230 Major R. G. Wardlaw Ramsay on 



13. Macropygia nigrirostris. 



Macropygia nigrirostris, Salvad. Ann.Mus.Civ.Genova,vii- 

 p. 972 (1875) ; id. Orn. Pap. iii. p. 149 ; Scl. P. Z. S. 1877, 

 p. 111. 



Adult male (New Guinea). Above rich chestnut-brown, 

 darker on the head, paler on the nape and mantle, which has 

 a shade of dark vinous or purple ; upper tail-coverts and 

 central rectrices above very distinctly barred with blackish 

 brown, as in M. leptogrammica, three outer pairs above un- 

 barred : beneath somewhat paler and more rufous ; the under 

 wing- coverts and axillaries rufous ; tail rufous with a dark 

 band across each feather extending towards the base of the 

 inner web. 



The female is probably similar ; the one described by 

 Count Salvador! (/. c.) appears to be immature. 



A young female from N. W. New Guinea is dark brown 

 above, obscurely barred with rufous, the head having the 

 appearance of dark striations ; the mantle is barred with light 

 rufous, and the upper tail-coverts and tail with blackish 

 brown : beneath pale rufous-brown, barred with dark brown, 

 the belly and lower tail-coverts rich cinnamon-rufous. 

 Wing 5*8 inches, tail 6'6, tarsus 0*8, bill 0*7. 



The bill in the birds from New Guinea is very stout. 

 They agree otherwise with specimens from the New Britain 

 group, but the latter are rather browner in the back. 



A young male from the foot of the Astrolabe Mts. (Forbes) is 

 brown above, the feathers tipped with rufous, which is much 

 paler on the nape and mantle ; the tail irregularly barred with 

 rufous, as in a specimen of M. leptogrammica from Perak re- 

 ferred to above (p. 219) : beneath rufous, as in the young 

 female, the feathers of the breast blackish, with rufous tips and 

 rufous lines down the centres. Iris blue ; bill corneous ; legs 

 and feet reddish corneous (Forbes). But see Salvad. (l.s,c). 



This specimen, at first sight, looks like a Cacomantis in the 

 hepatic stage. 



Hab. New Guinea, New Britain, Duke of York Island,, 

 New Ireland *. 



* When habitats are given in italics it means that I have not personally 

 examined specimens from that particular locality. 



