TODOPSIS CYANOCEPHALA, q. # g. 
New-Guinea Todopsis. 
Todus cyanocephalus, Quoy et Gaimard, Voy. de l’Astrolabe, Zool. p. 22 7, pi. v. fig. 4. 
Philentoma eyanocephala, Jacq. et Pucher. Voy. Pole Sud, Zool. iii. p. 79, pi. xx. fig. 2. 
Tchitrea ? cceruleocephala, Gray, Gen. B. i. p. 260. 
Todopsis cceruleocephala, Bp. Comptes Rendus, xxxviii. p. 652. 
Todopsis eyanocephala, Gray, P. Z. S. 1858, p. 177 ; 1859, p. 156 ; 1861, p. 434.— -Id. Cat. Mamm. & Birds 
New Guinea, p. 27. — Finsch, Neu-Guinea, p. 168. — Sclater, P. Z. S. 1873, p. 696. — Meyer, Sitz. k. 
Akad. Wien, lxix. pp. 74, 78. — Salvad. Ann. Mus. Civic. Genov, x. p. 148. 
Tchitrea eyanocephala, Gray, Hand-1. B. i. p. 334, no. 5031. 
One of the greatest difficulties I have had to contend with in the present work has been the utter want of 
any notes on the habits of most of the birds which it becomes my duty to figure. In the work on the Birds 
of Australia I had my own personal observations to record, the result of two years’ acquaintance with 
the birds in their native wilds ; in the Birds of Asia there is generally a chance of finding some field- 
notes among the papers of Mr. Hume or some of his excellent coadjutors in India ; while, of course, in 
writing the ‘ Birds of Great Britain,’ there was always a plethora of works to consult, which rendered it 
rather a matter of selection than of copying. In the present work, however, the case is quite different. 
Many of the species figured are from obscure or little-known localities, penetrated by European naturalists 
for the first time, where no leisure for studying the habits of the birds shot was obtainable ; or the 
collection has been made by trained native hunters, whose only object is to shoot and preserve specimens, 
and from whom, of course, no information on the economy of the birds can be expected. The above remarks 
have been called forth by the fact that all my attempts to gain the slightest clue to the habits of Todopsis 
have failed, neither the early nor the recent travellers in New Guinea having given us any information on 
the subject. This is the more to be regretted, as I find myself at variance with several ornithologists as to 
the position of these little birds. From my knowledge of the Australian Wrens of the genus Malurus , I 
cannot help the conviction that, notwithstanding their long broadened hills and plentiful bristles, the 
members of the genus Todopsis are Warblers and not Flycatchers, and should be placed in the vicinity of 
the above-named genus. Count Salvadori arrived at this conclusion quite independently ; and I am glad to 
have his suppoi’t in this opinion. On the other hand, Mr. Sharpe considers them to be Flycatchers, and 
regards this (the usual) view of their position as strictly correct. I am indebted to my friend Mr. 
Sharpe for the opportunity of seeing his MSS. on these birds, and for permission to copy the careful 
descriptions of this and the succeeding species from the fourth volume of the ‘ Catalogue of Birds,’ as 
follows : — 
Adult male. Crown of head bright turquoise-blue, extending in a narrow band down the nape and hind 
neck ; lores, and a narrow frontal band, feathers above the eye, sides of face and of neck, and hinder neck 
velvety black ; middle of the back and scapulars bright cobalt, as also the lesser wing-coverts ; greater and 
primary coverts black, externally edged with purple ; quills black, the secondaries externally bright cobalt, 
the innermost purplish blue ; entire back from below the mantle velvety black, with a slight purple gloss ; 
upper tail-coverts deep purple ; tail-feathers black, dull blue on the outer webs, the two centre feathers 
entirely shaded blue ; cheeks and entire under surface of body dark purple ; under wing-coverts black. 
Total length 6 inches, culmen 0 # 65, wing 235, tail 2’4, tarsus TO. Signor D’Albertis describes the 
bill, feet, and iris as black. 
Adult female. General colour above chestnut-brown, the wing-coverts like the back ; quills dark brown, 
externally edged with chestnut ; crown of head bright turquoise-blue, extending in a band down the nape ; 
a narrow frontal line, lores, sides of face, and sides of the hinder crown purplish black ; cheeks 
and throat dull cobalt ; lower throat, breast, and centre of the body dull creamy white, the lower 
