430 Mr. B. Alexander— yi/i Ornithological 



Museum, agree very closely with the Transvaal birds, but the 

 rumps are of a clear blue, and the upper parts have become 

 brown, except that a few freshly-moulted feathers are distinctly 

 washed with olive-green, as in the Transvaal specimens. On 

 the other hand, we have a specimen in our series in fresher 

 plumage, and identical in every respect with the Kokai 

 birds. It therefore appears that in all freshly-moulted birds 

 of P. meyeri the upper parts have a distinct wash of olive- 

 green, while the coloration of the rump and undei'parts is 

 made up of the compound colour, bluish green. Under the 

 influence of a tropical sun the tendency in plumage is to 

 become brighter. 



Therefore we contend that in both the freshly-moulted 

 specimens from the Transvaal (P. transvaalensis) and Kokai 

 (P. erythrea:) the coloration of the rump has no typical value, 

 since the primary blue, a decidedly stronger colour in this 

 instance, would under the above-mentioned influence gra- 

 dually predominate and eliminate the yellow tint, causing 

 the bluish green. This also applies to the coloration of the 

 underparts. Again, the olive-green wash on the upper parts 

 of the freshly-moulted specimens, being a sensitive colour, 

 Avould gradually disappear through bleaching, leaving the 

 feathers a uniform dark brown. 



In the series in the British Museum there is every grada- 

 tion of shade to be found between the blue of our adult 

 birds (Zambesi) and the bluish green of the Kokai specimens. 

 Kegarding wing-measurements, there is a very slight diff"er- 

 ence between the northern and southern birds ; the latter, 

 however, are generally slightly larger, but this is not always 

 constant. 



181. PffiocEPHALUs sp. inc. 



At rare intervals we came across another Parrot, similar to 

 the preceding one, but easily distinguishable when on the 

 wing by its considerably larger size, and the note also was 

 very much louder. We first observed it near Tete, but failed 

 to procure specimens, owing to its shy and wild nature. 



