1879.] mr. w. a. forbes on the genus myzomela. 2/3 



22. Myzomela lifuensis. 



Myzomela lifuensis, E. L. and L. C. Layard, Ibis, 1878, p. 258. 



(S capite, dorso uropijffioq^ue coccineis ; alis, caiida et corpora 

 subtus toto cum macula anteoculari fuliginoso-nigris ; alis 

 caudaque nitore nonnullo metallico ; remic/um margine interna 

 albida ; rostro nigro, pedibus nigro-corneis. Long, tola circa 

 4-2, al. 2-5, caud. 1-7.5, rosfr. -.55, tars. -QS (poll. Angl.). 



Hab. in Lifu, ex insulis " Loyalty " dictis. 



Canon Tristram having kindly submitted to me two skins (now 

 in his collection, both marked " males " and adult) collected by the 

 Messrs. Layard, who first indicated this species, I can give a more 

 complete account of it, and say that it is certainly a very good species. 

 It IS nearly alUed to M. nigriventris and M. cardinalis of the Samoas 

 and New Hebrides respectively, more particularly to the last, but is 

 at once distinguished from both by the red below not extending 

 beyond the head, the breast being sooty-black like all the rest of the 

 lower parts. It is also a considerably smaller bird ; the bill is shorter 

 and more slender ; the tarsi are not so stout, and the claws smaller. 

 From Myzomela erythrocephala it is easily distinguishable by the 

 uniform black of the lower parts. 



Mr. Layard notes the " beak black, legs very dark brown, iris 

 dark brown," and food " insects." Both specimens were obtained 

 at Hepenehe, the chief town in the island of Lifu, the largest of the 

 Loyalty Islands. 



Whether M. erythrocephala of Marie's list (Ibis, 18/7, p. 362) is 

 this bird, remains uncertain ; as yet, M. caledonica is the only My- 

 zomela certainly known to be found on New Caledonia itself. 



23. Myzomela chermesfna. (Plate XXV. fig. 1.) 



Myzomela chermesina, Gray & Mitch. G. B. i. pi. 38 (1840) (fig. 

 mala) ; Gray, Cat. B. Trop. Isl. p. 1 1 (1859) ; Forbes, P. Z. S. 1878, 

 p. 352. 



cJ ad. fusco-nigricans, alis caudaque nitore nonnullo metallico ; 

 mcnto, gula, pectore lateribusque abdominis, cum dorso urojry- 

 gioque nitide coccineis, plumis ad basin nigris ; subalaribus 

 nigris, remigum pogonio interno griseo ; rostro nig )-o, pedibus 

 brunneo-corueis. Long, tola circa 4^, al. 3, caud. 2, rostri ~, 

 tarsi i {poll. Angl.). 

 Hab. in insulis Pacificis Rotumah et Mallikollo. 

 This species was first figured by Messrs. Gray and Mitchell in 

 their ' Genera of Birds ; ' but no description was given, the species 

 being only mentioned in the list of the sjiecies oi Myzomela ; nor was 

 any habitat indicated. Bonaparte, and Gray later on, in his ' Hand- 

 list' (vol. i. no. 1989), gave " New Guinea ?" as the locality, without 

 any apparent reason for so doing. The bird was never recognized again 

 till last year, when Mr. Sclater received two specimens, an adult male 

 and a nearly adult female', from the llev. G. Brown, C.M.Z.S., of 

 the Wesleyan Mission, together with some other birds, from the small 

 ' These birds are now in the Paris Museum. 



Proc. Zool. Soc— 1879, No. XVIII. 18 



