214 A NATURALIST IN CANNIBAL LAND 



In fact without having the two together for comparison 

 no one could detect the difference. I thought that 

 the discovery was more important than it was, and 

 sent the specimen home by post, writing to Dr. Hartert: 

 " I send a pair of what I take to be a new Bird of 

 Paradise. The male is unfortunately not fully 

 plumaged ; the belly showing as yet only young males' 

 plumage. It is a Parotia, and the six plumes from 

 the side of the head are very small, only about a third 

 the size of those in lawesi and helenae. The crest is 

 gold and chocolate in colour as in helenae, but the end 

 over the beak is tipped with white. The crest, too, 

 goes much further back, covering more than half the 

 crown. It also has chocolate colour around the eyes. 

 The female is much lighter in colour than is ordinary, 

 and has the feathers of the crown of the head much 

 closer and has also a smaller edition of a crest similar 

 to that of the male." 



I heard afterwards that the scientists at Tring 

 Museum felt that they took some risk in describing 

 this bird at all, for it was possible that the slight 

 differences which it showed from the known species 

 which it resembled were due to its lack of maturity. 

 Afterwards, however, I got an adult male of this sub- 

 species, which proved that it was entitled to the 

 classification which had been ventured. 1 



1 Mr. Rothschild described this bird under the name of Parotia 

 carolae meeki, in honour of its discoverer. Although so very 

 closely allied to the true carolae, it is to us of considerable interest 

 from a zoogeographical point of view. E. H. 



