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Show 62 COUNT T. SALVADORI ON MR. ELLIOT'S [Jan. 14, can and Papuan species I have seen a good deal more than he and that lam not liable to the reproach of the Greek sculptor to the cobbler of Athens, " Ne sutor ultra crepidam." Just for this reason I shall confine myself to some remarks on the Papuan and Moluccan species, leaving to somebody else to test Mr. Elliot's conclusions as to the species from other localities. I shall follow Mr. Elliot's order. 18. PTILOPUS XANTHOGASTER. I do not find among the synonyms the following:-Ptilopus auran-tiiventris, Rosenb. Tijdschr. Ned. Ind. xxix. p. 144 (1867); id. Reis. naar Zuidoostereil. pp. 81, 86 (1867). The specimens from Lettie Island are smaller, with the head and the neck of a darker and less pure ashy white. Those from Khoor are larger, with the neck whiter. In the British Museum I examined a specimen marked Marianne Islands (!), smaller, but otherwise not different from those of the Ke Islands. 21. PTILOPUS SUPEREUS. I have examined the type of Lamprotreron porphyrostictus, Gould and there is not the least doubt that it is a female of this species. As to the habitat of this species and of many others, I must make the remark that it is a pity Mr. Elliot has not mentioned the islands by groups ; by mixing together Moluccan and Papuan islands he makes it very difficult to the reader to form a clear idea of the distribution of the species. This bird has been found not only in the northern part of New Guinea, but also in the southern, on the Fly River and in Yule Island (D'Albertis). 22. PTILOPUS TEMMINCKI. I did not made the mistake of calling this species Megaloprepia formosa. My Megaloprepia formosa (Ann. Mus. Civ. Gen. ix. p. 122) (1876) is the bird which Mr. Elliot calls Ptilopus bernsteini. Mr. Elliot might have perceived which was my bird from its habitat ; and besides he knew very well that I was well acquainted with P. temmincki, as I suggested to him that this was the proper name for Ptilopus formosus, Gray. 24. PTILOPUS CORONULATUS. The following important quotation is missing :- Ptilonopus pulchellus, Wall, (nee Temm.), Ann. & Mae*. Nat. Hist. (2) xx. p. 476 (1857), Aru. This species is confined to the Aru Islands and to the southern part of New Guinea; the localities Salwatty and Sorong, and that of Jobie are wrong, and belong respectively to P. trigeminus and P. geminus. Ansus is not a distinct island, but a locality in the island of Jobie. |