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Show 186 MR. W. R. OGILVIE-GRANT ON THE [Mar. 6, Of these 66 species no less than 11 are new to science. Six of these have been described in a separate paper by m y colleague Mr. Bowdler Sharpe, to whom I am much indebted for kind help and advice, while full descriptions of the remaining 5 will be found below. Besides the new birds, a number of specimens represent rare and little-known forms, such as Carpophaga brenchleyi of Gray. Mr. Woodford has taken every care in giving notes on the life-colours of the " soft parts " of each bird, and all particulars regarding its sex, locality, and the date when it was obtained : also a list of the native names in use on the various islands he visited, whenever these could be obtained. There is a fine series of specimens of the new Crow (Macrocorax woodfordi) previously described, which differ little from one another, and all show the striking peculiarities of this species. The Flycatcher (Monarcha castaneiventris), from Guadalcanar, is an interesting form to which two specimens from Fauro were erroneously referred in m y previous paper. These now prove to belong to a species very distinct, both from the former and from the smaller M. rufo-casfanea of Ramsay, from San Christoval. The fact of these three neighbouring islands each possessing a distinct species of their own clearly shows that these birds do not migrate. The first new species is a Pigmy Parrot (Nasiterna aolce), and probably the smallest representative of that genus. The nearest ally is the larger N.finschi, found in San Christoval, from which it, may be at once distinguished by having the top of the head in both sexes washed with azure-blue, and by the adult male having no orange-red stripe down the centre of the abdomen. The second is a dull olive-yellow Honey-sucker, which I have named Myzomela sharpei, in honour of m y colleague Mr. Sharpe. Only one adult male was obtained, but this is entirely unlike anything hitherto described. The third is a Ground-Pigeon, which I have called Phlogcenas solomonensis. This bird is perhaps hardly entitled to specific rank, and might perhaps be more correctly regarded as another insular race of Mr. Sclater's species P. johannce, from New Britain. But it is altogether darker than the latter species, and has the upper surface washed with purple instead of olive. The fourth is a very fine Heron, which I have named Ardeiralla woodfordi, after the collector. It appears to stand remote from anything hitherto known, being orrly distantly related to A jiavicollis. The last new species is a Night-Heron (Ngcticorax mandibulars), which was obtained by Mr. Ramsay from the same locality, but confounded by him with N. manillensis, Vigors. It holds a somewhat intermediate position between this species and N. caledonicus, but is considerably smaller than either, as the comparative table of measurements given below will clearly show. Of the two it is most closely allied to the latter, but is easily recognized by its dark rufous breast and the absence of the white superciliary streak so strongly marked in N. caledonicus. |