NOVITATES' ZOOLOGICAE, 



Vol. II. DECE]MBEI?, 1895. No. 4. 



A NEW SPECIES AND GENUS OF EOLLEES. 



By the HON. WALTER ROTHSCHILD. 

 Uratelornis chimaera s|i. nov. et gen. nov. 



L^pper parts of liead and neck, liack, rump, and two central pairs of rectrices dull 

 rufous brown, variegated with greyish and blackish brown, somewhat in the way of a 

 goat-sucker. Third pair of rectrices from the centre, with the apical fifth, jtale .sky- 

 blue; the rest like the middle ones ; the outer three pairs entirely uniform skj-blue. 

 i^capulars, smaller upper wing-coverts, and innermost secondaries of the same colour 

 as the back. Larger upper wing-coverts sky-lilue. Primaries and some of the 

 secondaries blackish, with white bands bordered with sky-blue, and brown towards the 

 tiji. Ear-co\'erts, sides of head, and neck reddish chocolate, variegated with black and 

 white ; an irregular white line along the sides of the neck. Under surface from chin 

 to vent and under tail-coverts white, with a broad black band across the chest, as in 

 Atelm-nis pittoldes. Under wing-coverts white, changing to pale sky-blue towards 

 the outer edge. Bill black, feet and legs brown. Total length about 18 inches. 

 Culmen l'37o inch, wing 4'4, tail 12, tarsus 1-9, niiddle toe without claw 1 inc'i. 



Hab. ^Madagascar. (Exact locality in the island unknown.) 



I was obliged to create a new genus for this most remarkable bird, because it 

 differs in two imiiortant points from Atelornis, to which it is, on the whole, closely 

 allied. For, while Atelornis crossleyi, with a total length of about 9i inches, has 

 a tail only 4i inches long, my new bird, with a length of 18 inches, has a tail fully 

 12 inches long. In A. pltloides the tail is still shorter in proportion. The second 

 important difference is the great length of the tarsus, which is much longer than in 

 A. crossleyi, while the toes are even shoi'ter. A third difference is that the nostrils 

 are more exposed. In other respects there are no structural distinctions from 

 Atelornis crossleyi. 



I may here mention that I have received, with an adult A. crossleyi from the 

 Key. Wills, a J'oung Atelortiis which has a decidedly lilne head, i.e. each feather, 

 instead of being bright rufous, is dull smoky brown, tipped witli lilue. 



Both birds were shot in the forest east of Imerina. 



This specimen agrees in every respect with ^Ir. Dressers description on \>. 98 of 

 his monograph of the Goraciidae, but I cannot think otherwise than that this is the 

 normal plumage of the immature A. crossleyi. 



UnUelornis chimaera will be figured in the next vokime of this journal. 



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