F S IT T E fifttE® AffiFAmr.
PSITTEUTELES ARFAKI.
Arfak Lorikeet.
Trichoglossus ( Charmosyna) arfahi, Meyer, Verh. z.-b. GeseUsch. Wien, 1874, p. 37.
------------------ arfaJci, Meyer, Sitz. k . Akacl. Wien, lxix. p. 74 (1874).—Rowley, Orn. Misc. p art 3 (1876).
T he minute size and singular coloration o f the outer tail-feathers, which make this tiny Parro t resemble at
first sight one o f the Indian Minivets (Pericrocotus) , caused me no little astonishment when I first uncovered
the specimen which D r. Meyer was so kind as to send over to me from Dresden for the purpose of
figuring; but I further found that, in addition to these characteristics, it differed from all its allies in having
fourteen tail-feathers instead o f twelve. This peculiarity would .almost be sufficient to place it in a separate
g e n u s ; but this I cannot bring myself to do, in the face o f its evident affinity to P . placens and P . wilhelmince:
and when we consider th at certain Snipes a re still retained in the genus Gattinago which present similar
variations in the number o f the tail-feathers to th at exhibited by these little Lorikeets, it is not unreasonable
to keep the latter in one and the same genus.
Only three specimens were procured by Dr. Meyer during his trip to the Arfak Mountains, one old male
in full livery and two young ones ; one o f the latter passed into the collection o f Count Turati, o f Milan,
and the other into th at o f Mr. Dawson Rowley, o f Brighton, by whom it was figured in his interesting work
the ‘ Ornithological Miscellany.’ I am much indebted to this gentleman for the loan o f his specimen, which
is depicted in the adjoining Plate along with the adult male retained by Dr. Meyer for the Dresden
collection and s e n t over by him to England. The plate in the ‘ Ornithological Miscellany ’ represents the
bird to be a female; but I am assured by Dr. Meyer that some erro r must have occurred by the displacement
o f the original la b e l; for h e himself dissected the three specimens shot, and proved them to be
males, one being adult, as before noted, and the other two immature : these had the colouring incomplete
except as regards their ta ils ; but in size, as is often the case with young birds, they somewhat exceeded the
adult. I t is one o f these young birds th at has been figured by Mr. Dawson Rowley.
That this is a honey-eating P a rro t I have no doubt, its general characteristics uniting it with this group of
the P a r ro ts ; hut its colours are strikingly anomalous. Fancy a little bird, scarcely bigger than a Bearded
Reedling (Calamophilus biarmicus) with a tail like th at o f a Minivet (Pericrocotus) , and exhibiting a silvery
tear-mark running down a cheek o f smutty blue, and we have some o f the peculiarities o f this curious form.
The Plate, however, gives a better idea of the bird than can be gained from any remarks o f mine. The
following is a more detailed description o f the old male :—
T h e h a lf o f the crown nearest the bill, the under p a rt o f the shoulders, flanks, centre o f the abdomen,
and apical half o f the outer tail-feathers bright red, while the base o f each o f the feathers last mentioned
is jet-b la c k ; the rest o f the plumage both above and below fine grass-green; the margins o f the primaries
washed with b lu e ; sides o f face dull blue, with a silvery streak running down the c e n tre ; the under surface
of all the primaries and secondaries jet-black, crossed by a V-shaped band of b right yellow ; bill and feet
black.
Total length 6 inches, wing 2 f, tail 3 |, bill i , tarsi £.
Hab. Arfak Mountains, N.W. Guinea.
T h e figures represent the old and young birds, o f the size o f life.