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Mr. T. H. Nkwman,



and, as the late Marquis of Tweedale noted in 1877, * s composed

of feathers of an even harsher and stiffer texture ; their bases in

both species are white. I notice that these feathers appear to

reach their full length before their sheaths burst; these then

present a curious appearance, being curved and narrower at each

end, rather resembling a miniature banana in shape. The under

surface is of a rich fawn colour, lighter on the middle of the

abdomen and under tail-coverts. The iris of both species has

been described as dark brown, this is more or less right for the

common bird, but even it has the iris tinged with bluish or

purplish; but Bartlett’s bird has it of a most beautiful lilac colour

which perhaps most resembles the bloom found on hothouse

grapes and on some dark varieties of plums ; this adds very much

to the beauty of the bird. According to the British Museum

Catalogue of Birds the genus Phlogceuas comes under the head of

those with “ Tarsus covered anteriorly with transverse scales or

scutellae” ; this is hardly correct at any rate for this member of

the genus, as the scales diminish rapidly in size from the toes

upwards, so as to leave about the upper third part of the tarsus

■entirely devoid of scales.


The type in Paris was said to have come from the Sooloo

Islands, which locality seems to be incorrect; it does, however,

•occur in the neighbouring island of Basilan and in the large

island of Mindanao.


The first specimens seen in this country were purchased by

the late Mr. Bartlett from a dealer in Liverpool, in August, 1863,

■consisting of one male and three females. Dr. Sclater, believing

them to be a new species, called them Phlogceuas bartletti, hence

the vernacular name ; an excellent plate by Wolf is given in

P.Z.S. for that year.


In P.Z.S., 1865, p. 239, Dr. Sclater describes the nesting of

the bird in the Gardens:—“I11 the following spring (1864) the

single male paired with one of the females, and bred five times

during the summer of 1864. The female deposited only one egg

on each occasion, making a very slight nest of small sticks in a

.flat basket placed 8 ft. above the ground in the Western Aviary.

The period of incubation was fifteen days; two of the young birds

were successfully reared, and are now in adult plumage, two



