M E t l B R H O P H E T E S B A T E S ! , -Sharpe.
MELIRRHOPHETES BATESI, Sharpe.
Bates’s Honey-eater.
Melirrhophetes batesi, Sharpe, Na ture, 1886, p . 340.
T h e discovery o f a species o f the genus Melirrhophetes in Southern New Guinea is of great interest, as
hitherto the genus has been supposed to be confined to the north-western portion of that island. It is being
gradually proved, however, that these mountainous faunae o f the north-west and south-east of New Guinea are
similar in character, and that either the same species occur throughout the island, or else representative species
o f the same genus are discovered. In the present instance the Melirrhophetes o f the Astrolabe Mountains
is closely allied to M . ochromelas of Meyer, from the Arfak Mountains; but it is evidently distinct, having a
tuft o f tawny feathers above and below the bare space of the eye, nor does it seem to have the brown shade
behind the ear-coverts which is represented in our Plate o f M . ochromelas, and was drawn from the type
specimen. I am not aware o f the existence o f any example of the last-named species in this country, so we
have only had the Plate to compare with, but this leaves little doubt o f the distinctness o f M . batesi.
No particulars accompanied the single specimen sent by Mr. Forbes, who obtained it in the Sogeri district
o f the Astrolabe range in Southern New Guinea. At his request we have named it after Mr. H. W. Bates,
who, a traveller himself, knows how to sympathise with the difficulties which surround the absent explorer.
The following is a description o f the typical specimens:—
Adult. General colour above blackish, the mantle and upper back tipped with white or pale tawny buff
edges to the feathers; the lower back and rump uniform dark brown; scapulars and lesser wing-coverts
blackish with a slight wash o f olive, a little more distinct on the median series; the greater and primary-
coverts, as well as the quills, blackish brown, edged with olive-yellow, more distinct on the secondaries ;
bastard-wing dusky blackish ; primaries tipped with pale fulvous, extending a little way down the outer web ;
upper tail-coverts dark brown, with a slight wash of olive; tail-feathers dark brown, edged externally with
greenish olive; crown o f head black, the occiput and nape browner, with a faint tinge of olive, the hind neck,
again, rather blacker; lores black ; region of the eye bare, with a band o f pale tawny feathers on the sides
o f the crown along the e y e ; ear-coverts and feathers below the eye, as well as the cheeks, black, the
ear-coverts and hinder cheeks slightly washed with grey, and having a small tuft o f tawny featliers behind
the former; throat and under surface o f body blackish brown, with narrow shaft-lines of ashy white on
the breast-feathers, the lower breast and abdomen browner and more sooty; sides of body, flanks, and thighs
like the breast; under tail-coverts dusky brown, broadly edged with tawny or yellowish buff; under wing-
coverts and axillaries blackish, the latter tipped with yellowish buff; quills below blackish, the primaries
with pale tips, the base of the inner webs also pale tawny. Total length 9 inches, culmen 1-3, wing 4-8,
tail 4*1, tarsus 1*05.
The figures in the Plate are drawn from the specimen described above, and represent the species o f the
natural size.
[R. B. S.j