532 MR. D. G. ELLIOT ON THE GENUS PTILOPUS. [May 7, 



Birds Austr. vol. v. pi. 55; id. Hand-b. B. Austr. vol. ii. p. 106; 

 Finsch & Hartl. Faun. Centralpolyn. (1867) p. 125; Graffe, 

 Journ. Mus. Godeff. 1873, pt. 1, pi. 7. fig. 6; Ramsay, Proc. 

 Zool. Soc. 1876, p. 114. 



Ptilonopus swainsoni, Gray, Gen. B. (1844) vol. ii. p. 466. sp. 6 ; 

 id. List B. Brit. Mus. (1856) p. 2. sp. 1 ; Reich. Tauben, p. 94, 

 pi. 235. figs. 1309-10. 



Kurukuru swainsonii, Des Murs & Prev. Voy. Venus, Zool. (1855) 

 p. 256. 



Ptilopus swainsonii, Schleg. Mus. Pays-Bas, 1873, p. 4, Columba. 



Hab. Australia, river Clarence, between the Hunter and More- 

 ton Bay (Gould). 



Temminck, in his ' Pigeons et Gallinacees,' (I. c), describes a "pre- 

 miere variete " of his Columba purpurata (=ewingii, Gould). This 

 has been referred, by Messrs. Finsch and Hartlaub in their work 

 on Central-Polynesian birds, to Pt. fasciatus, Peale. I do not 

 think this is correct ; and although it may be impossible to prove 

 what really this " variety " of Temminck's is, yet it seems to me 

 that his description points more towards the present species. In the 

 first place Temminck makes no mention of a purplish-black spot upon 

 the abdomen, which Pt. fasciatus (Peale) possesses; and he describes 

 the belly as exhibiting " plusieurs nuances de jaune et d' orange," 

 which certainly are not to be found on Peale' s bird, which has this 

 part grass-green with a purplish black spot in the centre. As the 

 Columba purpurata, Temm., is known to be the Pt. ewingii, Gould, 

 and did not come from Tahiti, it is probable that he had with it 

 the Pt. regina, also from Australia, and looked upon them as 

 varieties of the same species. As this cannot, however, be defi- 

 nitely ascertained, I have placed his name among the synonyms, with 

 a question. Temminck states that there are two specimens in the 

 Paris Museum, brought by Capt. Baudin, which are like the variety 

 described by him. I have examined all the examples brought by 

 Baudin's expedition ; and they belong only to the Pt. ewingii and 

 Pt. viridissimus, Bon. (=coralensis, Peale). This species has been 

 generally known as the Ptilopus swainsoni, Gould ; but it was 

 called regina by Swainson seventeen years before Mr. Gould's name 

 was published. In fact it is the type of Swainson's genus Ptilo- 

 nopus (Ptilopus) ; and Gould's name must become a synonym. 



Male. Forehead and top of head crimson, margined narrowly 

 with yellow. Occiput and back of neck greyish green. Throat 

 white, sometimes tinged with yellow. Breast pale green, each 

 feather tipped with light grey. Flanks dull green. Abdomen deep 

 orange, with a spot of deep lilac-red in the centre. Crissum and 

 under tail-coverts orange-yellow. Upper parts bright green. Pri- 

 maries slaty grey on inner webs, green on the outer, edged with 

 yellow. The first abruptly and greatly attenuated. Secondaries bluish 

 green, becoming deep blue near their tips, and broadly margined with 

 yellow. Tail deep green, with a broad terminal rich yellow band. 

 Irides reddish orange. Bill greenish black, horn-colour at the tip. 

 feet olive-brown. Total length 9\ inches, wing 5i, tail 3|, culmen i . 



