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Show 532 MR. D. G. ELLIOT ON THE GENUS PTILOPUS. [May 7, Birds Austr. vol. v. pl. 55; id. Hand-b. B. Austr. vol. ii. p. 106; Finsch & Hartl. Faun. Centralpolyn. (1867) p. 125; Graffe, Journ. Mus. Godeff. 1873, pt. 1, pl. 7. fig. 6; Ramsay, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1876, p. 114. Ptilonopus swainsoni, Gray, Gen. B. (1844) vol. ii. p. 466. sp. 6 ; id. List B. Brit. Mus. (1856) p. 2. sp. 1 ; Reich. Tauben, p. 94, pl. 235. figs. 1309-10. Kurukuru swainsonii, Des Murs & Pre'v. Voy. Venus, Zool. (1855) p. 256. Ptilopus swainsonii, Schleg. Mus. Pays-Bas, 1873, p. 4, Columbce. Hab. Australia, river Clarence, between the Hunter and More-ton Bay (Gould). Temminck, in his ' Pigeons et Gallinacees,' (I. ci), describes a "premiere variete" of his Columba purpurata ( = ewingii, Gould). This has been referred, by Messrs. Finsch and Hartlaub in their work on Central-Polynesian birds, to Pt. fasciatus, Peale. I do not think this is correct; and although it may be impossible to prove what really this " variety " of Temminck's is, yet it seems to me that his description points more towards the present species. In the first place Temminck makes no mention of a purplish-black spot upon the abdomen, which Pt. fasciatus (Peale) possesses; and he describes the belly as exhibiting " plusieurs nuances de jaune et d'orange," which certainly are not to be found on Peale's bird, which has this part grass-green with a purplish black spot in the centre. As the Columba purpurata, Temm., is known to be the Pt. ewingii, Gould, and did not come from Tahiti, it is probable that he had with it the Pt. regina, also from Australia, and looked upon them as varieties of the same species. As this cannot, however, be definitely ascertained, I have placed his name among the synonyms, with a question. Temminck states that there are two specimens in the Paris Museum, brought by Capt. Baudin, which are like the variety described by him. I have examined all the examples brought by Baudin's expedition ; and they belong only to the Pt. ewingii and Pt. viridissimus, Bon. ( = coralensis, Peale). This species has been generally known as the Ptilopus swainsoni, Gould; but it was called regina by Swainson seventeen years before Mr. Gould's name was published. In fact it is the type of Swainson's genus Ptilonopus (Ptilopus) ; and Gould's name must become a synonym. Male. Forehead and top of head crimson, margined narrowly with yellow. Occiput and back of neck greyish green. Throat white, sometimes tinged with yellow. Breast pale green, each feather tipped with light grey. Flanks dull green. Abdomen deep orange, with a spot of deep lilac-red in the centre. Crissum and under tail-coverts orange-yellow. Upper parts bright green. Primaries slaty grey on inner webs, green on the outer, edged with yellow. The first abruptly and greatly attenuated. Secondaries bluish green, becoming deep blue near their tips, and broadly margined with yellow. Tail deep green, with a broad terminal rich yellow band. Irides reddish orange. Bill greenish black, horn-colour at the tip. feet olive-brown. Total length 94; inches, wing 5£, tail 3y, culmen \. |