EACHYCEPHAIA CHBXSTOiPHOBI» Tristram
PACHYCEPHALA CHRISTOPHORI, Tristr.
San-Christoval Thickhead.
Pachycephalus christophori, T ristram, Ib is, 1879, p. 441.
Pachycephala christophori, Salvad. Ibis, 1880, p. 131.— Id. Orn. Papuasia e delle Molucche, ii. p. 216 (1881).—
Ramsay, P roc. Linn. Soc. N . S. W . vi. p . 178 (1882), vii. p . 25 (1883).—Salvad. Ibis, 1884, p. 323.—
T ris tr. t. c. p. 398.
Pachycephala astrolabi, ju v ., Gadow, Cat. B irds in B rit. Mus. ix. p. 200 (1883j>
T h is species was discovered by Lient. Richards in the island o f San Christoval in the Solomon group, and
was described by Canon Tristram. It is undoubtedly a distinct species, without the yellow collar round
the hind neck or the black head o f P . astrolabi, which is its nearest ally.; it is also a much smaller bird
than the last named, which is an inhabitant o f Guadalcanar in the Solomon Archipelago. According to
Mr. Ramsay, P . christophori has also been found in the island of Ugi by Messrs. Morton and Stephens.
Dr. Gadow considered that the present species was merely the young of P . astrolabi; but in this he was
undoubtedly wrong, as has been shown by Canon Tristram and Count Salvadori.
The following is a description o f the typical specimens in Canon Tristram’s collection :—
Adult male. General colour dull yellowish green, a little lighter on the lower rump and upper tail-coverts;
lesser wing-coverts a little yellower than the hack; median and greater coverts dusky blackish, washed
externally with olive-yellow; bastard-wing, primary-coverts, and quills also dusky blackish, edged with olive-
yellow ; the primaries margined with ashy g r ey ; tail-feathers dusky blackish, the centre ones dull olive-
yellowish towards the base, the remainder washed externally and tipped with dull olive-yellow; crown of
head a little more dusky yellowish green than the hack ; the lores black, as also a frontal band; fore part o f
eyelid and feathers below the eye blackish ; ear-coverts dull olive-brown with whitish shaft-lines; cheeks and
throat bright yellow, followed by a broad black hand across the lower throat, fore neck, and chest; breast and
abdomen bright yellow, inclining to orange on the upper breast; sides o f body and flanks also yellow, very
slightly tinged with greenish ; thighs and under tail-coverts paler yellow; under wing-coverts and axillaries
white, washed with yellow on the edges ; quills below dusky, white along the inner ed g e : “ feet ash-colour,
iris g rey” ( G. E . Richards) . Total length 6*4 inches, cnlmen 0 8 , wing 3'4, tail 2 -3, tarsus 1*05.
Adult female. Brighter yellowish green than the male, the head like the hack, but with no black forehead;
ear-coverts like the crown, tinged with reddish brown, o f which colour there is also a shade on the quills;
upper tail-coverts and tail, cheeks and entire under surface o f body bright yellow, paler on the throat,
slightly washed with greenish on the fore neck, chest, sides o f body, and flanks, and tinged with orange on
the breast; no black pectoral collar ; under wing-coverts and axillaries yellow; quills dusky below, reddish
along the edge o f the inner web. Total length 5*65 inches, cnlmen 0 8, wing 3 -25, tail 2 -2, tarsus 0 ‘95.
The young male resembles the old female, but has a few black feathers on the breast, indicating the
appearance of the pectoral band.
The Plate illustrates the male and female o f the natural size, the figures having been drawn from the
type specimens kindly lent to us by Canon Tristram.