some new Paradise-birds. 249 



D. cervinicauda ; the tufts of feathers above the eyes are 

 very small and consist only of a few feathers, whereas they are 

 larger in D. albertisi ; the naked spaces on the back of the 

 head are less extended in D. cervinicauda than in D. albertisi ; 

 the underside of the tail in D. cervinicauda is not much 

 brighter than in D. albertisi, so that there is a much greater 

 contrast between the two surfaces in the latter. Lastly, the 

 inner webs of the inner surface of the wings are broadly 

 edged with isabelline colour in D. cervinicauda, whereas in 

 D. albertisi these edgings have a strong brownish tinge. 



The females are still more different in colour, inasmuch as 

 in D. albertisi the whole upper surface is rusty brown, while 

 in D. cervinicauda it is olive with the exception of the 

 tertials and the rump, which are rusty brown, but always 

 appreciably brighter than in D. albertisi. Again, the tail is 

 considerably brighter above, but nearly similar below. The 

 under surface of the body of D. cervinicauda is also rather 

 brighter, and apparently less regularly banded. 



Drepanornis bruijni, Oust., from the eastern coast of the 

 Bay of Geelvink, is a perfectly distinct species from D. al- 

 bertisi and D. cervinicauda, as Oustalet^s description * and 

 examples of it now before us (from 136^° to 137° E. long.) 

 show. Especially remarkable is the stronger and light- 

 coloured bill. The full plumage of this species is not yet 

 known, unless it turns out that both sexes are clad alike in 

 dull plumage as in the specimens already obtained. 



Drepanornis cervinicauda was placed by Salvadori (Orn. 

 Pap. ii. p. 553 and iii. p. 552) under D. bruijni and D. al- 

 bertisi with a quaere, by Ramsay (Proc. L. S. N. S. W. iv. 

 p. 469) and Sharpe (Journ. Linn, Soc, Zool. xvi. p. 445) 

 cursorily under D. albertisi, until Sclater (P. Z. S. 1883, 

 p. 578) distinguished the southern form as D. albertisi cer- 

 vinicauda, and Sharpe figured it in Gould's ' Birds of New 

 Guinea ' (pt. xviii. 1884, pi. 1) as D. cervinicauda. Our 

 view is that the specific rank is correct in this case, as in that 

 of so many other representative species in the ornis of New 



* (y. Oustalet, Bull. Assoc. Sci. de France, 1880, p. 172 ; Ibis, 1881, 

 p. 164; Guillem. P. Z. S. 1885, p. 649. 



SER. V. VOL. IV. T 



