1881.] DR. A. B. MKYER ON A NEW ECLECTU?. 917 



" I hope to be able to send you soon a detailed account of this 

 experiment, which is, so far as I am aware, the first successful 

 one, and which will put Dr. Meyer's discovery as to the sexual 

 differences of Ecleotus beyond any doubt." 



The following papers were read : — ■ 



1. On a new Species oi Eclectus from the Timorlaut Islands. 

 By A. B. Meyer, M.D,, C.M.Z.S., Director Royal Zoo- 

 logical Museum, Dresden. 



[Eeceived October 18, 1881.] 



In a collection of birdskins which Mr. Riedel, the well-known 

 Dutch Resident formerly at Gorontalo and Timor Kupang, and 

 now at Amboina, has recently sent to the Dresden Museum from 

 the islands of Sumba, Timor, and the smaller ones to the east as far 

 as Aru, and on which I hope to be able soon to publish some notes, 

 I immediately perceived, when unpacking them, the skin of a red 

 Eclectus which differs from all others known to me. 



It may be described thus : — 



Eclectus hiedeli, sp. nov. 



Fcem. Capite et collo coccineis ; dorso, nropygio, supracaudali- 

 hus, tectricibus alarum, remigibus secundariis externe, subalari- 

 hus minoribxis, pectore et abdo)nine i-uhro-puniceis ; margine 

 alarum et pogonio externo remigum primariorum ojaneis ; sub- 

 caudalibus caicdeeque apice pulchi'e Jlavis ; cauda supra rubro- 

 punicea,subtusjlava, basin versus aurorescente; rostro pedibusque 

 nigris. Long. tot. circa 360 tmllim., al. 220, caud. circa 130, 

 rostri^O {culmin. 40), tarsi 20. 

 Hab. in ins. Timorlaut : Cera. 



Although no sex has been assigned to the specimen by the hunter, 

 I nevertheless, judging from analogy, do not doubt the least that it 

 is the female of a green Eclectus which still remains to be dis- 

 covered ; besides, on raising the red feathers, green spots and 

 greenish tints come into appearance here and there. 



Eclectus riedeli resembles E. cornelia, Bp. (P. Z. S. 1849, pi. xi.), 

 with the exception of the tail and under tail-coverts, which are 

 rather those of E. roratus (P. L. S. Mull.) female {E. graiidis 

 auct.), with the difference only that the underparts of the tail are 

 more yellowish than reddish. Its specific difference from the last- 

 named bird is obvious at a glance, there being no violet at all on 

 the back and belly in E, riedeli ; and the same character distinguishes 

 it from E, cardinalis (Bodd.) female, as well as from E. pectoralis 

 (P. L. S. Midi.) female (E. linnai auct.), from which last species it 

 stands furthest apart. The red hue of the head differs somewhat from 

 that in all three species named. I cannot compare this hue with that 

 of JSJ. Cornelia, of which no specimen is within my reach ; and as to the 



