PLATE 



YII. 



PTILORHIS VICTORIA (Gould.) 



QUEEN VICTORIA'S RIFLE-BIRD. 



THIS variety of Rifle-bird inhabits the north coast of Australia and some of the adjacent small 

 islands. It is smaller than the Ptilorhis Paradisea, and differs, though not very much, in 

 plumage. 



Mr. Macgillivray, to whom we are indebted for many valuable discoveries, says that he found 

 it in one of the Barnard Isles, which is covered with dense brush. The females and young males 

 were very abundant, but the adult males rare, solitary, and very shy. He mentions that at that 

 time (June) the young birds were so pugnacious that he was able to approach sufficiently near to 

 three who were quarrelling to kill all of them with a single charge of dust-shot. 



Unlike the Ptilorhis Paradisea, it does not stay much on the trees, but remains chiefly on 

 the bushes and climbing plants beneath them. 



The male has the general plumage rich, deep, velvet3 r -black, glossed on the upper surface, 

 sides of the neck, chin and breast with plum colour ; feathers of the crown of the head and a 

 portion of the throat small, scale-like, and of a shining, metallic, bronzy - green ; feathers of the 

 abdomen very much developed, of the same hue as the upper surface, but each feather so deeply 

 margined with deep olive-green that the colouring of the basal portion of each feather is hidden 

 and the olive-green forms a broad abdominal band, which is sharply defined above, but irregular 

 below ; two central tail feathers, rich green, the remainder deep black ; bill and feet, black. 



The female has all the upper surface greyish-brown, tinged with olive ; head and sides of 

 the neck, dark brown, striated with greyish-brown ; over each eye a superciliary stripe of buff ; wing 

 feathers edged with ferruginous ; chin and throat, pale buff ; remainder of the under surface, under 

 wing-coverts, and the base of the inner webs of the quills, rich, deep reddish-buff, each feather with 

 an irregular spot of brown near the tip, dilated on the flanks in the form of irregular bars ; bill 

 and feet, black. 



Total length of male, 10^ inches; bill, If inch; wing, 5 inches; tail, 3^ inches; tarsi, 



1| inch. 



GENUS CRASPEDOPHORA (G. R. Gray). 



n^HlS genus was created to include the Ejpimachus Magnificus of Cuvier, which differs from the 

 -L Ptilorhes in form and plumage. 



