XVI 



INTRODUCTION. 



-I 



of his Circus wolfi (P. Z. S. 1865, p. 823) for my inspection, I felt no hesitation, after comparing 

 it with adult examples of Circus gouldi, in accepting it as a good species, notwithstanding the 

 opinions to the contrary of Professor Schlegel and other continental ornithologists. It appears to 

 me to be readily separable from our bird by its blackish crown and ear-coverts, and likewise by 

 the much darker colour of its wing-coverts. In the otherwise excellent drawing, from the pencil 

 of Mr. Wolf, which appeared in the 'Proceedings' {L c), these distinguishing features are not 

 sufficiently shown ; nor does Mr. Gurney give the necessary prominence to them in his descriptive 

 account, his object having been (as he has since informed me) to point out the distinguishing 

 characters of the species as compared with C. maillardi (Verreaux), rather than with C gouldi. 



% 



Fam. Platycehcid^. In treating of the members of this section I have had recourse to 

 Dr. Otto Finsch's elaborate Monograph on the Parrots ('Die Papageien'), a work the care and 

 labour of which may be estimated from the fact that, of the 350 species described therein, 

 all but 18 were examined by the author personally. Accepting the decision of so able an 

 authority, I agreed to sink my Platycercus alj^inus as a species, and to consider it the young 

 state of PL auriceps (vide pp. 61 & 62). The validity of the species, however, has since been 

 established beyond all doubt. More than twenty specimens have recently been brought to this 

 country ; and it is now to be seen alive in the parrot-house in the Zoological Society's Gardens. 

 I take this opportunity, therefore, of introducing it as follows : 



Platycercus alpinus^ BuUer, Ibis^ 1869^ p. 39. 



H 



r 



Ad, P. auricipiti similis^ sed minor, et fronte aurantiac^, vertice paUide flavo distinguendus. 



« 



The following is my description of the new species, as it originally appeared in ' The 

 Ibis : ' 



" This Alpine form differs from its near ally [Platycercus auriceps) both in size and in the tints of its 

 plumage. Our three species of Platycercus present a distinct gradation in size and coloxu'ing. In P. pacificus 

 the frontal spot, ear-coverts, and thigh-spots are deep crimson, while the general plumage is dark green. In 

 the smaller species (P. auriceps) the frontal band is crimson, and the vertex golden, while the general plumage 

 is a warm yellowish green. In P. alpinus, which is smaller again than the last-named species, the frontal band 

 is orange, and the vertex pale yellow, while there is an absence of the yellow element in the plumage, which is 

 of a cold pure green, much paler on the underparts. The thigh-spots, moreover, are much smaller than in 

 P. auriceps, and are orpiment-orange instead of crimson. On comparing -the bills of the two species the diflfer- 

 ence is very manifest, that of P. alpinus being fully one third less than that of P. auriceps, 



" Length 8*5 inches; wing, from flexure, 4*25 ; tail 4-5 ; tarsus *625 ; longest fore toe and claw "875 ; bill, 

 following curvature '5, along the edge of lower mandible '25. 



^^Dr. Haast, from whom I received several specimens of this bird, met with it in the forests of the 

 Southern Alps, at an elevation of from 2000 to 2500 feet; and Mr. Travers sent me, for examination, other 

 examples, obtained by him in the high wooded country of the Nelson Province.^^ 



Fam. Meliphagid^. Since writing my account of the appearance and migrations oiZosterops 

 lateralis in New Zealand, I have met with the following passage in a small volume, entitled 

 ' Castaway on the Auckland Island,' by Captain Thomas Musgrave, which may serve to throw 

 further light on the question discussed at pp. 80-84: 



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IS 



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 Sparro' 

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 ilaviceps 

 spicillati 

 Z. grisec 

 Loyalty 

 The 

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 the bir 

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 stated ( 



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