CAPE TOWN PALM COCKATOO. 
In view of this lucid statement regarding the forms of this bird, Ogilvie- 
Grant’s remarks appear much to the latter’s disadvantage. Van Oort shows 
plainly that he well understood the species and also its variation, and Ogilvie- 
Grant’s remark : “ The supposed new form . . . appears to be based on 
examples with the crest-feathers worn. We have such a specimen from his 
type locality in the collection ” is quite unnecessary, as it implies crude 
reasoning on the part of Van Oort, whereas the superficial critic was Ogilvie- 
Grant himself. The only error in Van Oort’s account is the acceptance of 
Australia as the type locality of Gmelin’s aterrimus , and this is a mistake for 
which excuse can be made until it is pointed out when continuance is very 
wrong. The facts are : 
Gmelin’s Psittacus aterrimus is based entirely on Edwards’ account of a 
painting made at Ceylon : the citation “ Nova Hollandia ” was due to Latham’s 
reference to Black Cockatoos mentioned by Parkinson at Botany Bay, New 
South Wales, as probably this species. When Latham saw a painting of 
the latter, he at once withdrew his supposition. This leaves the type- 
locality of Gmelin’s species quite unknown, and the only method is designation 
of a probable locality. All writers had, more or less, recognised two forms, 
a larger and a smaller, and had determined the latter as the Gmelinian 
species. Consequently I selected Salwatty as the type locality, as the birds 
from that locality were smaller than the Northern New Guinea ones, and 
moreover, Salwatty was in early communication with Ceylon and was therefore 
doubly suitable. At the time the drawing was made the Australian habitat 
of the species was not known to Ceylon, consequently it was quite impossible 
to cite that locality. My designation, therefore, must be accepted. 
The next name to be dealt with is Psittacus griseus Bechstein, and we 
have here exactly the same complication. No locality is known and it is 
given to the largest billed form ; if there had been any doubt it would have 
been pleasing to have fixed it as a synonym of the typical form. T\hat, 
however, does not seem correct, so that I designate North-west New Guinea 
as the original type-locality of Psittacus griseus Bechstein. I do this 
unwillingly, but it seems the logical sequence of Ogilvie-Grant’s selection 
of New Guinea as the type-locality of Psittacus goliath Kuhl. Kuhl accepted, 
as equivalent to his own goliath, Bechstein’ s griseus, and apparently only 
refused the latter name on account of its inapplicability. I consequently 
further restrict Psittacus goliath Kuhl to North-west New Guinea, and make 
it an absolute synonym of griseus Bechstein. To the same form Salvadori 
applied the name var. ?najor, and I again designate the same type-locality, 
as he cited the previous two names as absolutely equivalent. No definiteness 
can be obtained without arbitrary selection in the present case, so that it 
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