35 [Vol. xxxiii. 



to the differences due to age, there seemed to be some errors 

 of coloration, owing to the fact that Keulemans preferred, 

 when drawing from life, to make a number of sketches, and 

 to complete the finished pictures at home. The four species 

 or subspecies of the C. picticollis group were very interesting, 

 for they replaced, one another geographically, and also showed 

 parallel variation. C. picticollis in British New Guinea and 

 C. p. hecki in German New Guinea were birds of the lowland 

 forests and foot-hills, and had the fore-neck almost entirely 

 blue, while C. lories and C. keysseri were birds of the high 

 mountain ranges, and had the fore-neck extensively coloured 

 with red and pink. 



Mr. Rothschild also remarked that the specimen of 

 C. claudii killed by Mr. Meek on the Utakwa River had 

 been obtained at an altitude of about 3000 feet. Only the 

 head and neck of this specimen had been preserved, but he 

 had recently received a complete adult specimen of G. claudii, 

 which had been imported some years ago as a young bird, 

 and had recently died in captivity. 



In reply to an enquiry by Mr. Rothschild, Mr. A. F. R. 

 Wollaston said : — 



"The specimen of C. claudii obtained by the B. O. U. 

 Expedition was shot on the Iwaka River at an altitude of 

 about 2000 ft. Two or more others were seeu in the same 

 neighbourhood at altitudes below 3000 ft. The jungle there 

 is of a comparatively open character and the hill-slopes not 

 particularly steep. Above 3000 ft. the undergrowth is 

 excessively dense and the hillsides too steep for the passage 

 of large birds. No example of this species was obtained by 

 the Utakwa Expedition, though I saw a bird at 2000 ft., 

 which, judging by its tracks, was probably C. claudii. The 

 natives who live in the mountains between 4000 and 6000 ft. 

 adorn themselves with feathers of Cassowaries, but they 

 always declared that they obtained them only from the 

 low country, in which case they were probably the feathers 

 of C. sclateri. 



