of New-Zealand Birds. 39 



Fam. TURDIDiE. 



3. TURNAGRA HECTORl*, Sp. IIOV. 



Upper surface olivaceous-brown j tail and coverts bright 

 rufous, with an olivaceous tinge on the two middle rectrices ; 

 throat pure white ; breast and abdomen ashy-grey, darkest on 

 the former; abdomen and under tail-coverts tinged with yel- 

 low ; sides olivaceous-brown, washed with yellow. Bill and 

 feet dark brown ; irides yellow. 



Length 11 in.; wing from flexure 5*25 ; tail 5 ; tarsus 1'25 ; 

 middle toe and claw 1*25 ; hind toe and claw 1 ; bill, along 

 the ridge "875, along the edge of lower mandible, 1. 



I have honoured this fine species with the name of my 

 esteemed friend Dr. James Hector, F.R.S., Director of Geolo- 

 gical Surveys, who has done much to advance the cause of science 

 in New Zealand. 



It dilFers from T. crassirostris, not only in plumage, but iu 

 its superior size and more strongly-developed bill. Its notes 

 also are far more varied and musical. Its range is confined to 

 the North, while T. crassirostris is found only in the South 

 Island. They are, in fact, the representatives of each other in 

 the two islands, and furnish another example of a remarkable 

 law in the local distribution of the birds of New Zealand, many 

 of those inhabiting one island being represented by closely- 

 allied forms in the other, each, however, being specifically dis- 

 tinct. Cook's Straits, a neck of sea only eighteen miles in 

 width, completely divides the range of one set of species from 

 that of the other. 



Fam. PSITTACID.E. 



4. Platycercus alpinus, sp. nov. 



This Alpine form difi'ers from its near ally, Platycercus 

 auriceps, both in size and in the tints of its plumage. Our 

 three species of Platycercus present a distinct gradation in size 

 and colouring. In P. pacificus the frontal spot, ear-coverts, 

 and thigh-spots are deep crimson, while the general plumage 



* [May not this species be identical with tliat described in 1865 by 

 Professor Schlegel (Nederl. Tijdschr. voor de Dierk. iii. p. 190) under the 

 name of Otngon tanayra ? — Ed.] 



