Sulomoii Miilloi- obtained the present speties at Lobo, and D'Albertls met witli it on the Fly River, which
up to the present tnnc has been supposed to be its most easterly range. I find, however, that since the
puhlicatloTi of the ' Catalogue of lilrds ' the Uritish Museum has received two sj)eciinens which inarlc a
still more easterly extension of the known range of this Hird of Paradise in New Guinea. The late
Hon. liugh Itornilly presented to the Museum some few years ago a valuable collection of birds from the
A.strolabe llange, and amongst them I find a skin of the true J/, chtthjbeata. A second specimen was
presented by Sir James Ingbam, the bird in question having been procured by his son in Cloudy Bay.
The statements as to the occurrence of tliis bird in Salawati, Waigiou, and the Aru Islands are apparently
erroneous, as has been pointed out by Count Salvadori. It is found, however, on the island of Mysol,
where the well-known Dutch traveller, Iloedt, met witi] it.
Dr. Guillemard, who obtained a male s])ecimen in Mysol, has stated his opinion that M, atra and
M, chahjheata are the same species and that the dilTerences between them can be accounted for on the
score of age. I confess that at one time I myself entertained the same idea, as there is so much variation
in the plumage of J / , aira that it seemed as if it must be a species of which jM. chahjheata was the fully
adidt bird. As Dr. Guillemard points out, it seems improbable that there should be two such closely allied,
yet distinct, species coexisting ii] the same districts ; but, as Count Salvadori has said in his rejoinder,
M. atra alone has been met with in the Aru Islands, and until tiie true M. chab/beata is found in the latter
group it will be impossible to consider the two species identical. At present this statement is unanswerable.
The following description of Mr. AVallace's Dorey specimen is cojiied from the ' Catalogue of Birds ' : —
Adult male. Head pnr|)le, the feathers compressed and close-set; the nape slightly washed with steelgreenish,
as also the liinder neck and mantle ; back rich purple, the feathers of the iuterscapulary region
rather recurved ; wiugs and tail rich jinrple, the inner webs of the feathers blackish, the outer wiug-eoverls
somewhiit shaded with steel-black ; sides of the face and neck deep green, the feathers compressed and
velvety like those of the crown ; tliose of the chin, throat, and fore neck e.'itending onto the sides of the
neck, crinkled and curled and of an oily-green colour ; the rest of the under surface deep jiurple, the feathers
being tipped with this colour, le.ss broadly oji the vent and under tail-coverts, a few of the abdominal
plumes with a slight greenish reflection ; under wing-coverts black, the outer edge of the wing washed
with green : bill and feet black ; " iris red " {Guillemard). Total length 14-5 inches, culmen I-6o, wing 6-85,
tail 5-9, tarsus 1-55.
The Plate is reproduced from Mr. Gould's 'Birds of New Guinea,' and represents an adult bird of the
natural size.
MANUCODIA ORIENTALIS, Saivud.
Eastern Manucotle.
Mamtcodia chalyheata, part., Finsch & Meyer, Zeitsclir. ges. Orn. 1885, p. ;i74.—lid. Ibis, 1880, p. 241.—
Salvadori, Aggiunte Orn. Papuasia e delle Molueche, ii. p. 147 (1890).—Id. Ann. Mus. Civic. Cienov.
(3) X. p. 821 (1891).—Meyer, Abhandl. k. Mus. Dresd. 1890-91, no. 4, p. 12 (18S1).—Id, J. f. O,
1892, p. 260.
Mamcodia orientalis, Salvad. Ann. Mus. Civic. Genov. (2) xvi. p. lO.? (1890).—Rothscliild, Novit. Zool. iii.
p. 262 (1896).
ACCORDING to Count Salvadori, this species differs from the true M. eliahjheata in having a more slender
bill, and the feathers of the uecl; have a more pronounced blue gloss, while the feathers above the eye
are longer in the adult bird and form two ridges.
This form, which Mr. Rothschild regards merely as a race of M. chabjbeata, inhabits Eastern New
Guinea. It has been found on the coasts near Milne Bay aiul to the north of Hnon Gulf, while
Dr. Loria has ])rocured it in several places on the Owen Stanley Mountains, where also Mr. Alfred Meek
met with it. The adult specimens from South-eastern New Guinea in tlie Britisli Museum differ from
M. chahjheata from Dorey in having »¡ore steel-blue or green on the crown, the latter being decidedly
purjile in the Dorey bird.
According to Dr. Loria, the bill and feet aiul the iris are didl red. The bird feeds on fruit.
Of this and the following species it has not been considered necessary to give figures.
MANUCODIA JOBIENSIS, ^«w.
Jobi Manucode.
Mmucoiia johiemis, Salvad. Ann. Mus. Civic. Genov. vii. p. 969 (1875), viii. p. 404 (1876), ix. p. 189 (1877).
—Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. iii. p. 184 (1877).—Elliot, Ibis, 1878, p. 56.—Meyer, Abbild. Vog.-Skel.
p. 56, Taf. vii. A (1879).—Endes-Deslongch. Ann. Mus. Caen, i. p. 45 (1880).—Salvad. Orn. Papuasia
e delle Molueche, ii. p. 502 (1881).—Mussehenbr. Pagboek, pp. 196, 229 (1883).—Uosenb. Mitth.
orn. Ver. Wien, 1885, p. 40.—Guillem. P. Z. S. 1885, p. 646.—Meyer, Zeitschr. ges. Om. 1885,
p. :ì74.—Id. Ibis, 1886, p. 242.—D'Hamonv. Bull. Soc. Zool. France, 1886, p. 510.—Salvad. Aggiunte
Orn. Papnasia, ii. p. 147 (1890).—Sharpe, Bull. Brit. Orn. Club, iv. p. xiii (1894).
THE Manucode of Jobi Island has been separated by Count Salvadori on the following characters :—
The head is of a metallic green, instead of steel-blue as in M. chahjbeala. The nnderparts are shining
green, and the fore-neck and upper breast are green, with vel vety black transverse bands, while the
lower breast and abdomen are of a less lustrous green without the black velvety bands. In M. cliahjbeata
the fore-neck and upjier breast are glossy green with golden spots, and the rest of the under surface is
steel-blue, inclining to violet under certain lights, and the feathers of the lower breast have a velvety
black transverse band. The interscapular feathers incline more to green, and the black velvety edgings
are less conspicuous.
The bill is more compressed, and commences at a more acute angle in the middle of the forehead, a
dilTercnce which is well marked and constant. In the shape of the bill M. jobiensis approaches M. atra.