348 CHARADRIIFORMES CHAP. 



pale yellow throat, a dull green breast with silvery grey tips to 

 the feathers, and a lilac band dividing this from the orange 

 abdomen. The female is rather brighter green. P. superbus of 

 the Moluccas, Papuasia and North Australia, has a purple cap, 

 rufous-orange nape and sides of the neck, rich green upper 

 surface, with deep blue spots on the scapulars and wings and a 

 patch of the same colour at the bend of the latter, black primaries 

 with yellow margins, a whitish throat, and a purple and grey breast, 

 separated from the white abdomen and green and white vent by a 

 broad violet-black band. The female has green upper parts, with 

 blue spots on the wing-region and one on the occiput, and a grey 

 and green breast. P. insolitus of New Ireland, New Britain, and 

 the Duke of York Island, with its curious orange frontal knob, is 

 green, with grey lesser wing-coverts and inner secondaries, a grey- 

 tipped tail, an orange abdomen, and a yellowish vent-region. 

 P. aurantiifrons of Papuasia has a yellowish-green head with 

 orange forehead ; a white throat ; grey neck, upper breast, tip of 

 the tail, and spots on the scapulars and wing-coverts ; the remain- 

 ing plumage being chiefly green. P. nanus of the same districts, 

 the smallest of the Sub-family, is bronzy-green with a greyish 

 band on each side of the breast, a yellow vent, and a purple 

 abdominal patch, lacking in the female. Phdbotreron is a group 

 of similar species confined to the Philippines. P. amethystine is 

 bronzy-brown with an amethystine nape and lower surface, the 

 cheeks are crossed by a black line over a white one, the throat 

 is reddish, the tip of the tail grey. The lines on the cheeks 

 and a rounded tail are characteristic of the genus. 



The remaining members of the Treroninae are of a greenish 

 or yellowish coloration, generally varied with patches or bands 

 of dull purple, red, orange, or lilac nearly or quite absent in 

 the females, except in Vinago, where the sexes are similar. This 

 genus is Ethiopian, while the others reach from India eastward to 

 Japan, Formosa, and the Moluccas. Osmotreron contains a dozen 

 and a half species, of which the following may serve as examples. 

 0. vernans, ranging from the Malay countries to Cochin- China, 

 the Philippines, and Celebes, has a greyish head and throat, 

 vinaceous- purple neck, dull green upper parts, yellowish -green 

 lower surface with an orange pectoral patch, rufescent upper and 

 chestnut under tail-coverts ; the wing-quills are black with yellow 

 margins to the coverts, and the grey tail exhibits a black sub- 



