.,,e fV:Ul,e,-s of ,l,e n,a„tle also ,no„le.l . id, Mack, tl,e bases of the frathe,. be.ng f .s - l o n - n ^
„ a p e v e h e t v blacK. with a .„„-pli.l, gloss üben seen .uvay t,-o,n the gbt ; -n.g-cov^ s ^
l,est,u,t-;-e.l, lll<e the back, >!,e ,„-imanes black, el,est,,,.t on tbe„- cu e,- webs; ta,l un,to„
, e s t „ „ t . space a.™„ul a„d bebi„,l .be eye ba,-e, as also a spot o„ tbe aunclar ,-eg,o„ ; ea,-eove ts
' d e J o r n,cea„,l ,h™at ^.-eyisb wbite, ü.i„tly .„ottled witl, d.sky l,a,-s of blaek,sb ; ,-est of
s„,-fac of body bud'y brown, wasl,e,l be,-e a,„l tbe,-e wi,b pale ,-„fous. the wbole t,-ansve,-selv ba,-,-ed «,tb
'son.ewhat in-egnlar "c,-oss lines of blaekisb b,-own, b,-oade,- on tbe fore-neck and breast, and „.ore fa.ntly
indicated on tl^. abdon.en, and especially on tbe long flank-foabc-s
coverts bright ebestnnt, with <l„sky blackish cross ba,-s: "iris o,-a„ge" ^GuUl^nard). lotal length
I-2-5 inches, cnhnen 2-55, wing G-5, tail 4-3, tarsus 17. „ • • r .
At f„-st ,-cse„,bles the adnlt fcnale. A speci,.,en collected by D,-. Wallace ,s ,n perfect
p h „ „ a g : a s , - e g a r d s its head, ,nantle, and breast, the .-est of the body being in the chestnut plu,„age o
the female the tail being still cnti,-elv chestnut. At the sa,ne tin,e the beant,lnl |,u,-ple colour ,s being put
on the winces by a gradual change of feather, and not by a ,nouU ; half the inner seeo„da,-,es are chestnut,
but ,nore or less ,nottled with black, the purple colour a|,pea,-ing ve,-y plainly on tl,e ,n,.e,- webs.
With ,-ega,-d to the n.ethod of change in this species. Dr. Gnille,na,-d ,-e,na,-ks as follows 1 he head
n,.st assn.nes its black ph,n,es, with da,-kening of tl,e feathers. tVo.n within outwards, ou U,e neck : the
shield appearing g,-adually .„eanwhile. The neck then gets darker, and the wing-feathers beg,,, to bo t„,ged
with violet, appa,-e„tly con„nencing with the secondaries. As yet the lower breast and abdo.nen have
ren,ained unchanged, except that on the flanks the feathe,-s are n,ore pin,nose. In the next stage tl,e u|^,er
parts head, neck,^ aud breast a,-e complete, the wings tolerably so, while the tail is t,nged w,th v,olet. The
'ub-aiar plu.nes have aj.peared, but are short, of a dull bulf, and barred with brown, though the w,res are
ahnost as long as iu the adnlt, but are black with pale ti,,s. The breast is still almost m,eha,,ged, except
that it is so,newhat yellower. The final change that appears to take place is the assumption of the yellow
on the breast and phunes, and the deep violet-black tail. The native na,ne for this bird ,n Salwatt, .s
' ^ T h e ^ p i a t e s are the same as tl.ose published by Gould in his • Bi,-ds of New Guinea,' the adult male
bein.^ fi..u,-ed iu two positions; while the adult female, and the young male in two stages of phunage,
f o r n r the st.bject of the second Plate. Tbe desc,-iptions are copied fron, n,y third volume of the
' Catalogue of Birds."