NEOPARADISEA RUYST. 129 



NOTE IV. 

 ON A NEW BIRD OF PARADISE 



BY 



Dr. E. D. VAN OORT. 



Mr. Th. H. Ruys, who stayed during four years for 

 commercial purposes at the north-west coast of New Guinea, 

 presented at his return in Holland to our Museum some 

 skins of birds of paradise, among which is, besides the rare 

 Diphyllodes gulielmi III, also a species, being as I believe 

 new to science. I cannot place it in any of the described 

 genera of the Paradiseidae ; it shows some relations to 

 Diphyllodes and also to Paradisea, but as there are im- 

 portant differences with these two genera, I propose to 

 call it: 



Neoparadisea ruysi, nov. gen. et nov. spec. 



The bird seems to be a male in not fully developed plumage. 

 The tail is, like that of Faradisea, composed of 12 feathers, 

 of which the central pair is much elongated, like in F. apoda 

 and minor, but the barbs are a little longer, those of the 

 outer web are longer than those of the inner web and of a 

 metallic green colour. These two feathers are curved down- 

 wards as in Paradisea, not aside as in Diphyllodes. 



The shape of the bill is like that of Diphyllodes, but it 

 is larger as the bird is larger, and it seems to be of a 

 dark colour in the living bird. The oval nostrils are covered 

 by the somewhat elongated feathers of the fore-head, for 

 the rest they are free. 



The first primary is very short and pointed, the second 



Notes from the Leyden IMuseuin, Vol. XXVIII. 



9 



