41 



same time, and in the same locality, of several examples, all in the same brilliant plumage, I felt no hesitation 

 in characterizing the species as new, under the above designation. Several connecting forms, however, have 

 since been found, and I now feel bound to sink N. superbus as a species. The following description of this 

 supposed species appeared in my ' Essay ' (I. c.) : — " Crown, hind neck, breast, scapulars, and upper wing- 

 coverts canary-yellow of different shades, and tinged with scarlet ; upper surface of wings whitish yellow, the 

 primaries inclining to pale ash ; upper surface of tail, when closed, pale ashy yellow, the sides being bright 

 canary-yellow with a scarlet tinge ; sides, abdomen, lower tail-coverts, axillaries, lining of wings, lower part of 

 back, and upper tail-coverts bright scarlet, varied on the underparts, and minutely edged on the upper tail- 

 coverts with canary-yellow ; cheeks, throat, ear-coverts, and a broad nuchal collar paler scarlet, largely mixed 

 on the ear-coverts and collar with bright yellow. The under wing-coverts are beautifully marked with alternate 

 bands of scarlet and yellow ; the primaries, on their under surface, are ashy, marked on their inner vane with 

 triangular spots of scarlet and yellow ; under surface of tail-feathers pale scarlet for two thirds of their extent, 

 and banded on their inner vane with brighter, ashy beyond, and yellowish towards the tip. Bill and legs dark 

 bluish grey." 



There are two specimens (said to be 6 and $ ) in the Canterbury Museum. They differ slightly in the 

 details of their colouring. In the one the nuchal collar of scarlet and yellow is much broader and brighter 

 than in the other, while the crown of the head is paler, being of a dull yellowish white. The lower part of the 

 back is equally brilliant in both ; and the peculiar ashy white, which is characteristic of albinism, is very strongly 

 apparent . in the primaries and tail-feathers, although tinged on the latter with yellow. One has the bill con- 

 siderably larger and stronger than the other, while in both the tail-feathers have denuded tips, or, more properly, 

 the shaft is produced half an inch beyond the webs. 



An example in my collection, obtained on Banks's Peninsula (Canterbury), corresponds exactly with the 

 supposed d above described. 



Var. /3. Nestor esslingii, Souance, Rev. et Mag. de Zool. 1856, p. 223. 



M. de Souance, the original describer of the supposed species, says : — " Le Nestor dont nous allons donner 

 la description est, sans contredit, Foiseau le plus remarquable de la collection Massena. Intermediaire entre le 

 N. hypopolius et le N. productus, ce magnifique Perroquet reunit, dans son plumage, des details caracteristiques 

 de ces deux especes. Coloration generate semblable a celle du N. hypopolius." 



Mr. Gould, in the Supplement to his ' Handbook to the Birds of Australia/ says of it : — "A single speci- 

 men only of this magnificent Parrot has come under my notice ; and this example is perhaps the only one that 

 has yet been sent to Europe. It formerly formed part of the collection of the Prince D'Essling, of Paris, but 

 now graces the National Museum of Great Britain. It is in a most perfect state of preservation, and is, with- 

 out exception, one of the finest species, not only of its genus, but of the great family of Parrots. The native 

 country of this species is supposed to be New Zealand ; but I, as well as M. de Souance, have failed to learn 

 any thing definite on this point. In size it even exceeds the great Kaka (Nestor hypopolius) , which it resembles 

 in the form of its beak, while in its general colouring it closely assimilates to Nestor productus." 



Dr. Finsch, on the other hand, states, in his Monograph, that Nestor esslingii, De Souance (of which the 

 type is in the British Museum), is in size and general colour the same as Nestor meridionalis , but has the breast 

 ash-grey, with brown terminal margins and a broad yellowish-white transverse band straight across the belly. 

 He adds that he was not able to make such an examination of it as he wished, owing to its being in an hermeti- 

 cally closed glass case, but quotes Souance to the effect that the red marks on the inner vane of the quills and 

 tail-feathers are precisely as in Nestor meridionalis ; whereas Mr. Gould distinctly says that while the tail- 

 feathers in N. meridionalis and TV. productus are strongly toothed on the under surface with red, " in Nestor 

 esslingii no such marks occur, the toothing on the inner webs of the primaries is not so clear and well-defined, 

 and the light-coloured interspaces are more freckled with brown." 



Referring to these several accounts, I expressed the following opinion, in the ' Transactions of the New- 



G 



