270 MR. W. A. FORBES ON THE GENUS MYZOMEZA. [Mar. 4, 



ffriseis ; 7'ostro pedibusque nigris. Long. tot. circa 4, al. 2'2, 

 caud. 1-5, rostr. -55, tars. -5 {poll. Angl.) 



Hub. in montibus Arfak Novse Guinese. 



This very beautiful Myzomela, at once distinguished from all others 

 of this group yet described by its uniformly red colour, was first 

 obtained by Dr. Meyer, in the Arfak Mountains in 1873. Only one 

 specimen, an adult male, was procured ; and this and another speci- 

 men, likewise a male and nearly or quite adult, procured by Bruija's 

 collectors in the same locality, and now in the Genoa Museum, are, 

 I believe, the only examples yet brought to Europe of this splendid 

 little bird. 



A short time ago Mr. E. P. Ramsay, of the Sydney Museum, de- 

 scribed two new species of Myzomela, both remarkable for their 

 nearly uniform red coloration. One is indicated as a female and from 

 the Duke-of-York Islands {M. coccinea) ; the other, a young male, 

 (M. erythrina) is from New Ireland. Of it Mr. Ramsay says : — 

 " This species is smaller than the preceding, and the bill is compa- 

 ratively stronger and stouter ; otherwise I should be inclined to con- 

 sider it the young of the former." From his description it is evi- 

 dently a young bird ; and after having carefully compared both it 

 and that of the other species with Dr. Meyer's and Count Salvadori's 

 specimens, I have come to the conclusion that both M. coccinea and 

 erythrina are probably referable to M. cruentaia. If this is so, it 

 would seem, provided Ramsayis specimens are correctly sexed, that 

 the adults of this species are nearly or quite similar in coloration. 

 The species probably has a wide range through New Guinea eastward 

 of the Arfak Mountaius. 



19. Myzomela rubratra. 



Cinnyris ruhrater. Less. Voy. Coquille, Zool. p. 678 (1826) ; id. 

 Man. ii. p. 55 (1828) ; Kittlitz, Kupf. Vog. t. 8. fig. 1 (1832). 



Myzomela rubratra, Bp. C. R. xxxviii. p. 263, 1854 ; Hartl. 

 P. Z. S. 1868. p. 5 ; Hartl. & Finsch, P. Z. S. 18/2, p. 94 ; Finsch, 

 Journ. God. Mus. xii. p. 26 (1876). 



Myzomela major, Bp. C. R. xxxviii. p. 263 (1854). (Ins. Carol.) 



Myzomela sanguinolenta, pt.. Gray (nee Lath.), Gen. B. i. p. 118 ; 

 Bp. Consp. i. p. 394 (1850). 



Ad. coccinea, alis, cauda, crisso et subcaudalibus nigricantibiis ; 

 alis caudaque subtus griseis, remigum margine interna albida; 

 rostra nigricante, pedibus corneis. Long. al. 2'95, caud. 2-3, 

 rostr. -65, tars. '75, {poll. Angl.). 



Jr. olivaceo-brunnea, remigibus externe olivaceis ; subalaribus 

 obscuris. 



Hab. in insulis Pelewensibus, Marianis, et Carolinis. 



Tliis species belongs to the group of M. cardinalis, nigriventris, 

 and chermesina, but is at once distinguished from all of these by 

 the greater extent of the red colour in the adult, only the vent and 

 under tail-coverts being black. 



Myzomela major was founded by Bonaparte on specimens of this 

 bird from the Caroline Islands, and characterized as " Similis M. 



