MICRODYNAMIS PARYA. 
Dwarf Koel. 
Eudynamis parva, Salvad. Ann. Mus. Civic. Genov, vii. p. 986 (1875). 
Microdynamis parva, Salvad. Ann. Mus. Civic. Genov, xiii. p. 461 (1878). — Id. Orn. Papuasia e delle Molucche, 
i. p. 371 (1880). 
RhampJiomantis rollesi, Ramsay, Proc. Linn. Soc. N. S. Wales, viii. p. 24 (1884). — Salvad. Ibis, 1884, p. 354. 
We regret greatly that we have not been able to obtain a specimen of the adult male of this very interesting 
species of Cuckoo, but recognizing the importance of figuring in the present work as many peculiar 
Papuan genera as possible, we have deemed it better to figure the immature birds than to omit the 
species altogether. 
The male has the head glossy black, and the general aspect of the bird, as well as the colour of 
its plumage, proclaims its relationship with the Koels or Black Cuckoos of the genus Eudynamis. Its 
short curved bill, however, distinguishes it from the typical Koels, while its small size is a striking 
peculiarity. 
The history of Microdynamis is somewhat involved, for the original specimen was sent by Dr. Beccari, 
along with a number of others, from the island of Tidore in the Moluccas ; but with the consignment 
were one or two New Guinea species, which led Count Salvadori to suspect that the type of Micro- 
dynamis parva might also have come from New Guinea rather than from Tidore. In this surmise we 
expect him to be correct, as there can be little doubt that the specimens figured in our Plate are of 
the same species as the bird described by Count Salvadori. There is no question also that they are 
the same as the RhampJiomantis rollesi described by Mr. Ramsay from Mount Astrolabe. Although closely 
allied to, and in appearance much resembling, Rhamphomantis megarhyncJius, the latter has a differently 
formed bill, and belongs to another section of the family Cuculidce. 
Mr. H. O. Forbes has procured two specimens in the Sogeri district of the Astrolabe Mountains, 
viz. a female (which we presume to he adult) and a young bird, of which the following are descriptions : — 
Adult female. General colour above brown, glossed with greenish bronze, with indistinct traces of 
rufous margins to the feathers ; wing-coverts like the back, but a little more rufous, with the rufous 
margins more pronounced ; bastard-wing dusky brown, edged with rufous ; primary-coverts and quills 
brown, edged with rufous and glossed with greenish bronze, especially on the secondaries; upper tail- 
coverts and tail-feathers brown, glossed with greenish bronze and edged with rufous, the outer feathers 
slightly freckled with rufous on the inner web ; crown of head like the back, and spotted with 
rufous, with a band of glossy black across the nape ; lores dusky ; below the eye a streak of 
white from the base of the bill across the ear-coverts, which are otherwise like the crown ; cheeks 
black, forming a broad band bordering the throat, which is tawny rufous ; remainder of under surface 
of body ashy brown, washed with rufous, with faint indications of dusky cross bars ; thighs dusky 
brown ; under tail-coverts pale ashy, washed with rufous and faintly barred with dusky ; under wing- 
coverts and axillaries pale rufous, the latter with indistinct dusky bars; quills below dusky, rufous 
on the inner edge ; “ bill blue-black ; legs and feet lavender-blue ; iris with a red ring ” {II. 0. FI). 
Total length 7*2 inches, culmen 0*65, wing 3*85, tail 3*4, tarsus 0*7. 
The young bird differs in having scarcely any black on the nape or cheeks; the upper surface is 
more distinctly washed with rufous, especially on the head, which is also plainly barred with dusky ; 
the wings are more rufous, and the mottlings on the inner webs of the tail-feathers are more marked ; 
the throat is ashy, with faint dusky cross bars. 
The type specimen, described by Count Salvadori, is probably an adult male, and has the whole 
of the head and hind neck black. Mr. Ramsay’s description also agrees with this ; but in his account 
of the female, which appears to be immature, there seem to be some misprints, as we cannot 
understand the description as it stands. 
The figures in the Plate represent the female and young bird of the natural size; they are 
drawn from the specimens obtained by Mr. Forbes, and described above. 
[R. B. S.] 
