H H H H V
MYZOMELA ANNABELL^E, Sclater.
Mrs. Forbes’s Honey-sucker.
Myzomela annabellee, Sclater, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1883, p . 56.
T h i s little Myzomela belongs to a small section o f the genus which contains M . loiei from Banda and
M. adolplince from the Arfak Mountains in North-western New Guinea. The former, however, differs m
having the whole of the back scarlet, while according to Count Salvadori's description of the Arfak species,
which we have never seen, the back is dusky greyish with a slight olive tint and the rump and upper
tail-coverts scarlet, whereas in M. annabdlw the mantle is blue-black and the lower back is scarlet as well as
the rump and upper tail-coverts.
The single specimen yet known was procured by Mr. Forbes in Loetoe while it was frequenting the
cocoa-nut trees from which the natives had been collecting their “ Tuak,” or palm-wine.
This pretty little species has been named by Mr. Sclater after Mrs. Forbes ; and we have great pleasure in
figuring a bird bearing the name o f this brave lady, who shared the perils o f Mr. Forbes's travels in the
Moluccas and even accompanied him to Timor Laut, where, in addition to the risks from the climate, their
collecting had to be done in a circumscribed area, with the constant dread o f an attack from the neighbouring
villages.
Adult male. General colour above blue-black, the centre o f the back, rump, and npper tail-coverts bright
scarlet; wing-coverts blue-black, greater coverts and quills black, with a narrow margin of yellowish olive; tail-
feathers blue-black, narrowly fringed with white along the edge of the inner web ; crown o f bead and hind neck
scarlet; lores black ; sides o f face, ear-coverts, cheeks, and throat bright scarlet, succeeded by a black patch
across the fore neck ; remainder of under surface of the body pale yellowish olive, the flanks mixed with
ashy, the bases being of this colour; thighs pale yellowish olive ; under tail-coverts white, washed with pale
yellowish olive and having faint dusky centres; under wing-coverts and axillaries white, washed with yellow
on the edge of the wing; quills blackish, white along the edge o f the inner web; “ bill black ; legs and feet
dirty green ; iris dark brown ” ( # . 0 . Forbes'). Total length 3-65 inches, culmen 0-55, wing 2-0, tail 1-3,
tarsus 0 ‘6.
The figures in the Plate represent the typical specimen, o f the natural size, in three positions.
[B. B. S.]