Solomon Miiller obtained the present speeies at Lobo, and D’Albertis met with it on the Fly River, which 
up to the present time has been supposed to be its most easterly range. I find, however, that since the 
publication of the 5 Catalogue of Birds ’ the British Museum has received two specimens which mark a 
still more easterly extension of the known range of this Bird of Paradise in New Guinea. The late 
Hon. Hugh Romilly presented to the Museum some few years ago a valuable collection of birds from the 
Astrolabe Range, and amongst them I find a skin of the true M. chalybeata. A second specimen was 
presented by Sir James Ingham, the bird in question having been procured by his son in Cloudy Bay. 
The statements as to the occurrence of this bird in Salawati, Waigiou, and the Aru Islands are apparently 
erroneous, as has been pointed out by Count Salvadori. It is found, however, on the island of Mvsol, 
where the well-known Dutch traveller, Hoedt, met with it. 
Dr. Guillemard, who obtained a male specimen in Mysol, has stated his opinion that M. atra and 
M. chalybeata are the same species and that the differences between them can be accounted for on the 
score of age. I confess that at one time I myself entertained the same idea, as there is so much variation 
in the plumage of M. atra that it seemed as if it must be a species of which M. chalybeata was the fully 
adult bird. As Dr. Guillemard points out, it seems improbable that there should be two such closely allied, 
yet distinct, species coexisting in the same districts ; but, as Count Salvadori has said in his rejoinder, 
M. atra alone has been met with in the Aru Islands, and until the true M. chalybeata is found in the latter 
group it will be impossible to consider the two species identical. At present this statement is unanswerable. 
The following description of Mr. Wallace’s Dorey specimen is copied from the 4 Catalogue of Birds ’ : — 
Adult male. Head purple, the feathers compressed and close-set ; the nape slightly washed with steel- 
greenish, as also the hinder neck and mantle ; back rich purple, the feathers of the interscapulary region 
rather recurved ; wings and tail rich purple, the inner webs of the feathers blackish, the outer wing-coverts 
somewhat shaded with steel-black ; sides of the face and neck deep green, the feathers compressed and 
velvety like those of the crown ; those of the chin, throat, and fore neck extending onto the sides of the 
neck, crinkled and curled and of an oily-green colour ; the rest of the undersurface deep purple, the feathers 
being tipped with this colour, less broadly on the vent and under tail-coverts, a few of the abdominal 
plumes with a slight greenish reflection ; under wing-coverts black, the outer edge of the wing washed 
with green : bill and feet black ; “ iris red ” ( Guillemard ). Total length 14'5 inches, culinen T65, wing 6*85, 
tail 5 9, tarsus T55. 
The Plate is reproduced from Mr. Gould’s ‘ Birds of New Guinea,’ and represents an adult bird of the 
natural size. 
