No. 12. — A Collection of Birds from southwestern New Guinea (Merauke 
coast and inland). 
By Outeam Bangs and James L. Peters. 
This collection, a recent gift to the M. C. Z. by Dr. Thomas Barbour, 
was made by Thomas Jackson in 1920-1924, in the general region of 
Merauke, Dutch New Guinea. 
This region, opposite Cape York, is an interesting part of Papua as it 
has a strong Australian element in its bird-fauna. Several of the forms 
have apparently not been taken previously in New Guinea and others 
have been recorded from Merauke only by Van Oort (Nova Guinea, 
1909). 
Unfortunately Jackson's collection contains very few small birds, 
and gives an impression that bird collecting was far from being a pri- 
mary consideration with him. His labels, written on paper of very 
poor quality, twisted about the leg, and sometimes from dampness or 
some such cause disintegrated entirely, left the specimen with only a 
fragment of paper on the leg. Such specimens are listed "no data." 
There were no field-notes accompanying- the collection, except that a 
few labels have notations such as " very common," " very scarce," 
" legs black" and sometimes the total length is given in inches. Neither 
is there any itinerary. The spelling of geographic names on the labels 
does not always coincide with those on current maps; for instance 
Mapi is written "Mapia"; "EUinder" River we take to be Eilenden; 
"Edrich" Edric; and "Myjoie" River we have been unable to inter- 
pret, though judging from the dates of collection, it is doubtless a 
tributary of the Upper Digul; the " Wendoe Mer" River probably is 
near Merauke. 
In the case o£ some of the species we were unable to determine defi- 
nitely the subspecies owing to altogether inadequate material from 
Australia, particularly from Northwest Territory and Cape York. 
These Dr. Ernst Hartert most kindly compared at Tring, where the 
Mathews Collection is, and has sent very full notes on his results. 
Without this generous cooperation it would have been impossible to 
settle a number of cases. 
422 bulletin: museum of comparative zoology. 
Casuarius casuarius sclateri Salvadori. 
One. Adult; no data. 
Megapodius reinwardt duperreyi Lesson and Garnet. 
Two. One, 9 ; Mapi River, 3 October, 1923; one, sex?.; Merauke 
River. 
Ptilopodiscus coronulatus (Gray). 
One. No data. 
Chlorotreron iozona iozona (Gray). 
Three. Two, cf cf' ; Merauke, 23 March, 1924; one, no data. 
Sylphitreron aurantiifrons (Gray). 
One. 9 ; no farther data. 
Sylphitreron perlata zonura (Salvadori). 
One. 9 ; Upper Digul River, 27 August, 1923. 
Megaloprepia magnifica poliura Salvadori. 
Two. d' 9 ; Edrich River, 18, 22 September, 1923. 
MuscADivoRES zoEAE (Lesson). 
Two. One, cf; Mapi River, 10 October, 1923; one, sex?; Edrich 
River, 10 September, 1923. 
ZoNOPHAPS rufigaster (Quoy and Gaimard). 
Two. cf cf ; one, Mapi River, 1 October, 1923; one, Edrich River, 
13 September, 1923. 
Carpophaga MtJLLERi MULLERi (Temminck). 
One. 9 ; Lower Digul River, 12 September, 1923. 
Carpophaga pinon pinon (Quoy and Gaimard). 
Three. 9 9 ; two. Princess Marianne Strait, 12, 28 November, 
1923; one, Edrich River, 6 September, 1923. 
BANGS AND PETERS : BIRDS FROM SOUTHWESTERN NEW GUINEA. 423 
' Macropygia amboinensis cinereiceps Tristram. 
Two. Sex ??; one, Edrich River, 23 September, 1923; one, no data. 
Reinwartoenas reinwardti griseitincta Hartert. 
Two. One, 9 ; Mapi River, 7 October, 1923; one, sex?; Edrich 
River, 15 September, 1923. 
Geopelia humeralis gregalis, subsp. nov. 
Three. One, cf ; Wendoe Mer River, 19 April, 1924; two, no data. 
Type. M. C. Z. 99,488. Adult d". Southwest New Guinea: Wendoe 
Mer River. 19 April, 1924. Thomas Jackson. 
Characters. Similar to Geopelia humeralis humeralis (Temminck) 
but darker above, especially the hind neck which is nearly Mikado- 
brown instead of vinaceous-cinnamon or orange-cinnamon. 
Unable to make any decision as to the races of humeralis from 
Mathews's account in the Birds of Australia, these specimens were 
referred to Dr. Hartert for comparison with adequate Australian 
material. 
Henicophaps albifrons Gray. 
Two. One, cf ; Mapi River, 6 October, 1923; one, 9; Lower 
Digul River, 12 September, 1923. 
Hypotaenidia philippinensis yorki Mathews. 
Two adults; no data. 
424 bulletin: musei m of comparative zoology. 
Dr. Hartert has kindly compared these two skins with the series at 
Tring, which now includes the Mathews Collection, and writes that 
they agree with H. p. yorki which inhabits Cape York and northern 
Queensland at least to Cairns; it is a smaller bird than the other 
Australian forms. 
Van Oort (Nova Guinea, 1909, p. 57) recorded two specimens from 
Merauke as Hypotaenidia pkilippcnsis (Linne). 
Megacbex inepta D'Albertis and Salvadori. 
One. cf ; Lower Digul River, 11 September, 1923. 
Noted on the label as "very scarce." 
PoRPHYRio MELANOPTERUs MELANOPTERUS Bonaparte. 
One. Adult, sex ?; Merauke Swamp, 12 January, 1923. 
POLIOCEPHALUS RUFICOLLIS NOVAE-HOLLANDIAE (Stephen). 
Four. Sex ?; one, Eilenden River, May, 1920; three, Merauke 
Swamp, 9 January, 1923. 
Irediparus gallinaceus novae-guineae (Ramsay). 
One. Sex ?; Merauke Swamp, 1923. 
Threskiornis MOLUCCA MOLUCCA (Cuvier). 
One. Sex ?; Merauke Swamp, 1923. 
Ardea sumatrana sumatrana Raffles. 
Two. One, cf immature; Edrich River, 15 September, 1923; one, 
sex ?, immature; Merauke, 9 November, 1923. 
Mesophoyx intermedia plumifera (Gould). 
Two. Sex ?; Princess Marianne Straits, 8 November, 1923. 
Demigretta SACRA (Giiielin). 
One. cf ; " D. I. W. St.," [Deliverance Island], 2 May, 1924. 
We agree with Hartert, that it is impossible to recognize any races of 
BANGS AND PETERS : BIRDS FROM SOUTHWESTERN NEW GUINEA. 425 
the Reef Heron, and that all color differences in this species are due 
solely to dichromatism. The single skin in the collection is that of a 
bird in the blue phase, apparently not fully adult. 
Nycticorax caledonicus caledonicus (Gmelin). 
Two. Sex ?; one, Java Creek, 28 April, 1924; one, Merauke 
Swamp. 
Butorides striatus macrorhynchus (Gould). 
One. Adult d" ; Merauke River, 12 April, 1923. 
We have followed Hartert in his review of the races of Butorides 
striatus (Vogel palaarktischen fauna, 1920, 2, heft. 10, p. 1250-1251) in 
referring this skin to macrorhynchus. 
Anseranas semipalmata (Latham). 
Two. d^, 9 ; near Merauke, 1923. 
Dendrocygna guttulata Wallace. 
Three. One, cf ; Mapi River, 30 September, 1922; two, sex ?; 
near Merauke, 14 April, 1924. 
Tadorna RAD j ah RAD J AH (Garnot). 
Three. One, 9 ; two, sex ?; Princess Marianne Straits, 12 October, 
1923. 
Phalacrocorax melanoleucus melanoleucus (Vieillot). 
Two. One, cf ; Merauke, 14 March, 1924; one, sex ?; Merauke, 
1923. 
Anhinga rufa novae-hollandiae Gould. 
Two. One, 9 ; Edrich River, 11 September, 1923; one, sex ?; 
Eilenden River, May, 1921. 
AsTUR HiOGASTER ETORQUEs Salvadori. 
One. cf immature; Princess Marianne Straits, 6 November, 1923. 
Measurements. — Wing, 210; tail, 159; tarsus, 60; middle toe, 32; 
culmen to cere, 17.5. 
426 bulletin: museum of comparative zoology. 
HaLIASTUR INDUS LEUCOSTERNUS (Gould). 
One. 9 ; Princess Marianne Straits, 4 November, 192.3. 
Haliastur sphenurus sphenurus (Vieillot). 
Four. One, cf ; one, 9 ; Princess Marianne Straits, 2 November, 
16 December, 1923; one, 9 ; Merauke, 15 March, 1924; one, sex ?; 
Merauke, May, 1923. 
Henicopernis longicauda (Garnot). 
One. Sex ?; Upper Digul River, June, 1922. 
NiNOX humeralis Bonaparte. 
One. Sex ?; Upper Digul River, 4 December, 1923. 
Chalcopsittacus scintillatus (Temminck). 
Two. One, cf ; Princess Marianne Straits, 25 January, 1924; 
one, 9 ; Mapi River, 3 October, 1923. 
LoRius lory erythrothorax Salvadori. 
Three. One, cf ; Mapi River, 6 October, 1923; one, 9; Edrich 
River, 21 September, 1923; one, sex ?; Upper Digul River, 21 June, 
1922. 
Trichoglossus nigrigularis Gray. 
Four. Two,cf cf , one, 9 ; Princess Marianne Straits, 20 November, 
1923, 22 January, 1924; one, & ; Wendoe Mer River, 20 April, 1924. 
Hypocharmosyna placentis (Temminck). 
One. cf ; Princess Marianne Straits, 20 November, 1923. 
PrOBOSCIGER ATERRIMUS GOLIATH (Kuhl). 
Four. One, cf, one, sex?; Wendoe Mer River, 5 April, 1924; two, 
sex ?; Lower Digul River, 26 September, 1923. 
BANGS AND PETERS: BIRDS FROM SOUTHWESTERN NEW GUINEA. 427 
Dr. Hartert writes that he considers that there are but two forms of 
the Black Cockatoo on the main island of Papua — P. a. stcnolophus 
Van Oort, with narrow creast feathers, north coast from Humboldt to 
northernmost British Papua, and P. a. goUath (Kuhl) with wide 
creast feathers, Berau, Onin peninsula, and foot of Snow Mountains to 
southeast Papua. 
The Cape York form P. a. aterrimus (Gmelin) (of which macgilli- 
vrayi Mathews is a synonj'm) is a very much blacker bird. 
Cacatua galerita TRITON (Temminck). 
Two. d'cf; Wendoe Mer River, 4 April, 1924; Edrich River, 11 
September, 1923. 
Electus pectoralis (Miiller). 
Six. Sex ?; Lower Digul River, April, 1923, 24 September, 1923; 
Upper Digul River, 11 August, 1923; Princess Marianne Straits, 21 
November, 1923. 
Geoffroyus aruensis (Gray). 
Two. One, cT ; Upper Myjoie River, 29 August, 1923; one, sex ?; 
"shot on the coast," 2 November, 1923. 
Aprosmictus erythropterus coccineopterus (Gould). 
Three. One, cf, one, 9 ?; Princess Marianne Straits, 14 Janijary, 
1923, 14 November, 1923; one, a" ; Wendoe Mer River, 2 April, 1924. 
Noted as "very common" on the label of one skin. 
Neither of the males is quite fully adult, both having dark green 
feathers mixed in with the black of the back. 
428 bulletin: museum of comparative zoology. 
Dr. Hartert very kindly compared these skins with the series at 
Tring and states that they differ in no wise from examples from the 
Northern Territory of Australia and from Cape York. He considers 
yorki Mathews a synonym of coccincopterus Gould. True A. e. 
eryihropterns (Gmelin) of New South Wales and southern Queensland 
is a larger bird. 
Van Oort mentions one example from Merauke, the first authentic 
record of this parrot in Papua. 
PoDARGUS PAPUENSis Quoy and Gaimard. 
One. cf ; Wendoe Mer River, 3 April, 1924. 
EuRYSTOMUs CRAssiROSTRis Sclater, 
Six. One, cT and one, sex ?; Merauke, 23 March, 1924; one, 9 ; 
Lower Digul River, 24 September, 1923; one, cf and two, sex ?; 
Merauke River, 4 April, 1924. 
Alcyone azurea lessoni Cassin. 
Two. One, cf and one, sex ?; Upper Myjoie River, 6 August, 1923. 
Syma torotoro meeki Rothschild and Hartert. 
One. 9 ; Princess Marianne Straits, 16 November, 1923. 
Dacelo leachii intermedia Salvadori. 
Three. One, cf ; Wendoe Mer River, 3 April, 1924; one, cf , one, 
9 ; Merauke, 23 March, 1924. 
Sauromarptis gaudichaudi (Quoy and Gaimard). 
Four. One, cf ; Princess Marianne Straits, 6 November, 1923; two, 
sex ?; Edrich River, 11, 16 September, 1923; one, no data. 
Halcyon macleayii Jardine and Selby. 
Two. cf , and sex ?; Princess Marianne Straits, 20 November, 1923. 
Halcyon nigrocyanea Wallace. 
One. cf ; Princess Marianne Straits, 17 December, 1923. 
BANGS AND PETERS: BIRDS FROM SOUTHWESTERN NEW GUINEA. 429 
Halcyon sanctus Vigors and Horsfield. 
One. No data. 
Tanysiptera hydrocharis microrhyncha Sharpe. 
Four. One, cf ; Lower Digul River, 20 September, 1923; two, 
cf c/", one sex ?; Princess Marianne Straits, 9, 17 November, 1923, 
9 January, 1924. 
Rhytidoceros plicatus (Forster). 
Five. Three, cT^ 9 9 ; Lower Digul River, 15, 24, 28 September, 
1923; one, d"; Edrich River, 28 September, 1923; one, d" ; Wendoe 
Mer River, 6 April, 1924. 
Merops philippinus salvadorii Meyer. 
Two. & cf ; Princess Marianne Straits, 2, 15 November, 1923. 
Merops ornatus Latham. 
One. No data. 
EUDYNAMIS SCOLOPACEUS RUFIVENTER (LeSSOn). 
One. Sex ?; Lower Digul River, 17 September, 1923. 
SCYTHROPS NOVAE-HOLLANDIAE Latham. 
Three, cf cf , and sex ?; Wendoe Mer River, 4, 7, 8 April, 1924. 
Centropus NIGRICANS Salvadori. 
Four. One, 9 ; Princess Marianne Straits, 4 November, 1923; 
three, sex ?; Merauke, 11 January, 1923. 
Pitta mackloti mackloti Temminck. 
Two. One, cf ; Lower Digul River, 28 September, 1923; one, 9 ; 
Edrich River, 22 September, 1923. 
Rhipidura rufiventris gularis Miiller. 
One. No data. 
430 bulletin: museum of comparative zoology. 
Arses telescophthalmus henkei Meyer. 
One. cf ; Lower Digul River, 12 September, 1923. 
MoNARCHA alecto chalybeocephalus (Garnot). 
One. cf ; Upper Myjoie River, 1 August, 1923. 
Artamides caeruleigriseus (Gray). 
One. Sex ?; Upper Digul River, May, 1922. 
POMATORHINUS TEMPORALIS CORNWALLI MatheWS. 
Three. One, cf ; Wendoe Mer River, 9 April, 1924; two, d", 9 ; 
Princess Marianne Straits, 2, 15 November, 1923. 
These specimens were compared by Dr. Hartert with the large 
series at Tring and were found to be wholly referable to the small 
form which inhabits Cape York and northern Queensland. 
Artamus cinereus venustus Sharpe? 
One. 9 ; Princess Marianne Straits, 6 November, 1923. 
The identity of the single Wood Swallow in the collection (M. C. Z. 
99,606) is most puzzling. Apparently it is more closely allied to 
vcnustns than to any other form, since it lacks any trace of black across 
the forehead, has no white tips to the central rectrices, and the under 
tail-coverts are white except at the extreme base. It, however, has 
very little black on the chin — much less than in most of the Australian 
specimens - — in this respect approaching typical cinereus from Timor. 
On the other hand the specimen is small: — wing, 112; tail, 69; tarsus, 
20; culmen to base, 21.5. 
Dr. Hartert has examined the skin and considers that, awaiting more 
specimens, it had better be referred provisionally to venusius. 
BANGS AND PETERS: BIRDS FROM SOUTHWESTERN NEW GUINEA. 431 
PiTOHUi FERRUGINEUS FERRUGINEUS (Bonaparte). 
Two. One, d^ ; Princess Marianne Straits, 2 November, 1923; one, 
sex ?; Mapi River, 7 October, 1923. 
CoLLURiciNCLA HARMONICA TACHYCRYPTA Rothschild and Hartert. 
One. cf ; " shot on the coast," 27 April, 1924. 
Measurements — 99,609 M. C. Z. Wing, 119; tail, 96; tarsus, 31; 
culmen to base, 27. 
This skin was compared with the material at Tring by Dr. Hartert, 
who finds that it is quite the same as tachycrypta, type from Milne 
Bay. C. h. superciliosa Masters from Cape York, though otherwise 
much like tachycrypta, has a much longer wing and shorter, thicker bill. 
Gymnorhina tibicen papuana, subsp. nov. 
Type.— M. C. Z. 99,653. Adult 9 • Southwest New Guinea : Prin- 
cess Marianne Straits, 12 November, 1923. Thomas Jackson. 
Characters. — Similar to Gymnorhina tibicen longirostris Milligan, 
but white nuchal patch much narrower; bill stouter anteriorly and 
less tapering. Tibiae white, the feathers blackish only at the base. 
Measurements. — Wing, 245; tail, 137; tarsus, 64; culmen to base, 
63. Terminal black band on tail, 60. 
H. L. White has recently (Emu, 1922, 21, p. 163) described G. t. 
eylandiensis from Groote, Eyland, Northern Territory of Australia, 
which differs in having mottled tibiae, a wing of only 220 mm. and the 
terminal black band on the tail reduced to 30 mm. in width. 
Cracticus quoyi quoyi (Lesson). 
Two. One, &, one, 9 ; Princess Marianne Straits, 6, 19 November, 
1923. 
Cracticus cassicus (Boddaert), 
One. cf immature; Upper Myjoie River, 1 August, 1923. 
Cracticus mentalis Salvador! and D'Albertis. 
One. cf ; Merauke River, 1 April, 1924. 
432 bulletin: museum of comparative zoology. 
Pachycephala pectoralis melanura Gould. 
One. [9 ]; no data. 
Zosterops albiventris Hombron and Jacquinot. 
One. cT ; Deliverance Island, 3 May, 1924. 
Measurements.— M. C. Z. 99,612. Wing, 59; tail, 41; tarsus, 17; 
culmen to base, 14. 
Zosterops albiventris was described from Warrior Island. At Tring 
there are no specimens from that island, and only two, the types 
of eairncrossi, from Cairncross Island. Compared with these Dr. 
Hartert found our bird to agree very well in size and color, except that 
the flanks are a trifle more buffy, not so white, a difference that may 
well be individual. 
The species according to Mathews is confined to the wooded islands 
of Torres Straits, and does not occur on the mainland (Birds of 
Australia, 11, p. 162). Zosterops flavigularis Masters, which Mathews 
synonymizes with Z. albiventris was, however, described from Cape 
Grenville, northern Queensland. 
Hermotimia sericeus sericeus (Lesson). 
One. d" ; Upper Myjoie River, 18 August, 1923. 
Myzomela fumata Bonaparte. 
One. d" ; Princess Marianne Straits, 25 November, 1923. 
Entomyzon cyanotis harterti Robinson and Laverock. 
Entomiza cyanotis griseagularis Van Oort, Nova Guinea, 1909, 9, p. 97, 
Merauke. 
One. cf ; Wendoe Mer River, 6 April, 1924. 
This specimen (M. C. Z. 99,615. Wing, 139; tail, 113; tarsus, 36; 
culmen to base, 30) which Dr. Hartert compared at Tring with four 
skins from Cooktown, among them the type of harterti, agrees per- 
fectly. 
When Van Oort described griseagularis he did so, apparently, with- 
out knowledge of harterti, comparing his bird only with cyanotis. 
BANGS AND PETERS : BIRDS FROM SOUTHWESTERN NEW GUINEA. 433 
Tropidorhynchus novae-guineae brevipennis Rothschild 
and Hartert. 
Two. One, 9 , one, sex ?; Princess Marianne Straits, 15 November, 
1923, 22 January, 1924. 
Mirafra horsfieldi parva Swinhoe. 
One. No data. 
This single skin (M. C. Z. 99,611) not sexed, is considerably smaller 
(wing, 65; tail, 41; tarsus, 22; culmen to base, 12.5) than most of the 
skins at Tring from Sumba, Lombok, etc. One female, however, from 
Sumba has the wing only two mm. longer than in our bird. 
It is possible that more material may show that there is a small 
resident race in southeast New Guinea. 
MiNO dumonti aruensis Stresemann. 
Four. One, sex ? ; Mapi River, 3 October, 1923 ; one, 9 , two, sex ?, 
Upper Myjoie River, 31 July, 29 August, 1923. 
On the whole this series is best referred to this form. 
Melanopyrrhus anais robertsoni D'Albertis. 
Three. One, cf, one, 9 , one, sex ?; Upper Myjoie River, 28, 29 
August, 1923. 
On geographical grounds these should be robertsoni, and one of them, 
M. C. Z. 99,630, on characters also fits that form very nicely. The 
other two, M. C. Z. 99,631, 99,632, however, with a good deal of black 
on the nape, approach M. a. orientalis (Schlegel). 
Aplonis metallica metallica (Temminck). 
Two. 9 9 ; Lower Digul River, 17 September, 1923. 
* 
Oriolus flavocinctus mulleri (Bonaparte). 
One. cf (topotype); Princess Marianne Straits, 19 November, 
1923. 
Oriolus szalayi (Madarasz), 
One. &, Princess Marianne Straits, 11 November, 1923. 
434 bulletin: museum of comparative zoology. 
DiCRURUS BRACTEATA ULTRAMONTANUS Stresemann. 
Four. One, d", one, 9 ; Princess Marianne Straits, 11, 15 Novem- 
ber, 1923; one, 9 , one, sex ?; Upper Myjoie River, 11 August, 1923. 
Ptiloris magnifica magnifica (Vieillot). 
Three. Two, cTd', one, sex?; Mapi River, 18 September, 7, 8 
October, 1923. 
Seleucides ignotus (Forster). 
One. cf ; Lower Digul River, 26 September, 1923. 
Paradisaea apoda novae-guineae D'Albertis and Salvadori. 
Three. One, cf , one, 9 , one, sex ?; Upper Digul River, 1, 29, 30 
August, 1923. 
CiciNNURUS REGIUS CLAUDii Ogilvie-Grant. 
Two. One, d"; Mapi River, 3 October, 1923; one, 9; Lower 
Digul River, 26 September, 1923. 
Phonygammus keraudreni keraudreni (Lesson and Gamier). 
Three. Two, d" cT ; Upper Myjoie River, 28, 30 August, 1923; one, 
sex ?; Upper Digul River, 28 August, 1923. 
Manucodia ater alter Rothschild and Hartert. 
One. cf ; Princess Marianne Straits, 11 November, 1923. 
Manucodia chalybatus orientalis Salvadori. 
One. 9 ; Upper Myjoie River, 31 July, 1923. 
CoRvus coRONOiDEs ORRu Bonaparte. 
Two. One, d"; Wendoe Mer River, 2 April, 1924; one, d^; 
Princess Marianne Straits, 2 January, 1924.