PSITTEUTELES RUBRONOTATUS. 
Red-backed Lorikeet. 
CoripMlus ruhronotatus, Wallace, P. Z. S. 1862, p. 165. 
Charmosyna rubronotata, Wallace, P. Z. S. 1864, p. 293. 
Trichoqlossus ruhronotatus, Fiiisch, Pap. ii. p. 876 (1868). 
Nanodes ruhronotatus, Schlegel, Mus. P.-B. Revue Psitt. p. 51 (1874). 
Trichoglossus ruhronotatus, Meyer, Sitzb. d. k.-k. Akad. d. W. zu Wien, Ixix. p. 400 (1874). 
Trichoglossus hordoanus, Meyer, Verb. d. k.-k. zool.-bot. Ges. zu Wien, 1874. 
Charmosyna hordoana, Salvadoi’i, Ann. Mus. Civ. di Genova, vii. 1875, p. 212. 
Dr. Meyer, ever anxious to advance Papuan ornithology, has obligingly forwarded to me seven specimens 
of a little Lorikeet, which be considers to he two different birds ; and he believes that his Trichoglossus 
kordoams should stand as a species, and not as a synonym to Mr. Wallace’s Coriphilus ruhronotatus. But, after 
having given the subject my closest attention and, moreover, after consulting the opinions of others, I can 
come to no other conclusion than that the specimens sent to me are identical or have insufficient characters 
to separate them. Trifling differences, it is true, occur among the seven specimens ; but they are not more, 
nay, not even so much as those that have occurred to me many times before — differences attributable, perhaps, 
to locality or to some cause equally unimportant. As Dr. Meyer, however, still clings to his opinion and has, 
moreover, taken the trouble to forward me a translation of his paper on the subject with additional reinai’ks, 
it is right that I should give bis views on the subject. 
He remarks: — "^Trichoglossus ruhronotatus was discovered by Mr. Wallace on tbe island of Salwati at tbe 
nortb-west extremity of New Guinea, and bas since been procured by Dr. Bernstein in tbe same district, 
but was never figured before, specimens even now being very rare. It was only in one place in New Guinea, 
in May 1873, that I obtained this lovely bird, viz. near Rubi, the southern point of the great Geelvinks Bay ; 
and in 1874 I published some notes respecting it, which I beg to be allowed to reproduce here. 
“Dr. Finseh says ruhronotatus-. — ‘A beautiful bird, representing the I'richoglossus placens on Salwati 
and tbe nortb-west coast of New Guinea;’ hut, inasmuch as the two species occur together (mine were both 
obtained near Rubi), they must rather be considered parallel forms and not representations of each other, 
the adult male only being known till lately, and described by Dr. Finscb in detail, although he does not 
mention the sex of the bird. 
“ A short time before I puhlisbed these notes I had described a similar form from the Island of Mysore, 
in the north of the Geelvinks Bay, under tbe name of Trichoglossus hordoanus, a female, and the only one 
that had come under my notice. I then stated the differences between the females of the two forms to be 
as follows : — T. hordoanus. Cbeeks and sides of the neck bright bluish green, whereas in T. ruhronotatus 
the cheeks are of a darker tint, with yellow stripes, and the sides of the neck light grass-green, like the 
under surface of tbe whole body ; besides wbicb tbe red of the uropygium in T. hordoanus is much more 
vivid than the same colour in the males of T. ruhronotatus. The Irides are bright yellow ; bill and cere 
bright red; feet of a somewhat lighter tint; claws grey. The tongue is a regular brush; the stomach 
contained only flower-sap. 
“ I imagined that the males would prove to be still more distinct, as the difference between the females 
was so marked ; this, however, did not prove to he the case. The Dresden Museum possesses a male spe- 
cimen of the Mysore bird ; the chief points of difference between this and T. ruhronotatus are as follows : — 
Under surface, especially on throat, bluish green instead of the yellowish tint in T. ruhronotatus ; the red of 
the uropygium brighter and more extensive than in the New-Gulnea bird, where it only consists of a few 
feathers even in the male when in full plumage ; besides wbicb the red on the sides of the breast appears to 
extend more to the centre in T. hordoanus than in T. ruhronotatus ; and, finally, the green of the upper sur- 
face of the former is of a more brilliant hue than in the latter. 
“ These differences are not great, yet they are conspicuous and cannot be overlooked or underrated ; their 
real significance, however, lies in the fact that they coincide with the geographical separation, and in their 
constancy. In our Darwinian days but few naturalists will dispute that Insular forms are to be regarded as di- 
rectly derived from continent ones, nor will the value of the small differences be disputed. When sufficient 
materials of similar deviations from a parent stock are collected, the reasons of these variations may, per- 
haps, be rendered more clear, and the laws by whicb they sometimes take place be more fully recognized.” 
The principal figures are of the size of life. 
