07 i Weber's Lorikeet.



249



him to be Weber’s Lorikeet—a very rare species—so liis un¬

timely death was most regrettable.”


The present species seems to demonstrate the absurdity

of separating the Green Lorikeets (. Psitteuteles ) from the genus

Tnchoglossics, the members of which possess more or less red on

the plumage, for surely colour alone should not be sufficient

ground for the creation of a distinct genus! In comparing

Psitteideles weberi with Trichoglossus ?iovcs-hollandicz, the well-

known Blue-Mountain, or Swainson’s Lorikeet, we find the

arrangements of the plumage to be almost identical, though ot

course the colours are different. On the nape we find the same

yellowish band ; on the breast the same large patch (red and

yellow in Swainson’s and greenish yellow in Weber’s) the same

patch on the abdomen (purple in Swainson’s and dark green in

Weber’s). Turning to the wings we find the very same yellow

patches on the inner webs of the primaries in both species. P.

weberi has the same shaft-streaks on the head as T. novce-hollandice ,

but in the former the feathers are green, and in the latter blue.

Moreover the habits and actions of the one are identical with

those of the other, and yet they are considered by the cabinet

ornithologists to belong to different genera !


In Biittikofer’s original description (which is in German),

he tells us that P. weberi is the representative in Flores of the

species in Timor known as P. euteles Teintn., but is always

easily distinguished from the latter by its distinctly larger bill,

dark grass-green head (olive-yellow in P. euteles ) with blue

feathers on the forehead, the broad greenish-yellow breast-band

which is quite distinct from the grass-green throat and grass-

green abdomen, as well as by the colour of the underside of the

tail feathers which nearly approaches olive-brown, those of P.

euteles having a strong inclination towards olive-yellow. He

points out that the immature P. euteles has the head also green,

but brighter than that of P. weberi , and without the blue

feathers on the forehead which characterize the latter species.


The following is a description of the adult Psitteuteles

weberi :—Head, sides of neck and throat grass-green, each

feather with a brighter green shaft-streak; the feathers on the

forehead with bright blue tips ; a distinct greenish-yellow collar



