46 Prom Magazines, &c. [12th July 



" Note on Some Living Examples of Psephotus 

 DISSIMILIS."— Under the above title Mr. A. J. North, C.M.Z.S., 

 in 7 he Vicionan Naturalist, vol. xxv. (March, 1909), as the result 

 of an examination of sixteen living birds — five being adult males, 

 and the remainder females and young males — details certain 

 differences between them and Professor Collet's description of 

 the species. Mr. North writes : — " From Professor Collet's 

 description of the adult male of Psephotus dissimilis, the 

 living bird differs in the following respects : — The feathers from 

 the sides of the base of the lower mandible, extending in a line 

 immediately below the eye on to the sides of the nape and upper 

 portion of the hind-neck, are black, and gradually pass into a 

 dark greyish-brown on the upper portion of the back and the 

 scapulars ; the lesser, median, and greater wing coverts are 

 entirely golden-yellow ; the under tail coverts are pale scarlet 

 with whitish margins ; bill faint bluish-horn colour, cere slightly 

 darker ; legs and feet rich fleshy-grey brown ; iris black, eyelid 

 dark greyish-black. Total length, 10.5 inches ; wing, 4.9 ; tail, 

 6 ; bill, 0.5. Professor Collet describes the adult male of 

 Psephotus dissiniilis as ' forehead, lores, and crown dark 

 chestnut;' and Dr. E. Hartert of P. dissimilis {}) 'crown of 

 the male is dark brown, not at all chestnut ; ' and again 

 Professor Collet states that the greater wing coverts of P. 

 dissiniilis are black, and the lower (under) tail coverts orange. 

 The female agrees fairly well with Professor Collet's description, 

 except that the cheeks are pale blue, not grey, as are also the 

 ear coverts, and that the under tail coverts are paler than in the 

 male. Young males resemble the adult females, but the feathers 

 of the cheeks and sides of the throat and neck are pale verditer 

 blue, and some of the feathers at the base of the bill, and on the 

 forehead, are black. . . . What I regard as the chief point 

 of difference is that not only are the lores, forehead, and crown 

 of the head of the adult male blacky but that this colour extends 

 down the anterior portion of the cheeks to the sides of the base 

 of the lower mandible." These black markings on the head 

 giving the bird the appearance of wearing a cowl, Mr. North 

 proposes, should it prove to be distinct, to call it Psephotus 

 cucidlatus, with the vernacular name of the Black-hooded 

 Parrakeet. The specimens examined by Mr. North came from 

 the same locality as those described by Professor Collet — viz., 

 Pine Creek, 200 miles east of Port Darwin. 



" Notes on Albatrosses and other Pelagic Birds in 

 Australian Waters." — This is the title of an interesting article 

 contributed by Dr. T. W. Richards, of the U.S. Navy, to The 

 Condor (January-February, 1909). Dr. Richards was surgeon on 

 the battleship Kansas, that visited Australia with the American 



