94 Mr. W. R. Ogilvie-Grant on the Birds collected 



The otlier species, Pitta nova-guinece, which Avas much 

 less frequently met with, has the head and neck black and 

 the rest of the pluma^-e dark green washed with bluish on 

 the breast, which is black down the middle. The shoulders 

 are shining silvery-blue and the vent and under tail-eoverts 

 scarlet. 



These long-legged Thrush-like birds are entirely terrestrial 

 in their habits and frequent the depths of the forests. They 

 cart hop with great agility, and escape on the slightest 

 alarm, but are easily taken in snares. 



Family Cuculid.e — Cuckoos. 



Among the Cuckoos, the largest is a species of " Crow- 

 Pheasant ^' or "Lark-heeled"' Cuckoo, Centropus menehiki, 

 a bird of black plumage glossed with dark green, Avith a 

 large wdiitish-horn bill and heavy slate-coloured legs and 

 toes. 



An allied, but smaller and rarer species, C. bernsteini, 

 w^as met with near the mouth of the Mimika. It is very 

 similar in plumage but is easily distinguished by its 

 smaller size, black bill, and long, nearly straight hind- 

 claw. Both are almost entirely ground-birds of skulking 

 habits. Several other species of Cuckoo were met with, and 

 among these Cuculus micropterus, the eastern form of the 

 Common Cuckoo, closely resembling our familiar bird. The 

 rarest species obtained Avas Microdynamis parva, a remark- 

 able little Cuckoo about the size of a Thrush, first described 

 by Count Salvadori in 1875. The origin of the type 

 specimen is uncertain, but it is believed to have been ob- 

 tained by Beccari in the Moluccas. Subsequently, Dr. H. 

 O. Forbes procured feu ale examples in the Astrolabe 

 Mountains. Mr. Claude Grant obtained an adult male and 

 female which form a valuable addition to the National Col- 

 lection. The general plumage is brown, l)ut in the male the 

 top of the head and the malar stripe are black, glossed with 

 steel-blue, and the cheeks and throat are cinnamon. In 

 both sexes the bill is short, thick, and curved. The male has 

 the eye bright red, while in the female it is hazel. 



