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Show 1888.] BIRDS OF THE SOLOMON ARCHIPELAGO. 203 dark brown, and pale buff. Rump and upper tail-coverts dark ash, fringed with white. Quills and tail-feathers ashy black, with buff margins. Cheeks and under surface of the body cinnamon, paling into dirty white below. The feathers on the throat and neck streaked and spotted with dark brown. Axillaries whitish, under wing-coverts dark grey mixed with buff. Quills below ashy black. So far as I have been able to ascertain, this species stands remote from anything that has hitherto been described, and the most nearly allied species appears to be A. fiavicollis. The adult male probably resembles the female described above, but is of a somewhat darker colour on the upper surface. 65. NYCTICORAX MANDIBULARIS, sp. n. Nycticorax manillensis, Ramsay, Proc. Linn. Soc. N. S. Wales, vii. p. 39 (nee Vigors). a. 8 imm. Aola, Guadalcanar ; 20. 4. 87. Bill above black, below yellow ; legs yellowish green ; iris yellow. Food, fish. b. 8 imm. Aola, Guadalcanar; 2. 5. 87- Bill above black, below yellow ; legs olive ; iris yellow. c. 2 imm. Aola, Guadalcanar; 8. 5. 87- Bill above black, below yellow ; legs olive ; iris yellow. d. 2 ad. Aola, Guadalcanar ; 25. 5. 87. Bill black, base of lower mandible and skin of eyes yellow ; legs yellow; iris yellow. C H A R . Female adult (specimen d). Head and crest black ; rest of the upper surface, quills, and tail-feathers dull chestnut. Rump and upper tail-coverts rather brighter. An indistinct chestnut superciliary streak. Cheeks, neck, breast, and flanks bright chestnut; throat, belly, and under tail-coverts white. Axillaries chestnut, edged with pale chestnut. Quills and tail-feathers below light rufous grey. The crest is as yet unadorned with white feathers (see Ramsay's description). Young male (specimen a). Head black, each feather with a longitudinal shaft-streak of buff ; rest of the upper surface reddish brown, each feather darker towards the extremity and ending in a rufous-buff coloured spot. Cheeks, neck, breast, and flanks dirty cinnamon ; throat, belly, and under tail-coverts whitish, each feather with a dark brown longitudinal band down one or both edges, most strongly developed on the throat and upper breast. Quills and tail-feathers below light rufous-grey, shading into darker and terminating in a dull buff spot. This species occupies a somewhat intermediate position between N. manillensis and N. caledonicus, being perhaps most nearly allied to the latter. It is easily distinguished from both by its smaller size and much smaller bill. It resembles the former in having the breast and neck chestnut, but differs in having the throat white. It is at once distinguished from the latter by the absence of the white superciliary streak so strongly developed in N. caledonicus. Even the young of these two species may be readily distinguished, for the new bird is generally darker and has the shaft-streaks aud |
