KHÆMPHOCÏÏAFJS CBASSIROSXBIS» S a h c u l.
W. Ilari d e l e t HtUv
JHintovn Broe-imp.
r h a m p h o c h a r i s c r a s s i r o s t r i s , Salvaci.
Stout-billed Flower-pecker.
Rhamphocharis crassirostris, Salvad. Ann. Mus. Civic. Genov, vii. p. 943(1875).—Id. op. cit. xvi. p. 69 (1880).—
Id. Orn. Papuasia e delle Moìncelie, ii. p. 288 (1881).—Sharpe, Cat. Birds in Brit. Mus. x. p. 84
(1885),
T his is at once one o f the most curions and at the same time one o f the most distinct o f the Meliphagine
Flower-peckers, by which term we mean those aberrant forms which inhabit New Guinea, and which connect
the family Dicceidce with the Honey-eaters or Meliphagidce. It is difficult to say whether such genera as
Rhamphocharis and its allies should be placed with the last-named family or a t the end o f the Dicoeidce, near
the genera Melanocliaris and Prislorhamphus. This is the view adopted by us in the ‘ Catalogue o f Birds /
but as one o f the principal characters of the Dicoeidce is the absence o f a bastard-primary, and Rhamphocharis
and the allied genera have a very distinct one, it is quite possible th at in future re-arrangements o f the
family they may be left out o f the Dicoeidoe and joined to the Meliphagidoe. In any case the genus
Rhamphocharis must be placed near to Prislorhamphus, from which it differs in the form o f hill and also in
having the wing longer than the tail.
The present species was discovered by Dr. Beccari in the Arfak Mountains in North-western New Guinea ;
and the following descriptions, copied from the ‘ Catalogue o f B ird s/ are taken from the typical specimens,
kindly lent to us by the Marquis Doria :—
“ Adult male (type o f species). General colour above olive-green, glossed with oil-green ; wing-coverts like
the back ; greater wing-coverts, bastard-wing, primary-coverts, and quills dusky brown, edged with olive-
green, brighter on the quills ; upper tail-coverts dusky, washed with olive-green ; tail-feathers blackish,
edged with olive-green ; lores olive dusky ; edge of eyelid white ; ear-coverts and cheeks light ashy, with
the upper parts o f the ear-coverts dusky olive ; entire under surface o f body pearly grey, slightly washed
with pale yellow ; thighs and under tail-coverts a little darker ashy ; axillaries pale yellow ; wings white,
with a pale yellow wash ; quills dusky, ashy grey along the edge o f the inner web. Total length 4 ’6 inches,
culmen 0 ‘6, wing 2 -6, tail 1*75, tarsus 0 ’7.
“ Adult female. General colour above olive-brown, rather greener on the lower back, rump, and upper tail-
coverts, the head and back being spotted with minute tips o f yellowish white ou the feathers; the scapulars
olive-brown like the back, similarly tipped with tiny white sp o ts; wing-coverts like the back, with white
spots at the en d ; the greater coverts, bastard-wing, primary-coverts, and quills dusky brown, edged with
olive-green, the inner greater coverts with a whitish spot at the ends, the margins of the primaries
yellower ; tail-feathers blackish, edged with olive-green, with a tiny white spot a t the end o f the inner web,
increasing gradually in extent and forming a well-marked spot on the outer tail-feathers; an indistinct
eyebrow of pale olive-brown, lores dusky; eyelid whity brown ; ear-coverts dull olive-brown, streaked with
dull white ; cheeks brown, mottled with white spots ; under surface o f body yellowish white, mottled all
over with dusky-brown centres to the feathers, smaller on the throat and nearly obsolete on the abdomen ;
thighs ashy tinged with yellow ; under tail-coverts yellowish white with dusky centres, the feathers mottled
like the b rea s t; axillaries pale yellow; under wing-coverts white slightly washed with yellow, and mottled
with dark-brown bases to the feathers ; quills dusky below, greyish white along the edge o f the inner web.
Total length 4 '9 inches, culmen 0 '6 , wing 2 ’85, tail 1 8 5 , tarsus 0 ’75.”
The Plate represents a male and female of the natural size, and the figures have been drawn from the same
pair o f birds described above, lent to us by the Marquis D oria.
[II. B. S.]