264 A MANUAL OF THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 



groove more than half the length of the culmen, the nasal apertures linear and rather 

 long, the nasal covering little swollen, more delicate and in the dried skin shrunken ; 

 the under mandible slender, the gonys short and ascending, the rami not grooved, 

 interramal space feathered. The feathering is soft and close, the feathers of the breast 

 bifurcate and harsh. The wing is pointed, the first primary strongly and abruptly 

 attenuated for the apical third, the other feathers not incised and broad ; the first 

 primary is about equal to the sixth, the second to fourth subequal and longest ; 

 secondaries short. The tail is about half the length of the wing, practically square 

 in shape, the feathers fourteen in number, being broad with square tips ; the tail- 

 coverts exceed the half of the tail above and are a little longer below. The legs are 

 small, the tarsus shorter than the culmen and thickly covered with small feathers ; 

 the toes have all expanded membranes, the claws short and curved ; the middle 

 toe is longest, exceeding the tarsus in length, the outer is a little shorter and is 

 longer than the inner which is practically equal to the hind-toe and is jointed to it 

 by the membranous extensions. 



Coloration green above, crown purple or magenta, breast slaty, belly and 

 abdomen various bright colours ; tail with pale terminal bar. 



181. Ptilinopus regina. RED-CROWNED FRUIT PIGEON. 



Gould, Vol. V., pla. 55, 56 (pt. vn.), June 1st, 1842. Mathews, Vol. I., pt. 2, pis. 22 and 23, 

 Jan. 31st, 1911. 



Ptilinopus purpuratus var. regina Swainson, Zool. Journ., Vol. I., p. 474, Jan. 1825 : New 



South Wales. 



Ptilinopus swainsonii Gould, Birds Austr., pt. vn.. June 1st, 1842 : Clarence River, New 



South Wales. 



Ptilinopus ewingii Gould, ib. : Port Essington, Northern Territory. 



Ptilinopus regina melvilleneis Mathews, Austral Av. Rec., Vol. I., pt. 2, p. 27, April 2nd, 1912 : 



Melville Island, Northern Territory. 



DISTRIBUTION. Queensland, New South Wales, Northern Territory, North-west Australia. 



Adult male. General colour above green, the scapulars dark blue subterminally 

 and margined with golden-yellow ; lesser wing-coverts like the back ; median and 

 greater coverts darker green, edged with yellow ; bastard-wing and primary-coverts 

 dark green with brown on the inner webs ; primary -quills dark brown on the inner 

 webs, outer webs and tips green, narrowly edged with whitish on the outer quills, 

 becoming yellow on the inner ones ; secondary -quills more green and more broadly 

 margined with yellow ; middle tail-feathers green, tipped with yellow, the outer 

 feathers dark brown on the inner webs ; fore-head and crown magenta, bordered by 

 a white line in front of the eye, followed by a yellow one, which skirts the magenta 

 in a circular line on the hinder crown ; occiput and hind-neck green, with a hoary 

 wash ; chin white ; sides of face, sides of neck and throat pale grey ; the feathers 

 of the chest bifurcated, green at the base and tipped with greyish, imparting a 

 streaked appearance ; a small patch of magenta on the middle of the abdomen, 

 which separates the orange-red of the lower-abdomen from the green of the chest ; 

 feathers of the vent yellow ; sides of body, flanks and thighs green, the feathers of 

 the lower flanks tipped with yellow, forming a yellow tuft on each of the thighs ; 

 under aspect of tail grey, tipped with yellow ; under wing-coverts and axillaries 

 grey ; bill greenish-black, tip horn colour ; iris reddish-orange, eyelid yellowish- 

 green ; feet olive-brown. Total length 225 mm. ; culmen 19, wing 135, tail 67, 

 tarsus 18. 



Adult female. Very similar to the male but not so brightly coloured and with 

 the under tail-coverts yellow instead of orange. Total length 215 mm. ; culmen 17, 

 wing 122, tail 63, tarsus 18. 



Immature. Green on the top of the head, back of neck, back, rump and upper 

 tail-coverts, the feathers of the latter with minute pale yellowish tips ; the feathers 



