Buller. — On a new Species of Parrakeet in New Zealand. 



219 



Art. XXVIII. 



of a new Species of 



in New Zealand, 



Walter 



Plate VIII. 



[Bead before the Philosophical Institute of Canterbury, 22nd December, 1874.] 



Whilst 



Zealand, Mr. Dawson Rowley of Chichester House, Brighton, forwarded to 



me for inspection the skin of a Parrakeet, received from the South Island, 

 which, on account of its small size, he took to be a new or hitherto 

 undescribed species. On examination it proved to be only a small example 

 of Platycercus novce-zealandice — corresponding in fact with Gray's so-called 

 Platycercus aucklandicus — and in returning the specimen to Mr. Rowley I 

 could only express my regret that he was doomed to disappointment. 



Since my return to the colony, however, my attention has been directed to 

 a very large series of Parrakeets collected in the Canterbury Province by Mr. 

 F. R. Fuller and his assistants 

 variation in size which members of this genus exhibit, I am unable to come 

 to any other conclusion than that there really does exist another species, 

 having similar plumage to Platycercus novce-zealandice, but so much smaller in 

 size as to be even less than some examples of the yellow-fronted Parrakeet 



(P. auriceps). 



The following are the measurements of a specimen in the Canterbury 



Museum : 



Length 



Wing from flexure 



Tail 



Bill along the ridge 



Tarsus 



Longer fore-toe and claw 



Longer hind-toe and claw 



• • • 



• • • 



• • * 



• • 



• ■ • 



• • ■ 



t i • 



. - . 



• • 



9 o inches 



4-75 



5 



55 

 65 



1 



9 



55 



'? 



n 



jj 



n 



>> 



be 



between 



VIII. , and that the general proportions of the body bear a corresponding 



relation thereto. 



dissected some hundreds of these Parrakeet 



distinguished 



bein 



slender 



Ipi 



It may also be mentioned that all the specimens of the supposed new 



species have come from one part of the country — Canterbury 



and 



