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Alan Parkin

Computing
Colour Image
Processing
Digital Colour Primer
Computing Colour Image Processing
Alan Parkin

Computing Colour Image

Processing
Digital Colour Primer

123
Alan Parkin
London
UK

ISBN 978-3-319-74075-1 ISBN 978-3-319-74076-8 (eBook)

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-74076-8
Library of Congress Control Number: 2018933504

© Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature 2018

This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part
of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations,
recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission
or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar
methodology now known or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this
publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from
the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this
book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the
authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or
for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to
jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Printed on acid-free paper

This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer International Publishing AG
part of Springer Nature
The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
For Lily 1926–2008
Preface

This book is based on observations and opinions formed over many years of
professional practice in graphic design, commercial data processing and amateur
painting.
The first observation is that colour in digital imaging is a distinct field which
shares some of the knowledge and traditions of the vast spread of other colour
activities, and diverges from them in other ways.
The second observation is that sRGB colour standards, implemented in generally
available equipment, are a suitable environment for further study.
The third observation is that the complete numerical representation of colour in
any digital image brings radically new opportunities for processing colour by
program.
The fourth observation is that some of the formal properties of colour schemes
can be analysed and measured computationally, in ways not possible hitherto.
The fifth observation is that any digital image can be computationally brought to
a norm of neutral balance: an idea with good traditional antecedents.
The first opinion is that the general principles of economy of materials for
purposes, and fitness of means to ends, found in most traditional arts and crafts,
should be applied in digital imaging.
The second opinion is that digital images are often created and used at levels of
resolution of location and colour which are unnecessary and inconvenient. The
specific character and charm of digital images lie at the threshold where pixel
structure and colour gradation steps are just about visible at the intended viewing
distance.
The third opinion is that commonly available commercial software for colour
manipulation is inappropriately based on photographic conventions. Scripting in
Python offers a better way to explore and develop digital colour.
The fourth opinion is that digital imaging is an interesting field for the exercise
of curiosity, skill, luck, discrimination and taste, over and above its undoubted
usefulness in business, technology and science. It can move towards art and
connoisseurship.

vii
viii Preface

The fifth opinion is that preparing a digital image, simple or complex, is like
preparing food. It begins with growing and harvesting the ingredients (by GUI or
program), or hunting and killing (by camera or scanner or download). It proceeds
by peeling, skinning, chopping up and cooking the ingredients (by the transfor-
mations); and finally serving up the finished dish (as a display or printout).
This book is a second attempt to put these observations and opinions into
practice. The first attempt (Digital Imaging Primer, Parkin A., Springer, 2016) used
BASIC programming to explain and illustrate. This book uses Python scripting to
explain and illustrate some 20 elementary tools. For serious use, these scripts can be
freely improved and expanded, and can be wrapped into full GUI Tkinter
applications.
Let us honour the universities, institutions, commercial enterprises and inde-
pendent enthusiasts, many indicated in the chapter references, who have made
digital imaging available to all. Special thanks are due to Dr. Claus Ascheron and
his team at Springer for bringing this book into being, and for their personal
kindness throughout.
And may you, gentle reader, enjoy a happy lifetime among the coloured pixels.

London, UK and Hydra, Greece Alan Parkin

Contents

1 Colour Environments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.1 The Many Meanings of Colour . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.2 Everyday Seeing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.3 The Science of Seeing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.4 Measuring Colour . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.5 Manufacturing Colour Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.6 Ornamenting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.7 Picturing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.8 Photographing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.9 Printing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
1.10 Digital Imaging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
2 Digital Imaging Fundamentals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
2.1 Digital Image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
2.2 sRGB Colour Space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
2.3 Numerical Representation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
2.4 Scan Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
2.5 Computer Processing of Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
2.6 Location Resolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
2.7 Colour Resolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
3 Creating a Digital Image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
3.1 Creating by Image Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
3.2 Creating by Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
3.3 Creating by Camera . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
3.4 Creating by Scanner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

ix
x Contents

3.5 Creating by Modelling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

3.6 Hijacking an Image Created Elsewhere . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
4 Storing a Digital Image . . . .... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
4.1 Storing an Image as a File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
4.2 Image File . . . . . . . . .... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
4.3 File Format .BMP . . . .... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
4.4 File Format .GIF . . . . .... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
4.5 File Format .PNG . . . .... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
4.6 File Format .TIF . . . . .... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
4.7 File Format .JPG . . . .... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
5 Transforming Image Locations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
5.1 Location Transformations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
5.2 Cropping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
5.3 Framing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
5.4 Dilating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
5.5 Translating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
5.6 Reflecting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
5.7 Rotating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
5.8 Shearing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
5.9 Inverting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
6 Transforming Image Colours . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
6.1 Colour Palettes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
6.2 Neutral Palettes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
6.3 Halftone Palettes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
6.4 General Colour Shifts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
6.5 Muting Colours . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
6.6 Specific Colour Substitution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
7 Displaying an Image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
7.1 Display Screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
7.2 Display Location Resolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
7.3 Display Colour Resolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
7.4 Perceptually Equal-Step Scales . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
7.5 Display Viewing Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Contents xi

8 Printing an Image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
8.1 Subtractive Printing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
8.2 Location Resolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
8.3 Colour Resolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
8.4 Viewing Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
9 Analysing Image Colour . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
9.1 Image Colour Distribution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
9.2 Constructing a Colour Scheme Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
9.3 Constructing a Colour Scheme Bar Graph . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
9.4 Conditioning the Colour Scheme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
9.5 Scripts for a Colour Scheme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
9.6 Colour Scheme Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
10 Balancing Image Colour . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
10.1 Neutral Colour Balance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
10.2 Balancing by Changing Colours . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
10.3 Script for Balancing by Changing Image Colours . . . . . . . . . . . 121
10.4 Examples of Balancing by Changing Colours . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
10.5 Balancing by Adjoining a Frame . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
10.6 Examples of Balancing by Adjoining a Frame . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
10.7 Why Balance? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
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Chapter 1
Colour Environments

1.1 The Many Meanings of Colour

Colour has a vast spread of competing meanings and treatments. A preliminary task
is to articulate this spread, in order to identify the corner which we wish to investigate
further. One way to do this is by distinguishing typical environments in which colour
occurs.

1.2 Everyday Seeing

Figure 1.1 shows the environment of everyday seeing. In this and the following
flowcharts:
A rectangular box shows a process.
An arrow shows a flow of something from one process to another.
A black/white inversion shows the boundary of an entity.
A sloped box shows an input or output process at an entity boundary.
A dished box shows storage of some kind.
Phenomenologically, as each of us moves about and looks around, we have a
continuously changing perception of the nearby external world. We know the differ-
ence between movement of objects out there and movement of ourselves. We can
articulate the continuous perception by turning our attention to various aspects of the
scene: what objects are there, how many, what shapes and colours they have and so
on. We can remember perceptions from the immediate past, and from further back.
Sometimes, we talk or write about what we see.
Philosophically, perception has been a contentious topic for centuries [1]. In recent
times, the treatment has often centred on language, language games and private
languages [2, 3].

© Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature 2018 1

A. Parkin, Computing Colour Image Processing,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-74076-8_1
2 1 Colour Environments

Fig. 1.1 The everyday seeing environment. In the world, a changing scene is available to those
that have eyes to see. Each waking self takes in a continuously changing stream of sights from its
continuously changing cone of view. This stream is processed in ways which are little understood,
to emerge in consciousness as perceptions of a stable outer world. Some aspects of these perceptions
pass through short-term memory, and some sink into long-term memory. Linguistic communication
with others is important in this environment

Fig. 1.2 The eleven colour names in common use in English: white, black, red, yellow, green, blue,
brown, purple, pink, orange and grey

Linguistically, the variety of basic colour terms in different natural languages has
attracted much interest. It is known that in English and many other languages about
eleven colour names are in common use [4, 5], together with a few modifiers such
as ‘light’, ‘dark’, ‘very’ and ‘-ish’. Figure 1.2 shows the English eleven colours.
In the everyday seeing environment, we may say that colour means the competent
use of common colour terms in describing perceptions to oneself and to others.
1.3 The Science of Seeing 3

1.3 The Science of Seeing

Figure 1.3 shows the scientific environment of seeing.

Scientifically, a great deal is known about the causal chain on the input side of
seeing [6, 7]. Physically, the behaviour of light sources and of objects reflecting,
transmitting and absorbing light is well understood. Physiologically, the forming
of an image on the retina of the eye and the transducing of the image to nerve
impulses are also well understood [8]. Neurophysiologically, there is steady progress

Fig. 1.3 The scientific seeing environment. In the world, light from various sources falling on
various objects constitutes a scene. Eyes receive light directly, or reflected or transmitted by objects,
form optical images on the retinas and transduce the momentary images to binary nerve impulses.
The brain somehow groups the nerve impulses to eventuate as stable perceptions of the scene, which
can be selectively stored in memory

Fig. 1.4 Physics of light. a Spectral power distributions of three light sources. b Spectral power
distributions of four reflecting surfaces
4 1 Colour Environments

in understanding the further brain processes in seeing. But the causal chain is so far
unable to cover the leap from nerve impulses to experiences of perception, attention
and memory [9].
Figure 1.4 shows typical physical plots of colours as spectral power distributions
for some light sources and some reflecting objects.
In the scientific environment, colour means the spectral power distribution of light
in the external world.

1.4 Measuring Colour

Figure 1.5 shows the main components of measuring colour.

Physically, radiometry [10] measures the very wide spectrum of electromagnetic
radiation (EMR). The fundamental measuring device is some form of bolometer
which converts heat energy to electrical energy. Light is the visible spectrum of
EMR, where the wavelengths are between 400 and 700 nm.
Psychophysically, photometry [11] measures total light intensity arriving at and
leaving a surface, as sensed by a normal observer’s eye. The measuring device is
some form of photometer which brings a test sample of light up against an adjustable
calibrated standard light. An observer adjusts the standard to get a match by eye. A
photoelectric photometer responds to intensity like an eye and matches the sample
directly to a calibrated standard.
Psychophysically, colourimetry [12–14] measures variations in the spectral power
distribution (SPD) of wavelengths across the visible spectrum. It is based on the fact
that any sample light can be matched by some combination of three fixed single-
wavelength ‘primary’ lights. The matching is done by a standard observer (or an
equivalent sensor), using elaborate equipment to adjust a mixture of three calibrated
standard lights to match a test sample. A colour is then specified by three numbers,
the relative intensities of the three primary sources. In the CIE 1931 xyY system, the

Fig. 1.5 The measuring

environment. A self matches
a sample to a reference
standard, with or without
instrumental help
1.4 Measuring Colour 5

Fig. 1.6 CIE colourimetry. a The CIE 1931 xyY chromaticity chart. b Colour temperature of
various light sources

Fig. 1.7 a Munsell tree b NCS swatch

whole gamut of visible colours can be plotted on a horseshoe chromaticity chart, as

shown in Fig. 1.6a (with a further overall luminance value). In the 1976 LAB version,
the gamut is plotted on a red/green versus blue/yellow chromaticity chart.
The colour of light reflected or transmitted by a sample is of course dependent on
the colour of the illuminating source. Source colour is measured as the temperature
in degrees Kelvin of a standard black body, as shown in Fig. 1.6b.
A somewhat different approach to measuring colour is by providing a reference
atlas of standard surface colour patches, to which a sample is matched by direct
inspection. The Munsell system [15] arranges the visible gamut in three purported
psychological dimensions of hue (corresponding to CIE dominant wavelength),
chroma or saturation (CIE excitation purity) and value (CIE luminance). The Mun-
sell atlas has 1600 colours. It is presented in various forms, such as the tree shown
6 1 Colour Environments

in Fig. 1.7a. The more recent Natural Colour System (NCS) atlas [16] has 1950
colours, based on the purported Hering opponent pairs of black/white, red/green
and blue/yellow. It is also presented in various forms, such as the swatch shown in
Fig. 1.7b. Colour specifications in CIE, Munsell and NCS are interconvertible.
In this environment, colour means the physical tri-stimulus values, or the atlas
standard codes, which match the sample.

Fig. 1.8 The manufacturing environment. Raw materials are processed to colour materials, which
are made available to other manufacturers and end users

Fig. 1.9 Typical manufacturer’s swatch of paint colours available for interior decoration
1.5 Manufacturing Colour Materials 7

1.5 Manufacturing Colour Materials

Figure 1.8 shows the main components of manufacturing colour materials.

Today, almost all colour materials are made by various industries and marketed to
other industries, thence to trade and end users. Technologically, a great variety of raw
materials, animal, vegetable and mineral are processed physically and chemically to
become colour materials as paints [17, 18], dyes [19], inks [20], powders and solids.
In this environment, colour means the material manufactured and available for
use. Available colours for various purposes are usually presented as colour swatches,
as shown in Fig. 1.9.

Fig. 1.10 The ornamenting environment. A self uses hands materials and tools to apply colours to
objects

Fig. 1.11 An exemplar from Owen Jones’ Grammar of Ornament

8 1 Colour Environments

1.6 Ornamenting

Figure 1.10 shows the main components of ornamenting by colour.

Craftwise, we may often apply available colour materials to change the natural
colour of objects. For example, paints to walls, dyes to clothes, cosmetics to face hair
and nails, tattoos to bodies and so on. Each field of activity develops its own materials
and fashions of ornament, varying widely with time and place, and often widely
published and emulated (Fig. 1.11) [21]. Available materials are variously specified
by swatches of reference patches, samples of dyed material and so on; to which
manufacturers and marketers often attach fanciful names [22]. In this environment,
colour means the available gamut of materials in the activity of interest.

1.7 Picturing

Figure 1.12 shows the main components of picturing a scene.

From childhood onward, we make pictures of scenes, real or imagined. Some
develop high skills of picturing and may become professional in technical or artistic
fields, making diagrams, maps, engineering drawings, architectural plans, paintings
and so on. For example, Fig. 1.13 shows a painting (digitized, much-reduced, colour-
changed and here published as a display in the e-book or as a print in the printed
book).
A picture is essentially a projection from a three-dimensional scene to a two-
dimensional surface, marked in colour of some sort. The projecting may be done

Fig. 1.12 The picturing environment. A self views a scene and makes a representation of it, live
or from memory, using available paints and tools. The resulting picture can be seen by oneself and
by others
1.7 Picturing 9

Fig. 1.13 Oil painting Brighton pierrots by Walter Sickert,1915. Original 25 × 30 inches

mentally, or by progressive construction, possibly from measurements of the scene

objects. Picture colours are chosen from available materials. There are usually prac-
tical reasons to narrow the choice of picture colours, perhaps to the extreme of black
and white. In general, the gamut available for the picture cannot match the gamut of
the scene, so various compromises are always needed to get an acceptable overall
result [23].
The picture, rough or precise, is a convenient stand-in for the original scene and
is habitually used to communicate with oneself as time passes and with others.
In this environment, colour means the gamut of materials available for a cho-
sen technique. Casual amateurs may pay little attention to niceties of colour, while
professionals may have exacting requirements [24].

1.8 Photographing

Figure 1.14 shows the main components of photographing a scene.

10 1 Colour Environments

Fig. 1.14 The photographing environment. A self chooses a scene and uses a photographic process
to make a representation of it. The self controls the process at various stages, making choices from
available materials and tools. The resulting photograph can be seen by oneself and by others

Photographing is a special case of picturing, where a photographer uses a mechan-

ical process to project a scene and colour the resulting representation. The photog-
rapher chooses the original scene and sets a camera to make an optical image on a
light-sensitive surface. In a black-and-white photographic process [25], the materials
are based on silver salts which blacken proportionately with light intensity to form
a developable negative image. The negative can be stored and printed as a positive
photograph any number of times. Various colour processes [26, 27] (Fig. 1.15) use
three transparent dyes to filter the optical image and produce either a projectable
transparency (Kodachrome) or a printable negative (Kodacolor). Historically [28],
chemical photography had a wonderful run from the 1830s to around 2000 when
Kodak and most other manufacturers stopped supplying the materials, overwhelmed
by the success of digital photography.
In this environment, colour, broadly interpreted to include black and white, means
the gamut available in the finished photograph from the chosen manufacturer’s
process.
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now to explore a rich
collection of eBooks, textbook
and enjoy exciting offers!
1.9 Printing 11

Fig. 1.15 a Autochrome by

an unknown photographer
about 1910. b Kodachrome
by Andreas Feininger 1942

1.9 Printing

Figure 1.16 shows the main components of the printing environment.

Historically [29], mass reproduction of an original image by printing has been
done by several different processes: letterpress, engraving, photogravure, lithography
and today’s favourite offset lithography. The essential stages are to capture an original
as a master printing plate (formerly by hand, nowadays by photography), and then
use a press to print large numbers of reproductions for publication. Print reproduction
has been revolutionized by the advent of digital processes [30–32].
Technologically, a printing press can deposit either ink or no ink at each point of
an image: it cannot vary the intensity of its ink. Hence, reproducing a tonal image
depends on some form of halftoning, whereby a range of greys is got by denser or
sparser distributions of small dots or lines of solid black, in effect diluting the ink

Fig. 1.16 The printing environment. Technicians use devices to photograph an original object,
make plates and mass-print reproductions for publication
12 1 Colour Environments

Fig. 1.17 The spectral

power distributions of the
four printing inks, cyan,
magenta, yellow and black.
Overprinting of the
transparent inks filters
incident light, which reflects
from the white paper

with more or less of the white of the paper. In early printing, halftoning was done
in the original by hand stippling or cross-hatching; subsequently, it was done by
photographing a tonal original through a halftone screen; and today by digital means
[33].
Optically, printed inks are transparent films, acting as filters on the incident light,
unlike opaque paint coats. Thus, a red ink absorbs the red long wavelengths and
transmits the green middle wavelengths and the blue short wavelengths. A reasonably
good gamut can be got using inks which are the inverses of red green and blue, that
is to say, cyan, magenta and yellow (CMY). Ideally, the overlaying of all three inks
should show as black; but unfortunately available inks do not do this. So a black ink
(K) is added.
Practically, reproducing a colour original is done by preparing a halftone plate
for each of the four CMYK inks, imposed in register on the paper by the press.
Figure 1.17 shows the SDPs of a set of CMYK inks and their overprints.

1.10 Digital Imaging

Figure 1.18 shows the main components of the digital imaging environment.
In digital imaging, a person uses a computer and various peripheral devices to
create, store, analyse, transform, display, print and communicate an image as an
array of coloured picture elements (pixels). The processes are open to user control
throughout [34].
Common methods of creating a digital image are by hand, using a graphic user
interface (GUI); by program, using a suitable programming language; by optical
projection from a scene, using a digital camera; by contact capture from a given
flat image, using a scanner; by capture from a remote source, using a downloaded
file; or by calculating a projection from a numerically specified three-dimensional
model. All these methods produce a machine-readable numerical representation of
an image.
Storing is done in various file structures, using standard read/write routines.
1.10 Digital Imaging 13

Fig. 1.18 The digital imaging environment. A self chooses a scene and uses a digital process to
make a representation of it. The self controls the process at various stages, making choices from
available materials and tools. The resulting image can be seen by oneself and by others, possibly
widely disseminated

Analysing and transforming is done by programs, either in commercially available

packages or own-written scripts.
Additive displaying uses a monitor screen, via a manufacturer’s driver software.
Subtractive printing uses a printer, via a manufacturer’s driver software.
Communicating uses a transducer to send a file to a remote address on the Internet.
In this environment, colour, broadly interpreted to include black and white, means
the gamut which survives the successive stages of imaging from input to output.
It is colour in this environment which we now wish to investigate.
14 1 Colour Environments

References

1. Scruton R (2004) Modern philosophy. Penguin, London

2. Wittgenstein L (2003) Remarks on colour. Blackwell, Oxford
3. Hardin CL (1988) Color for philosophers. Hackett Publishing Co, Cambridge
4. Berlin B, Kay P (1969) Basic color terms. Univ. Calif. Press, Berkeley
5. Hardin CL, Maffi L (2008) Color categories in thought and language. CUP, Cambridge
6. Judd DB, Wyszecki G (1975) Color in business science and industry, 3rd edn. Wiley, New York
7. Wyszecki G, Stiles WS (1988) Color science, 2nd edn. Wiley, New York
8. Bass M et al (2010) Handbook of optics vol III vision, 3rd edn. McGraw-Hill, New York
9. Dennett DC (1991) Consciousness explained. Allen Lane, London
10. Radiometry. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiometry
11. Photometry. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photometry_(optics)
12. Colorimetry. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colorimetry
13. Wright WD (1944) The measurement of colour. Adam Hilger, London
14. Commission Internationale d’Eclairage. www.cie.co.at
15. Munsell Color System. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Munsell_color_system
16. Natural Color System. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_Color_System
17. Lambourne R, Stevens TD (1999) Paint and surface coatings, 2nd edn. Woodhead, Cambridge
18. Talbert R (2007) Paint technology handbook. CRC Press, Boca Raton
19. Society of Dyers and Colourists (2017), Colour Index. https://colour-index.com
20. Leach R (2012) The printing ink manual, 4th edn. Springer, Heidelberg
21. Jones O (1856) The grammar of ornament. Day, London, p 1856
22. List of colors. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colors_(compact)
23. Ruskin J (1843), Modern painters, vol I Pt II Sect II Chap I: Of truth of tone. https://www.
gutenberg.org/files/29907/29907-h/29907-h.htm
24. Handprint. www.handprint.com
25. Mees CEK (1942) The theory of the photographic process. Macmillan, New York
26. Autochrome Lumiere. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autochrome_Lumiere
27. Kodachrome. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kodachrome
28. Gernsheim H, Gernsheim A (1960) The history of photography. Thames and Hudson, London
29. Twyman M (1970) Printing 1770–1970. Eyre and Spottiswoode, London
30. Yule JAC (2001) Principles of color reproduction, 2nd edn. Wiley, NJ
31. Kipphan H (2001) Handbook of Print Media. Springer, Heidelberg
32. Hunt RWG (2004) The reproduction of color, 6th edn. Wiley, New York
33. Ulichney R (1987) Digital halftoning. MIT Press, Cambridge
34. Parkin A (2016) Digital imaging primer. Springer, Heidelberg
Chapter 2
Digital Imaging Fundamentals

2.1 Digital Image

Visually, a digital image is a rectangular array of (nominally) square elements called

pixels, each showing a colour. Figure 2.1 shows a simple example, displayed on a
screen (if you are reading this as an e-book) or printed on paper (if you are reading
it as a print book).

2.2 sRGB Colour Space

sRGB is a standard [1] defining a colour space and viewing conditions for digital
images [2]. It is available in virtually all current personal computers, digital cameras,
scanners, displays and printers.
In brief, sRGB has:
Three variables: red, green and blue.
In each variable, a range of integer intensities R, G, B, where 0 ≤ R ≤ 255, 0
≤ G ≤ 255, 0 ≤ B ≤ 255.
In the whole space, 2563 = 16.7 million colours, where a colour is an additive
mixture of three intensities: (R, G, B).
A subset of 256 neutrals, colours where R = G = B.
The sRGB variables are defined as three primary light sources (the same as for
HDTV [4]), which have the CIExyY chromaticity coordinates [3]:
R: x = 0.64, y = 0.33.
G: x = 0.30, y = 0.60.
B: x = 0.15, y = 0.06.
White point: x = 0.3127, y = 0.3290.
Figure 2.2a shows the three primary colours, which combine additively as white, and
(b) shows the sRGB gamut within the full CIE gamut. Thus, sRGB colour space is
© Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature 2018 15
A. Parkin, Computing Colour Image Processing,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-74076-8_2
Random documents with unrelated
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 TRICHOGLOSSUS
SWAINSONII: Jard: and
Selb:

J. Gould
and H.C.
Richter delt.
C.
Hullmandel
Imp.
 TRICHOGLOSSUS SWAINSONII, Jard. and
Selb.
Swainson’s Lorikeet.

Perruche de Moluques, Buff. Pl. Enl. 743.

Blue-bellied Parrakeet, Brown, Ill. of Zool., pl. 7.
Blue-bellied Parrot, White’s Voy., pl. in p. 140.—Phill. Bot. Bay., pl.
in p. 152.—Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. viii. p. 413. pl. 59.
Le Perruche à tête bleue, male, Le Vaill. Hist. des Perr., tom. i. pl.
24.
Trichoglossus hæmatodus, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv.
p. 289.
—— multicolor, Wagl. Mon. Psitt. in Abhand., tom. i. p. 553.
—— Swainsonii, Jard. and Selb. Ill. Orn., vol. iii. pl. 112.—Selb.
Nat. Lib. Orn., vol. vi. Parrots, p. 153. pl. 20.—Swain. Zool. Ill.
2nd Ser., vol. ii. pl. 92.—Ib. Class. of Birds, vol. ii. p. 304.
Warrin, Aborigines of New South Wales.
This beautiful Lorikeet, so familiar to every ornithologist, has been
for many years confounded with two other nearly allied species, and
hence has arisen an almost inexplicable mass of confusion
respecting them; their true synonymies have, however, been most
ably worked out by Mr. Swainson in a paper sent by him to Sir
William Jardine and Mr. Selby for insertion in their “Illustrations of
Ornithology,” wherein those gentlemen, fully satisfied of the justness
of Mr. Swainson’s observations, took an opportunity of naming this
species Swainsonii, a tribute to the talents of that naturalist in which
I most cordially participate.
The present bird, so far as is yet known, is almost exclusively an
inhabitant of the south-eastern portion of the Australian continent
lying between South Australia and Moreton Bay, at least I have
never heard of its existence in any part westward of the former or
northward of the latter. It also occurs in Van Diemen’s Land, but its
visits to that island do not appear to be either regular or frequent.
The flowers of the various species of Eucalypti furnish this bird
with an abundant supply of food, and so exclusively is it confined to
the forests composed of those trees, that I do not recollect to have
met with it in any other. It also evinces a preference for those that
are covered with newly expanded blossoms, which afford them the
greatest supply of nectarine juice and pollen, upon which they
principally subsist. However graphically it might be described, I
scarcely believe it possible to convey an idea of the appearance of a
forest of flowering gums tenanted by several species of Trichoglossi,
Meliphagi, &c.; three or four species being frequently seen on the
same tree, and often simultaneously attacking the pendent blossoms
of the same branch. The incessant din produced by their thousand
voices, and the screaming notes they emit, when a flock of either
species simultaneously leave the trees for some other part of the
forest, baffles all description, and must be seen and heard to be fully
comprehended. So intent are the Trichoglossi for some time after
sunrise upon extracting their honey-food, that they are not easily
alarmed or made to quit the trees upon which they are feeding. The
report of a gun discharged immediately beneath them has no other
effect than to elicit an extra scream, or cause them to move to a
neighbouring branch, where they again recommence feeding with all
the avidity possible, creeping among the leaves and clinging beneath
the branches in every variety of position. During one of my morning
rambles in the brushes of the Hunter I came suddenly upon an
immense Eucalyptus, which was at least two hundred feet high. The
blossoms of this noble tree had attracted hundreds of birds, both
Parrots and Honey-suckers; and from a single branch I killed the four
species of Trichoglossi inhabiting the district, viz. T. Swainsonii,
chlorolepidotus, concinnus and pusillus. I mention this fact in proof
of the perfect harmony existing between these species while
feeding; a night’s rest, however, and the taming effect of hunger,
doubtless contributed much to this harmonious feeling, as I
observed that at other periods of the day they were not so friendly.
Although the T. Swainsonii is so numerous in New South Wales, I
did not succeed in procuring its eggs; the natives informed me that
they are two in number, and that they are deposited in the holes of
the largest Eucalypti, the period of incubation being from September
to January.
Head, sides of the face and throat blue, with a lighter stripe down
the centre of each feather; across the occiput a narrow band of
greenish yellow; all the upper surface green, blotched at the base of
the neck with scarlet and yellow; wings dark green on their outer
webs; their inner webs black, crossed by a broad oblique band of
bright yellow; tail green above, passing into blue on the tips of the
two central feathers; under surface of the tail greenish yellow; chest
crossed by a broad band, the centre of which is rich scarlet, with a
few of the feathers fringed with deep blue, and the sides being rich
orange-yellow margined with scarlet; under surface of the shoulder
and sides of the chest deep blood-red; abdomen rich deep blue,
blotched on each side with scarlet and yellow; under tail-coverts rich
yellow, with an oblong patch of green at the extremity of each
feather; bill blood-red, with the extreme tip yellow; nostrils and bare
space round the eye brownish black; irides reddish orange, with a
narrow ring of dark brown next the pupil; feet olive.
The sexes resemble each other so closely both in size and
colouring that they cannot be distinguished with certainty.
The figures are those of a male and a female of the natural size.
 TRICHOGLOSSUS
RUBRITORQUIS, Vig.
and Horsf.

J. Gould
and H.C.
Richter delt.
C.
Hullmandel
Imp.
 TRICHOGLOSSUS RUBRITORQUIS, Vig. and
Horsf.
Red-collared Lorikeet.

Trichoglossus rubritorquis, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv.

p. 291.—Lear’s Ill. Psitt., pl. 34.—Wagl. Mon. Psitt. in Abhand.,
tom. i. p. 552.
This lovely Trichoglossus inhabits the northern coasts of Australia,
and is as beautiful a representative of its near ally, the T. Swainsonii
of the south coast, as can well be imagined. In their habits and
economy also the two birds so closely approximate that a description
of one will serve for both. Independently of the richer blue of the
head, the red nuchal collar and dull blackish olive mark on the
abdomen are marks by which it may readily be distinguished. The
Red-collared Lorikeet is by far the most beautiful bird of the two,
and indeed in the splendour of its colouring is second to no member
of its group.
The specimens from which my figures were taken were procured
at Port Essington. Mr. Gilbert remarks, that “this species is abundant
in all parts of the Cobourg Peninsula and the adjacent islands; and is
an especial favourite with the natives, who carefully preserve the
heads of all they kill for the purpose of ornamenting their persons,
by slinging them to the arm a little above the elbow. It is generally
seen in large flocks, feeding on the summits of the loftiest trees. Its
flight is rapid in the extreme. Like the other Trichoglossi, its food
consists of honey and the buds of flowers.”
Of its nidification nothing is yet known.
 The sexes present little difference in appearance, and may be thus
described:—
Head and cheeks resplendent blue; throat and abdomen deep
olive-green; chest crossed by a broad band of orange-red; a narrow
band of the same colour across the occiput, below which band is a
broader one of deep blue, the basal portion of the feathers being
red; back, wings, tail and under tail-coverts grass-green; basal half
of the inner webs of the primaries yellow; irides red, with a narrow
ring of yellowish round the pupil; bill vermilion; tarsi silken green in
front; inside of the feet and back of the tarsi ash-grey.
The Plate represents a male and a female of the natural size.
 TRICHOGLOSSUS
CHLOROLEPIDOTUS:
Jard. & Selb.

J. Gould
and H.C.
Richter del
et lith.
C.
Hullmandel
Imp.
 TRICHOGLOSSUS CHLOROLEPIDOTUS, Jard.
and Selb.
Scaly-breasted Lorikeet.

Psittacus chlorolepidotus, Kuhl, Consp. Psitt. in Nov. Act., vol. x. p.

48.
Trichoglossus Matoni, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p.
292.
Trichoglossus chlorolepidotus, Jard. and Selb. Ill. Orn., vol. iii. pl.
110.—Wagl. Mon. Psitt. in Abhand., p. 550.
The present Lorikeet is one of the four species of this genus
inhabiting New South Wales, which portion of Australia may be
regarded as its stronghold, for I have never even seen a skin from
any of the other colonies; hence, like many other species, it is very
local, confined as it were to certain limits, and those of small extent.
To give any detailed account of its habits and mode of life would be
merely repeating what I have said respecting the Trichoglossus
Swainsonii, with which it frequently associates and even feeds on
the same branch; it is, however, not so numerous as that species,
nor so generally distributed over the face of the country. The
brushes near the coast, studded here and there with enormous
gums, towering high above every other tree by which they are
surrounded, are the localities especially resorted to by it: in the
interior of the country, on the contrary, where the Trichoglossus
Swainsonii is equally as numerous as in the neighbourhood of the
coast, I never observed it.
 Its sole food is honey, gathered from the cups of the newly
expanded blossoms of the Eucalypti, upon which it feeds to such an
excess, that on suspending a fresh-shot specimen by the toes a
large teaspoonful, at least, of liquid honey will flow from the mouth;
hence, when we know this to be the natural food of the principal
members of the group, how can it be expected that they can exist in
captivity upon the hard seeds or farinaceous food so generally given
as a substitute? A proper attention to the diet of these birds, by
supplying them with food of a saccharine character, would doubtless
be attended with the best results, and enable us to keep them as
denizens of our cages and aviaries, as well as the other members of
the family; and when it is considered that they are among the most
elegant and beautiful of their tribe, I trust those who may have an
opportunity will be induced to make a trial.
The Scaly-breasted Lorikeet breeds in all the large Eucalypti near
Maitland on the Hunter, but I regret to say I did not procure its eggs,
or any information respecting its nidification.
The sexes are so closely alike as not to be outwardly
distinguished.
All the upper surface, wings and tail rich grass-green; a few
feathers at the back of the neck and all the feathers of the under
surface bright yellow, margined at the tip with a crescent of grass-
green, giving the whole a fasciated appearance; under surface of the
shoulder and base of the primaries and secondaries rich scarlet; bill
beautiful blood-red, inclining to orange at the tip; cere and orbits
olive; irides in some specimens scarlet with a circle of buff round the
pupil, in others buffy yellow.
The figures are of the natural size.
 TRICHOGLOSSUS
VERSICOLOR: Vig.

J. Gould
and H.C.
Richter delt.
C.
Hullmandel
Imp.
 TRICHOGLOSSUS VERSICOLOR, Vig.
Varied Lorikeet.

Trichoglossus versicolor, Vig. in Lear’s Ill. Psitt., pl. 36.—Selb. in

Nat. Lib. Orn., vol. vi. Parrots, p. 157, pl. 21.
W̏ e-ro-ole, Aborigines of Port Essington.
There is no other species of the genus Trichoglossus yet
discovered with which the present could be confounded; it is at once
rendered conspicuously distinct from all its allies by the narrow
stripe of yellow down the centre of the feathers of the upper and
under surface; it will not therefore be necessary to enter into a
minute description of its size and colour, particularly as the figures in
the accompanying Plate are of the size of life, and as near the
appearance of nature as it is possible to pourtray them.
The northern coast is the only part of Australia in which this
elegant little Lorikeet has yet been discovered: it is particularly
abundant at Port Essington, where its suctorial mode of feeding
leads it, like the other members of the genus, to frequent the
flowery Eucalypti. Mr. Gilbert says, “This bird congregates at times in
immense flocks; when a flock is on the wing their movements are so
regular and simultaneous that they might easily be mistaken for a
cloud passing rapidly along, were it not for the utterance of their
usual piercing scream, which is frequently so loud as to be almost
deafening. They feed on the topmost branches of the Eucalypti and
Melaleucæ. I observed them to be extremely abundant during the
month of August on all the small islands in Van Diemen’s Gulf.
“The stomach is membranous and extremely diminutive in size.
The food consists of honey and minute portions of the blossoms of
their favourite trees.”
Could this species be transmitted to Europe, and a kind of food
suitable to it be discovered, it would form one of the most delightful
cage-pets that has ever been introduced.
The male has the lores and crown of the head rich deep red;
round the neck a collar of deep cærulean blue; back brownish
green; wings green; rump and upper tail-coverts light yellowish
green; across the chest a broad band of purplish red; under surface
of the shoulder, abdomen, flanks and under tail-coverts light
yellowish green; all the feathers of the upper surface with a narrow
stripe of yellowish green; the stripes being more yellow at the
occiput, almost form a band; ear-coverts yellow; all the feathers of
the under surface with a narrow line of bright yellow down the
centre; on each side of the abdomen and down the inside of the
thighs stained with patches of purplish red; primaries black,
margined externally with deep green, with a fine line of yellowish
green on the extreme edge of the feathers; tail deep green, all but
the two middle feathers greenish yellow on their internal webs;
irides bright reddish yellow, with a very narrow ring of dark red next
the pupil; bill scarlet; cere and naked space round the eyes greenish
white; tarsi and feet light ash-grey.
The female resembles her mate, but is much less brilliant in all her
markings.
The figures are those of a male and a female of the natural size.
 TRICHOGLOSSUS
CONCINNUS: Vig. &
Horsf.

J. Gould
and H.C.
Richter del
et lith.
C.
Hullmandel
Imp.
TRICHOGLOSSUS CONCINNUS, Vig. and Horsf.
Musky Parrakeet.

Psittacus Australis, Lath. Ind. Orn., vol. i. p. 104.

Psittacus concinnus, Shaw, Nat. Misc., pl. 87.—Kuhl, Nova Acta,
tom. x. p. 46.
Perruche à bandeau rouge, Le Vaill. Perr., tom. i. p. 99. pl. 48.
Pacific Paroquet, Phill. Bot. Bay, pl. in p. 155.
Pacific Parrot, Lath. Gen. Syn., vol. ii. p. 87.
Pacific Parrakeet, Psittacus pacificus, Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. viii. p.
419.
Crimson-fronted Parrakeet, Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. ii. p. 181.
Psittacus rubrifrons, Bechst. Uebers der Vog., Lath. s. 84. no. 99.
Trichoglossus concinnus, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p.
292.—Jard. and Selb. Ill. Orn., vol. i. pl. 34.
Lathamus concinnus, Less. Traité d’Orn., p. 206.
Trichoglossus Australis, Wagl. Mon. Psitt. in Abhand., tom. i. pp.
493 and 549.
Psittacus velatus, Vieill. Nouv. Dict. d’Hist. Nat., tom. xxv. p. 373.—
Ib. Ency. Méth. Orn., Part III. p. 1405.
Coolich, Aborigines of New South Wales.
Musk Parrakeet, Colonists.
 This species of Trichoglossus inhabits Van Diemen’s Land, New
South Wales and South Australia, and is very generally distributed
over all parts of those countries. I have never heard of its inhabiting
either the western or northern portions of Australia, whence I infer
that its habitat is restricted to the south and south-eastern divisions
of the continent. Like every other species of the genus, the present
bird is always to be found upon the Eucalypti, whose blossoms
afford it a never-failing supply of honey, one or other of the
numerous species of that tribe of trees being in flower at all seasons
of the year. It is stationary in New South Wales, but I am not certain
that it is so in the more southern country of Van Diemen’s Land,
where it is known by the name of the Musk Parrakeet, from the
peculiar odour of the bird.
It is a noisy species, and with its screeching note keeps up a
perpetual din around the trees in which it is located. During its
search for honey it creeps among the leaves and smaller branches in
the most extraordinary manner, hanging and clinging about them in
every possible variety of position. It generally associates in flocks,
and is so excessively tame that it is very difficult to drive it from the
trees, or even from any particular branch. Although usually
associated in flocks it appears to be mated in pairs, which at all
times keep together during flight, and settle side by side when the
heat of the sun prompts them to shelter themselves under the shade
of the more redundantly leaved branches.
The eggs, which are dirty white and two in number, are of a
rounded form, one inch in length and seven-eighths of an inch in
breadth. Those I obtained were taken from a hole in a large
Eucalyptus growing on the Liverpool range.
The sexes present no difference in colour, and the young assume
the plumage of the adult at a very early age.
Forehead and ear-coverts deep crimson-red; at the upper part of
the back a broad patch of light chestnut-brown; the remainder of
the plumage grass-green; on the flanks a spot of orange; primaries
and secondaries black, broadly margined on the external webs with
grass-green; base of all but the inner webs of the lateral tail-feathers
deep red at the base, passing into yellow and tipped with grass-
green; bill blackish brown, passing into reddish orange at the tip;
cere and orbits olive-brown; irides buff, surrounded by a narrow
circle of yellow.
I was not aware, until after the impressions of the present plate
had been printed, that Dr. Latham had applied the specific term of
Australis to this bird long before that of concinnus was conferred
upon it by Shaw; a fact, however, with which the accurate Wagler
was acquainted, and which he has recorded in his valuable
Monograph of the Psittacidæ above quoted; the correct appellation
of the species is therefore Trichoglossus Australis, Wagler.
The figures are of the natural size.
 TRICHOGLOSSUS
PORPHYROCEPHALUS:
Diet:

J. & E.
Gould del.
C.
Hullmandel
Imp.
TRICHOGLOSSUS PORPHYROCEPHALUS, Diet.
Porphyry-crowned Lorikeet.

Psittacus purpurea, Diet., Phil. Mag. 1832, vol. xi. p. 387.

Psittacus purpureus, Wagl. Mon. Psitt. in Abhand., vol. x. p. 747.
Trichoglossus porphyrocephalus, Diet., Trans. Linn. Soc., vol. xvii.
p. 553.
Psittacula Florentis, Bourj. de St. Hil., Supp. Le Vaill. Hist. des Perr.,
pl. 84.
Kȍw-ar, Aborigines of Western Australia.
This handsome little Lorikeet was first brought before the notice of
the scientific world by Mr. Dietrichsen at the Meeting of the Linnean
Society, held on the 20th of March, 1832; some confusion, however,
exists as to the name then proposed for it. In a report of the
Meeting published in the “Philosophical Magazine” for the same year
it is called Psittacus purpurea; but in the seventeenth volume of the
“Linnean Transactions” it is correctly placed in the genus
Trichoglossus, with the far more appropriate specific appellation of
porphyrocephalus, which I therefore retain.
Although the Porphyry-crowned Lorikeet has been thus long
described, it is still very rarely to be seen in collections, a fact which
may be accounted for by the circumstance of its being an inhabitant
of those parts of Australia with which we have hitherto had little
intercourse.
It is not found in New South Wales, and I do not recollect ever
having seen it in collections from any of the eastern parts. It is
abundant in South Australia, is equally numerous in the white-gum
forests of Swan River, and in all probability is dispersed over the
whole of the intermediate country. It is the only species of the genus
I have seen from Western Australia, a circumstance which cannot be
accounted for, since the face of the country is covered with trees of
a similar character.
Most of the specimens I collected were shot during the months of
June and July in the neighbourhood of Adelaide, and some of them
in the town itself. It appears to arrive in this district at the flowering
season of the Eucalypti, in company with Trichoglossus Swainsonii,
concinnus and pusillus, all of which may frequently be seen on the
same tree at one time: the incessant clamour kept up by multitudes
of these birds baffles description; the notes of the larger species are,
however, distinguishable by their superiority in harshness and
loudness; they feed together in perfect amity, and it is not unusual
to see two or three species on the same branch. They are all so
remarkably tame, that any number of shots may be fired amongst
them without causing the slightest alarm to any but those that are
actually wounded. Although strictly gregarious, they appear to be
always mated in pairs, which accompany each other in their various
movements among the branches. The whole of one species
frequently leave the tree simultaneously, rushing off with amazing
quickness in search of other trees laden with newly-expanded
flowers, among which they dash and commence feeding with the
utmost eagerness, clinging and creeping among the branches in
every possible attitude. As this tribe of birds depends solely for its
subsistence upon the flowers of the gum-trees, their presence in any
locality would be vainly sought for at any season when those trees
are not in blossom.
The sexes are precisely alike in size and in the colour of their
plumage.
Forehead, lores and ear-coverts yellow, intermingled with scarlet;
crown of the head deep purple; back of the head and neck yellowish
green; wing-coverts and rump grass-green; shoulder light blue;
under surface of the wing crimson; primaries blackish brown,
margined externally with deep green, the extreme edge being
greenish yellow; tail green above, golden beneath; throat and under
surface greenish grey, passing into golden green on the flanks and
under tail-coverts; bill black; irides in some dark brown, in others
light reddish brown, with a narrow ring of orange round the pupil;
feet bluish flesh-colour.
The figures are of the natural size.
 TRICHOGLOSSUS
PUSILLUS: Vig. & Horsf.

J. Gould
and H.C.
Richter del
et lith.
C.
Hullmandel
Imp.
 TRICHOGLOSSUS PUSILLUS, Vig. and Horsf.
Little Parrakeet.

Psittacus pusillus, Lath. Ind. Orn., vol. i. p. 106.—Shaw, Gen. Zool.,

vol. viii. p. 471.—Kuhl, Nova Acta, tom. x. p. 47.
Perruche à face rouge, Le Vaill. Perr., tom. i. p. 124. pl. 62.
Small Parrakeet, Lath. Gen. Syn., vol. ii. p. 88.
Small Paroquet, Psittacus pusillus, Shaw in White’s Journ., pl. in p.
262.
Small Parrot, Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. ii. p. 194.
Trichoglossus pusillus, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p.
293.—Wagl. Mon. Psitt. in Abhand., tom. i. pp. 493 and 548.
Lathamus pusillus, Less. Traité d’Orn., p. 206.
Jerryang, Aborigines of New South Wales.
This familiar species, the least of the Australian Psittacidæ yet
discovered, enjoys a range of habitat precisely similar to that of the
Trichoglossus concinnus, being dispersed over the whole of New
South Wales, South Australia and Van Diemen’s Land; it is, however,
more sparingly diffused over the latter country. I found it tolerably
abundant and killed several specimens on Maria Island, near the
entrance of Storm Bay. On the continent of Australia it is not only to
be found in the same districts and at the same seasons of the year
as T. concinnus, but it is more frequently observed in company with
that species than alone; flocks of each often occupying the same
tree, and even the same branch, all busily engaged in extracting
their nectarine food. Like its near ally, the present bird creeps about
under and among the leaves with the greatest facility, and like the
other members of the group, appears to be always associated in
pairs. As might be expected from the structure of its wing, which is
admirably adapted for rapid progression, it flies through the air with
arrow-like swiftness.
I succeeded in finding the breeding-places of this species, and on
the 11th of October 1839, procured four eggs from a hole in a small
branch of a lofty Eucalyptus, growing on the flats at Yarrundi on the
Upper Hunter. The eggs were white and of an oval form, nine lines
and a half long by seven lines and a half broad.
In Western Australia this species is represented by the
Trichoglossus porphyrocephalus, and on the north coast by the T.
versicolor. It would appear to inosculate with its western ally in
South Australia, both being equally numerous there, around, and
even upon the trees within the city of Adelaide.
The sexes are similar in plumage and differ but little in size; the
female is, however, rather more diminutive than her mate.
Face deep red; back of the neck brown; all the remainder of the
plumage grass-green; primaries, secondaries and greater coverts
black, margined externally with grass-green; two centre tail-feathers
and outer webs of the remainder grass-green; the inner webs of the
lateral feathers fine red at the base, passing into greenish yellow
towards the tip; bill black; cere and orbits dark olive-brown; irides
orange, surrounded by a narrow line of yellow.
The figures are of the natural size.
 PTILINOPUS
SWAINSONII: Gould.

J. Gould
and H.C.
Richter delt.
C.
Hullmandel
Imp.
 PTILINOPUS SWAINSONII, Gould.
Swainson’s Fruit Pigeon.

Ptilinopus purpuratus, var. Regina, Swains. Zool. Journ., vol. i. p.

474?
Columba purpurata, Jard. and Selb. Ill. Orn., vol. ii. pl. 70.
Ptilinopus Swainsonii, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., February 8,
1842.
Considerable confusion has existed respecting the very beautiful
birds constituting the genus Ptilinopus, as to whether they are so
many species or merely varieties, and I quite agree with Messrs.
Jardine and Selby when they say in their ‘Illustrations’ above quoted,
“We strongly suspect that more than one species is involved among
these different varieties, which some one in possession of them may
hereafter be enabled to determine; and their varied geographical
distribution tends considerably to strengthen this opinion.” There are
in fact several species of this beautiful form so closely allied that at a
casual glance they would be considered as identical, but on a careful
comparison their specific differences will be clearly perceived. At
least two of them are natives of Australia, the remainder being
distributed over the Indian and Polynesian Islands. The present bird
has by many authors been considered either as identical with or as a
mere variety of the Columba purpurata, Auct., but if compared with
that species it will be found to possess characters sufficiently
different to warrant its being characterized as distinct; I have
therefore named it after Mr. Swainson, the author of the genus to
which it belongs, as a slight testimony of the respect I entertain for
the talents of one who has done so much towards the advancement
of ornithology, at once the most interesting and popular branch of
the science of natural history.
The specimens from which my figures were taken are from the
brushes of the River Clarence, situated between the Hunter and
Moreton Bay; in the last-mentioned district it is tolerably abundant,
the dense and luxuriant brushes affording it a congenial habitat and
breeding-place. I have received both the young and the adults from
this locality, but as I have never myself seen them in a state of
nature, I am unable to give any account of their habits or economy.
The sexes are so nearly alike in colouring that dissection alone can
distinguish them with certainty.
Forehead and crown deep crimson-red, surrounded except in front
with a narrow ring of light yellow; back of the neck greyish green; all
the upper surface bright green tinged with yellow, the green
becoming deep blue towards the extremities of the tertiaries, which
are broadly margined with yellow; primaries slaty grey on their inner
webs and green on the outer, very slightly margined with yellow;
tail-feathers deep green, largely tipped with rich yellow; throat
greenish grey, stained with yellow on the chin in some specimens
and greyish white in others; breast dull green, each feather forked at
the end and with a triangular silvery-grey spot at each extremity;
flanks and abdomen green, with a large patch of orange-red in the
centre of the latter; under tail-coverts orange-yellow; thighs green;
irides reddish orange; bill greenish black and horn-colour at tip; feet
olive brown.
The figures are of the natural size.
 PTILINOPUS EWINGII:
Gould.

J. Gould
and H.C.
Richter del.
C.
Hullmandel
Imp.
 PTILINOPUS EWINGII, Gould.
Ewing’s Fruit Pigeon.

Ptilinopus Ewingii, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., February 8, 1842.

This lovely species, which is a native of the Cobourg Peninsula,
and doubtless ranges over the northern coast of Australia generally,
differs from the preceding, Ptilinopus Swainsonii, in being much
smaller in all its admeasurements, in the colour of the crown being
rose-pink instead of crimson-red; in the breast being pale greenish
grey instead of dull green; in having the centre of the abdomen rich
orange instead of lilac; and also in having the tail-feathers tipped
with greenish yellow instead of clear rich yellow. The specimens
from which my figures are taken were fully adult, and were
submitted to dissection in order to ascertain the sexes; consequently
I am fully convinced, that, although the present and preceding
species are very nearly allied, they are specifically distinct.
In naming the second Australian species of this beautiful form
after the Rev. Thomas J. Ewing, at present residing in Van Diemen’s
Land, I am actuated by a desire to pay a just compliment to one
who is perhaps more thoroughly versed in the productions of writers
on the interesting science of ornithology than most other persons,
and, although so far removed from the seats of knowledge,
continues to prosecute his studies with the utmost ardour; I feel
assured therefore, that, however objectionable the naming of
species after individuals may be under ordinary circumstances, it will
not in this instance be deemed an inappropriate mode of evincing
my sense of the many admirable qualities of a highly esteemed
friend.
 Forehead and crown of the head rose-pink, bordered with a
narrow line of yellow, except in front; back of the head and neck
greenish grey; all the upper surface bright green, passing into deep
blue on the tertiaries; primaries, secondaries and tertiaries slightly
margined with yellow; tail largely tipped with yellow, tinged with
green, particularly on the two centre feathers; chin pale yellow;
sides of the neck greenish grey; chest pale greenish grey, each
feather forked at the end and tipped with grey; below the chest an
indistinct band of sulphur-yellow; flanks and lower part of the
abdomen green; centre of the abdomen rich orange, in the middle of
which is a lunar-shaped mark of lilac; under tail-coverts orange;
thighs and tarsi green; irides orange; feet olive.
The figures are of the natural size.