R A S R E S. 



253 



C. vitiensi similis. Gula alba, capiie supra castaneo, corpore supra fofo 

 saturate cineraceo-fiiscOf aUs caudaque prope nigris. Long. tot. 14 

 pollices. 



Form. — Size and general form very similar to the species immediately 

 preceding. Bill moderate, rather slender ; wings long, broad ; second, 

 third, and fourth primaries longest, and very nearly equal ; inner 

 webs of quills wide ; tail moderate, truncate, containing twelve 

 feathers; legs short; tarsus naked, and presenting in front about 

 six or seven transverse scales ; claws moderate or rather weak. 



Dimensions. — Male. Total length (of skin), from tip of bill to end 

 of tail, about fourteen inches ; wing, eight and three-fourths inches ; 

 tail, five and a half inches ; tarsus, one inch ; bill, to corner of the 

 mouth, one and one-fourth of an inch. 



Colors. — Male. Large space on the throat, extending around, under, 

 and beyond the eye, white. Head above, chestnut-color. Entire other 

 plumage dark-brown, with an ashy tinge, darker above, and nearly 

 black on the wings and tail, and lightest on the lower parts of the 

 body. Plumage of the neck, back, and rump, edged with fine metallic 

 green, on the breast with the same, and with rich purple. Inferior 

 coverts of the wings, dark ashy-brown. " Irides dark-brown ; eyelids, 

 bill, and feet, lake-red" (Peale). Female like the male, but with the 

 colors duller. 



Hab. — Upolu, Samoan Islands. Specimen in Nat. Mus. Washing- " 

 ton. 



This bird is either the young or other immature plumage of the 

 preceding [Columha vitiensis), or a very nearly allied species. We 

 have, however, been under the necessity of resting satisfied with being 

 able to determine but small distinguishing characters in species in- 

 habiting the Islands in the Pacific and Indian Oceans, especially when 

 they appeared to us to present these characters constantly, and to be 

 distinct specifically. Though intimately resembling the preceding, 

 the present bird may readily be distinguished by the chestnut-color, 

 without metallic lustre of the top of the head, which appears to be 

 much more distinct than in the young of that species. 



G4 



