278 THE ANIMALS OF NEW GUINEA 



respectively olive and reddish brown birds with an enormous orange crest on the 

 head; while in A. flavifrcms the orange of the crest is replaced by yellow. There 

 are, however, much more brilliant species, such as Prionidura newtoniana of 

 Queensland, referred to in the preceding chapter, which is bright orange, olive, 

 and brown, and Cnemophilus macgregori of New Guinea, in which golden yellow 

 above contrasts with velvety black beneath, while the wings and tail are brownish, 

 and a thin curved crest merges into a ridge on the forehead with chestnut feathers 

 extending to the base of the beak. 



Among many Papuan kino-fishers it must suffice to mention 



Kintrfislisrs 



the exclusively Australasian racket-tailed group, of which the 

 beautiful Tanysiptera galatea is a well-known native of New Guinea. All these 

 birds take their name from the great development of one pair of tail-feathers, 

 which are of great length with narrow vanes and expanded racket-like tips. 

 In the species mentioned the crown of the head and the bend of the wings, 

 together with the greater portion of the elongated middle tail-feathers, are bright 

 blue ; while the shoulders, the remainder of the wings, and a broad band across 

 the sides of the head are indigo blue. In striking contrast to this is the white of 

 the hind portion of the back and under-parts, the terminal rackets of the middle 

 tail-feathers, and the greater portion of the rest of the tail in which the outer 

 feathers have narrow blue margins. A coral-red beak completes the gorgeous colour- 

 ing of this lovely kingfisher. More distinctive of New Guinea is the wide-mouthed 

 kingfisher (Glytoceyx rex), the only member of a genus, characterised by the thick, 

 blunt, and rather short beak. In colour this bird is brown on the upper-parts, with 

 a rufous collar, blackish back and neck stripes, light blue rump, and greenish wing 

 and tail quills, while the under-parts are light chestnut, with the throat white. 



Of the widely spread rhinoceros-hornbills there is one New 



Guinea species, Buceros plicatus, which takes its specific name from 

 the grooves running obliquely across the beak. With the exception of the ochre- 

 yellow head and neck, the bare light blue throat and cheeks, and the white tail, 

 this fine bird has the plumage glossy black. It inhabits several of the smaller 

 Papuan islands as well as the mainland. 



Parrots and In members of the parrot group New Guinea is fully as rich as 



cockatoos. Australia ; and the Papuan province is the sole habitat of the 

 beautiful eclectus parrots, the females of many of the species of which literally 

 blaze with scarlet and crimson, whereas the males are green. The range of the 

 genus extends from the Moluccas, where it is represented by Eclectus irroratus, 

 to the Solomon Islands, a well-known New Guinea species being E. pectoralis. 

 These birds are somewhat lazy and unsociable in disposition, living in pairs in 

 large forests, and feeding chiefly on seeds, although also eating fruit and insects. 

 Pesquet's parrot {Dasyptilus pesqueti) is a peculiar Papuan type, in which the 

 plumage is for the most part black, with the tail-coverts, under-parts, much of 

 the wings, and a band on each side of the back of the head, red. The large- 

 beaked parrots of the genus Tanygnathus form another practically Papuan group, 

 with a few outlying species in Celebes and the Philippines. The lories again, 

 especially the broad-tailed species of the genus Domicella, are chiefly characteristic 

 of the Papuan area. As is well exemplified by the brilliant Lorius ruber of the 



