Report of the Council. vii.


in others as the accounts of the several occurrences are pub¬

lished.


' Amongst the birds of the year which have appeared may

be mentioned the Varied Lorikeet, figured in July, which perhaps

may be as disappointing as regards breeding as the Brown’s

Parrakeet (August, 1902) seems so far to have been, and a new

Firefincli (. Lagonosticta niveiguttata), to which reference was

made at p. 179 ; a new Waxbill, too, Estrilda rhodopyga , has

appeared in the Italian Bird-market (see pp. 249 and 405). An

unusual number of the glorious Regent-bird which arrived in

January, mostly immature specimens, and which are scattered

about in our Members’ aviaries and birdrooms, may give us an

opportunity, which should not be neglected, of confirming or

refuting the generally received opinion that the male takes only

two years to attain the plumage of the adult.


The pair of exquisite Golden - shouldered Parrakeets,

Psephotus chrysopterygius, referred to at page 300, remind us that

the energetic and enthusiastic Member (Mrs. Johnstone) who

imported the male has also privately imported (see also page 345)

various species from the Philippines, some quite new as living

birds, and some perhaps rare even as cabinet specimens. How¬

ever this may be, a few skins sent to us for identification shew

that, among the living, there would appear to be two examples

of the glorious Philippine Oriole, Oriolus chi?ie?isis, distinguish¬

able at a glance from the Black-headed Oriole, O. melanocephalus,

by the patch of bright yellow on the anterior part of the fore¬

head, and from the Black-naped Oriole, O. difftisus, by the

smallness of that patch ; two of the vivid-green, ruby-eyed

Calornis panayensis ; a Mindanao Hornbill, Penelopides affinis;

a pair of the Philippine race of the Bronze Fruit Pigeon,

Carpophaga csnea var. chalybura; and last, but not least, a

Racket-tailed Parrot from Mindanao, doubtless Prioniturus dis-

curus (see page 408).


Thanks to the kind courtesy of another Lady-Member, we

have beeii enabled to issue (April) a carefully drawn head of a

Balearic Crowned-Crane, Balearica pavonina, shewing the correct

face-markings of a living male, and the tiny wattles of this (in

England) rare species, of which inaccurate and misleading plates



