416 



muscicapidj:. 



dusky blackish below, rufou* along the inner webs. Total length 6- 6 

 inches, culmen 0-65, wing 3*3, tail 2-8, tarsus 0-8. 



Obs. The tint in the males varies from a purplish-black lustre to 

 an oily greenish black. The most completely purple specimen ex- 

 amined by me is one from S.E. New Guinea, collected by D'Albeitis, 

 and lent me by Count Salvadori ; but every gradation is seen in a 

 series from this purplish colour to the oily green and steel-green. 

 The birds from Batchian and Gilolo arc smaller, but do not seem to 

 constitute more than a race. 



Hab. New Ireland and Duke of York Island, westward through 

 New Guinea to the islands of Mysol, Waigiou, Batchian, and neigh- 

 bouring Molucca islands. 



a. P. altcto. 



2. Piezorliynchus nitidus. 



Piezorhynchus nitidus, Gould, P. Z. S. 1840, p. 171 ; id. B. Austr. fol. 

 ii. pi. 88 ; Bp. Consp. i. p. 324 ; Reichenb. Vog. Neuholl. pp. 157, 

 287 ; Ramsay, Pr. Linn. Soc. N. S. W. ii. p. 182. 



Piezorhvuchus rufolateralis, Gi-ay, P. Z. 8. 1858, p. 176 ; id. Cat. B. 

 New Guinea, p. 27. 



Seisura nitida. Gray, Hand-l. B. i. p. 327, no 4911. 



Seisura rufolateralis. Gray, Hand-l. B. i, p. 327, no. 4912. 



Adult male. General colour bottle-green, with a steel-blue gloss ; 

 wing-coverts like the back : quills browner, the secondaries edged 

 with the green of the back ; tail-feathers black, edged with steel- 

 green ; under surface of body like the upper. Total length 7-3 

 inches, culmen Ow, wing 3-5, tail 3-2, tarsus 0-9. 



Adult female. General colour above deep chestnut, the crown of 

 the head duU steel-blue, shading off on the hind neck, the latter 

 and the mantle dark ashy brown ; wings like the back, the primary- 

 coverts tipped with dusky, the quiUa dusky brown on the inner 

 webs and at the tips, the inner secondaries like the back ; tail chest- 

 nut, with rufous shafts to the feathers ; sides of face like the head ; 

 cheeks and under surface of body white or bufty white ; thighs 



