430 Mr. B. Alexander —An Ornithological 
Museum, agree very closely with the Transvaal birds, but the 
rumps are of a clear blue, and the upper parts have become 
brown, except that a few freshly-moulted feathers are distinctly 
washed with olive-green, as in the Transvaal specimens. On 
the other hand, we have a specimen in our series in fresher 
plumage, and identical in every respect with the Kokai 
birds. It therefore appears that in all freshly-moulted birds 
of P. meyeri the upper parts have a distinct wash of olive- 
green, while the coloration of the rump and underparts is 
made up of the compound colour, bluish green. Under the 
influence of a tropical sun the tendency in plumage is to 
become brighter. 
Therefore we contend that in both the freshly-moulted 
specimens from the Transvaal (P. transvaalemis) and Kokai 
(P. erythrece) the coloration of the rump has no typical value, 
since the primary blue, a decidedly stronger colour in this 
instance, would under the above-mentioned influence gra¬ 
dually predominate and eliminate the yellow tint, causing 
the bluish green. This also applies to the coloration of the 
underparts. Again, the olive-green wash on the upper parts 
of the freshly-moulted specimens, being a sensitive colour, 
would gradually disappear through bleaching, leaving the 
feathers a uniform dark brown. 
In the series in the British Museum there is every grada¬ 
tion of shade to be found between the blue of our adult 
birds (Zambesi) and the bluish green of the Kokai specimens. 
Kegarding wing-measurements, there is a very slight differ¬ 
ence between the northern and southern birds; the latter, 
however, are generally slightly larger, but this is not always 
constant. 
181. PtEOCEPHALUS Sp. illC. 
At rare intervals we came across another Parrot, similar to 
the preceding one, but easily distinguishable when on the 
wing by its considerably larger size, and the note also was 
very much louder. We first observed it near Tete, but failed 
to procure specimens, owing to its shy and wild nature. 
