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PSITTACJEUUA MAUD AM ASM, Mtya
PSITTACELLA MADARASZI, Meyer.
Madarasz’s Parrakeet.
Psittacella madaraszi, Meyer, ZeitsChr. ges. Orn. iii. p. 4, tab. i. fig. 1 (1886).
D r . M ey er describes this species as being similar to Psittacella modesta from North-western New Guinea,
but smaller, and with the head and under surface of the body distinctly more yellow. I t was found by
Mr. Hunstein in the Horseshoe range o f the Owen Stanley Mountains, a t a height of 7000 feet, and
Mr. Forbes has also met with it in the Sogeri district o f the Astrolabe Mountains in South-eastern
New Guinea No t having an example of P . modesta in the British Museum, we have not been able to
institute a comparison between the two species, and in figuring P . madaraszi we must leave to future
research the task o f more strictly defining the species, the characters o f which do not appear very strongly
marked. Perhaps the green colour o f the breast, to which Dr. Meyer draws attention, instead o f the dull
olive-coloured breast o f P . modesta, may prove to be a good specific character.
Dr. Meyer also received a female bird from Mr. Hunstein, which he thinks may not be in full plumage,
but w h ic h differs from the hen o f P . modesta in having the head green, the forehead blue, and the nape
more or less barred across with black and red. He is not sure th at the bird so described is the female of
P . madaraszi, and thinks th at it may belong to an undescribed species.
T h e following is a description o f one o f M r. Hunstein’s specimens in the British Museum :—
Adult male. General colour above green, the lower back and rump barred with yellow and black, the
yellow bars broader than the black o n e s ; wing-coverts like the back, the edge o f the wing cobalt-blue;
bastard-wing, primary-coverts, and quills green externally, the inner webs blackish, the primaries darker
and more bluish green on the outer webs, which a re narrowly bordered with yellow near the en d s ; upper
tail-coverts more yellowish green than the b a ck ; tail-feathers dark green with black shafts ; crown o f head,
nape, and hind neck ochreous brown, mottled with dark brown edges and yellow shaft-lines to the fea th e rs ;
forehead, lores, and feathers in front o f the eye sooty brown ; sides o f face and ear-coverts like the head,
the latter similarly streaked with yellow; cheeks and throat ochreous-brown washed with green ; fore neck
and breast g r e e n ; abdomen and sides o f body lighter and more yellowish green, washed on the ilanks with
darker « r e e n ; thighs dark green ; under tail-coverts s c a r le t; under wing-coverts and axillaries yellowish
o-reen, blue near the edge o f the wing ; quills below dusky, olive-yellow along the inner edge. Total length
5 '5 inches, culmen 0 -6, wing 3*95, tail 1*9, tarsus 0 ‘5.
T h e Plate gives an illustration o f a male, but in two positions, the figures being drawn from the same
specimen we have described above.
[R. B. S.]