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Show 1879.] MR. LAYARD ON A NEW PACHYCEPHALA. 147 P. vitiensis. The acquisition of the true P. grceffii set me I then settled that the bird was P. icteroides, never dreaming that a bird so far from uncommon could have escaped the notice of Drs. Graffe and Finsch, and that there could be a third new species in Fiji, as I now see it to be. I did not sufficiently consider the diagnosis given by Drs. Finsch and Hartlaub, which omits entirely the jet-black head possessed by my bird. Now also I have the advantage of reference to the original description and figures by Peale (Cass. Un.-St. Expl. Exp. (1858), p. 161. pi. x. fig. 3), thanks to the Smithsonian Institution; and I at once recall my observations. What P. icteroides is I know not, unless it be the young of P.flavi-frons (Peale). This Fijian bird is apparently undescribed ; and as it has escaped notice up to this moment, I shall name it, if new, PACHYCEPHALA NEGLECTA, n. sp. d1. Above, back obscure darkish green, with a small patch of yellow on the immediate rump; head shining jet-black, all but the throat and chin, and a very small spot (not always present) between the eye and the nostril, which is of the light brilliant yellow of the whole of the underparts. In some specimens, a few straggling black feathers on the lower part of the throat, encroaching on each side of the chest, seem to point to the formation of a narrow black collar across the chest, such as is found in my P. intermedia. Wing-primaries edged more or less broadly with greenish grey (tail-feathers tipped with the same) ; secondaries broadly edged and tipped with pale yellow. The yellow of the underparts is a little darker than in P.flavifrons, agreeing, as far as my memory serves, with P. intermedia, of which I unfortunately have not retained a specimen, but is far less deep (orange-tinted) than in P. grceffii or P. torquatu, Layard. Length 6" 6'"; wing 3" 9'"; tail 2" 10'" ; tarsus 13'"; bill (to gape) 12'". Bill black ; legs bluish ; iris dark brown. Hab. Ovalau, Fijis. This species differs entirely from P.flavifrons, Peale, in which the colour of the back is cinereous, with the faintest tinge of green, the head being of the same colour ; on the latter the spot on forehead is far larger and is united over the bill; the wing-primaries are only most narrowly edged with grey; and the whole form is slighter. 1 give the dimensions of P.flavifrons for comparison. Length 6"; wing 3" 3'" ; tail 2" 6'" ; tarsus 10£'" ; bill (to gape) 10'". Of the female of P. neglecta I unfortunately know nothing ; but a very young male just showing a trace of yellow below, is of a palish chocolate-brown above throughout, tinged with green ; below it is of a warm deep cinnamon-brown, with here and there a yellow feather. This is so like a female P. vitiensis, that I suspect it is also the livery of the female P. neglecta, nob. On Viti Levu P. neglecta is replaced by the narrow-collared species, P. intermedia, nobis ; P. torquala, nob., is confined, I think, to Taviuni ; P. grceffii, F. & IL, to Vanua Levu; and P. vitiensis, G. Grav, to Kandavu. 10* |