582 MR. 1>. G. ELLIOT ON THE GENUS PTILORIS. [Jlllie 20, 



Ptiloris PARADISEUS. 



Ptiloris paradiseus, Swain. Zool. Journ. vol. i. p. 481 ; Gray, 

 Gen. of Birds, p. 15 ; Cab. Mus. Hein. Theil i. p. 214 ; Reich. 

 Hand, der Spec. Orn. p. 328 ; Gould, B. of Austr. vol. iv. pi. 100 ; 

 id, Handb. B. of Austr. vol. i. p. 591 ; Gray, Hand-1. Birds, parti, 

 p. J05. sp. 1271. 



Epimachus brisbani, Wils. 111. of Zool. pi. 9. 



Epimachus regius, Less. Zool. Voy. de la Coq. pi. 28. 



Hub. South-east Australia {Gould). 



Male. Top and back of head, with a large diamond-shaped mark 

 upon the throat, bright metallic green ; neck, back, and upper part 

 of the breast rich deep purple ; secondaries velvety black with pur- 

 plish gloss ; primaries black ; flanks, lower part of breast, and ab- 

 domen very dark rich green ; two central feathers very brilliant 

 metallic green ; rest of feathers rich blackish brown, with a purplish 

 gloss on the outer webs ; bill, feet, and legs black. 



Female. Upper part of the head dark brown, each feather having 

 a central line of light buff; line over the eye, extending to the oc- 

 ciput and throat, yellowish white ; entire upper parts uniform 

 olive-brown ; primaries dark brown, with the edges of both webs 

 rufous brown ; tail same colour as the primaries, without the light 

 edges ; entire underparts light buff, each feather having an irre- 

 gular blackV-shaped mark diagonal with the shaft ; bill, feet, and 

 legs black. 



Ptiloris victoria. 



Ptiloris victoria, Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc. (1849), p. Ill, pi. 12; 

 id. Birds of Austr. Suppl. pi.; id. Handb. Birds Austr. vol. i. p. 593 ; 

 Reich. Handb. der spec. Orn. p. 329 ; Gray, Hand-1. Birds, p. 105, 

 parti. (1871), sp. 1272. 



Hub. Barnard Islands, N.E. Australia {Macgillivray, Gould). 



Male. Smaller in size but very similar in plumage to the pre- 

 ceding species, the principal difference being that the purple on the 

 upper part of the breast is apparently restricted, and forms a band 

 across that portion of the body between the metallic throat and the 

 green of the lower parts. Bill smaller than that of P. paradiseus, 

 and, with the legs and feet, black. 



Female. Also closely resembles that of P. paradiseus, but may be 

 distinguished by its smaller size ; upper part of head dark brown, 

 striated with greyish brown; superciliary stripe and throat buff; 

 upper parts greyish brown, shaded with olive ; underparts deep 

 buff, the feathers having a brown spot near the tips and irregularly 

 barred on the flanks with the same. 



For the two following species, as in the colour of their plumage 

 and texture of feathers they differ considerably from those just de- 

 scribed, Mr. Gray has proposed the generic term of Craspedophora, 

 which it may be well to retain as a subgeneric division ; but there 

 does not appear sufficient reason for removing them from the genus 

 proposed by Mr. Swainson. 



