| OCR Text |
Show 460 MR. p. L. SCLATER O N BIRDS FROM N E W GUINEA. [May 16, its much larger size and longer bill, which is deeply sulcated nostrils. The characteristic curling of the feathers is extended to a greater degree than in M. cha/ybeia, and pervades the whole of the head and neck. The feathers of the abdomen are black at the base, broadly margined with purple. Dr. Comrie obtained a single specimen of this fine bird in May 1874 in Huan Gulf. It was shot flying amongst the trees iu the scrubby forest about a quarter of a mile from the coast. 3. DACELO GAUDICHAUDI, Quoy et Gaim. Huon Gulf, one skin. 4. LORIUS HVPOXNOCHROUS. Lorius hypoinochrous, Gray, List of Psitt. p. 49 (1859) ; Brench-ley's Voy. p. 380, pl. 14. Domicella hypoinochroa, Finsch, Papag. ii. p. 768. Three skins of this fine Lory were obtained by Dr. Comrie in Possession Bay*, S.E. New Guinea, in April and May 1874. On comparing them with the typical specimen in the British Museum, which was obtained by Macgillivray during the vovage of the 'Rattlesnake' on one of the islands of the Louisiade group, off the S.E. coast of New Guinea, I find that they differ in the absence of the slight black band across the under wing-coverts, which is found in the typical specimen. There is likewise rather more blue on the abdomen of Dr. Comrie's skins. These differences are, in my opinion, too slight to warrant specific separation. 5. CARPOPHAGA PINON (Quoy et Gaim.) ; Bp. Consp. ii. p. 37. 6. CARPOPHAGA SPILORRHOA, G. R. GV&J. One skin from South-east ("ape, New Guinea. 7. CALCENAS NICOBARICA (Linn.). One skin, obtained in Huan Gulf in x\pril. 8. MEGAPODIUS MACGILLIVRAII. (Plate XLIII.) Megapodius macgillivrayi, G. R. Gray, P. Z. S. 1861, p. 289, & 1864, p. 43. A single skin of this little-known Megapode, obtained by Dr. Comrie on the shores of Huan Gulf in May, agrees tolerably well with the typical specimen of the species in the British Museum. The chief difference remarkable is in the more rufescent tinge of the lower back of the present specimen, which may be shortly described as follows :- Supra fuscescenti-olicaceus, dorso postico mfescentiore : subtus saturate cinereus, hypochondriis et crisso olivaceis : rostro * Possession Bay will be found marked in Capt. Moresby's map, p. 1; see also the text, p. 208. It seems to lie between Hayter Island and the opposite smith-eastern point of the mainland of New Guinea. |
