THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 
etagee, mais son plumage est completement noir.” He gave the following 
reference for alecto : “ Ara alecto Temminck, Disc. Faun. Japon, p. xvii.” 
I have been no more successful than previous workers in tracing this 
reference. The “ Disc ” does not appear in the Fauna Japonica, nor can 
I find it in any Journal, though the page xvii. looks probable. The bird 
was apparently labelled and is still preserved, but Temminck himself claims 
publication in the Coup d' ceil general Possess Neerland UInde Archip., 
Vol. III., p. 405, note, 1849, as he ob served : “ Macroglossum alecto. Cette 
espece a deja ete indiquee par nous. Elle est d’un tiers moindre dans toutes 
ses dimensions que P. gigas des catalogues methodiques.” 
In the Consp. Gen. Av ., Vol. I., 1850, p. 7, Bonaparte included Micro- 
glossus aterrimus and added as a new species : “ M. alecto, Temm. Mus. 
Lugduno-Batav. Multo minor : gense minus denudatse.” Again, for this 
species no locality is given, and it appears that there never was any for 
Temminck’s species, which was based on a cage bird. 
Schlegel, in the Journ. fur Orn., 1861, p. 377 et seq., contributed “ Einige 
Worte fiber die Schwarz-Kakatu’s ...” and there proposed C(acatua) 
intermedia for the Aru Island bird, giving comparative measurements. 
C. aterrimus. 
C. intermedia. 
C . alecto Temm. 
Ganze Lange 
22" 
19" 
17" 
Fliigel 
15" 
12" 
11" 
Schwanz 
11" 
8i-H" 
7J" 
Lange der Haube 
7-11" 
5-0" 
5" 
Oberkiefer (grosseste Hohe) . . 
21"' 
17-19"' 
isr 
Unterkiefer (grosseste Breite) . . 
18-19"' 
15-10"' 
12"' 
Mittelzehe 
20"' 
17-18"' 
15"' 
In the Mus. de Pays-Bas , Vol. III., Psittaci, Aug. 1864, pp. 146-152, 
Schlegel fully discussed these birds, admitting two species, thus: p. 147, 
Microglossum aterrimum. Individuals from New Guinea are the goliath of 
Kuhl, while those of Waigiou he attached to aterrimus Kuhl, remarking upon 
the large size of the Doreh birds and recording in connection with No. 10 from 
Waigiou : “ Male a bee petit, semblable a celui de la figure d’Edwards.” 
On p. 151 he recognised M. alecto as a distinct species, remarking : 
“ Individu d’origine incertaine, apporte vivant en Europe, type du Psittacus 
aterrimus (specimen minus) de Kuhl et de X Ara alecto de Temminck.” 
However, in the Revue Mag., 1874, p. 67, he lumped in M. alecto , 
apparently concluding it was a captive hungered freak. It must be remembered 
that he was dealing with the actual type of “ alecto Temminck,” which, 
however, is only a museum name, and realty does not concern us. 
84 
