Review of Dr. Finsch's 'Die Papageien,' 297 



with a red maxilla, brought to Calcutta by Captain Lewis from 

 the Nicobars. Mr. Blyth in this instance also never saw the 

 bird " in the flesh/^ much less dissected it. Indeed the type 

 specimen was so much mutilated that Blyth introduces his 

 description with these words, " This is a very strongly marked 

 species ; but I can now merely indicate rather than describe 

 \t," etc. (J. A. S. B. 1840, p. 23, note). As in the case of P. 

 erythrogenys, Blyth adopted the foregone conclusion, a mere 

 theory unsupported by a single then existing established fact, 

 that while the adult male had a red maxilla that of the female 

 would be black. Shortly afterwards Mr. Blyth [t.c. p. 51, 

 note) described, as belonging to the female of P. caniceps, a 

 single skin from Province Wellesley, with a black maxilla, in 

 Dr. Cantor's possession. These were the only examples of 

 the species Blyth had seen previous to 1868. One, the type, 

 remained in the Calcutta Museum ; the other was given by 

 Dr. Cantor to the E. I. C. Museum, and subsequently passed 

 to the British iMiiseum, where Dr. Finsch examined it. Be- 

 sides these at least two examples were obtained in the Nico- 

 bars by the ^Novara' expedition, one of which, with a red max- 

 illa, was proved by dissection to be a female (Reise Novara, 

 Zool. i. p. 98) . Herr v. Pelzeln (/. c.) distinctly states this, and 

 adds, which is significant, for there was no controversy at the 

 time, " therefore the colouring of the bill is the same in old 

 individuals of both sexes." Dr. Cantor's single specimen and 

 the specimens obtained by the 'Novara' were the only known 

 examples existing in Europe when Dr. Finsch wi'ote ; and all 

 that was known about the species was restricted to the sources 

 I have indicated. The question therefore again arises. By 

 what was Dr. Finsch to be guided ? The affirmative evidence 

 of the 'Novara' zoologists, derived from actual examination of 

 the corpus ? or Mr. Blyth's opinion formed from a couple of 

 dried skins ? Regardless of possible dangers they had gone 

 ashore, seen the bird alive, breathed with it the same air, 

 shot and dissected it ! Blyth only knew it, not even from 

 '' half a dozen wrongly sexed specimens in a museum," but 

 from one, a much mutilated skin in a museum and a second 

 good skin in private hands, but both with sexes undetermined 



