R A S R E S. 



273 



Atlas, Ornithology, Plate XXXII. Adult ? 



Capitis vertice macula magna purpurea, flavo maryinata. Corpore 

 supra aurato-viridi, capite, collo et pectore viridescenti cinereis, ahdo- 

 mine viridescenti flavo. Long. tot. 81 poUices. 



Form. — Strictly congeneric with Ptilinopus purjmratus, P. Swainsonii, 

 and others of this group, and about the size of the former. Bill 



. moderate or rather short ; wing with the fourth and fifth quills 

 longest and nearly equal ; tail rather long ; legs moderate ; tarsus 

 covered, for a short distance below the joint with the tibia; toes 

 long, padded, and flattened on their under surfaces. Feathers of 

 the neck before and breast deeply emarginated. 



Dimensions. — Total length (of skin), eight and a half inches; wing 

 five and a half inches; tail three and three-fourths of an inch. "Total 

 length (of recent bird), nine and a half inches; extent of wings seven- 

 teen inches. Male." (Peale.) 



Colors. — Head above with a large purple spot, faintly edged behind 

 with yellow. Head, neck, and breast pale greenish-cinereous. Abdo- 

 men greenish-yellow, tinged with cinereous. Ventral region and infe- 

 rior coverts of the tail pale yellow. Back, rump, wings, and tail above 

 green, with golden and coppery lustre. Primaries edged with very 

 pale yellowish-white ; secondaries with pale yellow on their outer 

 webs. Tail-feathers dark cinereous on their inner webs. Tail widely 

 tipped with very pale ashy-white, faintly tinged with yellow ; tail 

 beneath pale ashy-white, and showing a subterminal band of brown. 

 " Irides red ; legs red ; bill yellow." (Peale.) 



Hab.— Paumotu Islands. Specimen in Nat. Mus. Washington. 



It is not without misgivings that we admit the present bird as a 

 distinct species, on account of the apparent immaturity of its plumage, 

 and its resemblance to several other birds of this genus. Several speci- 

 mens, however, present entirely uniform characters ; and, in view of 

 what to us appears to be the fact, that the islands in the Pacific do, 

 in some instances, present species distinct from, but much resembling 

 each other, we have occasionally felt ourselves constrained to recog- 



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