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Show 184 MR. P. L. SCLATER ON SOME SPECIES OF PARROTS. [Feb. 14, Mr. Gould in the Society's 'Proceedings' for 1856 (p. 137). The typical specimen of this bird, now in the British Museum, obtained by Macgillivray during the voyage of the ' Herald,' was, I believe, previously unique. The living specimens in question were brought to this country in the ship ' Curacoa,' and acquired by purchase for the Society on the 5th inst. I exhibit a sketch by Mr. Wolf (Pl. XVI.) representing this species. I have already on more than one occasion spoken of the series of Cockatoos in the Society's Gardens, which is very full and complete*. In m y last communication on this subject I proposed to divide the White Cockatoos into two sections, characterized by the form of the crest, which in the one case is pendent, in the other recurved at its extremity. In this it appears that, as I have lately become aware, I had been anticipated by Dr. Schlegel, although I have not yet been able to consult his original article upon this sub-jectf. But in Dr. Schlegel's more recent paper upon the same subject£, he has fallen into what every one who is acquainted with our living series of Psittacidee must allow is a very great error, in stating that Cacatua ducorpsii and Cacatua ophthalmica, as described and figured by m e in the articles above referred to, are mere varieties of G. triton! Dr. Schlegel is so kind as to add that m y descriptions and figures of these birds are " de nulle utilite pour la science." To this I have only to reply that I regret to find he has not understood them better. It is true no exact dimensions are stated in m y notes ; but the birds described were (and still are, I am happy to say) alive, and it is not always easy to take exact measurements of living birds. But on reference to my second paper (P. Z. S. 1864, p. 188) it will be found that I have given what I must maintain is an exact and very recognizable diagnosis of C. ophthalmica, ending with " crassitie vix minore quam in C. cristata," which, I consider, is a sufficiently precise account of its size. And in the table above the diagnosis in the same paper I have classed C. ducorpsii amongst the smaller section of the group, along with C. sanguinea and C. philippinarum, with which it agrees in size. No naturalist, in fact, after seeing specimens of C. ophthalmica and G. ducorpsii, could regard these two birds as specifically identical. The former is a large species, closely allied to C. cristata, as I have already pointed out. The latter is a small species, very closely allied to C. sanguinea of Gould, and to be united to that species, if not allowed to stand alone. Neither do I in the least believe that there are any grounds for uniting C. ophthalmica to C. triton, whatever may be the length of Dr. Schlegel's "series" of specimens of this bird. The fact is that in this, as in many other cases, Dr. Schlegel is misled by the idea that there are no other species of birds in existence except those represented in the Leyden Museum. In a similar frame of mind he has denied the existence of many other excellent * See P. Z. S. 1862, p. 141, et 1864, p. 187. t Jaarb. v. h. Genootschap Natuia Artis Magistra v. h. j. 1861. % " Notice sur les Cacatous blancs a houppe jaune," par II Schlegel CNed Tijdschr. v. d. Dierk. 1865, p. 318). |
