PTILORIS VICTORIA, Gow. 
Victoria Rifle Bird. 
Piiloris Victoria, Gould in Proc. of Zool, Soe., 1849, p. 111, Aves, pl. xii. 
Tur discovery of a new and beautiful Rifle bird has enabled me to fulfil a wish T had long entertained, of 
dedicating to our most gracious Queen one of the loveliest of the ornithological productions of her anti- 
podal dominions ; and L had therefore vo ordinary pleasure in naming the present species Victoria, as a 
just tribute of respect for the many virtues which have endeared Her Majesty to all classes of her subjects, 
and as some slight acknowledgment on my part of her kindness and liberality in permitting me to dedicate 
to her my great work on the ‘ Birds of Australia.’ 
The Ptiloris Vietorie is one of the many novelties which have rewarded the researches of Mr, MacGilli- 
vray, the able Naturalist of the late expedition of H.MLS. Rattlesnake. ‘The value of its acquisition is greatly 
enhanced by the notes he has recorded of its habits; which are particularly interesting to myself, inasmuch 
as they tend to confirm the opinion I have expressed in the Introduction as to the alliance of the mem- 
bers of this genus to the Chimucteres. ‘The present species is smaller in all its admeasurements than the 
Pliloris paradisea, but is still more resplendent in colour; it may be distinguished by the purple of the 
breast presenting the appearance of a broad pectoral band, bounded above by the scale-like feathers of the 
throat, and below by the abdominal band of deep oil-green, and also by the broad and much-lengthened 
flank feathers which show very conspicuously. 
It appears to be strictly an inhabitant of the north-eastern portion of Australia, and the chain of islands 
lying between the Barrier Reef and the mainland. The following notes respecting it have been transmitted 
to me by Mr. MacGillivray :— 
“This bird was seen by us during the survey of the N.E. coast of Australia on the Barnard Isles, and 
on the adjacent shores of the mainland at Rockingham Bay, in the immediate vicinity of Kennedy’s first 
camp. On one of the Barnard Isles (No. HI. in lat. 17° 43° 8.) which is covered with dense brush I found 
the Victoria Rifle Bird (supposed at the time to be the P. paradisea), in considerable abundance. Females 
and young males were common, but rather shy; however, by sitting down and quietly watching in some 
favourite locality, one or more would soon alight on a limb or branch, run along it with great celerity, stop 
abruptly every now and then to thrnst its beak under the loose bark in search of insects, and then fly off as 
suddenly as it had arrived. Occasionally I have seen one anxiously watching me from behind a braneb, its 
head and neck only being visible. At this time (June) the young males were very pugnacious, and upon 
one occasion three of them were so intent upon their quarrel that they allowed me to approach sufficiently 
near to kill them all with a single charge of dust shot. The adult males were comparatively rare, always 
solitary and very shy. ] never Saw them upon the frees, but only in the thick bushes and masses of climbing 
plants beneath them; on detecting the vicinity of man they immediately shufiied off among the branches to- 
wards the opposite side of the thicket and flew off for a short distance. I did not observe them to utter 
any call or ery; this, however, may have arisen from my attention not having been so much directed to 
them as to the females and young males, which I was more anxtous to procure, the very different style of 
their colouring having led me to helieve they were a new species of Pomatorhinus.” : 
The male has the general plumage rich deep velvety black, glossed on the upper surface, sides of the 
neck, chin and breast with plum-colour feathers of the head and throat small, scale-like, and of a shining, 
feathers of the abdomen very much developed, of the same hue as the upper surface, 
syed with rich deep olive-green, that the colouring of the basal portion of 
ead abdominal band, which is sharply defined above, 
metalhe bronzy green ; 
but each feather so broadly margine 
the feather is hidden, and the olive-green forms a br A es Shae Mae 
but irregular below; two centre tail-feathers rich shining metallic green, the remainder deep black; Dt 
: ram 
and feet black. J th oli 
F yer + } fe 
The female has all the upper surface greyish brown, tinged ett 1 olive ee eat ai 
ch brown; over each eye a superciliary stripe of buff; wing-feathers edged with 
7 surface, under wing-coverts, aud the base 
; head and sides of the ueck dark 
brown, striated with grey , 
ferruginous ; chin and throat pale bul’; remainder of the ne er surl ; Ee aR IR 
of the inver webs of the quills rich deep reddish bull, each feather with an irregular spo 0 ar t 
* > syeness U . - j e . k ck. 
tip, dilated on the flanks ito the form of irregular bars ; bill and feet black 
The Plate represents two males and a female of the natural size. 
