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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