APROSMICTUS CALLOPTERUS, IT A lb e r ti Salvai.
Yellow-winged King Parrot.
Aprosmictus callopterus, D'Albert. & Salvad. Ann. Mus. Civic. Genov, xiv. p. 29 (1879).
Ik a former part o f the present work I gave a figure of a very fine King Parro t from Queensland which I
called Am om ic tm insigmficm. At the time o f my describing this, some o f my friends believed the bird
to be a hybrid and not a tru e species. T h a t such a supposition is somewhat untenable is proved by
the bird which I now figure in the accompanying Plate having similar characteristics. Although scarcely
as large as the A . msigmficus<;it is evidently o f the same group, and is distinguished by the lengthened
brilliant shoulder-patch which formed such a conspicuous feature in th a t species.
The Am om ic tm callopterus is one o f the recent discoveries of Signor D'Albertis, during his exploration of
the Flv River in New Guinea; and more recently Mr. Kendal Broadbent has procured a similar P a rro t in
the mountains to the interior o f Po rt Moresby. The latter bird has been separated by Mr. Sharpe, and
called by him Aprosmictus broadbenti, for the following reasons:—I t is, says th at gentleman, a smaller bird,
and has the blue patch o f the mantle continued upwards onto the crown, whereas in A . callopterus the
entire head and neck a re red. The tail-feathers in callopterus áre conspicuously tipped with rosy red,
whereas, o f the two specimens I have seen (one in the collection o f the British Museum, the other in my
own) thefain test spot only o f this colour is observable in one feather of the bird I possess. Without wishing
to disparage so great an authority as Mr. Sharpe as to the two birds being distinct, it may be possible that
age may have something to do with the matter, and the A . callopterus is the younger bird ; for although ,t
is not only in Parrots th at I could point.out where such is the case, I can hardly believe in the existence
of two species of so limited a genus as Aprosmictus existing in such close proximity. At the same
time it must be remembered th at such is apparently the case in the Crowned Pigeons, where the Goura
alberthi of Po rt Moresby is distinct from the Goura sclater, of the Fly River. This is a question which
can only be solved by further explorations; and I am compelled g g lea v e the matter as it stands for the
present, and to allow A . broadbenti to stand o r fall when more positive proofs have been obtained.
I have received the following note on the subject from Signor D ’Albertis
“ Dear Mr. Gould , .
“ I am very sorry I cannot give you the amount of information you want about the beautiful Parro t
I discovered during my last expedition up the Fly. I found the bird on the 28th of June, 1877. I saw a
pair. T h e male being the brighter-coloured, was first k illed ; and the female was never seen again, rhey
were feeding on a small soft berry th at grows on very high and thick trees. I was delighted with my
capture, believiug a t the time I had got a new species, and, showing it to my men, offered a large reward
for any other specimen they might bring m e; b u t many days passed, and the bird could not be obtained by
either o f us. The country where I found it was hilly, and the forest magnificent, abounding in the most
beautiful tropical plants. Perhaps our having anchored further up the river, where the country was flat,
was the reason we did not find any more for a tim e ; but when we again reached the hills another specimen, a
female, was procured. The first two w ere adult birds. Late in October three more were se cu red ; but they
were all young; so th at I should imagine the nesting-season to be from Ju n e to October or, perhaps,
November. I t is a shy bird, slow, and not noisy, as most Parrots a r e ; and this may account for the
difficulty of finding it in the thick forest. I think it also prefers the hilly districts, which would explain
. Jits scarcity in the prevailing flat country on the banks o f the Fly. I am sorry not to be able to tell you any
more about this b ird ; but its rarity did not allow me to study its habits.
Signor D’Albertis mentions th at in the living bird the bill is black, excepting for the redd.sh spot on the
upper margin o f the base o f the upper mandible ; the feet are black ; and the iris is yellow o r orange-yellow.
For the opportunity of figuring this new and handsome species I have to thank Signor D Albertis, who
most kindly lent me a pair of specimens for the purpose. He informs me th at the red tips to the tail-
feathers are by no means a constant character ; but he admits that h e never saw a specimen of A . callopterus
similarly coloured to the two males of A . broadbenti above referred to.