APROSMICTUS INSIGNISSMUS, Gould.
Beautiful King-Parrot.
Apromictus insignissimus, Gould, P. Z. S. 1875, p. 314.
I wish it were in my power to write a complete history o f the splendid Pa rro t figured in the accompanying
Plate. All th at is a t present known is that i t was shot, in 1874, a few miles north o f the village o f Dalby,
on the Darling Downs, in Queensland. My first knowledge of its existence was through a life-sized sketch
from the hands o f the son o f Mr. Waller. Since then the actual specimen has been forwarded to me
by Mr. Coxen, who has purchased it for the infant museum o f Brisbane.
Those ornithologists who have paid attention to the Parrots o f Australia, either in a state of nature or in
the cabinet, will at once perceive the affinity of this bird with the ordinary King-Parrot o f the brushes of
New South Wales (Apromictus scapulatus) . In structure it is very similar to th at bird, while in colour it
greatly partakes o f Ptistes. In their habits and local habitations, however, Ptistes and Apromictus
widely differ. Aprosmictus is almost solely an inhabitant o f the thick brush, while Ptistes is as exclusively a
frequenter o f the thinly timbered open plains ; the former is dull, quiet, and slow in its movements, while
the latter passes over the tops o f the highest trees of the plains with a strong vigorous flight. Each o f them
has a well-developed os furcatorium, a bone not found in Platycercus and allied genera.
The King-Parrot has a stout bill, the lower half o f which is black, the upper r e d ; while in Ptistes both
mandibles are highly coloured; the former has also a shorter and less ample wing than the latter.
I mention this particularly to show the improbability o f this bird being a lusus, o r hybrid, between the
birds above mentioned; and it may b e th at it is an accidental visitor from New Guinea.
T h e following is a repetition o f what is published in the ‘ Proceedings o f the Zoological Society’ for
1 875:—
“ Head emerald green, excepting the centre o f the crown and a patch on the nape, these parts being
scarlet, the green forming a narrow frontal line between the nostrils and the crown ; round the hind neck a
narrow collar o f emerald green ; back, including the mantle and scapulars, deep grass-green, each feather
obscurely edged with darker c o lo u r; lower back and rump shining b lu e ; upper tail-coverts b right grass-
green ; all the tail-feathers above deep grass-green, with indistinct narrow bars o f darker colour on every
one o f th em ; the underside o f the tail uniform purplish b lack ; wings green, with a broad longitudinal patch
o f yellow, many o f these feathers edged with scarlet, this mark being very indistinct and similar to th at seen
in the male of P tis te s; under wing-coverts greenish b lu e ; inner lining o f quills purplish black like the
lower surface o f the t a il; under surface o f body scarlet, with dashes o f bright green on the flanks; under
tail-coverts green, fringed with sc a rle t; both mandibles o f the bill bright orange-red ; legs blackish. Total
length 15J inches, wing 9, tail 71, tarsus f .
I t is pretty evident th at this specimen had not quite completed its fully adult livery. I f it had done so,
the green feathers on the back o f the head would bare been red.
In conclusion I must thank the authorities o f the Brisbane Museum for the extreme courtesy which
induced them to send so valuable a bird to England for the purpose o f this work. I have thus been enabled
to give a life-size illustration o f this remarkable and interesting species.