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DREPANORNIS JiRUIJNll, QM,.
E n i i j n ' s Bi r d of l'íiradisc.
Dreprnwrnis brmjim, Oustalct, Bull. Assoc. Sci. France, 1880, p. 172.-1(1. Ibis, 18Hl,]j. 1 (11.—Salvali, firii.
Papiiasia, etc. ii. p. 5fi:t (1881).—IMusscliciibr. Dagboek, jip. 200, 2:i() (ISS.'i).—Ouillem. I'. Z. S.
1885, p. (i4!l.—Meyer, Zcitsclir. gcs. Orn. 1885, p. ;!82.—Id. Ibis, 1880, p. 2.1!).—Sharpe, in Gould's
B. New Guinea, i. pi. 12 (1880).—D'llamonv. Bull. Soc. Zool. Franco, 1880, pp. :,(!;,, r,0!l.—Onstalet,
Le Naturaliste, 1887, p. 180.—Id. Ibis, 18811, p. Salvad. Agg. Orn. I'apuasia, etc. ii. p.
(1890).—Oustalet, N. Arch. Mus. Paris, (3) v. p. 2i)5, pi. 0 (18ii:i).
W h e n Count Salvador! wrote lii.s account of tlie lîlrds of Paradise in Ills ccleliratcd work on the ()rnltlioloi;y
of New Gninea, the present sjiecles ivas only known from Dr. Oiistalct's description of a female bird, and the
distinctness of the species was somewhat (jiieslioned by the Count. The S|iecimen descrilird by Dr . Onslalet
was In brown plumage, and was collected by Mr. liruijn's hnntcrs In the eastern part of the liav of
Geclvlnk in North-western New Guinea.
Several si)eclmeus in brown plumaf^e were subsequently sent to Europe by l\Ir. lîruljn, some of which were
acquired by Dr. Meyer for the Dresden Museum, and by ihe British Mnseuni. Dnrluji ihe cruise of the
' M a r c b e s a , ' Dr. Guillemard procured two examples, also In brown plumage, one of whicli was figured and
ilescribcd by nic in the late Mr. Gould's 'Birds of New Guinea.'
D r . Guillemard gives iho following acconut of his specimens ;—" Wliile in Ternate Mr. Brnljii showed uie
t h e skins of two birds of the genus Drepcnmrnh obtained by his hunters on the north const of New Guinea
a little to the eastward of the mouths of the Amberbaki liiver. One was marked ' fcmiile,' the other ' mal e ' ;
l)ut both were destitute of any brilliant colouring whatsoever Mr . Bruljn informed me that his
hunters had obtained seven or eiglit exanijilcs of this species, hnt that, though of diirerent se.ves, they were
all of the same sober colouring. Judging from the habits of others of the I'araiimculte, notably in ihe case
o f / * , rubra, where the immature males and females appear to live hi districts qni(e apart from the adult male
at certain sea.sons of ihe year, and from the fact lhat in this group of birds the males are all of brilliant
colouring, we can safely predict that the adult male of ibis species has yet to be discovered, and that it will
j)robably show a develojiment of siibalar plumes closely resenihling that of D. afherim."
By a lia|)py decree of fale, Dr . Onstalet, to whom was due the first discrimination of the s|)ecles, when
only an exanqile of a female or immature male was at his disposal, has been (he first to describe the full
plumage of the adult male. Ill 18S7 he communicated a descnjitloii to the Freiicb Scicntlfic Association,
and he has since given a bcantifid figure of the male bird in the * Nouvelles Archives ' of ilie Paris
Museum. This figure shows that the characters of the massive bill and the extension of the bare skin of
t h e face, which Dr. Onstalet relied on for the distinctive characters of the species, fully just ified him in lis
•separation from D. alhertk). The dlíTerent disjiosition of the shields of plumes on (he sides of ihe breast
and flanks also proves lhat D. ormjnii belongs to a separate genus, for which I liave projiosed the name of
Drepanmmx.
The first specimen of an adult male was, according to Dr. Onstalet, aci|uircd by the well-known traveller
M. L(;on Laglaize, and was obtained on the norlh coast of New Gninea opposite the island of Podena,
between Gcelvliik Bay and Humboldt Bay, at about 141° E. long. Since then several fully pliimaged birds
have been received in Europe, and the Hon, Walter Rothschild possesses a good series of the species. He
has kindly lent me an adult male bird, from which I take (he following description :—
Adult male. General colour above brown, a little more reddish ou the lower back, rump, and iqiper tailcoverts
; bastard-wing blackish ; primary-coverts and quills also blackish, externally dull reddish brown, the
innermost secondaries almost entirely of the hitter colour ; tall dull tawny, dusky bron n along the inner web ;
crown of head covered with short velvety jilnmes of a purplish-bronze colour; sides of face entirely bare;
a line of metallic jilnmes along the sides of the crown, of a dull steel-green ; cheeks and throat velvety black,
with a slight gloss of bronze or purplish co]iper ; a spot of steel-blue ou each side of the middle of the
t h r o a t ; fore-neck and lateral ])rae-pectoral shields of fealhers blackish or velvety brown, according to the
light, with an oily-green gloss in the centre of the fore neck, the fan-like shields having a subterminal row of
f e a t h e r s which are ti|)]ied with fiery metallic copper, while the terminal row are velvely black, with a narrow
f r i n g e of metallic steel-blue at the tip ; remainder of under surface of the body from the fore-neck downwards
J B K U I J S Í I , Onsfaloi .
•MinCt'-'t /ir-o.1- itti/i.
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