position of the frontal plumes in Mr. Steere’s specimen was quite natural; and there can be no
doubt that when alive the bird raises and depresses these feathers at will.

The following remarks are from the pen of Signor d’Albertis :—

“ Although this species has been known many years, it is not yet accurately understood, having only been
described from birds in a mutilated condition. My observations have been made in the natural haunts of
these elegant birds, from numerous specimens both living and dead. These birds are found in the north of
New Guinea. I met with them about thirty miles from the coast, at an elevation of 3600 feet above the
level of the sea, near Mount Arfak. I have never found the adult male in company with females or young
birds, but always in the thickest parts of the forest ; the females and young birds are generally found in a
much lower 70ne. This Paradise-bird is very noisy, uttering a note like ‘ guaad-guaad.’ It feeds upon
various kinds of fruits, more especially a species of fig which is very plentiful in the mountain-ranges ; at
other times I have observed it feeding on a small kind of nutmeg. To clean its rich plumage this bird is
accustomed, when the ground is dry, to scrape (similarly to a gallinaceous bird) around places clear of all
grass and leaves, and to roll over and over again in the dust produced Dy the clearing, at the same time crying
out, extending and contracting its plumage, elevating the brillant silvery crest on the ad part of its
head, and also the six remarkable plumes from which it derives the specific co of sexpennis. On seeing
its eccentric movements at this time, and hearing its cries, one would consider it to be engaged in a fight
with some imaginary enemy. ‘This bird is named ‘ Catan=a by the natives. I pale also 2 skeleton of a
young male of this species, which, although not in a perfect state, may no doubt he interesting as showing
the form of the cranium, on which there is an admirable muscular structure which enables the bird to
The feathers at the nape of the neck exhibit, when the rays of light strike
The eyes are of a light blue, with a circle of a pale yellowish

elevate the feathers of the head.
upon them, a rich and brilliant metallic hue.
green colour.”

The figures in the Plate are of the natural size.

 

 

 
 
 
 

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PAROTIA LAWESI, Ramsay.

Lawes’s Bird of Paradise.

Parotia lawesi, Ramsay, Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S. Wales, x. p. 243 (1885).—Finsch u. Meyer, Zeitschr. ges. Orn. ii.
p. 375, pl. xvi. (1885).

 

Tus species represents the Six-plumed Bird of Paradise (P. sexpennis) of North-western New Guinea, in
the Astrolabe Mountains, in the south-eastern portion of that great island. Jt was first met with by
Mr. Hunstein in the Horseshoe range at a height of 7000 feet, and Mr. H. O. Forbes has also come across
the species in the Sogeri district of the Astrolabe range.

As might be expected, the southern bird is closely allied to its north-western representative, but it is,
nevertheless, quite a distinct species. The pectoral shield, when examined in the same light as that of
P. sexpennis, is much more fiery metallic-golden, and shows less of the green shade which is seen in all
specimens of P. sexpennis. ‘The metallic band on the nape is also differently composed, the general effect
being purplish or steel-blue, whereas the centre of this band in P. sexpennis is green. It is true that a
slight greenish tinge can be discovered at the base of the metallic plumes in P. dawes?, but it is of the
faintest possible character. The silvery patch on the crown is differently disposed in the two species, being
fan-shaped in P. sexpennis and not descending to the base of the bill, all the frontal plumes being velvety
black with a brownish gloss, exactly like the rest of the head. The white patch in P. awesi comes to an
obtuse point above the nostrils, and is differently shaped to that of P. sexpenns.

The female of P. dawesi is also distinct from the female of P. seapennis, being rufous underneath with
black bars, while the upper surface is also of a more chestnut tint.

The young male at first resembles the adult female.

The measurements of the pair of P. dawes? in the British Museum are as follows :—

Male. Total length 13 inches, culmen 1°15, wing 6°15, tail 5:0, tarsus 2°15.

Female. ,, e  OLO Fe » 110; ,, 610; 3 45 20:

The figures in the Plate have been drawn from a pair of birds in the British Museum, collected in the
Horseshoe range by Mr. C. Hunstein. The adult male and female are represented of the full size.

[R. B. S.J

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PARADISEA DECORA, Salo. & Godm.

Grey-chested Bird of Paradise.

Paradisea decora, Salvin and Godman, Ibis, 1883, pp. 131, 202, pl. viii.
Paradisea susanne, Ramsay, Proc. Linn. Soe. N. 8. Wales, viii. p. 21 (1883).

 

Tre discovery of a new Bird of Paradise must always be a matter of interest to naturalists, and especially
when the species proves to be of so fine a character as the present bird. The home of Paradisea decora is
Fergusson Island, in the D’Entrecasteaux group, whence comes the beautiful Manucodia comri, also figured
by us in the * Birds of New Guinea.’

We owe the discovery of this beautiful bird to Mr. A. Goldie, to whose energies science has been indebted
for many years. He has given the following account of its capture :—

“The Birds of Paradise were shot on Fergusson Island, one of the D’Entrecasteaux group, in the
mountains, at a considerable elevation above the sea, the first specimen obtained having been secured at the
lowest point. The plumed males and the younger individuals were generally seen three or four together.
Once heard, their call was unmistakable, being very like that of Paradisea ragegiana ; but the plumed and
wired birds, after giving that calla few times, added to it a peculiar shrill whistle. Their motions whilst
calling were identical with those of P. raggiana ; but, so far as we were able to observe, they had no particular
tree for dancing in. The females were found alone.

** We neither saw nor heard P. raggiana on these islands ; and the new bird is not found on the mainland.
On showing it to the natives of Chad’s Bay and China Straits along with a specimen of Paradisea raggiana,
they, in both cases, made us to understand that the latter is found in their country, whilst the former is not;
but two or three of them in China Straits who had traded to the D’Entrecasteaux Islands made signs that
the new bird was to be found there.”

The nearest ally of the present species is P. raggiana, and, like that bird, it has red flank-plumes ; but it
differs in its yellow back and grey chest, the latter extending up to the green throat, and not being separated
from it by a yellow collar.

The description of the species, as given by Messrs. Salvin and Godman, is so complete that we transcribe
it entire. We may add that the typical series, described by them, is now in the British Museum.

“‘ Fergusson Island was so named by Capt. Moresby, who calculated that the mountain called Kilkerran
(the highest near the northern coast) reaches an altitude of 6000 feet above the sea. wo other large
islands, Goodenough Island and Normandy Island, lie close to Fergusson Island, and form the chief islands
of the group.

“ Paradisea decora, as we have proposed to call this Bird of Paradise, combines the characters of some
of the previously known species. The side-plumes are like those of P. sanguinea, each feather having its
barbs towards the end wide apart and destitute of barbules. These feathers are similarly formed in
P. sanguinea ; but in the present bird the barbs are even wider apart. The‘ wires’ of the tail are like those
of P. apoda, P. minor, and P. raggiana, the feathers having a simple stem on which the atrophied barbs
become more and more evanescent till they disappear at the middle of the feather to reappear again at its
extremity. In P. sanguinea the stem is broad and flattened.

“The side-plumes of P. decora are very peculiar, inasmuch as a number of the anterior plumes are
quite short, in the barbs of each feather much lengthened towards the end; the distal ends of these
feathers are deep rich vinous red, and appear as if the pigment which colours the elongated plumes were
concentrated in these shorter ones. .

«The breast of P. decora is of a soft vinaceous lilac, and in this respect differs from that of all its congeners.
The throat is velvet-green, showing two shades, owing to the feathers HORE the chin nefleenng, the light at
a different angle. This darker-looking patch is larger in P. decora tbe in the other species. The back,
except the narrow green forehead, is straw-coloured, like that of P. a

‘*Mr. Goldie’s series contains males in all stages of development. The youngest are like the females, but
with the throat green; the breast is of a ruddy tint, vermiculated with ey marks on each feather. : . the
first plumage the two central rectrices are narrow and elongated, but with abs &c. 4 7 ue ee eat ce
they project beyond the rest of the tail feathers, the length of the Bi oe om ee
(perhaps young birds, perhaps birds out of nuptial plumage) these pee os ae Te i
the length of the barbs of the middle of each feather is much reduced; but these lengthen again s
to form a small spatule. o

“The moult . the nuptial plumage proceeds in various ways : sometimes the lilac fe of ey
are the first to appear; in others the wiry rectrices are the first ie take the place - i ae
In some cases these latter are fully grown before the SO side-plumes make their appearance.
others, again, they grow contemporaneously with these plumes, : ba cate cal Ne oe are

The figures in the Plate represent the adult male and female of about the nature ;

drawn from the typical specimens in the British Museum. (R. B. S.J

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PARADISEA PAPUANA.

Papuan Bird of Paradise.

Paradisea papuana, Bechst. Kurze Uebers. p. 131 (1811).—Gray, Gen. B. ii. p. 323 (1847).—Bonap. Consp. Gen.
Av. i. p. 413 (1850).—Gray, P. Z. S. 1859, p. 157.—Wallace, Ibis, 1859, ee LOISIE eS Glee nae Sea
Schl. J. f. O. 1861, p. 385.—Sclater, P. Z.S. 1862, p. 123.—Wall. tom. cit. p. 160.—Rosenb. J. f. O.
1864, p. 129.—Schl. Nederl. Tijdschr. Dierk. iv. pp- 17, 49.

Paradisea bartletti, Goodwin, P. Z. 8. 1860, p. 244 (the young male).

 

Tux specific name usually applied to this gorgeous bird is menor; I must therefore state my reasons for not
adopting that title in the present instance. To call it minor, when it is the largest, is unphilosophical.
I consider that there are two species or races confounded under one name; the examples brought home by
Wallace from New Guinea, of which I have four or five, are by no means so fine or large as those from
Mysol and other localities. I therefore propose to restrict the name papuana to the larger bird, and to adopt
that of minor for the smaller. The term papuana is also applicable to the specimens sent from Jobi, as
Count Salvadori states that the individuals from that island are larger, and the male birds have the plumes
longer and much more finely developed, while the dull chestnut colour of the head in the females and young
males is darker, occupying the whole of the head, and being abruptly separated from the yellow colour of
the neck.

The present species has been on two occasions sent alive to this country, and has lived in the Zoological
Gardens. The first specimens were brought by Mr. Wallace from Singapore in April 1862; and one of
these lived till the 25th of December 1863, the other till the 28th of March 1864, in the Gardens. The
second couple were obtained from the young French traveller, M. Léon Laglaize, who brought four living
specimens with him on his return from his expedition to New Guinea. All these four specimens lived
through the winter in the Jardin des Plantes at Paris; and two of them subsequently passed into the
Zoological Society’s collection in the Regent’s Park, where one of them still survives.

Mr. Wallace gives the following account of his obtaining these specimens and their subsequent journey :—
“*When I returned home in 1862, I was so fortunate as to find two adult males of this species in Singapore ;
and as they seemed healthy and fed voraciously on rice, bananas, and cockroaches, I determined on giving
the very high price asked for them (£100), and to bring them to England by the overland route under my own
care. On my way home I stayed a week at Bombay, to break the journey and to lay in a fresh es bananas
for my birds. I had great difficulty, however, in supplying them with insect food ; for in the Peninsular and
Oriental steamers cockroaches were scarce, and it was only by setting traps in the store-rooms, and by hunting
an hour every night in the forecastle, that I could secure a few dozen of these creatures, scarcely enough for
asingle meal. At Malta, where I stayed a fortnight, I got plenty of cockroaches from a bakehouse ; and
when I left I took with me several biscuit-tins full, as provision for the voyage home. We came through the
Mediterranean in March with a very cold wind; and the only place on board the mail steamer where their
large cage could be accommodated was exposed to e strong current oy air oo a ye stood
open day and night; yet the birds never seemed to feel the coll. During the a a from Marseilles
to Paris it was a sharp frost; yet they arrived in London in perfect health, and lived in the Zoological

Gardens for one and two years respectively, often displaying their beautiful plumes to the admiration of the

spectators. It is evident, therefore, that the Paradise-birds are very hardy, and require air and exercise rather
than heat; and I feel sure that if a good-sized conservatory could be devoted to them, or if they could be
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turned loose in the tropical department of the Crystal Palace, or the Great Palm-house at Kew, they would
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live in this country for many years. ,
The following account of these two birds when in the Gardens, was written by Mr. Bartlett
: 7 . . 7 ‘
r icati 1 ri Ar lots ‘NM ali the Paradiseidee :—‘‘ When the two birds
for publication in my friend Mr. Elhot's Monograph o 2 Hane el : hee
of Paradise first arrrived at the Gardens in April 1862, their plumes were quite short, only abou
a s ’ : : :
. . faathore WERE: CRO minOEC hronvench
five inches long. The birds had moulted ; and the new feathers were growing in a thick bunch o e
side below their wings. They appeared in good health, and were active and lively. I soon ascertained
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a little cooked flesh was also acceptable to them. Their mode of hopping about from perch to perch
and clinging to the bars or wires of the cage reminded one of a Jay or Jackdaw. They were fond of
and were very careful in dressing and drying their fine plumes. These were about two months
and it was a charming sight to see them when in full plumage.

‘as bent forward, the wings spread open and raised up, frequently

a bath,
in growing to their full perfection ;
When uttering their loud call the body \
over their heads, meeting the plumes, which were spread in the most graceful manner, every feather
vibrating in a way that almost dazzled the sight. During this display the bird would become greatly
excited, and sometimes turn almost under the perch or branch, the head and neck being bent so low down.
At this period we found that they would not agree, but attacked each other; and we were therefore obliged
to keep them separated by a wire division. They hopped about like Jays or Jackdaws, never ran like
Starlings or Magpies, and, when on the ground, raised the points of the plumes so that they should not
touch the earth. They soon became very tame, and would take food from the hand; and the sight of a
meal-worm would bring them down from their perch immediately. The moult was extremely rapid, the
fine plumes being thrown off in a few days; and these appeared to grow all at the same time in a bunch.
It is therefore certain that these birds, after they attain the adult plumage, lose it only during the
annual moult, like the Peacock and many other richly ornamented birds.”

I have been constrained to give an additional Plate to exhibit the young male and the female of the natural
size, which I could not do on the same Plate with the adult male in full display of the plumes.

The young male has been regarded as a different bird, and named P. bartlett2, as will be seen on reference
to the synonymy.

The accompanying illustrations represent an adult male in the nuptial plumage, and a young male and

a female on the second Plate, all of the natural size.

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PARADISEKA APODA, Linn.

The Greater Bird of Paradise.

The Greater Bird of Paradise, Edwards, Birds, iii. pl. 110.

L’ Oiseau de Paradis, Brisson, Orn. ii. p. 130, pl. xiii.

Paradisea apoda, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 166.—Wagler, Syst. Av., Paradisea, sp. 1.—Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av. i.
p. 412.—Gray, P. Z.S. 1861, p- 436.—Wallace, Ibis, 1859, p. 111; 1861, p. 289.—Schlegel, Mus. Bae
Bas, Coraces, p. 78.—Wallace, Malay Archip. ii. p. 238.—Gray, Handl. B. ii. p. 16.—Elliot Monogr.
Parad. pl i—Salvad. Ann. Mus. Civic. Genov. ix. p. 191.—Sharpe, Cat. B. iii. ee llGre :

Paradisea major, Shaw, Gen. Zool. vii. p. 480, pl. 58.—Less. Ois. de Paradis, Synopsis, p. 6.—Id. Hist. Nat.
p. 155, pl. 6.

Paradisea apoda, var. wallaciana, Gray, P.Z. S. 1858, p. 181.

I Have in my collection some skins of this splendid bird which would justify the specific name of apoda bestowed
upon it by Linneeus; and I suspect that nearly every one of the specimens in public collections mounted
before the last twenty years would be found to have other birds’ feet attached to them instead of their own
proper appendages. The reason is that, until very recently, all the skins of the Great Bird of Paradise
urope were in a mutilated condition—generally without feet, and often without WING'S 5
and I well remember the admiration which was roused by the ar
examples, and the interest which the exhibition of Mr. Bartlett’s
first exhibited in the British Museum.

which reached E

rival of Mr. Wallace’s beautiful perfect
mounted specimen excited, when it was
Now that complete skins are the rule, and badly prepared ones the
exception, it is interesting to glance at the past history of the species, and to peruse the accounts of the first
describers of its remarkable plumage. ‘* When the earliest European voyagers,” writes Mr. Wallace, in his
‘Malay Archipelago,’ “reached the Moluccas in search of cloves and nutmeg’s, which were then rare and
precious spices, they were presented with the dried skins of birds so strange and beautiful as to excite the
admiration even of those wealth-seeking rovers. The Malay traders gave them the name of ‘Manuk
dewater ’ (or God’s birds) ; and the Portuguese, finding that they had no feet or wings, and not being able to
learn any thing authentic about them, called them ‘ Passaros de Sol’ (or Birds of the Sun) ; while the learned
Dutchmen, who wrote in Latin, called them ‘ Avis paradiseus’ (or Paradise-bird). John van Linschoten
gives these names in 1598, and tells us that no one has seen these birds alive; for they live in the air, always
turning towards the sun, and never lighting on the earth till they die; for they have neither feet nor wings,
as, he adds, may be seen by the birds carried to India, and sometimes to Holland; but being very costly they
are rarely seen in Europe. More than a hundred years later Mr. William Funnel, who accompanied Dampier,
and wrote an account of the voyage, saw specimens at Amboyna, and was told that they came to Banda to
eat nutmegs, which intoxicated them, and made them fall down senseless, when they were killed by ants.
Down to 1760, when Linnzus named the largest species Paradisea apoda (the footless Paradise-bird), no
perfect specimen had been seen in Europe, and absolutely nothing was known about them. And even now,
a hundred years later, most books state that they migrate annually to Ternate, Banda, and Amboyna,
whereas the fact is that they are as completely unknown in these islands in a wild state as they are in England.”
I may remark that Edwards had probably a complete specimen in 1750, as he mentions the figures in the
older authors, such as Willughby, and remarks, ‘‘ As none of these were satisfactory to me, I have given this
heure and description of a perfect bird, which may more than answer the purposes of so many;” and
again :-—Tt hath legs and feet of a moderate proportion and strength for its bigness, pees much like those
of Pyes or Jays, of a dark brown colour, armed with claws of middling strength.” The fact remains, how-
ever, that the vast majority of skins received in Europe before Mr. Wallace’s expedition, were mutilated and
footless. He writes :—‘ The native mode of preserving them is to cut off the wings and feet, and then skin
the body up to the beak, taking out the skulls. A stout stick is then run up through ae specimen, coming
out at the mouth. Round this some leaves are stuffed, and the whole is wrapped up in a palm-spathe and
dried in the smoky hut. By this plan the head, which is really large, is shrunk up almost to nothing, the
body is much reduced and shortened, and the greatest prominence is given to the flowing plumage. Pome
of these native skins are very clean, and often have wings and feet left on; others are dreadfully stained with

2 is soca pacman i ate ery >
smoke; and all give a most erroneous idea of the proportions of the living bird. The following notes on

 

 

 

 

 
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«The Great Bird of Paradise is very active and vigorous, and

the habits are also given by Mr. Wallace :—
It is very abundant, small flocks of females and young males

seems to be in constant motion all day long.

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being constantly met with ; and though the full-plumaged birds are less plentiful, their loud cries, which are

heard daily, show that they also are very numerous.
and shrill as to be heard a great distance, and to form the most prominent and characteristic
The mode of nidification is unknown ; but the natives told me that the nest

Their note is ‘ Wauk-wauk-wauk-wok-wok-wok,’ and
Jer no

is so loud
animal-sound in the Aru Islands.
aced on an ants’ nest, or on some projecting limb of a very lofty tree, and believe that
it contains only one young bird. The egg is quite unknown ; and the natives declared they had never seen
it; anda very high reward offered for one by a Dutch official did not meet with success. They moult about

January or February ; and in May, when they are in full plumage, the males assemble early in the morning

was made of leaves pl

to exhibit themselves. This habit enables the natives to obtain specimens with comparative ease. As soon
as they find that the birds have fixed upon a tree on which to assemble, they build a little shelter of palm
lencenn a convenient place among the branches ; and the hunter ensconces himself in it before daylight, armed
with his bow and a number of arrows terminating in a round knob. A boy waits at the foot of the tree; and
when the birds come at sunrise, and a sufficient number have assembled, and have begun to dance, the
hunter shoots with his blunt arrow so strongly as to stun the bird, which drops down, and is secured and
killed by the boy without its plumage being injured by a drop of blood. The rest take no notice, and fall
one after another till some of them take the alarm.”

The Paradisea apoda, as far as we have any certain knowledge, is confined to the mainland of the Arru
Islands, never being found in the smaller islands which surround the centre mass. It is certainly not found
in any of the parts of New Guinea visited by the Malay and Bugis traders, nor in any of the other islands
where Birds of Paradise are obtained. But this is by no means conclusive evidence; for it is only in certain
localities that the natives prepare skins, and in other places the same birds may be abundant without ever
becoming known. It is therefore quite possible that this species may inhabit the great southern mass of
New Guinea, from which Arru has been separated ; while its near ally (2. papuana) is confined to the north-
western peninsula. J may remark that Mr. Wallace’s prediction that this species would be found on the
southern part of New Guinea has been verified by Signor D’Albertis, who recently showed me a fine skin
obtained by himself on the Fly River far in the interior of S.E. New Guinea. This specimen was a trifle
smaller, and brighter in colour, than Mr. Wallace’s Arru specimens, of which I have a fine series.

The figures in the Plate, which I and Mr. Hart have drawn with extreme care, render any detailed
description of the Great Bird of Paradise unnecessary. Like P. papuana it has the long flank-plumes yellow,
and not red as in P. raggiana and P. sanguinea, and it also wants the yellow collar on the fore neck.
The female of P. papuana is white on the breast, while in the same sex of P. apoda the breast is maroon
brown like the back.

The Plate represents an adult male and female, of the size of life, drawn from Arru specimens in my

»wn collection.

NR =
 

 

 
 

    

GA AN ORG-77 ("ry a

a AUN Nr TUN KAY " Shaw
 

 
 
 

PARADISEA SANGU INEA, Shaw.
Red Bird of Paradise.

Paradisea sanguinea, Shaw, Gen. Zool. (1809), vol. vii. pt. 1, p. 487, pl. 59

Paramsea rubra, Vieill, Gal. Ois. (1825), vol. i. p. 152, pl. 99.—Wall, Proc. Zool. Soc. (1862), p. 160.—Id.

Ibis (1859), p. 111 (1861), p. 287.—Malay Archip. vol. ii. pp. 214, 221, 243.
Red Bird of Paradise, Lath. Gen. Hist. of Birds (1822), vol. iii. p. 186, sp. 4.
LP? Oiseau de Paradis Rouge, Levaill. Hist. Nat. des Ois. Parad. (1806), vol. i. pl. 6.
Le Paradis Rouge, Vieill. Ois. dor. (1802), vol. ii. p. 14, pl. 3.
Paradisea sanguinea, Hlliot, Mon. Paradiseide, pl. 5.

 

As I am unable to add any thing concerning the history of Paradisea sanguinea to what has been said
so well both by Mr. Wallace and also by Mr. Elhot, in his ‘Monograph of the Paradiseide,’ I take the
liberty of copying the remarks of the latter, who says :—

“This beautiful bird, remarkable for the rich red plumes that spring from its sides and afford so con-
spicuous a decoration, is found upon the island of Waigiou and the neighbouring ones of Ghemien and
Batanta. The list of synonyms given above will serve to show that for a long time it has been known to,
and quoted by, many authors; yet we were practically ignorant of its nature and mode of life until Mr.
Wallace visited one of the islands where it has its home, and published his account of it in the work to
which I have so often had occasion to allude. I will let Mr. Wallace tell his story in his own words re-
garding the capture of this beautiful species.

“«¢ When I first arrived I was surprised at being told that there were no Paradise-birds at Muka, although
there were plenty at Bessir, a place where the natives caught them and prepared the skins. I assured the
people I had heard the cry of these birds close to the village ; but they would not believe that I could know
their cry. However, the very first time I went into the forest I not only heard but saw them, and was
convinced there were plenty about; but they were very shy, and it was some time before we got any. My
hunter first shot a female ; and I one day got very close to a fine male. He was, as I expected, the rare
red species, Paradisea rubra, which alone inhabits this island and is found nowhere else. He was quite low
down, running along a bough searching for insects, almost like a Woodpecker ; and the long black riband-
like filaments in his tail hung down in the most graceful double curve imaginable. I covered him with my
gun, and was going to use the barrel, which had a very small charge of powder and No. 8 shot, so as not
to injure his plumage; but the gun missed fire, and he was off in an instant among the thickest jungle.
Another day we saw no less than eight fine males at different times, and fired four times at them; but
though other birds at the same distance almost always dropped, these all got away, and I began to think
we were never to get this magnificent species. At length the fruit ripened on the fig-tree close to my
house, and many birds came to feed on it; and one morning, as Iwas taking my coffee, a male Paradise-
bird was seen to settle on its top. I seized my gun, ran under the tree, and, gazing up, could see it flying
across from branch to branch, seizing a fruit here and another there; and then, before I could get a
sufficient aim to shoot at such a height (for it was one of the loftiest trees of the tropics), it was away
into the forest. They now visited the tree every morning ; but they stayed S0) aoa a time, ine motions
were so rapid, and it was so difficult to see them, owing to the lower trees which impeded the view, aoe it
a male in the

 

was only after several days’ watching, and one or two misses, that I brought down my bird in
most magnificent plumage _ L had only shot two Paradiseas on my tree when they ceased visiting

: | a I c 7 Are TAS ‘ “ar
it, either owing to the fruit becoming scarce, or that they were wise enough to know there was danger.
We continued to hear and see them in the forest, but a ao
Waigiou was to get these birds, I determined to go to Bessir,

fter a month had not succeeded in shooting any

more ; and as my chief object in visiting ‘ .

where there are a number of Papuans who catch and preserve them. I hired a small outrigger boat for
: : : eG -oods : . My first business was to

this journey, and left one of my men to euard my house and goods. a , ;

| customed to catch the Birds of Paradise. Several came; and I showed them

send for the men who were ac ae
ained to them as well as I could by signs the price

my hatchets, beads, knives, and handkerchiefs, and expl rae | a
would give for fresh-killed specimens. It is the universal custom to pay for every thing m advance; but only
5 eae : :
one man ventured to take goods to the value of two birds. ae a eee
* : £44291) 0" shite ¢ nly one who bad ever CC , Sle E
result of the first bargain with the strange white man, the only

; 4 ‘imen, ¢ alive ie in a small
After three days my man brought me the first bird—a very fine specimen, and alive, but te d up in a sme
ic CC

The rest were suspicious, and wanted to see the

 

 

 
 

res

os

         
    

 

 
 
   
 
   
 
 

   

      

 

  

 

 

  

      

   

 

      
   
 
  
  
   
  
 
    

— ——
Mae rcecienily its tail rs were very much crushed and injured. I tried to explain
lag 4 - - 1 1 them as perfect i and that they should
ay i to ow apparently satisfied
either Kili them I | 5 : : ee ae
that all was fair, | 3 upon them, six oth goods, some for one
bed’ fe tot re, and chee said they had to go a long way for them, and that
Aes ould ci tach fe so At intervals of a few days or a week some of them
or , turn, bringing 1 but tl h they did not bring any more in bags, there was
on anual in the forest, ae would
ale in their house till they
oe é get among the ashes, or
hang suspended by nes die of starvation and
WHOA | had
dead that its stom:
and strong that th
to clean them so well that they did not pe
brought me the same they were and I had an oppo ey of examining them in all their beauty
and vivacity. As soon as I found they were gene rally brought alive, I set one of my men to make a large
bamboo cage, with troughs for food and to keep some of them. I got the
batives to bring me branches of a fruit th v ; and I was pleased to find they ate it
greedily, and would also take any number of live er isshopper s I gave them, strip s and wings,
and then swall é *y drank plenty of water, and were in constant motion, jumping about the
c from perch to } cl { sides, and rarely a moment the first day till night-
fall t were always less active, although they would eat as freely as before ; and on the
morning of the third day tl ey were almost always found without any
appare use. Some of them ate boiled rice, but, after trying many in

succession, not one out of ten lived more than

day ey would oe dull,

     

 

 

 

    

n ui Cases they
MmMatul 5
7
t | Pa
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edi birds ¢ 1
New ¢ a, r
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fruit, oF which t rds a \
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ave accustome { Pree, abd, Climbing up it, fasten the stic to a branch, and arrange the cord ina
noose so in: I the CC ‘the end
oO” C
Or ine © n Ca it bird
Sometimes, y . t]

with
ae

ord 1n

the ¢

 

ing a bite;

 

ht or

 

NTE yen PSNI Es INTe ‘
metalic grass-green, appearing black

 

D
Dp

t tufts. Back of head orange-
r, and project over the
ilders, upper part of breast
‘hestnut-brown, darkest on the
the wings springs a mass of deep
plumage of Cicinnurus regius,

widely separated and hair-like. From

   
  

   

ne 1 back fall two very long and less shafts, black and twisted, which descend on either
: s ot the tail in graceful double curves. a id, like the side plumes, constitute y very conspicuous appendages.

kemal a oe pant e head, chin, , and throat very dark chestnat-brovn, Back of head, and
a yt of breast yell Mie RBe: part of back or mantle dark ochre-yellow. Entire rest of plumage,
Including wings and tail, dark brownish chestnut.

Ds .
: Bill horn-colour. Feet and tarsi black.
( oleic (el : We, - :
islands of Ghemien and Batanta (Bernstein).

ee ‘
ab. Waigiou (Wallace) :
 

 

 
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pAR:

 
 

PARADISEA RAGGIANA, Sclater.

Marquis de Raggi’s Bird of Paradise.

ae | ee Sclater, P.Z. 5S. 1873, pp. 559, 697.—Elliot, Monogr. Paradis. pl. 3 (1873).—Salvad. Ann
Mus. Civ. Genova, vii. p. 829 (1875).—D’Albertis, P. Z.S. 1875 p. 532 |

 

Taxine it all in all, I consider this the grandest Paradise-bird that has been discovered since Wallac

; : ; e sent
home the startling and singular Semioptera.

; That so large and splendid a species should have remained
totally unknown a to the period of Signor d’Albertis’s visit to the southern parts of New Guinea serves to
show the probability that other treasures remain for future explorers in this great unknown land. When
the rumour first spread abroad that a second red-plumed Bird of Paradise existed, suspicions arose that
these two birds were merely varieties of P. rubra, than which there could be nothing more fallacious, since
it not only differs from that species, but belongs to another section of the Paradiseide, of which P. papuana
and P. apoda are examples.

That the Paradisea raggiana holds a place in the south of New Guinea, as the P. papuana does in the
north, is very evident. It is also quite certain that it is a bird equally common in all the parts yet
visited by Signor d’Albertis, Captain Moresby, and other travellers ; naturalists therefore need not fear
that our collections will long remain without examples. In a note from Signor d’Albertis, addressed to
the Secretary of the Zoological Society of London, published in the ‘ Proceedings’ for 1875, is perhaps
the best description of this bird yet received. He says:—‘‘I was rather fortunate in my excursion into
the mountains ; for I found Paradisea raggiana, and obtained some beautiful specimens in full dress.
In its voice, movements, and attitudes it perfectly resembles the other species of the genus. It feeds on
fruit; and I could find no trace of insects in the seven individuals which I prepared. It inhabits the
dense forest, and is generally found near the ravines—perhaps because the trees on the fruit of which it
feeds prefer the neighbourhood of water. The female is always smaller in size than the male; and I find
this sex less abundant, because, as I believe, it is the season of incubation. The female is more like the
same sex of P. apoda than that of P. papuana. The young male is like the female, but often recognizable
by having distinguishable traces of the yellow collar which in the old male divides the green of the throat
from the breast-feathers. The irides are of a rather bright yellow, and the feet lead-colour with a reddish
tinge. The long flank-feathers in individuals recently killed have a very bright tint, which they lose in a
few days—even in a few hours. The two middle tail-feathers are filiform, as those of P. aqpoda and
P. papuana, and in no stage of development resemble those of P. rubra. These two feathers are not so
long as in P. apoda, and about equal to those of P. papuana. Like its sister species, P. raggiana is an
inquisitive bird, and often approaches from branch to branch within a few yards of the hunter, and remains
motionless for some seconds to observe its pursuer, stretching out its neck, flapping its wings, and emitting
a peculiar cry, upon the sound of which other individuals come forward to join it When one Is wounded
and cries out, many others come forward as if to protect it, and approach quite near, descending fo the
lowest boughs. The adult males frequent the tops of the highest trees, as Mr. Deo in the
other species, and as [I also remarked in my former expedition. As regards the nidification I have as yet
ns of all ages and both sexes were procured. Would that this
letting us know something of the nidification, colouring

ED
iS

A

obtained no information.” Specime
enterprising traveller could set our minds at rest by

i)

of the eggs, &c.
The following description is from a perfect sp
Total length from bill to tail 14 inches, wing 7, tail 6, tarsi Dum
Bill pale blue ; feet lead-colour with a pinky tint ; forehead and throat beautiful green, almost metallic ;
’ J c J
crown, sides, and neck fine orange-yellow ; this fine yellow

green from the rich maroon of the chest (which is very intense) ; all the upper and under surface reddish

brown, with a distinct mark of yellow on the shoulders; long flank-feathers splendid blood-red, becoming
? oe

f which are dirty white ; the two long filamentous feathers narrow,
alvadori describes the female as beng

ecimen of a male in the possession of Mr. Stone :—

also extends across the throat, separating the

brown towards the ends, the extremities 0
atula like that of P. papuana in form. Count 8
stnut-colour, paler below ; 2
ell as the sides of the latter, yellowish.

and terminating in a sp
‘smaller than the male; of a vinaceous che
of neck, and breast deep chestnut ; occiput and hinder neck, as W
The entire green colour of the forehead and throat is wanting, as we fe ae
ring under the throat, the yellow band across the wing, and the ornaments of the alt © anks.
The figures in the accompanying Plate are both males,

the sinciput, sides of head, fore part
ll as the pale yellowish straw-coloured

that in the foreground being the size of life.

 

 
 
 

 

 
 

rT
MANUCODIA COMRII » Slater.
; J Gould, & W Hart del et, lith) Walter. tmp
FH UH
boa 2) a 4 §

 
 

 
o.

 
  
   
   
 
 
 
 
 
 
    
  
 
 
    
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
   
 
   
    

Curl-crested Manucode.

Manucodia comri, Sclater, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1876, p. 459, pl. xlii., et P. ZS, 1877, p. 43.

 

Tue discovery of this interesting bird in the southern parts of New Guinea confirms the opinion so generally
offered by naturalists, that this highly gifted country may yet have many stores left for our contemplation
and study ; indeed, as time runs on, it is constantly yielding fruits to those who may enter its precincts, let
it be on the north or the south. Since the time of Wallace’s visit the Dutch explorer Von Rosenberg,
Dr. Meyer, Hr. Bruijn, and the Italians D’Albertis and Beccari have each immortalized their names by
their discoveries in Papuan ornithology. But that of the fine bird under consideration is due to a medical
officer of Her Majesty's Service ; and the species itself may be regarded as one of the most valuable of the
novelties lately transmitted to us, particularly so from its adding another member to the Paradiseide. We
find in the ‘ Proceedings’ of the Zoological Society, as above quoted, the following note by Dr. Sclater :—
«Dr. Comrie has placed in my hands, for determination, some bird-skins collected by him while serving as

medical officer in H.M.S. ‘ Basilisk’ during its recent survey of the south-east coast of New Guinea under

 

the command of Captain Moresby. The collection contains thirteen specimens, belonging to eleven species,
of which one is quite new to science, and two others are only known from single specimens.”

“This Manucodia,” Dr. Sclater continues, ‘‘may be regarded as by far the finest and largest species of the
genus yet discovered. It is immediately distinguishable from JZ. chalybeia and M. atra by its much larger size
and longer bill, which is deeply sulcated at the nostrils. The characteristic curling of the feathers is extended
to a greater degree, and pervades the whole of the head and neck; the feathers of the abdomen are black at
the base, broadly margined with purple. Dr. Comrie obtained a single specimen of this fine bird in May
1874 in Huan Gulf. It was shot flying amongst the trees in the scrubby forest, about a quarter of a
mile from the coast.”

In a subsequent communication to the Society Mr. Sclater called attention to the original and unique
specimen of his Manucodia comrii (P. Z.S. 1876, p. 459), now belonging to the collection of the Marquis
of Tweeddale, the President of the Society, which since it was described and figured, had undergone a
most efficient “remake” in Mr. Bartlett’s able hands.

The curly feathers of the head were now much more apparent and better developed than shown even
in the woodeut given with the original description, and formed standing ridges over each eye. The tail
was not flat, as would appear from the figure (pl. xlii.), but “ boat-shaped ” as in some of the American
Grakles (Quiscalus), i.e. with the median tail-feathers elevated above the lateral. The two middle tail-
uarters of an inch than the next pair,

 

 

feathers were very peculiar in construction, being shorter by three q
and having the inner webs twisted round over the outer, so as to Sno their onder surfaces.

The highly singular characteristic of the turnover feathers is also seen in the Green Mamet
(M. chalybea), where the frizzly plumes, particularly those of the face and neck, are even more singular.

Such eccentricities are really not to be accounted for, as we cannot conceive they can be for any useful

purpose.
I must not conclude this paper without returning my
. specimen from which the accompanying drawing was taken.
or the loan of the specimen trom )

thanks to the Marquis of Tweeddale and Dr. Sclater
The principal figure is of

the size of life.

 

 

 
 
 

 
 

MM ANTYCOMWT / ae
t& WH ee et Lith : AN | \ O ) LA L Jl LA | LW RR ) j
oe bodd
(yay ay UNIT
Ly 2 3 4 5
ag > a IF), Ke < SSS rr — i

 
 

 

 
WANL

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MANUCODIA CHALYB EA, Boda.

Green Manucode.

Blue-green Paradise-bird, Lath. Gen. Syn. vol. ii. p. 482. sp. 7 (1782).

Manucodia chalybea, Bodd. Tabl. Plan. Enl. d Hist. Nat. de Danbent. (1783) —Elliot, Mon. of the Paradiseid:
Re cars), ; Dae i 1e Paradiseide,

Paradisea viridis, Gmel. Syst. Nat. vol. i. pt. 1. p. 402. sp. 8 (1788).

Paradisea chalybea, Lath. Ind. Ornith. vol, i. p- 197. sp. 10 (1790).

Le Chahibé, Vieill. Ois. Dor. vol. ii. p- 24, pl. 10 (1802).—Levaill. Ois. de Par

Cracticus chalybeus, Vieill. Nouv. Dict. d’Hist. Nat. vol. v. p- 355 (1816).

Phonygama chalybea, Less. Trait. Ornith. p- 344. sp. 1 (1831).

Phonygama viridis, Gray, Gen. Birds, vol. ii. p. 303. sp. 1 (1849).—Bon. Consp. Gen. Av. p- 368 (1850).—

Rosenb. Journ. fur Orn. 1864, p. 122.

Manucodia viridis, Gray, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1861, p. 436.

Chalybea viridis, Schleg. Tijdsch. Dierk. pt. v. p. 49.

ad. p. 64, pl. 23 (1806).

 

A exance at the above list of synonyms will show that this species has been known to naturalists for
nearly a hundred years. Formerly all the skins arrived without either feet or wings, like many other New-
Guinea birds ; latterly, however, perfect specimens have come to hand, those appendages not having been
removed. ‘That this species is a true Bird of Paradise all must now admit, whatever opinions have been
entertained to the contrary. We have now at least five species of the genus Manucodia, and are living
in hope that we may not long be kept in the dark as to their habits and economy, which are likely to be
characterized by some peculiarities.

The following is taken from Mr. Elliot’s ‘Monograph of the Paradiseide :’—

“ The Green Manucode resembles in some respects its relative the JZ atra, but may be distinguished in
nearly all stages of plumage by the frizzled state of the feathers upon the head and neck ; in some speci-
mens, indeed, these peculiarly formed feathers encroach upon the upper part of the back and breast; and
they frequently possess variegated colours of different metallic hues.

“Feathers of the head short, closely pressed together, elongated over the eyes into diminutive tufts,
black, with the tips a bright metallic blue; throat, neck, and upper part of breast light green, the feathers
on the breast appearing as though the tips were frizzled. Back and wings bright metallic purplish blue,
very glossy upon the secondaries; primaries rich brown ; underparts similar to the back, but the blue not so
rich. ‘Tail purplish blue like the wings. Bill black ; feet black.”

A still more perfect description taken from Mr. Sharpe’s Catalogue of the Birds in the British Museum,
ui. p. 182, is as follows :—

“ Adult Male.—Head purple, the feathers compressed and close-set; the nape slightly washed with oe
greenish, as also the hinder neck and mantle; back rich purple, the feathers of the interscapolany region
rather recurved ; wings and tail rich purple, the inner webs of the feathers blackish, the outer wing-coverts
somewhat shaded with steel-black ; sides of the face and neck deep green, the feathers compressed and
velvety like those of the crown; those of the chin, throat, and fore neck extending onto the sides ol the
neck, crinkled and curled and of an oily-green colour; the rest of the under surface deep pulls, the feathiens
being tipped with this colour, less broadly on the vent and under tail-coverts, a a of ue) Oe
plumes with a slight greenish reflection; under wing-coverts black, ue outer edge oh aye wing Wiese
with green; bill and legs black. Total length 14°5 inches, ee 1:65, wing 6:85, es D 2 oe 1-55.

“Hab. New Guinea. Regions near the coasts and mountain-ranges of the interior (Rosenberg).

The figure on the Plate is of the size of life.

 

 

 

 
 
 
_ : al 7 ~ © _ = a -— _—
= = ee —_ a a e :
"a oe SS ee A ee eee te

 

W. Hart delet lith

PHONYGAMA PURPU
ONYGAMA PURPUREO-VIOLACEA , Meyer

Muntern Bros. unp

ANG
ea a a

— ES —
— # Fy 2 =. Se ny —
b ba ~ SS > SF
~ i
g ;

 
 

 
 
Ab Se

Tyr al \"
>)

     
   
  
  
  
   
   
   
  
   
 
 
 
   
    
  
 
 
    

PHONYGAMA PURPUREOVIOLACEA,

Purple-and-Violet Manucode.

Meyer.

Phonygama purpureoviolacea, Meyer, in Madarasz, Zeitsch. ges. Orn. il. p. 375, taf. xv. (1885)

 

Tux species of Phonygama from South-eastern New Guinea are difficult. to dete

| rmine, as the changes
to which the metallic colours are subject under the influences of

abrasion or wearing of the feathers
are at present indistinctly understood. The species from North-western New Guinea is Phonygama |
keraudrem, and we have ourselves described from Southern New Guinea two species of the genus,
P. hunstein and P. james. With these we have compared a series of P. purpureoviolacea procured
by Mr. H. O. Forbes in the Astrolabe Mountains, as well as an example obtained by Mr. Hunstein
himself in the Horseshoe range.

P. hunsteini is much larger than any of the Astrolabe specimens; its colour is a dull purple with
scarcely any gloss, and the colour of the head and crest-feathers is metallic oily green, of diminished
lustre. It will probably be found that P. Awnsteint is an inhabitant of one of the islands off the coast,
and not of New Guinea itself. No information, beyond that it had come, like other birds in the
collection, from East Cape in South-eastern New Guinea, was given with the type specimen of P. hunsteini ;
but it is quite possible that the real habitat is Normanby Island, where Mr. Hunstein also collected.
At any rate the species appears distinct from P. james and P. purpureoviolacea, of which it could
only be a worn and bleached individual, and even then the larger size is not accounted for.

The series before us at the present moment leaves very little doubt that the Phonygama recently
described by Dr. Meyer, and figured by us in the accompanying Plate, is distinct from DP. hkeraudreni
and P. hunsteini; but it is apparently the same as Phonygama jamesii, a species described by us in
1877 from Aleya, in South-eastern New Guinea, The chief difference between these two species
is, that P. purpureoviolacea is more purple above and steel-blue below, and P. jamesii is metallic
green above and steel-green below. But between these extremes of colour every transition is found in the
series now before us; and it should be noted that the type specimen of P. yamese is moulting, and that
the old feathers of the wing are very dull purple, while the new ones are bright purplish blue externally.
In fine, without asserting dogmatically that P. jamesii and P. pupureoviolacea are the same, we have very
little doubt in our own minds that they are, and that the steel-blue and green shades become gradually
faded into purple or purplish blue.

The figures in the Plate represent an adult bird in two positions, drawn from a specimen procured by

Mr. Hunstein in the Horseshoe range, and now in the British Museum.

[R. B. 8.]

 

 

 
 
 

 
 

| OCORAX OBIENSIS, Bernst.
W. Hert del. ¢ 1th Minterr Bros unp .
INTIAL Il
Se |e aa ae
am 5 a re GS SS, SS ay Ss ee = ——— a ——— e

 
 

 
 
 

LYCOCORAX OBIENSIS, Bernse
Obi Paradise-Crow.

Lycocorax obiensis, Bernst. Journ. fiir Orn. 1864, p. 410.—Id. Nederl. ‘Tijdschr. Dierk. ii. p. 350 (1865).—Schl. op.
cit. il. p. 192 (1866).—Id. Mus. Pays-Bas, Coraces, p- 132 (1867).—Gray, Hand-list of Birds, ii. Deelee
no. 6263 (1870)—Sharpe, Cat. Birds in Brit. Mus. iii. p. 185 (1877).—Salvad. Ann. Mus. Civic. Genov.
Xvi. p. 199 (1880).—Id. Orn. Papuasia e delle Molucche, ii. p. 495 (1881).—Guillemard, Proc. Zool.
Soc. 1885, p. 573.

 

Tus species appears to be confined to the Obi group of islands in the Moluccas, where it replaces
Lycocoraxy pyrrhopterus of Batchian and Gilolo, and ZL. morotensis of Morotai or Morty Island. It is
distinguished from both by the greenish wash on the upper parts, and it has the quills blacker than in
L. pyrrhopterus. Count Salvadori and ourselves both regarded the white on the base of the quills as a
distinctive character of Z. morotensis, but Dr, Guillemard, who has recently visited the Obi Islands and
obtained five specimens of the present species, states that all his series, excepting one bird, had a white mark
on the primaries. The exception was in the case of a female bird, which was duller in colour than the
males and had the primaries buff.

Dr. Bernstein, the discoverer of the species, procured it in Obi Major and Obi Lattoo, but he states that,
like LZ. morotensis, it is a difficult bird to procure, as it frequents the thick forest. Its note is described
by Dr. Bernstein as ‘ whunk.”

The following description of an adult bird is copied from the British Museum ‘ Catalogue of Birds,’
and is taken from a specimen in that institution :—

“General colour above and below of a dull rifle-green, somewhat glistening ; tail black, the feathers
slightly washed with green on the outer web; quills blackish brown, the least wing-coverts edged with dull
green like the scapulars, the rest of the coverts and secondaries slightly washed with green on a Ce
web, the primaries much paler brown ; bill and feet black. Total length 13°5 inches, culmen 1-95, wing 7°75,
tail 6°75, tarsus 1:9.”

Dr. Guillemard says that the iris is crimson,

The figure in the Plate represents an adult bird of about the size of life, and is drawn from a specimen

kindly lent to us by Dr. Guillemard.

but that in the female bird referred to above it was brown.

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AZALURGEDUS Sst ONITI, Sharpe.
Stone’s Cat Bird.
Ailuredus stonii, Sharpe, Nature, Aug. 17, 1876, p. 339.—Salvad. Ann. Mus. Civic. Genova, ix. p. 193 (1876).

~ ss é es . ~N tee ~ — D
—Sharpe, Proc. Linn. Soe. xiii. p. 495 (187 7).—Ramsay, Proc. Linn. Soc. New S. Wales, iii. p. 268
(1879); iv. p. 97 (1879).—Salvad. Orn. della Papuasia &c. p. 678 (1881).

 

Count Satvaponrt, in his great work on the birds of New Guinea, mentions his having examined the type
of this species in the British Museum ; but he considers that it is by no means a very well-marked form,
and may yet prove to be identical with 2. duccoides. This was at first my own idea; and although I had
the drawing prepared some years ago, I never ventured to publish it, but relied on the arrival of more
specimens to decide the validity of the species. I have since seen several examples from South-eastern
New Guinea, and I have found all the characters noted by Mr. Sharpe to be fully borne out in all the birds
exainined by me; so that now I have no alternative but to recognize Stone’s Cat Bird as a well-founded
species of the genus diluredus. It is closely allied to 4. buccoides of North-western New Guinea (which
bird, by the way, has been said by Count Salvadori to bave been obtained on the Fly river also), but is
distinguished by the small spots on the under surface and the darker head. It represents 42. duccoides in
Soutb-eastern New Guinea.

Mr. E. P. Ramsay records the capture of a few specimens by Mr. A. Goldie, about fifteen miles inland
from Port Moresby. They were found in dense scrubs, feeding on fruit and berries.

The following description has been copied from Mr. Sharpe’s original account of the species :—

Adult-—General colour above bright green, some of the feathers tinged with blue; wings green, like
the back, the inner webs dusky brown, the primaries externally washed with yellow, the secondaries tipped
with the latter colour; tail green, blackish on the imner webs of the outermost rectrices, which are tipped
with white; head dark brown, slightly washed with olive; hind neck yellowish buff, mottled with black
centres to the feathers, those adjoining the mantle spotted with green ; sides of face and throat pure
white, with a few tiny spots of black on the ear-coverts, larger on the sides of the neck; rest of under
surface of body ochraceous buff, the fore neck and chest minutely spotted with green, the flanks also with a
few tiny spots of the latter colour; under wing-coverts yellowish buff, the ee of the wing washed with
green. ‘Total length 9°3 inches, culmen 1:15, wing 5°05, tail 3:5, tarsus 1°59.

The figure in the Plate, which represents the species of about the natural size, has been drawn from the

typical specimen kindly lent to me by Mr. Bowdler Sharpe.

 

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AILURQGE:DUS MACULOSUS, Ramsay.

Queensland Cat-bird.

Aslureedus maculosus, Ramsay, P. Z. S. 1874, p. 601.

ee ee

Tus addition to the group of Cat-birds (Ailuredus) is of ver

y great interest to me, as I have for years
suspected that more species of the genus would be disc ;

overed, and the affinities of Mr. Ramsay’s bird
afford further evidence of the close zoological relations existing between the avifauna of Australia a that
related to the ordinary species (Ailuredus Smithii
| ea to the black-eared Cat-bird of the Aru Islands
(Ailuredus melanotis), from which it is distinguished by its smaller size, dark-green coloration, and thickly
mottled under surface. From the common Cat-bird it is at once to be told Thy

of New Guinea and the Aru Islands. Instead of being

vel crassirostris), the Queensland species comes nearer

: its black ear-coverts and by
other characters ee att well set forth by Mr. Ramsay in the description quoted below. Although our
knowledge of its habits is at present meagre, more details than usual in the case of novelties are siven by
the above-named naturalist. It will probably be found that, like 4. Smethii, the present species does not
build a bower as do Pé:lonorhynchus and Chlamydera.

The following is Mr. Ramsay’s description :—

«The whole of the head, including the chin, feathers at the base of the lower mandible, and ear-coverts,
black, having a spot of white tinged with olive-green at the end of each feather; the spots on the back of
the head and neck become more distinctly tinged with olive-green as they approach the shoulders, where
they are lost in the brown-green margin of the feathers, which on their under surface are of a bluish green
tint.

«A narrow line down the centre of each feather on the top of the head and neck black; line over the
eye and just in front of it white tinged with olive-green ; lower part of the ear-coverts black ; upper part
immediately behind the eye centred with white and tinged slightly with olive-green ; sides of the lower part
of the neck olive-green, each feather indistinctly marked with a whity-brown spot.

“Whole of the under surface olive-green, being brightest on the flanks, each feather on the chest centred
with a conspicuous and somewhat heart-shaped blotch of white, which on the abdomen and flanks becomes
lanceolate in form, more acute on those feathers between the flanks and round the vent, which are nearly
white, having a brownish crescentic mark near the margin; the spots on the abdomen are almost obsolete.
Under tail-coverts olive-green, centred and broadly margined with white tinged with olive-green; the basal
portion of all the feathers brown ; under surface of the tail brown, with a tinge of bluish green in certain
lights ; all but the two centre tail-feathers tipped with white on both surfaces ; the under surface oi the wings,
inner webs of primaries, and secondaries dark brown, becoming almost white on the margins of the inner webs:
The inner webs of primaries and secondaries, and the basal part of the inner webs of the tertiaries, blackish
brown on the upper surface; the margin of the wings and under wing-coverts melniie, win a sounewlnett
crescent-shaped mark of dark brown, margined with green, in the centre; the basal portion of the eauens
dark brown. The narrow outer web of the primaries above bluish green ; all the upper surface from ine
back of neck and mantle bright grass-green ; on the tertiaries to approximate secondaries a Suna spot of
white at the tips of the outer webs only; some of the lesser wing-coverts oe also a srumtlat spot in SS
w of the feathers between the shoulders have a bluish green tinge; two centre tail-
first feather on either side bright grass-green above; the lower
ither side tinged with green ; the inner webs of all the

specimens; and a fe
feathers and the outer webs of all except the
portion of the outer web of the first tail-feather on e
tail-feathers except the two centre ones blackish brown above,

feathers, but becoming blackish brown near the tips, which Sr ee ee
he outer feathers, diminishing into a narrow white

tinged with green near the shafts of the
) a white marginal spot more largely

developed on the inner webs and of greater extent on ¢
line on those next the centre tail-feathers. Bill light horn-colour.

«Total length 10 to 11 inches; bill from forehead 1, oe eye
the mouth 1-45, width at base 0°5; wing from flexure 5°5; tail 4°3; t
horn-colour. Claws light brown. 3

“This new species is at least one quarter less in size than ae ee
only found on the East-Coast ranges, about Cardwell, at Bas He oe a me
obtained, but unfortunately so late in the season that the plumage is ns er ke ee

“Its note resembles that of 4. Smithii, but is not so distinct a cry, anc 7 oe ee
in small flocks from ten to twenty in number, and frequent |

5 on
Carpophaga assis.

1:9 to 2, from nostril 0°6, from angle of
arsus 1°6 to 1:8, of a dark bluish

New-South-Wales bird, 2. Smith, and is
Several specimens were

a whistle. They assemble ;
; : . ‘hus ant
fruit-trees in company with Ptilonopus superbus a

The figure is of the natural size.

 

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AILURGDUS MELANOTIS.
Black-cheeked Cat-bird.

Ptilonorhynchus melanotis, Gray, P. Z. S. 1858, p. 181.—Id. Cat. Mamm. & Birds N
J. f. O. 1864, p. 122.—Schl. Mus. P. B. Coraces
ly. p. 51.

Guin. p. 37.—Von Rosenb.
» p- 118.—Gray, Handl. B. i. p. 294.—Schl. N. T. D,

Atluredus melanotis, Elliot, Monogr. Paradiseide, ol, 8%,

 

Tue discovery of this genuine and unmistakable Cat-bird in the Papuan Islands,
that the latter are Australian, and not Indian, in their geographical affinity.
The Aluredus melanotis of the Aru Islands is the largest of the five specie

forms part of the evidence

s of this genus now known to us:
the nearest ally is the 4. arfakianus of the mainland of New Guinea, and by some may be considered the same
species ; Mr. Meyer, however, has separated them ; and I have followed him and given figures of both. What-
ever they may ultimately prove to be, it will be seen that the mainland bird differs materially both in the colour
and form of its markings. The newly discovered species at Rockingham Bay, in Queensland, is also nearly allied,
but is at once separated by its much smaller size, and less developed markings on the tips of the secondaries,
a feature so prominent in the Aru bird as to remind us very forcibly of the round marks so abundantly
dispersed over the whole upper surface in Chlamydodera maculata. These marks, both in form and colour,
are not the usual tippings of such feathers, but are rounder and more sharply defined ; in colour they will
be found deeply tinted with yellowish grey, affording a strong contrast to the pure white ends of the tail-
feathers. These facts in my mind tend to confirm the alliance between the members of the genus Aiduredus
and Chlamydodera, while the length and greater development of the mantle in most of the species shows
an alliance to many of the Birds of Paradise. Mr. Wallace did not fail to obtain specimens of the present
bird during his visit to the Aru Islands ; neither was Mr. Cockerell less active in this respect : from these
two sources our cabinets are now well supplied. The Dutch travellers, Baron von Rosenberg and
Mr. Hoedt, have also forwarded a large series to the Leiden Museum, from the islands of Wokan, Trangan,
and Maykor, all belonging to the Aru group. Nothing whatever has been written about its habits.

Male.—Bill fleshy white ; crown of the head, nape, and mantle black, with longitudinal spots of buffy
brown occupying the centre of each feather ; lores grey; ears black, separated from the back of ie head
by a narrow line of buffy white ; throat greyish white, mottled with dark brown ; all the undersurface dull
greenish yellow, each feather having darker tips and a hair-like stripe of relate oun the centre ; the breast
generally darker than the belly and flanks, the latter being strongly suffused vel green ; all the ape
surface lively grass-green ; the tips of all the secondaries greyish white, all the tail-feathers tipped with pure
white, the outermost ones largely, while in the two centre ones the white marks are almost obsolete ; legs
and toes bluish black.

Total length 123 inches, bill 13, wing 62, tail 43, tarsus 2.

1 ike 1 » female is deci he smallest.
The sexes are much alike in colour; but the female is decidedly t

   
   
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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AILURGEDUS ARFAKIANUS,

Arfak Cat-bird.

Asluredus melanotis, Sclater, P. Z.S. 1873, p. 697 (mec Gray).
————- arfakianus, Meyer, Sitz. Akad. Wien, lxix. p. 82.

 

Ir will be seen, on reference to the synonymy, that Dr. Sclater considered the Cat-bird collected by Signor
d’Albertis in the Arfak mountains to be the same as Aihiredus melanotis of the Arru Islands ; consequently
in his list of New-Guinea birds, published in the ‘ Proceedings,’ it is given under that name. Dr, even
on the other hand, has separated them; but, although I have followed Meyer rather than Sclater, I am mee
altogether satisfied as to the correctness of this view, and fear it must remain for future observers to
determine this point. I may, however, state that the Arfak bird is much more strongly coloured, the spots
being blacker and more sparkling; to which it must be added that it is of smaller size. I regret that
nothing is known of the habits of the bird, or even of its distribution in New Guinea. It will not be long,
however, before the ornithological secrets of this ¢erra incognita will be laid bare; and we may expect
that, when the interior of this great island is explored, not only will the ranges of many well-known species
be extended, but new forms even of Bower-birds will be discovered. Each new traveller adds some striking
novelty or other to the ornithological series; and there is probably no country in the world which will
yield such a rich harvest of unknown species as New Guinea.

I must refer my readers to the accompanying Plate for a correct idea of the present species, as Signor
d’Albertis’s hurried departure for Italy with his collections gave me no time to describe the bird in
detail.

The figure is of the natural size.

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AILUR@DpDwUs BUCCOIDES.
Barbet-like Cat-bird.

Kitta buccoides, Temm. Pl. Col. 575.—Von Rosenb. J. f. O, 1864, p. 122.

Cissa buccoides, Gray, Gen. B. iii. App. p. 14.

Ptilonorhynchus buccoides, Gray, P.Z.S. 1858, p. 194.—Id. Cat. Mamm. & B. N. Guin. p. 37.—Schl. Mus. P. B
Coraces, p. 118.—Gray, Hand-l. B. i. p. 294.—Schl. N. T. D. iv. p. 49. |

Ailuredus buecoides, Elliot, Monogr. Parad. pl. 36.—Sclater, P. Z. S. 1873, p. 697.

”

Axruouex this bird, aptly named duccoides by Temminck on account of its resemblance to the Barbets of
the genus Megalema, has been known for so many years, and specimens not unfrequently turn up in
collections from New Guinea, there is nothing recorded of its habits or economy. It is confined to the
islands of New Guinea and Waigiou, the Leiden Museum possessing a considerable number of specimens
collected in these localities by the late Dr. Bernstein. The original specimen was procured at Triton Bay,
on the west coast of New Guinea; and other localities mentioned by Professor Schlegel are Sorong, the
north coast of Salwatti, and the island of Batanta.

In its general green coloration this bird resembles the other species of the genus; but it may be readily
distinguished by the more decided spotting of the breast and by the very distinct whitish streaks which are
seen on the nape of the neck; besides which it is by far the smallest species of the whole genus, a group
of birds intimately allied to the Bower-birds (Chlamydodera and Ptilonorhynchus) ; but up to the present
moment we have no information as to whether the members of the genus Ailuredus ever construct a bower.

Upper surface of body, the wings included, grass-green, the secondaries slightly tipped with yellow ; head
olive-brown washed with green; all the feathers of the neck pale yellow, with large terminal spots of
black, giving a streaked appearance to this part; a great many of the interscapulary plumes barred with
yellow, some spotted with black ; tail green; sides of face and throat buffy white, the former thickly spotted
with black ; rest of under surface ochraceous buff washed with green, with a black spot to each of the
feathers, disappearing on the under tail-coverts; the spots greenish on the lower Sere ele wing-
coverts salmon-buff, the outermost with brown-mottled bases; bill yellowish white; tarsi and feet lead-
colour. ‘Total length 10 inches; culmen 1:0. wing 4:9, tail 3°6, tarsus 1-4.

Apparently there is no difference in the sexes; and the figures in the accompanying Plate are as nearly

life-size as possible.

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ALURGQDUS MELANOCEPHALUS Ramsay

Black-naped Cat-bird.

Ailuredus melanocephalus, Ramsay, Proc. Linn. Soc. N.

S. Wales, viii. p. 25 (1883).—Fins :
ges. Orn. ii. p. 394 (1885). p. 20 (1883).—Finsch u. Meyer, Zeitschr.

 

Ws have already hated in the present work to the differences between uredus melanotis, from the Aru
Islands, and 4. arfakianus, from Mount Arfak; but at the time when we wrote we were unable to convince
ourselves that those two species were specifically distinct. We now consider that we were in error, since
we have seen additional examples of both, and now we have a third representative species in 42. melano-
cephalus from South-eastern New Guinea. Of this latter bird we have seen several specimens collected
by Mr. Goldie and Mr. H. O. Forbes in the Astrolabe Mountains, and by Mr. Hunstein in the Horseshoe
range of the Owen Stanley Mountains.

The present species differs from 4. arfakianus by its black lores and chin and in the uniform character
of the breast and abdomen.

We subjoin a description of an adult male collected by Mr. Hunstein on the Owen Stanley Mountains :—

Adult male. General colour above grass-green, the upper tail-coverts slightly washed with lighter green ;
the upper mantle varied with ovate spots of ochreous buff in the centre of the feathers ; wing-coverts like
the back, the median and greater coverts and the bastard-wing faintly tipped with ashy ochreous buff;
primary-coverts and quills externally green like the back, the primaries washed with bluish on the outer web,
the secondaries tipped with ochreous white, less distinct on the primaries ; tail-feathers dark green on
the outer web, black internally, all the feathers tipped with white, increasing in extent towards the outer
ones; crown of head black, with ovate spots of ochreous buff, smaller on the forehead and nape, the latter
being almost entirely black ; hind neck ochreous buff, the feathers margined with black; lores black,
surmounted by a line of ochreous-buff-spotted feathers ; feathers round eye and ear-coverts black, with a line
of buff-spotted feathers below the eye; behind the ear-coverts a line of whitish down the sides of the neck ;
fore part of cheeks black, as well as the chin; throat and sides of neck ochreous buff, mottled with black
fore neck and remainder of under surface of body rafescent ochre, with greenish
d abdomen more uniform ; all the feathers with more or less

yreast, and washed with greenish ; thighs dull

edges to the feathers ;
edges on the feathers of the chest, the breast an
distinct white shaft-lines ; sides of body and flanks like the |

ajl-coverts like the abdomen, with white shaft-lines ; under w
Total length 11°5 inches, culmen 1:3,

greenish ; under t ing-coverts and axillaries ashy,
>
tipped with whitish ; quills below dusky, ashy along the inner edge.
wing 5:7, tail 4°6, tarsus 1-7.
The figure in the Plate represents an adult male of the natur

Mr. H. O. Forbes. [R. B. S.J

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SCENOPCEUS DENT] ROSTRIS, 7

Toothed-billed Bower-bird.

Scenopeus dentirostris, Ramsay RO ZSs 11875 0) | _— ;
1p i Y; Z 875, P- 991.—Id. Proe. Linn. Soc. New South Wales. ij p. 188 (1878)
c , ae OK co a .

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Onxy the naturalist who has devoted his life to the pursuit of a particular study, and has spent lon

a y; as s g years

S on the various interesting subje

as complete as lies in his power, can imagine the feelinos of s
o ¢ Oh es

on the Birds of Australia. The time which [

in the determination to render his writing ts | i

. eis 1e has so long been treating
atisfaction with which I conte
spent in working out the birds of that country is one of the
n ae e : = . x
th t in the pursuit of natural history; and I cannot but congratulate
myself on the fact that the additions to the avifauna of th '

| | at content have not been ve
I published my last volume on its ornithology. At the same time it would be y

ary new forms as that which
continue to be discovered, constituting, as it does, the type, not only of
genus. No one who looks for one moment

mplate my work

most pleasing recollections of a life spe

ry numerous since
7 ae ain to suppose that the
field is exhausted, when such extraordin is figured on the opposite Plate
a new species, but of an entirely new
at the extraordinary doubly toothed bill of the present bird
can doubt the propriety of Mr. Ramsay’s instituting a separate genus

Nothing is at present known of the habits of this ;
observes that, like the Catbirds, it clears a |

for so anomalous a bird.

species, or if it really builds a bower; but Mr. Ramsay
arge space under the brushwood some nine or ten feet in
diameter, and ornaments the cleared parts with tufts of gaily tinted leaves and young shoots. The only
specimens yet procured were shot with a rifle by Inspector Johnstone of Cardwell; and the habitat is given
as the Bellenden-Ker range and the dense brushes clothing the steep sides of “ Sea-view range,” on
the north-east coast of Queensland.

The following is the description by Mr. Ramsay :—

‘«The whole of the upper surface, wings, and tail rich olive-brown, the inner webs of the primaries and
secondaries blackish brown, their margins near the base buffy white; under surface of the shoulders yellowish
buff, with remains of broken bars of blackish brown on the smaller feathers ; the under wing-coverts
yellowish buff, with cross bars of dull brown ; under primary-coverts buff, crossed more distinctly with dull
brown; under surface of primaries and secondaries dark ashy brown, the basal half of the inner margin buff
tinged with a faint wash of light rufous; flanks olive-buff; abdomen buff; under tail-coverts olive-buff, each
feather barred with two or more lanceolate marks of dull olive-brown, under surface of the tail dull brown ;
throat, neck below, chest, and the rest of the under surface buffy white, each feather margined with olive-
brown, which becomes lighter and less distinct on the lower parts, and almost obsolete on the flanks and
abdomen ; on the throat and chest the margins are almost black, and tinged with yellowish olive on the
sides of the neck and chest, and the buff central portion of a deeper tint; the under surface has the
appearance of being broadly streaked with lanceolate marks of buff, which become more and more indistinct
as they approach the under tail-coverts, becoming obsolete on the aniiouen. - oe

“Total length 11 inches; wing 5:7; tail 4; tibia 2°2; tarsus 1:2; hind toe 0°6, its claw De its wideh
0:25; inner toe 0-65, its claw 0°33; middle toe 0:9, its claw 0°35 ; outer toe 0-7, its claw 0:3 ; midth oI
the sole of the foot 0°35 ; bill from gape 1-2, from forehead 1:1, from the nostril 0°6, height at nostril 0-6,
width at nostril 0-5, culmen 1-1; upper mandible black, lighter at the tip; lower mandible blackish brown ;
gape yellow; legs and feet black, claws brown.” ee tie Cee

It is now five years since I received information of the discovery of this bird from Mr. oe f
Honorary Curator of the Museum at Brisbane, with a promise that he would get ne a of the an
and forward the same to me for the purpose of figuring in the ‘Birds ot New Guinea. ee nS : ly

: I 08 -s of his nearly sudden decease, a source of the
after the receipt of Mr. Coxen’s letter, I read the sad news o \ | the nleasnne of iGHinentnn
deepest regret both to myself as a relative, and all persons ee ne oe eae ee - a
Besides the skin, the head of a second example was forwarded, which greatly ac

subject. We now anxiously await more examples.

 

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CHLAMYDODERA ORIEN

Queensland Bower-bird.

TA LI S, Gould.

Chlamydodera nuchalis (part.),
Hiee ps SS:
Chlamydodera orientalis, Gould, Ann. & Mag. of Nat. Hist. ser,

Ramsay, Proc. Zool. Soc, 1868, p. 385.—Id, Proc. Linnean Soc, of NewS. Wales.

5, vol. iv. Dee
ee

In the ‘ Annals of Natural History ’ for July 1879 I described a new species of Bower-bird, and made

some
remarks on the Chlamydodere, proposing the name of Ch

lamydodera orientalis for the new species. I have
nable the reader to distinguish the western Bower-bird from
the eastern. Putting aside the very distinct Cat bird (luredus), Regent bird (Sericulus), the Satin
Bower-bird (Ptilonorhynchus), each of which is easily recognizable by structural characters as well as
mbers of the genus Chlamydodera, containing the “ spotted ”
Bower-birds, the most characteristic species of which are C. maculata, C. guttata

a particular style of plumage, we come to the me
, and C. occipitalis ; these
have each the plumage on the upper surface thickly ocellated, as well as beautiful lilac frills on the back of
the neck. Chlamydodera cerviniventris has not the beautiful frilled nape of the above-named species. In
C. orientalis the tendency to a spotted plumage becomes less marked, and still less so in the larger C.
muchahs, in this respect leading off, as it were, towards the uniformly coloured species of New Guinea (the
Amblyornis inornatus, or Garden Bower-bird, figured in the present work).

Mr. Ramsay has recorded a large Bower-bird from Queensland, but considered it similar to the great
bird from Western Australia, C. nuchalis, which has been for many years called by that name.

In size the present bird is somewhat less than C. nuchalis, and differs from that species in the light
edgings to the feathers of the head and upper surface, and especially on the wings, all these parts having
somewhat of a banded appearance, which is not so visible as in the species from Western Australia. This
species was lately brought to England by Mr. Waller, and is now, as well as its bower, in the fe collection
at Liverpool. Both species are represented in the British Museum, as well as in my own collection, where
the specimens can be consulted by any student who wishes to verify the differences between them. .

The figure in the accompanying Plate is about the size of life, and is drawn from a specimen in my

collection.

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CHLAMYDERA OCCIPITALIS , Could:

 

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CHLAMYDODE RA OCCI PITALIS, Gould.

Large-frilled Bower-bird.

Chlamydodera ocewitalis, Gould, Annals and Mag. Nat. Hist. 4th series vol. xvi. p. 429 (1875)
8, vol. xvi. p. 429 (1875

In describing the present species in 1875, I wrote as follows :—* Of all tl
rns species : all the acts performed by birds, that
of building owers, variously decorated with shells, bleached bones,

| glittering stones
and gaudily coloured feathers, must ever be ranked ‘ on

amongst the most interesting traits in

| ee connexion with
ornithology. At present the only known country in which the

| : a se playing-places or halls of assembly are
constructed is Australia. noever may have the good fortune to lift up the cartain which separates New
AT

Not four years have yet elapsed since those words
were penned ; and they already appear to have been prophetic. In tl

Guinea from other countries, may probably find others.”

iat short space of time how much has
been done to unravel the mysteries of the avifauna of New Guinea, resulting

Be ae . a . mm x ae x =
knowledge of the Bower-birds! The south-eastern part of that great island

in no small addition to our
has been ransacked by English,
Italians, and Dutch; and these collectors have made us acquainted with the birds which are me with in
that newly explored country. Then, again, in the north-western portion of the island, we owe to the
energies of the distinguished Italian traveller, Dr. Beccari, the discovery of Amblyornis inornata, whose
capabilities in bower-building and decoration seem to eclipse those of any of the other species.

The male of the present bird (Ch/amydodera occipitalis) is one of the novelties I have but lately received.
It is true I had in my collection a female from some unknown locality, which always seemed to me to differ
from those of all the other species I had seen ; but I hesitated to describe it, and it was not till a year or so
previous to 1875 that the receipt of the fine male bird which is figured in the accompanying Plate enabled
me to publish its specific characters. That its true habitat was Northern Queensland I was pretty certain ;
and in confirmation of this opinion, Mr. Janson, a highly respectable person and dealer in natural-history

specimens, from whom I purchased the skin, kindly writes to me as follows :—

“Dear Sir,—On reference to my books I find that you purchased the Bower-bird of me on the 20th of

January, 1872; and, referring to my old letters, I see that it formed part of a collection made by
Mr. Jardine at Port Albany, North Australia.
“Yours truly and respectfully,
«* Epwarp W. JANSON.”

If it should be proved that the Cape-York district is its true locality, it will then be the representative of
C. guttata of the north-west, and C. maculata of the south. The principal distinguishing characteristic, in
addition to its somewhat larger size, consists in the extreme beauty of its occipital patch, which is nearly
twice as large as in the species mentioned, and is even of a more brilliant lilac colour, particularly if the
frill be turned up and seen from beneath.

Ihave drawn in the accompanying Plate a male, about the size of life. ie
yf o ‘ yes sent to me by the
a photograph of some unknown species se j

The decorative bower forming

j late
part of the illustration is taken from
Mr. Coxen, of Brisbane ; it may, or may not, be that of the present bird.

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AMBLYORNIs INORNAT;

Gardener

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0OWer-bird.

Ptilorhynchus nornatus, Schleo., Tijdsch. Dierk. vol. lV Deol (1871)

Amblyornis inornata, Elliot, Ibis. rd) pp: Nag Mons r p i
: nel eee) Ogr,

vad. Ann. Mus. Civ. Ge ;

Beccari, tom. cit. 12, BD, ti

)
; » Ellio raradis.
1873, p. 697.—Sal . Vil Oy
NOV. Vil. p. 780 (187

XXxvll. (1873).—Sclater. Fee Zens)
av. vill.—Salyad

| °).—Id, Op. cit. ix. p. 193 (1876-77),—
- Op. cit. x. p. 15] (1877). |

eee

Ir was not until Baron Von Rosenbero penetrated | interi ON
; io ed into the interior of Northaw i

7 North-western New
Science. It was first described
under the name
Elliot, when preparing his Monograph of the P

the sexes, the plumes which

Guinea th: ,
present species became known to by Prof Schl ae ei
: ; ’y *rotessor Schlegel, who receive
specimens direct from the Baron, of Ptilorhynchus i , ee ae
“ornynchus inornatus. Shortly afterwards Mr

In addition to tl
Were wanting in

<

oo
iradiseidee, pointed out that.
hide the nostril in Prtilorhynchus
therefore separated it under the name of . Lmblyornis,

The Malays call the bird “ Gardener.’

1e similarity of
the new species ; and he

from the * CORA ae bee :
aac 1¢ floral decorations he gives to his bower and the lawn
before it.

The following abstract of the article publishe y Dr. Becear; - anediG QR An : .

art 7 published by Dr. Beccari appeared in the ‘ Gardeners Chronicle’ for
March 16th, 1878, from which I transcribe it :—

“The Amblyornis inornata, or, as | propose to name it, the Bird gardener, is a Bird of Paradise of the
dimensions of a Turtledove. The specific name ‘ inornata’ well suggests its very simple dress. It has none
of the ornaments common to the members of its family. its feathers being of several shades of brown, and

oe? te . SU \ ’
showing no sexual differences.
“It was shot some years ago by the hunters of Mynheer von Rosenberg. The first descriptions of its
powers of building (the constructions were called ‘nests’) were given by the hunters of Mynheer Bruijn.
lests to Ternate; but it was found impossible to d
reason of its great size and the difficulty of transporting it.

They endeavoured to bring one of the 1 o this, both by
“T have fortunately been able to examine these constructions at the remote places where they are erected.
On June 20, 1875, I left Andai for Hatam. on Mount Arfak.

I had been forced to stay a day at Warmendi
to give rest to my porters.

At this time only five men were with me; some were suffering from fever, and
the remaining porters declined to proceed. We had been on our Way since early morning ; and at 1 o'clock
we intended to proceed to the village of Hatam, the end of our journey.

“We were on a_ projecting spur of Mount Arfak. ‘The virgin forest was very beautiful. Scarcely a ray
of sunshine penetrated the branches. The ground was almost destitute of vegetation. A little track Way
proved that the inhabitants were at no great distance. A limpid fountain had evidently been frequented.
I found here a new Balanophora, \ike a small orange or a small fungus. T[ was distracted by. the songs and
the screams of new birds; and every turn in the path showed me something new and surprising. I had just
killed a small new marsupial (Phascologale dorsalis, Pet. and Doria) that balanced itself on he stem a a
great tree like a squirrel; and turning round, I suddenly stood before the most remarkable species of the
industry of an animal. It was a hut or bower close to a small meadow enamelled with flowers. The a
Was An 2 diminutive scale. I immediately recognized the famous nests described by the hunters of Bruijn.
I did not suspect, however, then that they had any thing to do with the constructions oe OO
After well observing the whole, I gave strict orders to my hunters not to destroy the hills building. a
however, was an unnecessary caution, since the Papuans take great care never to éhistagl these nests or
bowers, even if they are in rete way. The birds had evidently enjoyed the greatest quiet ma we Sg

‘ : -eache » heieht of about 4800 feet ; and after halt
unfortunately for them, to come near them. We had reached the height «
an hour’s walk we were at our journey’s end, 7 ee

“The Nest.—I had now full employment in the preparation of my treasure; and ee . i le

; : “ » neares > to my halting-place.
not to shoot many of the birds. The a ee a ae bith eee Wee which
morning I took colours, brushes, pencils, and gun, ie ' . - ss : ae were at home. I could not
I now publish (fig. 56, p. 333). While I was there neither host nor hostes:

Oe

S ag ut, when they watched their movements to shoot
 . ; tering and going out, when tne)
wait for them. My hunters saw them entering and going

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them. I could not ascertain whether this bower was occupied by one pair or by several pairs of birds, or

whether the sexes were in equal or unequal numbers—whether the male alone was the builder, or whether

the wife assisted in the construction. I believe, however, that such a nest lasts for several seasons.

“The Amblyornis selects a flat even place around the trunk of a ee that is as thick and as nel a
a walking-stick of middle size. It begins by constructing at the base of the tree a kind of cone, dane of
moss, of the size of a man’sband. The trunk of the tree becomes the central pillar; and the aoe building
is supported by it. On the top of the central pillar twigs are then ees placed ve a radiating
manner, resting on the ground, leaving an aperture for the entrance. ‘Thus is obtained a eon and very
regular hut. When the work is complete many other branches are placed transversely in various ways, to
make the whole quite firm and impermeable. A circular gallery is left between the walls and the central
cone. The whole is nearly 3 feet in diameter. All the stems used by the Amédlyornis are the thin stems
of an orchid (Dendrobium), an epiphyte forming large tufts on the mossy branches of great trees, easily bent
like straw, and generally about 20 inches long. The stalks had the leaves, which are small and straight,
still fresh and living on them—which leads me to conclude that this plant was selected by the bird to prevent
rotting and mould in the building, since it keeps alive for a long time, as is so often the case with epiphy-
tical orchids.

“The refined sense of the bird is not satisfied with building a hut. It is wonderful to find that the bird
has the same ideas as a man; that is to say, what pleases the one gratifies the other. The passion for
flowers and gardens is a sign of good taste and refinement. I discovered, however, that the inhabitants
of Arfak did not follow the example of the Amblyornis. Their houses are quite inaccessible from dirt.

“The Garden.—Now let me describe the garden of the Amblyornis. Before the cottage there is a meadow
of moss. This is brought to the spot and kept free from grass, stones, or any thing which would offend the
eye. Qn this green turf flowers and fruits of pretty colour are placed so as to form an elegant little garden.
The greater part of the decoration is collected round the entrance to the nest; aud it would appear that the
husband offers there his daily gifts to bis wife. The objects are very varions, but always of vivid colour.
There were some fruits of a Garcinia like a small-sized apple. Others were the fruits of Gardenias of a
deep yellow colour in the interior. I saw also small rosy fruits, probably of a Scitamineous plant, and
beautiful rosy flowers of a splendid new Vaccinium (4gapetes amblyornithis). There were also fungi and
mottled insects placed on the turf. As soon as the objects are faded they are moved to the back of the hut.

“The good taste of the Amblyornis is not only proved by the nice home it builds. It is a clever bird,
called by the inhabitants ‘ Buruk Gurea’ (master bird), since it imitates the songs and screamings of nume-
rous birds so well that it brought my hunters to despair, who were but too often misled by the bird.
Another name of the bird is ‘ Tukan Robon,’ which means a gardener.”

The general colour of the present species is dark brown, rather more rufous on the head and upper back ;
the wings also rufous brown, the primaries darker brown; tail dark brown; entire under surface dark
buff. The sexes, according to Professor Schlegel, are alike in plumage.

The figures in the Plate represent a pair of birds of the present species, the larger one being a little under
lite-size. ‘They are drawn from specimens in my own collection. The representation of the garden and
cabin is adapted from the woodcut given in the ‘Gardeners’ Chronicle,’ which is, in turn, derived from Dr.
Beccari’s original illustration.
 

 
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AMBLYORNTS «
ee \MBLYORNIS SUBALARIS Sharp
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=> EYORNIS SUBALARIS, a

Orange-crested Bower-bird.

Amblyornis subalaris, Sharpe, Journ. Linn. Soc., Zool. xvii 3 (ig i
e OCR - Xvi. p. 408 (1884).—Finsch u. Mever itschr
Orn. ii. p. 390, pl. xxii. (1885), : me =

|

. Gopi first discovered this species j > Astrolabe ains, in S J i i |
Nin. Go pecies in the Astrolabe Mountains, in South-eastern New Guinea, and his |
British Museum before we ventured to describe it as new. |
It was, however, so evidently distinct from the Amblyornis inornata of North-western New Guinea that we |

described it at last, and events have proved that we were correct in Judging from the female bird alone.

specimen remained with us for a long time in the

The male, which is recognized at a glance by its splendid orange crest, was first found by Mr. C. Hunstein AT
in the Horseshoe range of the Owen Stanley Mountains, anda capital figure of it is given by Dr. von | ]
Madarasz in the ‘Zeitschrift’ (2 c.). We were somewhat surprised to find that the male of this dull AT
looking species turned out to be such a fine bird, and it seems reasonable to doubt whether we really yet
know the full-plumaged male of 4. inornata. Itis true that the nest and breeding-habits of the latter species
have been described by Dr. Beccari, and the sexes are supposed to be alike in colour; but it is just possible
that a crest is donned during the nesting-season by the male.

Adult male. General colour above uniform dark olive-brown, rather more olive on the back, rump, and
upper tail-coverts ; wing-coverts like the back, bastard-wing, primary-coverts, and quills olive-brown exter-
nally, internally dark brown ; tail-feathers dark brown, washed with olive-brown externally; crown of head
with an immense crest of orange, the lateral and frontal feathers edged and tipped with blackish brown; base
of forehead dusky olive-brown; hind neck lighter olive-brown ; lores ashy, sides of face, eyebrow, and ear-
coverts dark olive-brown ; cheeks and entire under surface of body light olive-brown, streaked down the
centre of the feathers with ochreous buff, the sides of body and flanks rather browner; thighs dusky brown ;
under tail-coverts fulvous, with ochreous-buff centres to the feathers, the long ones edged with dark brown ;
under wing-coverts and axillaries orange-buff or tawny; quills below dusky, ochreous along the inner edge.
Total length 8-3 inches, culmen 1-0, wing 5:0, tail 3:4, tarsus 1:3. i.

Adult female. Differs from the male in having no orange crest, the head being like the back. Total
length 8°3 inches, culmen 0-9, wing 4:8, tail 3°3, tarsus 1:4. |

Mr. Forbes has sent specimens of both sexes, killed in the rainy season. The whole ol the colours are
paler and more olive, and the ochreous tints of the under surface are much paler, especially on the under
wing-coverts. The male is only distinguished from the female at this season of the year by the greater |
amount of clear ochreous on the underparts. ir einen |

The figures in the Plate represent an adult male and female, drawn from a pair procured by Mr. ‘ ;

in the Horseshoe range. [R. B. 8.] |

   

 

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XANTHOMELUS AUREUS.
Golden Bird of Paradise.

Golden Bird of Paradise, Edwards, Nat. Hist.

Oriolus aureus, Linn. Syst. Nat. i.
(1869).

Paradisea aurea, Lath. Ind. Orn. ii. p- 195 (1790).

Le Paradis orangé, Audeb. et Vieill. Ojs. Dor.

Birds, iii. P. 112 (1750),

Yo UGS C758) —Cheaw. Ge ;
p- 163 (1766) —C ray, Gen. of B. i. P. 232 (1845).—Id, Hand-list B. i. p. 293

: Au il. p. 26, pls. 11, 12 (1802)
Le Loriot de Paradis, Levaill. Hist. Nat. Ois, Parad. i. pls. 18, 19 (1806).

: oh pl. 68 (1809),
Lophorhina aurantia, Stephens, Gen. Zool. xiv. p- 76 (1826)

Paradisea aurantia, Shaw, Gen. Zool. vii. p. 499,

Sericulus aurantiacus, Less. Traité, P- 339 (1831).—Id. Ois. Par
p. 201, pls. 25, 25 bis, 25 ter (1835).

Sericulus aureus, Bonap. Consp. Gen. Ay, j. p. 349 (1850).—Gray, eine

p:28/7.—Id. P.Z.S. 1862, p. 160.—Id. Malay Arch.

p. 98 (1867).—Sclater, Ibis, 1876, p. 248.

ad. Syn. p. 20 (1835).—Id. H. N. Ois. Parad.

7 1861, p. 435.—Wall. Ibis, 1861,
il. p. 267 (1869).—Schl. Mus, P-B. Coraces,
Xx melus aureus, Bonap. C 'S Rendus, xxxviii 038 (185 1
Xantho wee . ee Bees oe Ibis, ee p. 112.—Id. Monogr.
pl. ( - Mus. Civic. Genoy. vii. P- 783 (1875).—Id. op. cit. ix. p, 199
(1876).—Sharpe, Cat. Birds, iii. p. 186 (1877).—Salvad. Ann. Mus. Civic. Genoy. x. p 159 ae :
Sericulus xanthogaster, Schlegel, Nederl. Tiydsch. Dierk, y. p- 50 (1871).—Salvad. Ibis, 1876. : 54847 ee Atti
R. Acead. Torino, xi. p. 688 (1876). | :
Chlamydodera xanthogastra, Elliot, Ibis, 1872, p. l13.—]

d. Monogr. Parad. pl. xxxiil. (1873).—Sclater, P.Z.S.
1873, p. 697.

Ir will be seen that this remarkable Bird of Paradise was described and figured by Edwards more than one
hundred and twenty years ago; and yet it is only within the last five years that we have been able to get
perfect examples for our European collections. — It may readily be imagined that the dried skins prepared
by the natives afforded us but a very faint idea of its beauty; and therefore it gives me great
pleasure to acknowledge my obligation to my friend Count Salvadori, who, during his visit
to this country, was so kind as to bring with him some lovely specimens for my use in the present work ;
and I must record en passant my appreciation of the zeal shown by his countrymen in the scientific
explorations recently made by Italian naturalists in New Guinea. It must be remembered that the present
species was one of the few Birds of Paradise which Mr. Wallace was unable to obtain in a perfect state ; and
it had also baffled the endeavours of the Dutch naturalists to obtain the bird in the adult plumage.

The Golden Bird of Paradise is an interesting species in every way. Ornithologists who have studied
Mr. Elliot’s ‘Monograph of the Paradisiide’ will remember that he has included in that family the
Bower-birds, and on one of his plates he figured a species as belonging to the latter group under the name
of Chlamydodera wanthogastra. This bird had been previously described as a Sericulus by Prof. Schlegel,
from specimens sent to the Leiden Museum from North-western New Guinea by Baron yo Rosenberg ;_ so
that Mr. Elliot was but following Dr. Schlegel in assigning it a place among the Bower-birds ; and there was
nothing in the habitat of the species to render it unlikely that it would prove to be a Oar as the
latter genus is found all over many parts of Australia, and one species at least, C: cercininentns, is Bey com-
mon in South-eastern New Guinea. It was therefore with considerable surprise that ornithologists must
have regarded a communication from Count Salvadori to ‘The Ibis,’ stating that be had come to the con-

“lie Darts »y r of Nanthomelus aureus.
clusion that Serienlus vanthogaster of Schlegel was nothing more than the young of Xa

1 Salvadori is perfectl
; a os least doubt that Count Salvadori is perfectly
Having looked carefully into the matter myself, I bave not nee

right in his conclusions.

In his third volume of the ‘Catalogue of Birds
into the family Paradisiide, in that respect differing from Mr. ae i eee eee
true Paradise-birds, leading from them to the Orioles. A further knowle 5 rn
r it should be placed among the Bower-bi

> Mr. Bowdler Sharpe has not admitted the Bower-birds
but he places Xanthomelus among the

Is very desirable and can alone determine whethe
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In the interesting letter of Dr. Beccari, translated in ‘The Ibis’- for 1876 (p. 248), we find the only
published account of the habits of the Golden Bird of Paradise. He writes ae Serieulus aureus I killed on
the same fig-tree, near Atam, where D’Albertis obtained the greater part of his birds. It has much the

same fabiie as a Bird of Paradise, lives on fruits, especially on figs; one does not find more than two or
three individuals together, usually only one male and one female; the younger males and females are very
different ; the iris is clear straw-colour. It is a very lively and shy bird; when the male is killed the female

and another, perhaps a young male, return again to their food on the same tree, and then are seen no more.
Although it is found at an elevation of 3000 feet or more, it seems more abundant in the bills near the sea,

but is always most difficult to find, because in each of the localities which it frequents there are only a few
pairs. Its song, according to my hunters, has much resemblance to the ‘zigolio’ of the Nectarinie, but

rather more strong and sonorous. Only the crest of feathers on the head is erectile. The Arfaks call it

Komeda.”
During his stay in Atam Signor D’Albertis obtained three specimens of this species, one adult and two

He gives the colour of the soft parts as follows :—‘ Bill black; feet lead-colour; iris chest-

young birds.
These indications are probably those of the young birds, as the iris in the adult is said by

nut-brown.”
Beccari to be ‘straw-colour.’
The accompanying Plate represents two males of the natural size, with a reduced figure of a female.

99

 
 

 
 

 

 

i ORIOLUS DECIPIENS,

Walter Ly.

  

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ORITOLUS DECIPIENS.

Deceptive Oriole.

Mimeta decipiens, Sclater, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1883, p. 199.

 

Tue present species illustrates an example of mimicry in the class of Birds which it would le difieclires

rpass for interest. Although a est insects cases of mimicry ar :
surpass fo Altho gn amongst insects cases of mimicry are not unfrequent, they are comparatively

rare amongst birds, and the Moluccan Orioles are known as perhaps the best illustration of this peculiar
phenomenon in ornithology. In the island of Bourou there is a well-known Honey-eater (Philemon
moluccensis) the plumage of which is almost exactly reproduced by the Oriole of the island (Oriolus bourou-
ensis); and now in the Tenimber Islands we find the same thing taking place, the Honey-eater (Philemon
plumigens) being mimicked by the Oriole (Oriolus decipiens). By many ornithologists these Orioles are
separated under the generic heading of A/imeta; but structurally they cannot be separated from the genus
Oriolus, from which they differ only in their dull-coloured plumage.

The Deceptive Oriole is very closely allied to the species from Bourou, O. dourouensis; but the latter has
the throat pale brown without any dusky spots; the rufous edgings to the wing-coverts are also more
pronounced.

The following description is taken from the type specimen :—

Adult female. General colour above brown, lighter on the head and mantle, darker and more ashy brown
on the lower back, rump, and upper tail-coverts ; the head distinctly streaked with dark brown ; the sides of
the neck and hinder neck mottled with ashy grey, the feathers having narrow ashy grey edges ; wing-coverts
and quills deep brown, more ashy on the primaries, many of the coverts and quills slightly washed with pale
rufous externally ; tail-feathers light brown, with paler tips ; an indistinct eyebrow of white, spotted with
brown; cheeks whitish, spotted with dark brown, rather more marked

dark brown; ear-coverts uniform dark
remainder of under surface from the

on the malar line; centre of throat white, with a few dusky spots ;
fore neck downwards ruddy ashy brown, a little darker and more ashy on the thighs and under tail-coverts ;
the chest slightly mottled with dark brown shaft-streaks ; under wing-coverts, axillaries, and ae
rufous; ‘bill, legs, and feet black ; iris dark brown” (V7. O. Forbes). Total length 12 inches, culmen
1-45, wing 6:1, tail 5-0, tarsus 1°25.

The Plate represents this species of the full size, the figure

collected by Mr. Forbes. fe Besal

s being drawn from the typical examples

Id Pe

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CHA TORH YNCHUS PAPUENSIS Meyer

Arfak Drongo.

Chaetorhynchus papuensis, Meyer, Sitz. Akad. Wiss. Wien.

lxix. p. 493 (1874
p. 242, pl. xiii. (1877). Coe)

—Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. lil.

cee

fmerspecies of King Crow or Drongo Shrike wac dic. vere ; a3 fee
Tuis little spec 2 r Drongo Shrike was discovered by Dr. Meyer during his visit to New
at interest to the naturalist, who is ever on the watch
for forms which evince unexpected affinities to others of a distant habitat.

Guinea, and, although not a showy bird, is one of gre

In the present instance we find,
genus of Drongo which, in size, general form,
, reminds us forcibly of the small genus Chaptia of India
and Malayana. In one respect, however, Chetorhynchus differs not only from Chaptia, but from all other
genera of the Dicruride ; and that is, in the shoulder-spot of white which adorns the New-Guinea bird.
The general coloration of the Drongos is black.

in the Arfak Mountains of North-western New Guinea, a

and especially in the scaly nature of its plumage

relieved by a certain gloss or metallic spangles. An
intermixture of white is of rare occurrence in the family; it occurs, however, in some of the Indian
species of Buchanga (which have a little white on the lower parts), and is most conspicuous in Dierurus
mirabilis of the Philippines (which has a pure white breast and abdomen).

The Arfak Drongo has a white spot on the shoulders; but this is by no means a conspicuous feature, as
may be gathered from the fact that when Dr. Meyer described the species he did not notice it, nor did
Mr. Bowdler Sharpe, in his ‘ Catalogue of Birds,’ nor did Mr. Keulemans when he drew the figure for the
latter work. Indeed it was only when Dr. Meyer came to have one of the typical specimens mounted for
the Dresden Museum that the shoulder-spot became suddenly visible; and its first discovery is due to
him. I have therefore much pleasure in giving the first accurate figure of Chetorhynchus. 1 find that
the white spot varies much in size, and is almost absent in some specimens. I have examined the neal
examples obtained by Dr. Meyer, as well as others procured by M. Laglaize, one of which is in the collection
of the British Museum.

The following description is given by Mr. Sharpe in the work above alluded to, and is taken from
one of the original types :—

General colour black, with a steely gloss, the head more brightly glossed with steel-green, the feathers
rounded and somewhat scale-like in appearance ; least wing-coverts steel-black, the median, greater, a
primary-coverts black, narrowly edged with steel-green ; quills placls the secondaries ee ee os
green, the innermost glossed with the latter colour; tail black, slightly oe o ie
edges of the feathers ; sides of face and under surface of body black, the bret glossec ee i =
under wing-coverts greyish black; bill and feet black. Total length 7 inches, culmen 0-7, wing 4°2,

30, tarsus 0°7. : :
The figures in the Plate represent the species of the natural size; they are drawn from the type

specimens, lent to me by Dr. Meyer.

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DICRANOSTREPTUS MEGAR HYNCHUS

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New-Ireland Drongo.
Edolius megarhynchus, Quoy et Gaimard, Voyage de l’Astrolal

Edolius intermedius, Lesson, Traité d’Orn. p. 380.
Dicrurus megarhynchus, Gray, Gen.

9, Zool. vol. i. p. 184, pl. 6.

Rete oF 286.—Bonap. Consp. Gen. Ay.
Guinea &c., p. 33.—Id. P. Z. S, 1861, p. 435.—Finsch, N
p. 287.—Sclater, P. Z. S. 1869, p. 119,

1p. 352.—Gray, Cat. Birds of New
eu-Guinea, p. 171.—Gray, Handl. B. i.
Dicranostreptus mezorhynchus, Jerdon, Birds of India i. p. 430, note

Dicranostreptus megarhynchus, Reichenb. Syst. T

, af. Ixxxviii, fig, 12.—Sclater, P. Z, §
of Birds, ill. p. 256. 3

1877.—Sharpe, Catalogue

Dissemurus megarhynchus, Tweeddale, Ibis, 1878, p. 79.

Tus large species of Drongo was described in 1830, by MM. Quoy and Gaimard, in their account of the
Zoology of the Voyage of the ‘Astrolabe.’ Unfortunately, the habitat of the species was given as Dorey,
New Guinea, a mistake which led to its being included in more than one list of New-Guinea birds. It has
also been recorded from the Ke Islands by Mr. Gray; but this is doubtless owing toa misprint (as the
Marquis of Tweeddale suggests), the locality being intended to apply to Dicrurus megalornis, which is confined
to the last-named group of islands, and the locality of which is omitted in the proper column of places
tabulated by Mr. Gray. In 1869, Dr. Sclater recorded it from the Solomon Islands; and more recently it
has occurred in the collections made by Mr. George Brown in New Ireland, Specimens are also contained
in the British Museum, which were presented by Captain Lambrick, R.N., who obtained them at Carteret
Harbour, New Ireland; and the species will probably be found to be an inhabitant of that island, and of the
Solomon group. Lord Tweeddale considers that it is a member of the genus Dissemurus, to which the
Indian and Indo-Malayan Racket-tailed Drongos belong; and if this is the case, its appearance in a truly
Papuan habitat is interesting and at the same time remarkable. The extraordinary length of the tail and the
absence of a true racket, which is one of the characters of Dissemurus, taken in connexion with the locality
inhabited by the species, induce me to consider it generically distinct, and I therefore follow Dr. Sclater and
Mr. Sharpe in its nomenclature.

The following description is taken from the ‘ Catalogue of Birds’ of the latter author —

Above blue-black, with a very slight steel gloss on the back, rump, and upper tail-coverts ; head and sides
of neck metallic steel-purple, the feathers on the latter elongated and somewhat lanceolate ; frontal ae
lores, and sides of face dull purplish black ; under surface of body dusky purplish black, with ae
tips of glossy green on some of the feathers of the throat and chest; under Ma Bae a ae
the breast ; wings above dull glossy steel-green ; quills purplish black, the cot . a
green, not so metallic as the coverts ; tail-feathers purplish black, glossed with metallic s oad ae :
adly on the centre ones, the outermost feather elongate

outer edge of both webs, more distinctly and bro ue Or
t Total length 20-5 inches, culmen 1°5, wing

and twisted in an inward curl at the tip; bill and feet black.
7, tail 6, tarsus 1-05.
The specimen figured (of the natural size) in the

and was kindly lent to me by Dr. Sclater.

reorge Brown fr Jew Ireland
Plate was sent by Mr. George Brown from N and,

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mMECTES LE UCORHYNCHUS, G
White-billed Wood-Shrike.

Rectes leucorhynchus, Gray, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1861, p. 430.—Finsch,
k. Akad. Wissensch. Wien, Ixix. p. 206 (1874).—Rosenb. Malay. Arch. p. 395 (1879

Colluricincla leucorhyncha, Gray, Hand-list B. i. p. 386, no. 5838 (1869).

Pseudorectes leucorhynchus, Sharpe, Cat. Birds in Brit. Mus. iii. p. 288 (1877).

Rhectes leucorhynchus, Salvad. Ann. Mus. Civic. Genov. xy. p. 43 (1879)—Id. Orn. Papuasia
ii. p. 206 (1881).

 

concerning its habits.
The following description is copied from the British Museum ‘ Catalogue of Birds ’:—
Adult male. Above rufous brown, the rump and the tail a little brighter, the crown

coverts uniform with the breast ; bill yellowish white. Total length 12 inches, culmen
tail 5-2, tarsus 1°5.”

British Museum.

 

the Moluccas; but the original specimens, now in the British Museum, were obtained by

“ay e

Neu-Guinea, p. 170 (1865).—Meyer, Sitz.

)h

e delle Molucche,

Tuis Wood-Shrike is easily distinguished from all the other Papuan members of the group by its white
bill and sombre coloration. It was originally described by the late Mr. George Gray, from Gagie Island, in

Mr. Wallace in

Waigiou, and we do not understand Mr. Gray’s authority for the occurrence of the species in Gagie. It
has since been obtained by Dr. Beccari both in Waigiou and in Batanta. Nothing has yet been recorded

and sides of the

head slightly darker ; wing-coverts like the back, but a little darker brown ; quills dark brown, externally
dark rufous brown; under surface of body deep rufous fawn-colour, the throat paler ; under wing- and tail-

1:15, wing 5:7,

The Plate represents two specimens of this bird, of the natural size, and is drawn from individuals in the

[R. B. S.J

  
    
  
   
  
    
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
  
  
 
 

 
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RECTES CERVINIVENTRIS, Gray.
Fawn-breasted Wood-Shrike.

Rectes cerviniventris, Gray, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1861, p. 430, BF
Akad. Wissensch. Wien, lxix, p. 208 (1874).
Rosenb. Malay. Arch. p. 395 (1879).

Rhectes cerviniventris, Salvad. Ann. Mus. Civic. Genoy.
p. 200 (1881).

insch, Neu-Guinea, p. 176 (1865).—Me

Clem O Zan ke
—Sharpe, Cat. Birds in Brit. Mus.

il, p. 286 (1877)

Xv. p. 44 (1879).—Id. Orn. Papuasia e delle Molucche, ii.

nn

As with 2. leucorhynchus, so with the present bird, we cannot find Mr. Gray’s authority for stating that it is
found in the island of Gagie, as no specimen from this island exists in the British
specimens are deposited. The original specimen came from W
species, and where it has since been met with by Mr. Bruijn, who has also found it in Batanta. The late
Dr. Bernstein likewise procured it in the island of Ghemien. The habitat Gagie must therefore be
entirely erroneous, though how the mistake arose we are unable to conjecture.

The following description is copied from the British Museum ‘ Catalogue of Birds ’:—

** Adult male. General colour above ashy olive, inclining to olive on the rump and upper tail-coverts; the

Museum, where the type
aigiou, where Mr. Wallace discovered the

head crested, ashy grey, this colour pervading the mantle and back ; sides of face and sides of neck rather
darker ashy ; wings olive-brown, the inner webs of the feathers darker brown, the outer webs washed with
reddish olive; tail-feathers brown, washed with olive on the edges of the feathers, the outer ones reddish
brown, edged with deep fawn-colour on the outer web; throat and fore neck ashy, washed with ochre ; rest
of under surface of body chestnut fawn-colour, including the thighs, under wing- and _tail-coverts ; mes
surface of body dark ashy brown, the inner webs rufous fawn-colour. ‘Total length 8°6 inches, culmen 1-05,
wing 3°70, tail 3°5, tarsus 1:25.” . oe

The Plate represents an adult bird in two positions, of the size of life, the figures being drawn from a

specimen in the British Museum. [R. B. S.J

 
 
 

 
 

 
 
 
 

 

 

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RECTES U ROPY GIALIS, &
Rufous-and-Black Wood-Shrike.

ray.

Rectes uropygialis, G. R. Gray, Proc. Zool. Soc, 1861, pp. 430, 435.—Finsch, New Gui 7
Meyer, Sitz, k. Akad. Wissensch. Wien, Isix. p. 208 Gee ee
p. 285 (1877).—Rosenb. Malay Arch. p, 395 (1879). | eer
Colluricincla uropygialis, Gray, Handl. B. i. p. 385, no. 5, 836 (1869).
tes uropygialis ceramensis, Mever. Sit7. kk Ak We : ;
Rec a ; ears. ee ae er, Sitz. k, Akad. Wissensch. Wien, lxix. P. 208 (1874).—Salvad. Proc. Zool.
Rectes tibialis, Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. ill. p. 285 (1877).
Rhectes uropyyialis, Salvad. Ann. Mus. Civ.

aie.) Genova, xv. p. 42 (1879).—Id. Orn. dell

a Papuasia, &c. p. 193

 

Tuere are three species of the genus Rectes which are very closely allied to each other, and which are
remarkable for their red and black plumage. These are R. uropygialis, from North-western New Guinea
and Mysol, 2. dichrous, spread over the greater part of New Guinea, and R. arvensis from the Aru Islands.
Of these three species the present is perhaps the finest, being slightly the largest in size. It differs
from R. dichrous in having the whole of the rump and upper tail-coverts black, whereas in the last-named
bird these parts are chestnut like the rest of the back. 2. aruensis resembles the present bird in having
the rump and upper tail-coverts black; but, besides being rather smaller, it has the breast slightly paler
and washed with black.

Nothing has been recorded concerning the habits of this species, or of those of any member of the
genus Itectes; but we can easily suppose that they are not greatly different from those of the Australian
Colluriocincla. Whereas R. dichrous appears to be spread over the greater part of the island of New
Guinea, A. uropygialis takes its place in the western and north-western part of the island, and extends into
Mysol. Mr. Sharpe was inclined at one time to separate the New-Guinea bird as Pectes tibialis; but he
informs me that he is now quite convinced of its identity with the Mysol bird.

The following description is taken from Mr. Sharpe’s Catalogue of Birds in the British Museum a

Adult male. Head, which is strongly crested, and nape black, as also the entire sides of the face, sides
of neck, throat, fore neck, and chest; hind neck, mantle, and upper back rich miaroon-eHeSit rather
more orange on the hind neck; lower back, rump, and upper tail-coverts black ; wings and a cee
remainder of under surface of body, from the chest downwards, including the thighs, under wing- and
tail-coverts, rich maroon-chestnut ; bill and legs black.

Total length 11 inches, culmen 1-1, wing 4-7, tail 4°50, ee 136.

Adult female. Similar to the adult male, and quite as richly coloured.
1-25, wing 4:95, tail 4°75, tarsus 1°30. . ] 4

The figures in the Plate represent an adult bird in two positions, of a

drawn from an example in my own collection. |
I

Total length 11 inches, culmen

bout the natural size, and are
 
 

 
 

 

RECTES JOBIENSIS, Meyer:

J Gould & W Hart, del et kith,
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RECTES JOBIENS]
Jobi-Island Wood-Shr

5
S, Meyer.

ike.

Rectes jobiensis, Meyer, Sitz. k. Akad. der Wiss. zu Wien, xix. P. 205 (1874).—Sclater
Salvad. Ann. Mus. Civ. Genova, vii. Pp. 173 (1875), viii, p. 40 (1876) Sher
il. p. 287 (1877).—Gieb. Thes. Orn. iij. p. 412 (1877), os
Rhectes jobiensis, Salvad. Ann. Mus. Ciy. Genova, xv. p. 43 no. 12 (1879),
(1881).

Ibis 1874, Decale
pe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus.

—Id. Orn. Papuasia, &e, ii. p. 201

Tue Shrike-like genus Zectes consists of a small number of birds found in New
neighbouring islands. It is divided into two sections, consisting of those
cap of darker colour on the head, and those species which

Guinea and in the
species which have a distinct
have no cap whatever ; and the present bird will
Its nearest allies therefore are Rectes cervineiventris
from Waigiou, and 2. cristatus of New Guinea; but it is very distinct from both of these by
foxy red colour both above and below.

The present bird was discovered by Dr. A. B. Meyer in the island of Jobi, which is situated in the Bay of
Geelvink, in North-western New Guinea. He preserved several specimens of it; and it has also been ret
with there by Dr. Beccari and in the neighbouring little islet of Krudu.

be seen at once to belong to the second section.

reason of its

Dr. Meyer says that the note of this bird is a “ chrrr ;” and its habits are doubtless the same as those
of the rest of the genus, of which at present we unfortunately know but little.

The following description of the species I take from Mr. Bowdler Sharpe’s Catalogue of Birds :—

Adult male. General colour above bright foxy red, paler on the head; wing-coverts like the back ; quills
dark brown, externally rufous, the inner secondaries entirely rufous; tail-feathers chestnut, the shafts
rufous; lores, sides of face, and under surface of body deep rich tawny buff, darker on the throat and fore
neck, and inclining to chestnut on the lower flanks and under tail-coverts ; under wing-coverts bright
tawny, like the breast; quills dusky brown below, rufous on the outer web and along the inner web; bill
light yellowish horn-colour ; feet blackish, claws pale. Total length 9-2 inches, culmen 11°5, wing 4°65,
tail 4°35, tarsus 1°35.

Adult female. Similar in colouring to the male.

Total length 10°5 inches, wing 4°6, tail 4°3, tarsus 1°25.

Young male. Similar in colour to the adult, but rather duller; the bill shorter and duller brown.

The above descriptions were taken from the typical specimens lent to Mr. Sharpe by Dr. Meyer; and
from one of these I have drawn the accompanying figure, which is of about the natural size.

 

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Aru-Island Wood-Shrike.

Rectes dichrous, pt. (nec Bp.), Gray, Proce. Zool. Soc. 1858, pp. 173, 193.—Id. List M: 8, IN| ri
pp. 33, 58 (1859).—Id. Proc. Zool. Soc. 1861, p. 435, | - a
Rectes aruensis, Sharpe, Cat. Birds in Brit. Mus. iii. p. 285 (1877
Rhectes aruensis, Salvad. Ann. Mus. Civic. Genoy.
—Id. Uce. Papuasia e delle Molucche,
Khectes analogus, Meyer, Zeitschr. ge

—Salvad. Proc. Zool. Soc. 1878, p. 96.
xv. p. 42 (1879),—Id. Rep. Voy. ‘Challenger,’
‘ ll. p. 194 (1881).—Meyer, Zeitss
s. Orn. i. p. 284 (1884).

jo 79) (iltstsiil).
hr. ges. Orn. i. p. 284 (1884),

é ; : :
TuE present species belongs to the capped section of the

genus fecfes, and its nearest ally is
gialis from New Guinea and Mysol.

It is, however, a much smaller bird than the latter, which it represents
in the Aru Islands, and is further distinguished by the black of the upper tail-coverts not extending over the
rump, while on the under surface of the body the black de
instead of ending abruptly on the breast.

Rectes wropy-

scends down the centre of the breast and abdomen

The birds which we have described as the young have recently been considered by Dr. A. B. Meyer to belong

to a distinct species, which he has named Rectes analogus. With all due respect to Dr. Meyer, who is a
recognized authority on all matters relating to the zoology of Papuasia, we still think that there is only one
species inhabiting the Aru Islands, and we consider Rectes analogus to be the same species as 2. arvensis. The
whole subject, however, of the colour of the sexes and young birds in this genus is so imperfectly understood,
in our opinion, that we are free to admit that Dr. Meyer's second species from the Aru Islands possesses
quite as good claims to specific distinction as some of those allowed by naturalists to inhabit New Guinea.

The following are the descriptions of specimens in the British Museum, published by us in the ‘Catalogue
of Birds’ (¢. ¢.) :—

Adult male, Above very bright chestnut, the upper tail-coverts black ; head crested, black all round, with
the sides of face, fore neck, and chest also entirely black ; rest of under surface of body deep tawny buff, the
whole of the breast shaded with black ; under wing-coverts deep ochreous, those near the edge of the wings
black ; wings and tail deep black ; bill and legs black. ‘Total length 10 inches, culmen 1-2, wing 4:3, tail
4°], tarsus 1°35.

Young. Paler ochre-rufous below, not mixed with black on the breast ; the cap and black throat almost as
strongly defined as in the adult, but both are much washed with brown ; rump dingy ochreous brown, washed
with chestnut, the tail-coverts inclining to blackish ; quills and tail blackish, the outer webs of the quills
dingy ochreous brown ; tail-feathers brown, slightly washed with nufons: and Cee black near the Pe
and upwards along the centre of the feathers, Total length 10 inches, culmen 1-2, wing 4:45, tail 4°38,
us| 3 , f 7? fogus, the latter having

The figures in the Plate represent the type of Hectes aruensis and the type of 2. analogus, the latter having

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