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Show 130 ON N E W PARROTS OF T H E GENUS PLATYCERCUS. [Feb. 3, 2. PLATYCERCUS ERYTHROPEPLUS, sp. nov. (Plate XII.) Male ? Head, neck, and lower parts red ; cheeks blue, whitish near the lower mandible; feathers of the upper part of the back black with dark red edges, as in P.pennanti (Lath.) ; scapulars black, edged with pale yellow and tipped with red; lower back and rump greenish yellow, each feather edged with red ; the red feathers of the breast and abdomen with yellow bases ; middle of the abdomen and flanks yellow, with the edges of the feathers red ; wings as in P. eximius ; a black patch on the upper wing-coverts ; edge of the wing and outer wing-coverts blue, the inner median and greater wing-coverts black, with a green longitudinal stripe inside the yellowish edges ; primaries and anterior secondaries black, edged with blue near the base ; inner secondaries black, edged with yellow and green ; central tail-feathers green, passing into bluish at the tip, the remainder of the tail-feathers dark blue at the base, passing into light blue on the median part and white at the tip ; bill whitish horn-colour; naked skin round the eyes and feet dusky flesh-colour ; iris black. Size of P. pennanti. Female 1 Similar to the male, only smaller and with the yellow colour on the sides of the breast and flanks more extended. Hab. Australia. These descriptions are taken from two specimens, apparently male and female, now living in the Society's Gardens, which were bought from a dealer, as from S. Australia. They are intermediate between P. pennanti and P. eximius, and on examining them one cannot help thinking that they may be hybrids of the two species mentioned. But as cases of hybridism in wild birds are very rare, it becomes highly improbable that two hybrids should have been bought together, so tbat, I think, I am justified in considering them as belonging to a new species, intermediate, as I have already stated, between P. pennanti and P. eximius. The following are the leading points of distinction :- The red colour of the head and breast is, like that of P. eximius, a little brighter than in P. pennanti. The feathers of the upper parts have broad red edges as in P. pennanti, while the scapulars are edged with pale yellow as in P. eximius, but tipped with red. The red colour predominant on the underparts associates the new species with P. pennanti, but at the same time the yellow bases of the feathers of the breast and abdomen show a certain degree of affinity to P. eximius. The yellow colour also in the middle of the abdomen and on the flanks and the two green central tail-feathers, passing into blue at the tip, betray affinity with P. eximius. |