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Show 1871.] MR. D. G. ELLIOT ON THE GENUS PTILORIS. 581 some other important member, and it is only lately that fine examples have been obtained. Mr. George Robert Gray, some time ago, perceived that there were differences among the specimens of this section of the Rifle-birds in the British Museum, and in his manuscript notes affixed to the one from Australia the name of Ptiloris alberti, but never published or wrote any account of it; and in his latest published work, the ' Hand-list of Birds,' he has placed his manuscript name among the synonyms of Ptiloris magnificus, which he rightly applies to the New-Guinea bird. Although among ornithologists it is generally conceded that manuscript names should not be recognized or adopted, I propose, in this instance, to make an exception to the practice, and to retain the name of alberti for the Australian bird. It is not to be denied that I should be perfectly right if I gave a new appellation to the species, as even the adoption of a manuscript name is not to be commended, as it is a kind of recognition that they may be noticed ; but m y desire is and always has been to clear up imperfectly known facts, and not to continue existing confusion ; therefore as alberti has been employed in Mr. Gray's list, it is perhaps better to retain it, although an apology to m y fellow ornithologists is due for so doing. Resembling each other very closely, there is nevertheless a considerable difference in the size and plumage of the two species, especially between the females, where the variations are very great and visible at once. The true P. magnificus is much the larger bird, has a longer, stouter bill, stouter legs and feet, and longer wings. The chief difference in their plumage is to be seen upon the lower part of the breast, which in the New-Guinea bird is rich purplish violet, as mentioned by its describer, Vieillot, while the P. alberti is dark grass-green upon the same parts, the ends of the flank-feathers only being tinged with violet. The metallic colours of the throats and breasts are apparently the same, as are also the central tail-feathers. But it is in the females that the greatest variation in the hue of the plumage is to be seen, that of P. magnificus being of a rich brownish red upon the entire upper parts, the under parts white, closely barred with black; while the female of P. alberti is a light olive-brown upon the upper parts, wings and tail being rufous brown, and the under parts are very much lighter than in the female of its relative, the bars being narrower and wider apart. The throat is also pure white, that of the female P. magnificus being closely barred like the breast. I give below a list and description of the known species of Ptiloris with their proper synonyms added. Genus PTILORIS. Ptiloris, Swainson, Gen. and Class. Birds (1825), vol. ii. p. 331. The name Epimachus, which has been usually applied to these birds, was originally bestowed by Cuvier upon the E. magnus, a form totally different from the Rifle-birds; and consequently Mr. Swain-son's term is the one next in order to be employed. |
