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Show 1874.] DR. O. FINSCH ON A N E W PARROT. 91 and hind neck show under certain lights their tips shining olive-brownish yellow; front, lores and cheeks, and all the under surface yellowish grass green, brighter than the upper parts ; crop and breast washed very faintly with olive: chin and upper part of throat changing into olive-yellow; quills dark grass-green, a little darker than the back; the primaries on the inner web sooty blackish, on the outer web dull greenish blue, with narrow but distinct green margins; the tectrices of primaries on the outer web towards the base also washed with dull blue ; under wing-coverts grass green, like the vent; quills from beneath dull malachite-green like the under-surface of the tail-feathers, which from above are dark grass-green; the first primary beneath exhibits a narrow margin of olive-yellow. Bill horn-grey, with yellowish tip, mandible yellowish, with grey basal portion; feet and claws brownish. Long. rectr. rectr. Alt. Latid. Long. dig. tot. alas, intern, ext. culm. rost. rostr. tars. ext. c. 6|" 4" V" 2" 4'" 2" 5'" 5|'" 4'" 5'" 6'" (poll. Angl.). Hab. Eastern Peru. The specimen from which the above description was taken was collected by the well-known explorer of Peru, Mr. H. Whitely, at Paucartambo, a village east of Cuzco, in the Andes, at an elevation of 9400 feet. As I learn from a letter of Dr. Sclater, who kindly forwarded to me this specimen for inspection and description, Mr. Whitely unfortunately collected only this single specimen, which has no label of sex, but is certainly mature. The sexual differences are therefore still to be ascertained ; and it seems to be possible that the male may exhibit a brighter coloration, although I incline to believe that both sexes will prove to be alike. In respect of the generic position, there can be no doubt, according to m y views, that the species must be placed in the genus Psit-tacula, although there are some differences; but these show clearly that Psittacula andicola unites the true Psittacula of South America (Ps. passerina, ccelestis, &c.) with those usually distinguished under the generic term Urochroma, Bp. (surda, melanonota, &c). From the latter it differs in the more rounded, although short, tail with more pointed feathers, as in the true Psittacula; besides, the tail-coverts are less elongated; the wings are quite the same as in the true Psittacula, but do not reach to the end of the tail, as in the members of the subgenus Urochroma. The bill much resembles that of Psittacula; but the lateral margins of the upper mandible show no emargination, and the bill in general is more bulky and corresponds rather with that of Holborhynchus, Bp. (B. monachus, aymara, &c), which, however, are easily distinguished by their long, cuneated tail-feathers. Psittacula andicola stands quite alone in its uniform green coloration, and cannot be confounded with any of its allies. |
