xxii 



INTRODUCTION. 



30. Chlamydodera nuchalis Hate XXXI. 



31. Chlamydodera cerviniventris . . . '.. tme 



32. Chlamydodera xanthogastra Plate XXXIII. 



Chlamydodera guttata, Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc. (1862) p. 161. Not figured. 



This bird has been separated as distinct from the C. maculata by Mr. Gould. He only had a female upon 

 which to found his opinion; and the characters he gives are as follows :— " It differs in the guttations of the upper 

 surface being of a larger size and much more distinct, in the abdomen being buff, and in the shafts of the 

 primaries being of a richer yellow." The specimen here described was obtained by Mr. Gregory in North- 

 western Australia. Mr. Stuart, in his journey from Adelaide to the Victoria River, procured a head of a male 

 Bower-bird, which he left at Mr. Gould's house on his return: and this was decided to be the male of the C. 

 guttata, although it shows no specific differences from the ordinary form. Mr. Gould's figure of this male in 

 his 'Birds of Australia,' vol. i. Supplement, with the exception of the head, is imaginary. I am unable to see 

 any characters in the female sufficient to separate it from the well-known C. maculata, and, until we have more 

 evidence that it is distinct than is at present obtainable, prefer to consider that there is only one species of 

 Spotted Bower-bird. 



Genus iELURCEDUS. 

 Murcedus, Cab. & Hein. Mus. Hein. (1850) p. 213. Type M. crassirostris. 



33. JElurmdus crassirostris Hate XXXIV. 



34. AElurcedus melanotis Hate XXXV. 



Some specimens of this species are very much darker than the one figured in the plate, and possess a 

 considerable amount of black on the plumage, particularly about the head and upper part of breast. This does 

 not seem to be occasioned either by age or sex. 



35. Murcedus buccoides Hate XXXVI. 



Genus AMBLYORNIS. 

 Amblyornis, Elliot, Ibis (1872), p. 113. Type A. inornata. 



36. Amblyornis inornata Plate XXXVII. 



GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 



The Paradiseidas are entirely confined in their geographical distribution to the Australian, or Western Palseo- 

 tropical region of the globe, the larger number of the species being natives of some of the islands forming the 

 Asiatic archipelago. Their range, however, even among these, is apparently restricted; for of the five groups 

 into which Mr. Wallace has divided the various islands, in only two of them, the Moluccan and Papuan, are 

 any species of this family known to dwell. 



Of the Papuan group, in the Austro-Malayan division of the archipelago, the great island of New Guinea 

 possesses the largest number of species ; and doubtless among its unknown mountain-ranges and the dense forests 

 that cover its entire surface, many new forms yet remain to reward the efforts of future explorers. 



Of the thirty-six species, or so-called species, included in this Monograph, composing the Paradiseidas, twenty- 

 two are known to inhabit New Guinea; and of these, twelve are met with in no other part of the world. The 

 other islands constituting the Papuan group, such as Am, Waigiou, Mysol, Salwatty, &c., also contain species 

 of this family ; but none of them has any species peculiar to itself, although Mr. Wallace states that Paradisea 

 sanguinea is confined to Waigiou. This, however, is an error, as the species was obtained by Mr. Bernstein in 

 the islands of Ghemien and Batanta, this last lying near Salwatty, off the coast of New Guinea. At some 



