190 Transactions. — Zoology. 



Nestor meridionalis, var. esslingii, Gould. 



I have had an opportunity of examining another of these 

 birds from CoUingwood. It is a very handsome bird. The 

 bill is finer or more produced than in ordinary specimens of 

 Nestor, and the shafts of the tail-feathers project half aninch 

 beyond the webs. The colours are very brilHant ; the over- 

 lapping cheek-feathers are vivid wine-red, and the ear-coverts 

 are bright orpiment-orange. The nuchal collar of red is con- 

 tinued all round the lower neck, the upper breast-feathers 

 having arterial red and orange borders ; on the feathers im- 

 mediately below, the red disappears and the orange is more 

 spread ; the transverse belly-band, which is of a brilliant 

 canary-yellow, is 2-5in. wide ; the lower abdominal feathers, 

 with the flanks and under tail-coverts, are, like the croup and 

 upper tail-coverts, banded with bright arterial-red. On the 

 crown and hind-head the grey is shaded with dusky, and the 

 feathers have a greenish tinge ; many of the small wing- 

 coverts have brilliant tips of arterial-red and yellow ; the 

 toothed markings on the under-surface of the quills are very 

 conspicuous and of a pale-red colour ; the tail-feathers are 

 flushed underneath with red for two-thirds of their length, 

 then they are dark-brown, with a terminal band of obscure-red, 

 beyond which the black shafts are produced in extremely fine 

 points. The plumage of the upper-surface is greyish-brown, 

 tinged with green, and with broad black margins to the 

 feathers. The colours are distinct and pronounced, and, this 

 being the fourth example since Gould's Nestor esslingii was 

 described, one is tempted to recognise a distinct species, the 

 vellow sides on the lower mandible showing an approach to 

 Nestor notahilis. But I feel constrained to regard it still as a 

 variety of the highly variable Nestor meridionalis, because I 

 think I can detect undoubted signs of albinism. In the right foot 

 the terminal scale on each toe is white, while in the left foot 

 nearly the whole of one fore-toe and one hind-toe are white, 

 ■even to the claw of the latter, besides two scutella on each of 

 the other toes. It gave the following measurements : Extreme 

 length, 21in. ; wing from flexure, 12in. ; tail (to end of pro- 

 duced shafts). Sin. ; bill, along the ridge, 2-25in. ; along the 

 edge of lower mandible, l-50in. ; tarsus, l-25in. ; longer fore- 

 toe and claw, 2"75in. ; longer hind-toe and claw, 2-25in. 



Nestor meridionalis, var. superhus, Buller. 



I have received a very beautiful example, of which the 

 following is a description : General plumage canary-yellow, 

 with brighter washes of yellow on the breast, shoulders, and 

 upper-surface of wings ; ear-coverts orpiment-orange ; feathers 

 overlapping under mandible wine-red ; broad nuchal collar 

 •orpiment-orange and red intermixed; lower part of back, 



