130 ON NEW PARROTS OF THE GENUS PLATYCERCUS. [Feb. 3, 



2. Platycercus erythropeplus, sp. nov. (Plate XII.) 



Male ? Head, neck, and lower parts red ; clieeks blue, wbitisb 

 near the lower mandible ; feathers of the upper part of the back 

 black with dark red edges, as in P . pennanti (Lath.) ; scapulars black, 

 edged with pale yellow and tipped with red ; lower back and rump 

 greenish yellow, each feather edged with red ; the red feathers of the 

 breast and abdomen with yellow bases ; middle of the abdomen and 

 flanks yellow, with the edges of the feathers red ; wings as in P. 

 eximius ; a black patch on the upper wing-coverts ; edge of the wing 

 and outer wing-coverts blue, the inner median and greater wing- 

 coverts lilack, with a green longitudinal stripe inside the yellowish 

 edges ; primaries and anterior secondaries black, edged with blue 

 near the base ; inner secondaries black, edged with yellow and green ; 

 central tail-feathers green, passing into bluish at the tip, the remainder 

 of the tail-feathers dark blue at the base, passing into light blue on 

 the median part and white at the tip ; bill whitish horn-colour ; 

 naked skin round the eyes and leet dusky flesh-colour ; iris black. 

 Size of P. pennanti. 



Female ? Similar to the male, only smaller and with the yellow 

 colour on the sides of the breast and flanks more extended. 



Huh. Australia. 



These descriptions are taken from two specimens, apparently male 

 and female, now living in the Society's Gardens, which were bought 

 from a dealer, as from S. Australia. 



They are intermediate between P. pennanti and P. eximius, and 

 on examining them one cannot help thinking that they may be 

 hybrids of the two species mentioned. But as cases of hybridism in 

 wild birds are very rare, it becomes highly improbable that two 

 hybrids should have been bought together, so that, I think, I am 

 justified in considering them as belonging to a new species, interme- 

 diate, as I have already stated, between P. pennanti and P. eximius. 



The following are the leading points of distinction : — 



The red colour of the head and breast is, like that of P. eximius, 

 a little brighter than in P. pennanti. 



The feathers of the upper parts have broad red edges as in 

 P. pennanti, while the scapulars are edged with pale yellow as in 

 P. eximius, but tipped with red. 



The red colour predominant on the underparts associates the new 

 species with P. pennanti, but at the same time the yellow bases of 

 the feathers of the breast and abdomen show a certain degree of 

 aflinity to P. eximius. 



The yellow colour also in the middle of the abdomen and on the 

 flanks and the two green central tail-feathers, passing into blue at the 

 tip, betray aflinity with P. eximius. 



