Report of a Mission to (.in a in. 51 



island, the clear- whistled call of Peter-Peter-Peter seemed so un- 

 mistakable. Sometimes he varies this call by whistling three 

 Here- Here- Here, followed l)y the first call. They have a habit of 

 erecting the beautiful metallic-blue feathers of the head as a crest 

 when they are alarmed. The general color above is a blue-purple, 

 with a bluish sheen, head with a deeper, more metallic reflection of 

 bluish, this color extending over cheeks, ear coverts, nape and 

 sides of neck, meeting the white under coloring of the chin and 

 throat in a sharp line from gape to shoulders ; a slight tint of buffy 

 on the lower throat and fore breast ; remainder of under parts 

 white ; primaries, secondaries, and tail feathers gra>', with a bluish 

 tint, lighter below ; upper wing coverts and upper tail coverts 

 uniform with coloring of the mantle ; all the tail feathers minutely 

 tipped with white (this marking is worn off in some of the speci- 

 mens before me); bill dark blue; feet and tarsus dark, with a 

 bluish cast ; eyes dark hazel ; thighs bluish gray ; flanks and sides 

 of body bluish gra}', with the feathers tipped with white. So far 

 as shown by my series of ten specimens the adult males and females 

 are exac?th' alike, with a possible exception of a little more of the 

 rufous coloring on the throat and fore breast of the female. In 

 No. 9484, an adult male, this coloring is confined to a faint trace of 

 buffy on the lower throat and fore breast, while in No. 9486, a breed- 

 ing female, the coloring of the fore breast and throat is a bright 

 rufous as in the immature of both sexes. No. 9485, a male with 

 the testes fully developed and erotic, has the usual purple-blue 

 upper coloring of the adult males, while the entire throat, sides of 

 neck and breast are a bright rufous ; there is also a slight mixture 

 of rufous among the white feathers of the abdomen. Thus the 

 specimen is a typical adult above, and immature below. Six speci- 

 mens, selected at random, give the following measurements: — 



The spread of the wings is about 8.50, while the depth of the 

 bill at the nostrils is .15. 



The immature are easily di.stingv.ished by the ochraceous 

 brown coloring of the mantle, and by the greater extent of the 

 bright rufous of the under parts, which with the exception of a 

 small white space on the middle of the belly and the white under tail 

 coverts is entirely rufous, brightest on the sides of the fore breast, 

 paler on the chin and sides ; there is a slight rufous coloring on the 

 forehead and on the upper tail coverts. The color of the crown is 

 not such a bright metallic blue as in the adult ; the wing and tail 

 feathers are a brown on the upper surface, lighter below ; the 



