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BY JOHN GOULD, FERS. F.LS., V.P.Z.8., M.ES., F.R.GEOG.S., M. RAY S., HON. MEMB. OF THE ROYAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF TURIN, OF THE ROY. ZOOL. SOC. OF IRELAND, OF THE PENZANCE NAT. HIST. SOC., OF THE WORCESTER NAT. HIST. SOC., OF THE NORTHUMBERLAND, DURHAM AND NEWCASTLE NAT. HIST. SOC., OF THE NAT. HIST. SOC. OF DARMSTADT, AND OF THE TASMANIAN SOCIETY OF VAN DIEMEN’S LAND, OF THE NAT. HIST. SOC. OF STRASBOURG, OF THE NAT. HIST. SOC. OF IPSWICH, OF THE NAT. HIST. AND MED. SOC. OF DRESDEN, OF THE NAT. HIST. SOC. OF DRESDEN, OF THE NAT. HIST. SOC. OF NURNBERG: MEMB. OF THE PAL/AZONT. SOC., HON. MEMB. OF THE IMP. NAT. HIST. SOC. OF MOSCOW, OF THE ORNITHOLOGICAL SOC. OF GERMANY, HON. CORR. MEMB. OF THE ROYAL SOC. OF VAN DIEMEN’S LAND, HON. MEMB. OF THE DORSET COUNTY MUS. AND LIBRARY, HON. MEMB. OF THE ROYAL UNITED SERVICE INSTITUTION, ETC. SUPPLEMENT. LONDON: PRINTED BY TAYLOR AND FRANCIS, RED LION COURT, FLEET STREET. PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR, 26, CHARLOTTE STREET, BEDFORD SQUARE. * 1869. EN EO Puce rl b ON: IN the preface to my seven volumes on the Birds of Australia, published just twenty years ago, I ventured an opinion that although the work comprised every species known to inhabit that vast country up to the date of its completion, each new district that might be explored would probably afford additional species ; this prediction has been fully verified, and I have now . the gratification of completing a Supplemental volume, containing figures and descriptions of the novelties that have been obtained during the interval between 1848 and 1868. Were I asked if I think there are many more undescribed birds yet to be discovered in that great southern land, I should answer in the affirmative, and add my belief that, as exploration proceeds and fresh colonies are established, new birds will be brought to light. Whether I may be permitted to see these novelties, and to produce a second Supplementary volume, must depend upon the will of that High Power which has enabled me to devote so large a part of my life to the illustration of one of the most beautiful of its manifold creations. If the blessing of health be continued to me, I trust I shall not be found wanting in energy or desire to do Justice to the delineation and description of any novelties that may be discovered, it being as much a labour of love to be thus engaged now as when ‘ardour and youth went hand in hand durig my visit to the distant country one portion of whose natural productions I trust I have not in vain attempted to illustrate. It might naturally have been supposed that the newly explored regions, actane as they are from the old and well-trodden tracts, would present us with some new genera as well as new species ; and this has been the case, but only to a limited extent, the ornithology of Australia proving to be very persistent, the forms of which it is composed being much the same in the north as in the south. It is true that there are a few exceptions to this law ; and exceptions they are im the strictest sense of the word. The most important addition to 1V INTRODUCTION. our knowledge of Australian Birds is the discovery of a fine species of Cassowary in the rich colony of Queensland, a district in which have also been found many other interesting species, such as Tanysiptera Sylvia, Pitta Mackloti, Orthonyx Spaldingi, and the beautiful Ptiloris magnifica. ‘Nestern and Southern Australia have presented us with the extraordinary Geo- psittacus occidentalis ; Northern Australia is no less conspicuous in her novelties, since it is the home of the lovely Malurus coronatus, as ie central portion of the country is of the Polytelis Alexandre, and the south-eastern coast of the Menura Alberti. As in the preceding seven volumes, so also in this Supplement, I have not strictly confined myself to the ornithological productions of Australia and its islands, but have given figures and descriptions of some few birds from other, but not distant localities, which appeared to me of surpassing interest; as instances in point, I may cite among others the inclusion in the former volumes of the extraordinary Didunculus of the Samoan Islands and the two species of Apteryx (A. Australis and A. Owen) of New Zealand, and in the present volume some equally interesting novelties from the latter country, such as Sceloglaux albifacies, Nestor Esshngi, N. notabihs, Strigops habroptilus, and the now nearly extinet Notornis Mantelli. A few new birds from Lord Howe’s and Norfolk Island are also figured for the st time ; while the countries northward of those islands are represented by two important struthious birds, the Casuarius Bennett and C. unappendiculatus, of which I could not resist the temptation to give figures, more especially as opportunities occurred for delineating them from life ; by which means their heads have been represented of the natural size, and the colouring of their soft parts with strict fidelity, which could not otherwise have been done. Note.—Mr. James Cockerell, who has spent two or three seasons in the Cape-York district, believes that my Malurus amabilis and M. hypoleucus are male and female of the same species, for he has seen and shot them in company many times—the M. amabilis being the male, and M. hypoleucus the female. If this should prove to be the case, it will be contrary to what I have hitherto believed to be an invariable law with these birds; for I have always supposed the females of the variegated Maluri, like the Common Superb Warbler (Malurus cyaneus), to be of a nearly uniform brown, that the males have a breeding and non-breeding attire, and that in the latter dress their appearance is very similar to that of the females. If Mr. Cockerell’s opinion be correct, then both males and females of the Cape-York bird will carry in winter the kind of plumage shown in my figure of M. hypo- leucus on the 22nd Plate of this Supplement. psi August Ist, 1869. Acanthiza, Great magna Actitis Bartramia Actiturus Bartramius Aplonis metallica Shining Arses Kaupi Artamus melanops Athene albifacies Atrichia rufescens Barita Keraudrenii . Bartramia laticauda Blackbird, Grey-headed Vinous-tinted Bower-bird, Fawn-breasted Guttated . Rawnsley’s . Brachyurus Mackloti (Erythropitta) Mackloti . Bristle-bird, Rufous-headed . Bronzewing, Rust-coloured White-bellied Cacatua aterrima . Cacomantis castaneiventris Calornis metallica Carpophaga assimilis Cassowary, Australian . Bennett’s One-carunculated . Casuarius australis . Bennetti . Johnsonii Kaupi new sp. unappendiculatus . uniappendiculatus . uno-appendiculatus Centrourus australis Chalybzeus cornutus Chlamydera cerviniventris guttata 9 Chlamydodera guttata . Chrysococcyx minutillus Cinclosoma castaneithorax castaneothorax . Cockatoo, Black . Great Black . Great Palm- ; Grey ee ti ismroin Craspedophora magnifica . Crow-Shrike, Keraudren’s Cuckoo, Chestnut-breasted Little . Cuculus (Cacomantis) castaneiventris . Cyclopsitta Coxeni . INDEX TO SUPPLEMENT. Page Page 55 Drymodes superciliaris. . . . . . . 381 _ 55 . 149 | Eopsaltria capito . 33 . 149 leucura Seis ee ee 35 65 Epimachus magnificus . . . . . . . 101 65 paradiseus souseran LOI 19 Dino oni Wiad 5 5 6 2 o o o BW 13 | EHuliga Bartramia . 149 3 51 Falcinellus magnificus . . . . . . . 102 Flycatcher, Kaup’s . 17 5 Wy White-bellied 25 . 149 White-eared Br, oie west He eo 59 Wellow-breasted| a suns el 61 71 Gallinula ruficrissa . Mie Treamigiardos 69 Gallinule, Rufous-vented . . . . . . 158 67 Gelochelidon macrotarsa . . . . . . 157 57 Geopsittacus occidentalis . . . . . . 188 57 Gerygone, Masked 27 49 personata 27 137 . 139 Halcyon flavirostris . ear a ae hag iat aa (Syma?) flavirostris . . . . .. @Q . 123 Honey-eater, Cockerell’s . . . . . . 85 . 107 Fasciated o 0 mGD Helmeted 77, 87 . 185 Streaked . a Vo NOU So Apo. Gol tsts) . 141 Wellow-spotteduy yl nenesil . 148 . 145 Kakapo . 5 . 118 . 141 Kakatoés noir, Le 128 143 . 141 Lamprotornis metallicus . . . . . . 65 . 145 IDA, CaaS BRON 6 56 « 5 o 5 vo OB . 145 noir & trompe oo 0 6 dee} . 145 Lophophaps ferruginea. . . . . . . 187 . 145 leucogaster . 139 . 145 Lyre-bird, Albert 387 117 17 Macheerirhynchus flaviventer. . . . . 21 7l Malurus amabilis 41 69 callainus . 45 o (ae) coronatus 39 . 111 hypoleucus 48 63 leuconotus oot okays ote ees 5 GB Manucodia Keraudreni . ..... 17 . 123 Menura Alberti 37 » 123 Merula Nestor 59 - 123 poliocephala 59 . 128 vinitincta ¢ 61 . 101 Microglossum aterrmum . . . . . . 128 17 Microglossus ater . 128 . 109 aterrimus ONS NO Mts sce ot Ue) o UNL Monarcha albiventris . . . . . . . 25 . 109 leucotis . 23 . 131 Mooruk . 148 Nectarinia australis . Nestor Esslingii . hypopolius notabilis . Novee-Zelandize Notornis Mantelli . Orthonyx Spaldingi . Spalding’s Owl, Grass- Paradisea’ Wallacei . Pardalote, Yellow-rumped . Pardalotus xanthopyge . xanthopygius xanthopygus Parrakeet, Coxen’s Golden-backed . The Princess of Wales’s . Blue-cheeked Nocturnal Ground- Parrot, Ka-ka . KC aerate.) carat Yas Prince of Essling’s Southern Brown Perroquet & trompe . Petroica? cerviniventris Philedon buceroides Phonygama Keraudreni Keraudrenii . Lessonia . Pigeon, Allied Fruit- Pitta Mackloti Macklot’s Platycercus cyanogenys Podargus, Marbled . marmoratus . Papuan Papuensis Polyteles Alexandre Polytelis Alexandre . Pomatorhinus, Chestnut-crowned ruficeps Promefil, Le Promerops 4 parures chevelues Psephotus chrysopterygius Psittacus aterrimus . australis . gigas . Goliath griseus hypopolius meridionalis Nestor git (Kakadoe) Nestor . Ptiloris magnifica Page 89 . 119 17 5 Tom 117,119 . 147 . 147 . 131 . 129 . 125 » 127 . 183 o Male o Mal o Ie) o dhiley . 123 Ptiloris Victorie . Ptilotis cassidix Cockerelli fasciogularis filigera notata 2 9 Ptilonorhynchus Rawnsleyi Pycnoptilus, Downy floccosus . Rail, Red-necked Rallina tricolor Rallus tricolor : Rifle-bird, Magnificent . Victoria . Robin, Buff-sided Eastern Scrub- Large-headed White-tailed Sandpiper, Bartram’s Sceloglaux albifacies Scelostrix candida Serub-bird, Rufescent . Semioptera Page 99 17 85 79 83 81 67 538 53 5 1S)IL > pil elo! o I@IL . 108 INDEX TO SUPPLEMENT. Semioptera Wallacei Shoveller, Variegated Sittella striata Striated . Spatula variegata Sphecotheres flaviventris Yellow-bellied . Sphenura Broadbenti Standard-wing Strigops habroptilus Strix candida . longimembris Walleri Sun-bird, Australian Tanysiptera Sylvia White-tailed Tern, Great-footed : Thrush, Ash-headed. . . . . Chestnut-breasted Ground- Sooty . Totanus Bartramia Bartramius . campestris melanopygius. . Page . 108 . 155 . 107 . 107 . 155 73 . 157 . 149 . 149 . 149 . 149 Totanus variegatus . Tringa Bartramia longicauda Tringoides Bartramius . Tropidorhynchus buceroides . Turdus fuliginosus poliocephalus Warbler, Fawn-breasted Superb Turquoisine Superb White-backed Superb Wekau . rep hcg geakech a ‘Wood-Swallow, Black-faced . Wren, Crowned . Lovely Zosterops albogularis Grey-breasted lateralis Robust Slender-billed . strenuus . tenuirostris . tephropleurus White-breasted . Page . 149 . 149 . 149 . 149 LIST OF PLATES. SUPPLEMENT. Strix candida, Tickell Sceloglaux albifacies Podargus Papuensis, Quoy & Gum ——— marmoratus, Gould . Halcyon flavirostris, Gould Tanysiptera Sylvia, Gould Artamus melanops, Gould Pardalotus xanthopygius, M‘Coy Manucodia Keraudreni Arses Kaupi, Gould Macherirhynchus flaviventer, Gould Monarcha leucotis, Gould albiventris, Gould Gerygone personata, Gould Petroica? cerviniventris, Gould Drymodes superciliaris, Gould . Eopsaltria capito, Gould . leucura, Gould Menura Alberti, Gould Malurus coronatus, Gould — amabilis, Gould ———— hypoleucus, Gould callainus, Gould leuconotus, Gould Sphenura Broadbenti, M‘Coy Atrichia rufescens, Ramsay Pycnoptilus floccosus, Gould Acanthiza magna, Gould ~ Pitta Mackloti, Mull. & Schleg. Merula poliocephala vinitincta, Gould Cinclosoma castaneothorax, Gould Aplonis metallica Ptilonorhynchus Rawnsleyi, Dee ; Chlamydera guttata, Gould ——— cerviniventris, Gould Sphecotheres flaviventris, Gould Pomatorhinus ruficeps, Haril. Ptilotis cassidix, Jard. fasciogularis, Gould notata, Gould —— filigera, Gould Cockerelli, Gould Tropidorhynchus Buceroides Nectarinia australis, Gould Zosterops albogularis, Gould — tenuirostris, Gould — strenuus, Gould —~ tephropleurus, Gould Ptiloris Victoriz, Gould magnifica Grass-Owl Wekau Papuan Podargus Marbled Podargus . Yellow-billed Kingfisher White-tailed Tanysiptera Black-faced Wood-Swallow Yellow-rumped Pardalote Keraudren’s Crow-Shrike _ Kaup’s Flycatcher Yellow-breasted Flycatcher White-eared Flycatcher White-bellied Flycatcher Masked Gerygone Buff-sided Robin Eastern Scrub-Robin Large-headed Robin White-tailed Robin Albert Lyre-Bird Crowned Wren Lovely Wren Fawn-breasted Superb Tiber Turquoisine Superb Warbler White-backed Superb Warbler Rufous-headed Bristle-Bird Rufescent Scrub-Bird Downy Pycnoptilus Great Acanthiza Macklot’s Pitta Grey-headed Blackbird Vinous-tinted Blackbird Chestnut-breasted Ground-Thrush . Shining Aplonis Rawnsley’s Bower-bird Guttated Bower-bird Fawn-breasted Bower-bird Yellow-bellied Sphecotheres Chestnut-crowned Pomatorhinus Helmeted Honey-eater Fasciated Honey-eater Yellow-spotted Honey-eater Streaked Honey-eater Cockerell’s Honey-eater Helmeted Honey-eater Australian Sun-bird White-breasted Zosterops Slender-billed Zosterops . Robust Zosterops Grey-breasted Zosterops Victoria Rifle-hird . Magnificent Rifle-bird S Cy Ss eS he) Semioptera Wallacei, G. R. Gray Orthonyx Spaldingi, Ramsay Sittella striata, Gould Cacomantis castaneiventris, Gould Chrysococcyx minutillus, Gould Strigops habroptilus, G. R. Gray Nestor hypopolius Esslingii, Sowancé notabilis, Gould Microglossus aterrimus . Polytelis Alexandre, Gould Platycercus cyanogenys, Gould Psephotus chrysopterygius, Gould Cyclopsitta Coxeni, Gould Geopsittacus occidentalis, Gould Carpophaga assimilis, Gould Lophophaps ferruginea, Gould leucogaster, Gould Casuarius australis, Wail. Bennetti, Gould | ————-~ uniappendiculatus, Blyth Notornix Mantelli, Owen Actiturus Bartramius Rallina tricolor, G. R. Gray Gallinula ruficrissa, Gould Spatula variegata, Gould . Gelochelidon macrotarsa, Gould Standard- Wing Spalding’s Orthonyx Striated Sittella Chestnut-breasted Cuckoo Little Cuckoo . Kakapo . Ka-ka Parrot . Prince of Essling’s Parrot Kea Parrot : Great Palm-Cockatoo : : The Princess of Wales’s Parrakeet . Blue-cheeked Parrakeet . Golden-backed Parrakeet Coxen’s Parrakeet 3 Nocturnal Ground-Parrakeet . Allied Fruit-Pigeon Rust-coloured Bronzewing White-bellied Bronzewing : : Australian Cassowary (two heads, natural size) : : 5 , —S—=—=== (Woole ieee) Bennett’s Cassowary (two heads, nat. size) —_——- ————— (whole figure). One-carunculated Cassowary (head and feet, nat. size) —— (whole fig.). Notornis : F . , ; Bartram’s Sandpiper Red-necked Rail Rufous-vented Gallinule . Variegated Shoveller Great-footed Tern gh Abe Lickel, STRIX CANDIDA, ould &HCkeichter, del et lith/ LG 7 Y STRIX CANDIDA, Tickei. Grass-Owl. Strix candida, Tickell, in Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng., vol. ii. p. 572.—Jerd. Ill. Ind. Orn., pl. xxx.—Id. Birds of India, vol. i. p. 118. — longimembris, Jerd. in Madras Journ. of Lit. and Sci., vol. x. p. 86. Scelostrix candida, Blyth in Ibis, 1866, p. 251. Strie Walleri, Diggles, Orn. of Aust., part 7. pl. 1. I am indebted to Mr. Waller, of Brisbane, for the loan of a specimen of this fine Owl, which has lately been added to the list of the Queensland fauna; and I very much regret that the specific name of Waller, assigned to it by Mr. Diggles, cannot be retained, but must sink into the rank of a synonym, the bird having long previously been described by Tickell as S¢r7x candida, and by Jerdon as Strix longimembris. 1 make this affirmation after a careful comparison of two fine Indian examples with the specimen sent by Mr. Waller from Queensland, through Charles Coxen, Esq., in the course of which I found no sufficient difference to warrant my regarding them as distinct. In size, markings, and, indeed, in every particular the Indian and Australian examples are closely alike. When we remember that the bird is strictly a grass-frequenter, and that the grassy plains of India and Australia are of a very similar character, we need not feel surprised at its being found in both countries, although they are so wide apart. It is now clearly established that the White Herons or Egrets, and many of the Plovers and Sandpipers, of the two countries are specifically identical; and their avifaunas may be regarded as still more closely united by the discovery that this fine Owl ranges from the base of the Himalayas (through, perhaps, the intervening countries of Java and the Philippines, as suggested to me by Mr. Blyth) to Australia. As I have no information of my own to offer respecting this bird, I take the liberty of transcribing Mr. Diggles’s account of it from bis work above quoted, which comprises all that is known of it in Australia. «Tt does not often happen in a country so well searched since the visit of Mr. Gould in the years 1838, 1839, 1840, that so important and interesting a bird is brought to light; and the fact of its having been shot in the immediate neighbourhood. of Brisbane may serve to encourage others interested in the study of ornithology, more especially in the newly settled districts where novelties are mostly to be looked for, to endeavour to add to our knowledge of the fauna of their adopted country. «The habits of this bird doubtless assimilate in every important respect to those of the other members of the family. Its nearest ally is Strix delicatula, a much smaller species, which, like the present, has the tarsi naked for about half their length, the remainder of the Australian Owls yet known being feathered to the toes.” The following is Mr. Diggles’s description of this bird, which, as it was probably taken from a recent spe- cimen, I give in preference to one of my own :— “Crown, back, and upper tail-coverts blackish brown, intermingled with tawny buff, each feather with a small white spot at the tip; facial disk buffy white, with a patch of blackish brown in front of the eye ; fringe around the disk bright buff, the shaft of each feather marked with black ; wings blackish brown, in- termingled with bright tawny of a deeper tint than that of the back, and with a spot of white at the tip of each feather ; from the shoulder to the body a broad space of bright tawny buff, speckled with numerous small black spots ; primaries and secondaries bright tawny buff, tipped for a considerable portion of their length with brownish ; the larger portion of their inner webs pure white, the former are barred with four, and the latter with three bands of blackish brown ; scapularies blackish brown, with a spot of white at the tip of each feather: central tail-feathers beautiful bright buff, with four black bands; the nearest of the lateral feathers partake of the same colour; but the outer ones are much paler, bemg nearly white, and the bands almost obsolete ; sides of the neck, chest, and upper portion of the abdomen buff, becoming gradually paler towards the tail; the whole of the undersurface marked with small brown spots near the tip of each feather ; thighs buff externally, and white internally; underside of the wings white, slightly mixed with buff, and marked with arrowhead-shaped spots of blackish brown ; undersurface of the quills white, banded and tipped with dark brown; tarsi long, rather slender, and feathered for about half their length, the re- maining portion being clothed with short hairs; legs and feet yellowish flesh-colour; bill flesh-colour ; irides dark brown. . «The female is not so bright in colour, but in other respects is very similar to the male. The figure is of the natural size. SCHLOGLAUX ALBIFACIES. Sherdld and HM kicker, del & bith. Fidlmanidel & Nalbon, Srp. SCELOGLAUX ALBIFACIES. Wekau. Athene albifacies, G. R. Gray, Voy. of Ereb. and Terr. Birds, p. 2.—Ib. List of Birds in Coll. Brit. Mus., part 1. 2nd edit. p. 90. Sceloglaux albifacies, Kaup.—G. R. Gray, Cat. of Gen. and Subgen. of Birds in Brit. Mus., p. 8. No. 110. Tue bird here figured is another of the strange inhabitants of our antipodal country New Zealand. An owl it unquestionably is, but how widely does it differ from every other member of its family! Its prominent bill, swollen nostrils, and small head are characters as much accipitrine as strigine; its short and feeble wings indicate that its powers of flight are but limited, while its lengthened legs and abbreviated toes would appear to have been given to afford it a compensating increase of progression over the ground. On what does this bird live? There are no indigenous small quadrupeds in the country upon which we might infer, from its structure and what we know of the economy of other terrestrial Owls (such as the Burrowmg Owl of North America, Swrnia cunicularia), it would feed. Does it partially feed on the larvae of such Lepidoptera as Hepialus virescens, so subject to the attack of that singular fungus the Spheria Roberts: ? It would indeed be interesting to ascertain how it maintains existence. ; Of this very rare and singular bird only two examples are known to me: of these, one is in the British Museum, the other in the collection of J. H. Gurney, Esq., of Norwich, a gentleman much attached to Ornithology, as his liberal donations to the Norwich Museum abundantly testify. Both these specimens were collected on the middle and south islands of New Zealand: that in the British Museum is the original of Mr. G. R. Gray’s Athene albifacres and the type of Dr. Kaup’s genus Sceloglauz. The present is the first time the bird has been figured, and as its appearance in this work may be the means of making it more generally known, I trust that the attention of travellers will be directed to the species, and that ere long we may be furnished with some account of its habits and economy, of which, at present, nothing is known. Mr. Percy Earl, who obtained the specimen in the British Museum at Waikonaiti, in the south island of New Zealand, states that it is known to the natives by the name of Wekau. Plumage of the upper surface chocolate-brown, each feather margined with fulvous ; some of the sca- pularies with a lengthened mark of dull white within the margin and others on the edge ; primaries spotted along the outer margin with buffy white; secondaries and tertiaries crossed by indistinct or interrupted bars of buffy white, assuming on those near the body the form of spots; spurious wing very dark brown; tail brown, crossed by five narrow irregular bars of buffy white and tipped with fulvous ; fascial disk pale sandy- brown, except on the forehead, throat and ear-coverts, which are whitish, each feather with a streak of brownish-black down the centre; feathers of the under surface deep fulvous, with a broad mark of dark brown down the centre of each, the former tint increasing on the lower part of the abdomen and thighs, when it again gradually fades into dull white on the lower part of the tarsi; toes sickly-green, thinly beset with hair-like feathers; cere much developed and of a lead colour; bill bluish horn-colour at the base, passing into yellowish horn-colour at the tip, the under mandible yellow. The figure is of the natural size. rs Sel Sea fueron! i ‘ PODARGUS PAPUENSIS , Qusy 4 bam - Dbould cou C Richter, ded. & hth. Hinltmandil & Naltcr, Lnp. PODARGUS PAPUENSIS, Quoy et Gaim. Papuan Podargus. Podargus Papuensis, Quoy et Gaim. Voy. de l’Astrol., Ois. t. 13.—Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 45, Podargus, sp. 9.—Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., p. 57, Podargus, sp. 6. Tue great country of Australia is certainly the head-quarters of the larger members of the Caprimulgide, constituting the genus Podargus, of which the present species may be considered a typical example. Of this fine bird several specimens were procured during the late voyage of Her Majesty’s Ship Rattlesnake, under the command of Captain Owen Stanley, with Mr. MacGillivray as Naturalist, whose names will ever hold a prominent place in the annals of science for their discoveries in various branches of natural history. All the specimens were obtained at Cape York, the contiguity of which to New Guinea induced me to believe the bird to be identical with the one described and figured by MM. Quoy and Gaimard in the Voyage of the Astrolabe under the name of Podargus Papuensis; but on comparing the Australian bird with their plate, I had some doubts on the subject ; I therefore conveyed the specimen to Paris and Leyden, for the purpose of instituting a comparison between it and the original New Guinea examples from which MM. Quoy and Gaimard took their figure and description ; and from the following note made at the time, it will be seen that I came to the conclusion that they are identical. I think it necessary to mention this, because my Plate and that in the Voyage of the Astrolabe will not be found to agree: every care has been taken to render mine as correct a representation of the bird as possible: any comment on that in the French work is unnecessary. “The Podargus from Cape York is too near to P. Papuensis to rank as a distinct species. The two specimens in the Leyden Museum differ very considerably in colour; one being freckled with fine markings of brown and buff, like the common Podargus of Australia, the other covered with large blotches of greyish- white and conspicuous markings of brown and black from the crown of the head to the end of the tail-feathers; the breast too of the larger specimen is conspicuously blotched with white, while that of the smaller one is finely freckled with grey, brown and black; the thighs of both are darkish brown. The Cape York specimen is precisely the same size as the larger of these birds, in colour it is somewhat intermediate between the two, but most nearly resembles the lighter-coloured one ; its thighs are of a lighter brown, slightly tinged with olive, than either of the Leyden specimens, both of which are from New Guinea. The Paris specimen has a larger and more denuded bill than those at Leyden, but in other respects they are very similar.” The P. Papuensis is the largest species of the genus yet discovered; the beauty of its markings and the extreme length of its cuneate tail render it also one of the most graceful. The only specimen that came into my possession from Mr. MacGillivray, for the purpose of figuring, before being deposited in the National Collection, was a male. ‘This, as will be seen in the accompanying Plate, is light brown, beautifully marbled on the under surface with large blotches of white. I have another specimen, received through a different channel, but also from Cape York, which is said to be the female; and such, judging from its redder colouring and smaller size, I believe to be the case, as a similar difference is found to exist between the sexes of P. marmoratus. : The male has the whole of the upper surface mottled with greyish-white, brown and black, presenting a very close resemblance to some of the larger kinds of moths, the lighter tints prevailing in some parts and the darker in others ; on the primaries the marks assume the form of bars, and are of a redder hue ; tips of the coverts white, forming irregular bars across the wing ; tail very similar, but here also the markings assume the form of alternate darker and lighter bands with a rufous tint on the edges of the feathers ; the under surface is much lighter than the upper; the greyish-white assumes a larger and more blotch-like form, and the darker marks that of an irregular gorget across the breast; bill and feet olive. The female, which I think somewhat immature, is altogether of a more sandy hue; the dark marks proceed down the centre of the feathers, and terminate in a round spot of buff; the wing-coverts are tipped with white, and the lighter blotches on the wing are very conspicuous; the under surface, like the upper, is also of a redder hue than in the male, and the markings are of a smaller and more freckled character. The figure is that of an adult male of the natural size. PODARGUS MARMORATUS, Goud. J bauld and IH Kechter, dd. & ith , Lulkmanohd & Welton, Imp. PODARGUS MARMORATUS, Gow. Marbled Podargus. Podargus marmoratus, Gould in App. to MacGillivray’s Voy. of Rattlesnake, vol. ii. p. 356. Tuts species, like the P. Papuenszs, has been subjected to a careful comparison with MM. Quoy and Gaimard’s original specimen of Podargus ocellatus, now in the Museum of the Jardin des Plantes, and I find so great a difference between the New Guinea and Australian examples, that I cannot regard them otherwise than as distinct from each other. The P. ocellatus is a smaller bird, has a redder tail, and very conspicuous large round white spots on the wing, arranged in the form of three distinct semicircular bars,—characters which do not exist in the Australian bird; I have, therefore, no alternative but to give the latter a distinctive appellation, and add it to the list of the Australian fauna, a fauna rich in the extreme in certain groups, such as the Mehphagide, Maluride, Psittacide, and the present form, Podargus, of which at least eight distinct species are now known to exist. How numerous, then, must be the Cicade@, Phasmide and other insects upon which these birds feed ! The present little species is particularly elegant in form, and is, in fact, a miniature representative of the P. Papuensis ; both have lengthened tails, a feature which adds much to their gracefulness of form. As will be seen on reference to the accompanying Plate, much difference exists in the colouring of the sexes, the female being of a deep rusty hue, while the male, particularly on the under surface, is beautifully marbled with pearl-white interspersed with freckles of brown and black. Both the specimens from which my figures were taken were shot by Mr. MacGillivray on the Cape York Peninsula, one on the 14th, the other on the 19th of November 1849. These specimens now grace the National Collection, where they will be available for comparison should any nearly allied species be discovered. The male has the whole of the upper surface and wings minutely mottled with brown, grey and buff, the buffy tint prevailing over the eyes, on the scapularies and on the tips of the wing-coverts ; on the outer webs of the primaries the markings assume the form of bars of mingled buffy, buffy-white and rufous; tail light brown, crossed with numerous defined bands of grey, freckled with black, and with a rufous hue on the lateral feathers ; under surface pearly-white, minutely freckled with brown and with a line of brown down the stem; a series of these darker marks, forming an irregular line, down each side of the neck; bill and feet brownish-olive. The markings of the female are similar, but her general tint is very much darker and of a more rufous hue ; the under surface, too, is dark brown, with here and there large blotches of buffy-white; a series of nearly quadrangular blotches, bordered with dark brown, descends down each side of the neck. The figures represent the two sexes of the natural size. i te i” hg ; ite i aay i Weis | een pias FLAVIROSTRIS: Gould ST Gould and HC Richter dd & lithe. Tinllinanda& Walton lap. HALCYON FLAVIROSTRIS, Gowia. Halcyon (Syma ?) flavirostris, Gould in Proce. of Zool. Soc., July 23, 1850.—Jard. Cont. Orn., 1850. Tuts species might easily be mistaken for the Syma Torotoro of M. Lesson; but if the figure in the ‘* Voyage de la Coquille” be at all correct, there can be little doubt of its being distinct and new to science: its lesser size, less brilliant colouring, the yellow instead of orange hue of the bill, and the smaller size of the serrations of the mandibles, are some of the characters by which it may be distinguished from M. Lesson’s species: in form it is so similar to the typical Halcyons, that I have not considered it advisable to adopt M. Lesson’s subgenus Syma; the slight serrations of the mandibles, the only point in which it differs from Halcyon, appearing to me too trivial to warrant its separation from that genus. It was in that rich district of the peninsula of Cape York, which appears to have a fauna peculiar to itself, (many of the species not being found in other parts of Australia) that the present bird was procured; the following notes by Mr. MacGillivray comprise all the information [have been able to obtain respecting it :— “The Poditt, as it is called by the aborigines, appears to be a rare bird; for although it was much sought for, not more than four or five examples were obtained during our stay. Like the Tanysiptera Sylva, it is an inhabitant of the brushes, while the S. Zorotoro of Lesson is a mangrove bird. I myself saw it alive only once, in a belt of tall trees, thick underwood and clumps of the Seaforthia palm fringing a small stream about three miles from the sea. Attracted by the call of the bird, which was recognized by the accompanying natives as that of the much-prized Poditti, three or four of us remained for about ten minutes almost under the very tree in which it was perched, intently looking out for the chance of a shot, before I discovered it on a bare transverse branch, so high up as scarcely to be within range of small shot ; however, it fell, but our work was only half over, as the wounded bird eluded our search for a long time; at length, one of our sable allies—his eyes brightened, I dare say, by visions of a promised axe—found it lymg dead in a corner to which it had retreated. The more intelligent natives whom I questioned separately agreed in stating that its mode of nidification is similar to that of the Zanysiptera Sylvia, and that, like that species, it lays several white eggs.” The male has the crown of the head, back of the neck, ear-coverts and flanks cinnamon-red; at the back of the neck a narrow broken collar of black; throat and lower part of the abdomen tawny white; back and wings sordid green; rump and tail greenish blue; bill pale orange, the apical two-thirds of the ridge of the upper mandible dark brown. The female differs in being less brightly coloured, and in having an oblong patch of black on the centre of the head extending a little way down the occiput. aah The figures represent the two sexes of the natural size. ae + , & Wilton Lip. S y = s 8 TANYSIPTERA SYLVIA, Gowda. White-tailed Tanysiptera. Tanysiptera Sylvia, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., July 23, 1850.—Jard. Cont. Orn., 1850. Quatawur, of the Aborigines at Cape York. Every new species discovered after the publication of a work on the Birds of a country must be regarded with interest ; and the interest is much enhanced, when, as in the present instance, the additional species is of a scarce and beautiful form. One, or at the utmost two species of the genus Zanysiptera are all with which we were previously acquainted; the beautiful 7. Dea is well known to be a native of New Guinea, and in all probability the range of the present species will extend to that country; but hitherto it has only been found on the northern coast of Australia, Cape York being the sole locality it is at present known to inhabit ; and where, judging from the numerous specimens lately sent to this country, it appears to be by no means scarce: independently of those brought home by Mr. MacGillivray and the officers of H.M:S. Rattlesnake, I have also received fine examples from Mr. James Wilcox of Sydney. As is the case with the Halcyonde generally, the sexes appear to present but little difference in size and colouring, but the female may be distinguished from the male by being somewhat less brilliant in colour and in the lesser development of the central tail-feathers. “This pretty Zanyseptera,” says Mr. MacGillivray, ‘‘is rather plentiful in the neighbourhood of Cape York, where it frequents the dense brushes, and is especially fond of resorting to the small sunny openings in the woods, attracted probably by the greater abundance of insect food found in such places than else- where: I never saw it on the ground, and usually was first made aware of its presence by the glancing of its bright colours as it darted past with a rapid, arrow-like flight, and disappeared in an instant among the dense foliage. Its cry, which may be represented by ‘ whee-whee-whee’ and ‘ wheet-wheet-wheet,’ is usually uttered while the bird is perched on a bare transverse branch or woody rope-like climber, which it uses as a look-out station, and whence it makes short dashes at any passing insect or small lizard, generally returning to the same spot. It is a shy suspicious bird, and one well-calculated to try the patience of the shooter, who may follow it in a small brush for an hour without getting a shot, unless he has as keen an eye as the native to whom I was indebted for first pointing it out to me. According to the natives, who know it by the name of ‘ Quatawur,’ it lays three white eggs in a hole dug by itself in one of the large ant- hills of red clay which form so remarkable a feature in the neighbourhood, some of them being as much as ten feet in height, with numerous buttresses and pinnacles. I believe that the bird also inhabits New Guinea; for at Redscar Bay, on the south-east side of that great island, in long. 146° 50’ E., a head strung upon a necklace was procured from the natives.” Crown of the head, wings, and five lateral tail-feathers on each side blue; ear-coverts, back of the neck and mantle black ; in the centre of the latter a triangular mark of white ; rump and two middle tail-feathers pure white; under surface cinnamon-red ; bill and feet sealing-wax-red. The Plate represents the two sexes of the natural size. b s a Si Giie Si -—. ins y sii Bet ag a 6 ale EG ms , a ARTAMUS MELANOPS , Gould TC ould ti Richter, del et ith, Walter Lap. ARTAMUS MELANOPS, Gow. Black-faced Wood-Swallow. Artamus melanops, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., 1865, p. 198.—Id. Handb. Birds of Aust., vol. i. p. 149. «Tus fine species is unlike every other known member of the genus. It is most nearly allied to Artamus albiventris, but differs from that bird in the jet-black colouring of its under tail-coverts, and from 4. cinereus . in its smaller size and the greater extent of the black on the face. The specimen from which my description was taken has been kindly sent to me by Mr. S. White, of the Reed-beds, near Adelaide, South Australia, who informs me that it was shot by him at St. a Becket’s Pool, lat. 28° 30’, on the 23rd of August, 1863, and who, in the notes accompanying it, says, ‘I have never seen this bird south. It collects at night, like 4. sordidus, and utters the same kind of call. It seems to be plentiful all over the north country, and particularly about Chamber’s Creek and Mount Margaret. It feeds on the ground, soars high, and clings in bunches like the others. The two sexes appeared to be very similar in outward appearance; but the young are much speckled with dusky brown, particularly on the back.’” Since the above paragraph appeared in the first volume of my ‘Handbook to *the Birds of Australia,’ several other specimens have been kindly forwarded to me by Mr. G. F. Waterhouse, Curator of the Museum of the South Australian Institute at Adelaide, in a note accompanying which that gentleman says :— “In compliance with your wish, I forward herewith by return of post some specimens of Aréamus melanops lately received from a friend located about 300 miles north of this place, who informs me that they make their appearance in large numbers about August, and remain for a month or six weeks, after which they become scarce.” The preceding brief passages comprise all that is at present known respecting the 4rtamus melanops. Lores, face, rump, and under tail-coverts black; stripe over the eye, ear-coverts, sides of the face, and throat greyish buff, increasing in depth on the chest so as to form a well-marked band; under surface deli- cate vinous grey; two middle tail-feathers black, the remainder black largely tipped with white; upper surface of the wings grey, their under surface white; bill leaden grey, darkest at the tip; feet blackish brown. The figures are of the natural size. . +7 - - 4 ey a) ea ca Li 7 a} Hate aie wip A - i 4 oe s ‘fe ‘srusrey ese] piel, 2 a: oe A “| + Ss Faaiae y ls ‘J Sp ae nee eee Tl c | ia 1 1X 4 t : ATA Dek ; 9 _DGould & HC Richier, deb & titty ; Walia: PARDALOTUS XANTHOPYGIUS, Moy. Yellow-rumped Pardalote. Pardalotus xanthopygus, M‘Coy in Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist., 3rd ser. vol. xix. p. 184. wanthopyge, M‘Coy in Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist., 3rd ser. vol. xx. p. 178. Tue discovery of this beautiful little Pardalote teaches us that the old adage of ‘“‘a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush” should never be lost sight of; for the present species must have been frequently seen by me during my rambles in South Australia; but, owing to its general resemblance to the P. punctatus when among the leafy branches of the Eucalypti, I did not consider it necessary to kill a bird I had procured plentifully elsewhere. In my ‘Handbook’ I have stated that the Spotted Diamond-bird (P. piunetatus) inhabits the whole of the southern part of Australia, from the western to the eastern extremity of the continent, and the island of Tasmania, all of which, with the exception of the western, had been visited by myself, and that, as I believed, I had collected every species inhabiting these countries: m this, however, I evidently deceived myself; for Mr. White informs me that the Yellow-rumped Diamond-bird is more common in South ‘Australia than the Spotted ; and this fact is confirmed by Mr. Waterhouse, the able Curator of the Natural History Museum at Adelaide, having had no difficulty in procuring and sending me half-a-dozen beautiful specimens at a moment’s notice. I have also received others by way of Victoria, which had been collected near Lake Meran in the district of the Lower Murray. From a letter addressed to me by Professor M‘Coy, it appears that this novelty was pointed out to him by Mr. Leadbeater, of Victoria, a scion of the house in London so well known to all ornithologists. . The Pardalotus vanthopygius is closely allied to the P. punctatus, but is even more beautifully coloured ; its bright-yellow rump is a character by which it may at all times be distinguished from its congeners ; this yellow mark is less conspicuous in the female; and hence the females of the two species are very similar and might be considered identical by persons not versed in ornithology. The area over which this new bird ranges is at present but imperfectly known ; probably the districts bordering the embouchure of the Darling and the Murray, and South Australia generally, constitute its true home. Professor M‘Coy’s description in the ‘Annals and Magazine of Natural History’ above referred to being very correct, I take the liberty of transcribing it; indeed it is only an act of justice so to do, since he was the first to make us aware of the existence of the species. | ‘Male. Crown of the head, wings, and tail black, most of the feathers having a round spot of white near the tip, largest on the secondaries ; a stripe of white commences on the nostril, and passes over each eye ; ear-coverts and sides of the neck grey, the margins being lighter, so as to give a slight tranverse mottling ; feathers of the back dark grey at the base, with a large triangular greyish-white spot near the tip, followed by a black edge; lower part of the back, under tail-coverts, throat, and front of the chest rich yellow ; upper tail-coverts crimson; abdomen pale-brownish cream-colour ; flanks greyish; bill black; feet brown. «¢ Female differs in having the head greyish, like the back, and the throat whitish. ‘¢ Total length, from tip of bill to end of longest tail-feathers, 3 inches 8 lines ; bill, from forehead, rather more than 25 lines; wing, from shoulder, 2 inches 34 lines; tarsus 8 lines. ‘This beautiful species belongs to the same section of the genus as P. rudricatus, P. punctatas, and P. quadragintus, and is distinguished from the others by wanting the red sealing-wax-like appendages to the spurious wing-feathers. It most nearly resembles the P. punctatus, from which it differs in its more slender and slightly longer bill, the white instead of brownish spots on the fore part of the back, the paler abdomen, greyish instead of brownish flanks—and conspicuously by the hinder part of the back being of the same bright yellow colour as the throat and under tail-coverts. ‘¢ Specimens are in the National Museum at Melbourne, from Swan Hill, near the junction of the Murray and the Darling ; and Mr. Waterhouse has presented some from near Adelaide in South Australia.” The Plate represents two males and a female, of the size of life. ek cy ecg We MANUCODIA KEIRAU DIRENT. Tbodkd ond HU fichier, dd. ct tiih. Hidbpoandel k Wiltor, Lp. MANUCODIA KERAUDRENI. Keraudren’s Crow-Shrike. Barita Keraudrenti, Less. Voy. de la Cogq,, t. 13. Chalybeus cornutus, Cuv. Regn. Anim., tom. i. p. 354, edit. 1829.—Gould in MacGill. Voy. of Rattlesnake, vol. ii. p-. 357. Phonygama Keraudrenti, Less. Man. d’Orn., tom. i. p. 141.—Ib. Compl. Buff., t.7.—Ib. Traité d’Orn., p.344.—Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. ii. p. 302, Phonygama, sp. 2. Lessonia, Swains. Class. of Birds, vol. ii. p. 264. keraudrem, Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., p. 368, Phonygama, sp. 2. Tuis is perhaps the most marked New Guinea form that has yet been discovered on the continent of Australia. As might be presumed, the extreme northern parts of the latter country, those in fact most contiguous to New Guinea, are the districts in which it was found. It would be interesting to know if a migration of such forms as the present annually takes place between the two countries. With many other birds having greater wing-powers, such a migration would be performed with ease, and doubtless such a change of locality occurs with many of them. At present, New Guinea, owing to the hostile character of its native population, is a sealed country to the collector, and we really know but little of its natural productions. There are doubtless many fine birds in the mountain districts of that country which never quit their own forests, while others, of a more wandering disposition, will be from time to time captured on the Cape York Peninsula and other northern promontories of Australia; by this means we shall be made acquainted with at least a part of the fauna of that ¢erra incognita; time and the advance of civilization will make us acquainted with the remainder. It is not to be expected, nor indeed can it scarcely be wished, that all the species of birds should be ascertained in one or two generations, as, in that case, future research would be deprived of the charm which novelty communicates to the mind; let us, then, be satisfied with the gradual unfolding of nature’s works, and leave to future generations the pleasure of discovering those which are at present withheld from us. I have seen two or three specimens of this bird, all of which were collected during Captain Stanley’s Expedition. A fine example in the British Museum, obtained at Cape York, is stated by Mr. MacGillivray to be a male; it is from this that my figures were taken. Centre of the crown, the lengthened ear-plumes, the lanceolate feathers on the sides of the neck, back, rump and breast green; shoulders, primaries and tail purplish-black, as are also the thighs, lower part of the abdomen and under tail-coverts ; bill and legs black. The figures are of the natural size. EO a » | g 3 S S xg ~ S 66 [| ica — - : ARSES KAUPI, Gouwia. Kaup’s Flycatcher. Arses Kaupt, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., December 10, 1850. I wave some little doubt as to the propriety of placing this bird in the genus ses, but rather than multiply the number of genera, perhaps unnecessarily, I have assigned it a place therein, as it accords more nearly with that form than with MJonarcha, the only other genus to which it offers alliance. Iam happy to have this opportunity of paying a just compliment to my friend Dr. Kaup of Darmstadt, an ornithologist of vast acumen and research, and whose philosophical labours are well known to all naturalists: the compliment is the more appropriate, as he is at this time (1851) engaged in preparing a Monograph of the Muscicapide, to which family the present bird belongs. The specimen here represented is the only one I have seen: it was killed on the north coast of Australia ; and this is all, I regret to say, that is at present known respecting it. . Small spot on the chin, crown of the head, lores, line beneath the eye, ear-coverts, broad crescentic band across the back, and a broad band across the breast, deep shining bluish black; wings and tail brown- ish black; throat and a broad band across the back of the neck white; lower part of the back and abdomen white, the base of the feathers black, which occasionally showing through give those parts a mottled appear- ance; bill bluish horn-colour, becoming lighter at the tip; feet black. The figures are of the natural size. MACHARRIRHYNCHUS FLAVIVENTERS: God f Codd and Ht Biater db of Tithe. 2 c Valier) ke We Tay. : Ws MACH ARIRHYNCHUS FLAVIVENTER, Gowda. Yellow-breasted Flycatcher. Macherirhynchus flaviventer, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., December 10, 1850. A SINGLE specimen of this extraordinary form is all that has come under my notice; it was collected at Cape York in Northern Australia, and now forms part of the Collection of the Zoological Society of London, to whom it was presented by the late Captain Owen Stanley, R.N. All that is known respecting it is comprised in the following note communicated to me by Mr. MacGillivray :— ‘“A single specimen only of this Flycatcher was procured, during our last visit to Cape York. It was shot by Mr. James Wilcox, who was employed by the late Captain Stanley to procure specimens of natural history for the Norwich and Ipswich Museums, and to whose zeal and industry as a collector I was often much indebted. He told me that he observed it on the skirts of one of the dense brushes or jungles, making short flights in the air, shapping at passing flies, and returning again to the same tree, the Wormia alata of botanists, distinguished by its red papery bark, large glossy leaves and handsome yellow flowers, which attract numbers of insects. The place was frequently visited afterwards, but no other example was seen.” Crown of the head, lores, ear-coverts, wings and tail black; wing-coverts tipped with white ; secondaries margined with white; outer tail-feathers margined on the apical portion of the external web, and largely tipped with white, the white becoming less and less, until only a slight trace of it is found on the central feathers ; back olive-black; throat white; line from the nostrils over each eye, and the breast, abdomen, and under tail-coverts bright yellow; bill black; feet bluish black. The figures are of the natural size. Wesabe! Pe P Li bold cmd HC: Ad & ith Ftrlbuande & Walton Tonp. MONARCHA LEUCOTIS, Gowia. White-eared Flycatcher. Monarcha Leucotis, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., July 23, 1850.—Jard. Cont. Orn., 1850. I nave refrained from making the White-eared Flycatcher the type of a new genus until more information has reached us respecting it, and in the mean time have assigned it a situation with the other members of that form to which it seems to me to be most nearly allied. Like most of the other new birds figured in this Supplement to the Birds of Australia, it is a native of Cape York, and in all probability its range is a some- what wide one, since it has been killed on Dunk Island. ‘“‘ Respecting this bird,” says Mr. MacGillivray, «T regret to say I can afford you very little information. A specimen was obtained at Dunk Island, off the north-east coast of Australia, in lat. 17° 56' S., where it was shot during its flight from one tree to another : a second individual was afterwards procured at Cape York, which renders it probable that its range extends between these two places.” Crown of the head, back of the neck, primaries, and six middle tail-feathers black ; three lateral tail- feathers on each side black, with white tips; lores, a broad mark over the eye, ear-coverts, sides of the neck, scapularies, and upper tail-coverts, white; throat white, bounded below with black, the feathers lengthened and protuberant ; chest and abdomen light grey ; bill and feet lead-colour. The figures are of the natural size. ie. Pee a Ais ree - %.5 = oi iy Tile eae aia bia dare JS Could “Hh CRichte, del ew titty, MONAR CHA ALBIVENTRIS , Gould. Walter Lnp. ———— MONARCHA ALBIVENTRIS, Gow. White-bellied Flycatcher. Monarcha albiventris, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., 1866, p. 217. Berore recording the little that is known respecting this new species, it will be as well, perhaps, to state that Mr. G. R. Gray has pointed out, in the ‘ Proceedings of the Zoological Society’ for 1860, p. 352, that the true Monarcha trivirgata, which is a native of the island of Timor, is distinct from the bird of the south- eastern parts of Australia, so called in the second volume of this work, Plate 96, and in my ‘ Handbook to the Birds of Australia,’ vol. i. p. 253, and has dedicated the latter to myself, calling it Monarcha Gould. This gentleman, moreover, states that the bird which he has named J. bimaculata, and which was brought to this country from Batchian by Mr. Wallace, is different from both. To this I may add that the bird here figured, which is a native of the Cape-York district, differs from all of them, and is distinguished for the pure whiteness of the under surface of its body, its axillaries, and the underside of the wings; whereas in the south-eastern species (JZ Gouldi) the chestnut colouring of the breast is continued down the entire length of the flanks, over the under surface of the wings, and on the axillaries also in very old specimens. The Northern-Queensland bird, JZ albiventris, is also a little smaller in size than the New-South-Wales M. Gould, which more nearly assimilates, in size, colour, and markings, to the Timor JZ. ¢rivirgata ; but the latter has a longer and much narrower bill than the former, and, moreover, has a greater amount of white on the three outer tail-feathers, in which respect it resembles the Cape-York bird ; but as the Timor species has buff sides and axillaries, like JZ. Gould, it cannot be regarded as identical. The JL. albwentris is abundantly dispersed over the Cape-York peninsula, where, according to Mr. James Cockerell, it is stationary, breeding on the edges of the scrubs. In actions it is a complete Flycatcher, sallying forth to capture insects, and returning to the same branch, all the while moving the tail from side to side. Mr. Cockerell brought me the eggs of this bird, which may be described as of creamy white, covered with minute rufous dots, thinly dispersed over the middle and smaller end, and so thickly at the larger end as nearly to coalesce and form a rufous cap ; they are about five-eighths of an inch in length by half an inch in breadth, and are generally two in number, laid on a small, shallow, round, and neatly formed nest. Bill and legs olive lead-colour ; forehead and a narrow stripe above the eye, upper portion of the ear- coverts, and the throat jet-black ; cheeks, lower part of the neck, and the chest bright ferruginous ; abdomen, axillaries, and a considerable portion of the under surface of the wing snow-white ; crown of the head, back of the neck, and back bluish grey; primaries greyish brown; upper tail-coverts and tail black, the three outer feathers of the latter largely tipped with white. . There seems to be but little difference in the outward appearance of the sexes; the accompanying Plate may therefore be regarded as representing a male and a female, of the natural size. | GERYGONE PERSONATA , Gould. , i TGauld & HGRichter, del et lithy Walter, In. GERYGONE PERSONATA, Gouid. Masked Gerygone. Gerygone personata, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc. 1866, p. 217. Tae accompanying illustration represents one of the novelties lately transmitted to me by my brother-in- law, Charles Coxen, Esq., of Brisbane. It was procured in the Cape York district, through, as I believe, the instrumentality of the Messrs. Jardine, father and sons. This new species, together with the other leaf- loving little birds to which the generic term of Gerygone has been applied, constitute a very marked group in the avifauna of Australia. Most, if not all, of them frequent the smaller branches of trees growing in the brushes, where they flit about, like the Wood-Wren of our own island, and live on the aphides and other minute insects which there abound, and which they capture in the air or seek for among the foliage: and we know that some of the species also feed upon larve of various kinds. Generally speaking, the sexes are alike ; but on this pomt I have no certain information with regard to the present bird, of which I have as yet seen only the single example figured in two positions on the accompanying Plate. As stated in my ‘ Handbook,’ all the known species of the genus are of small size, unobtrusive in colour, sprightly in their movements, and but little skilled in singing. The Masked Gerygone differs in so many particulars from all others yet discovered, that it is rendered conspicuously distinct from every one of them. Crown and all the upper surface olive-green; throat and chest deep olive-brown ; behind each nostril a spot of white; a stripe of white also descends from the base of the bill down each side of the neck, and separates the deep olive-brown of the throat from the lighter olive of the ear-coverts ; axille, all the under surface of the body, and the under tail-coverts delicate yellow; wings and tail olive-brown; bill and legs olive-black. Total length 3 inches, bill 2, wing 23, tail 14, tarsi 7. The figures are of the natural size. oe mh ee ey Sh ' aoe PETROICA? CERVINIVENTRIS, badd J boud andl Fricker, del. & lelfe. 3 Fiudirncntha & Walton, Lrg. PETROICA? CERVINIVENTRIS, Gowd. Buff-sided Robin. Petroica cervinwentris, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., part xxv. p. 221. So far as regards Ornithological science, it was fortunate that Mr. Elsey remained for a long time encamped near the Victoria River, on the north-west coast of Australia, since it enabled him to pay some attention to the natural objects which surrounded him; and the discovery of the present bird, which is quite new to science, is one of the results of his long stay in that spot in charge of a portion of Mr. Gregory’s Expedi- tion. All who have read my work on the Birds of Australia, will have observed that a species of Petroica is figured in the third volume under the name of P. supercilosa, which bird was collected by the late Mr. Gilbert in the neighbourhood of the Burdekin Lakes, towards the Gulf of Carpentaria; with this species the one here figured is very nearly allied ; and as both differ somewhat in form from the typical mem- bers of the genus, or true Petroree, it may in all probability be found necessary to institute a distinct genus for their reception: they are doubtless representatives of each other in the respective countries they inhabit, the supercziosa dwelling on the eastern parts of the continent, and the cerviniventris in the western. The following is a correct description of the species :— All the upper surface, wings, and tail chocolate-brown ; line over the eye, throat, tips of the greater wing- coverts, base of the primaries, base and tips of the secondaries, and tips of the tail white; breast grey ; abdomen deep fawn-colour, becoming almost white in the centre; bill black; feet blackish brown ; irides dark brown. The figures are of the natural size. a Aine DRYMODES SUPERCIGIARIS: Goald. J. Gad, and. HC Richter del ee lith. : . é Halimundd & Walton bay DRYMODES SUPERCILIARIS, Gouia. Eastern Scrub Robin. Drymodes supercitiaris, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., July 23, 1850.—Jard. Cont. Orn. 1850. Trokaroo, Aborigines of Cape York. Prrnaps one of the most interesting of the smaller birds discovered by me in the brushes of South Au- stralia, was a species of this form to which I gave the name of Drymodes brunneopygia, and which I found to be a very recluse bird, inhabiting the densest scrub, retreating from danger and shrouding itself from observation by hopping beneath the thick herbage. I did not fail to remark, also, that its habits were very similar to those of the Saxicoline birds: the new species, represented on the accompanying Plate, is an inhabitant of the north-east coast of Australia; and it will be seen by the following notes by Mr. Mac- Gillivray, that the two birds, as might be supposed, accord as nearly in their habits as they are allied in structure. “While traversing on the 17th of November, 1849, a thin open scrub of small saplings growing in a stony ground thickly covered with dead leaves, about five or six miles inland from Cape York, I observed a nest placed on the ground at the foot of a small tree; its internal diameter was four inches and a half; it was outwardly composed of small sticks with finer ones inside, and lined with grass-like fibres, and was moreover surrounded with dead leaves heaped up to a level with its upper surface; it contained two eggs an inch long by seven-tenths of an inch broad, of a regular oval shape, and of a very light stone-grey thickly covered with small umber blotches, which increased in size and were more thickly placed at the larger end : they were placed side by side, with the large end of one opposite the small end of the other. After watching near the nest for some time, one of the owners appeared, and was procured; but putrefaction having com- menced before my return to the ship, I could not ascertain the sex with certainty: it approached me within three or four yards, hopping with sudden jerks over the leaves, and moving by fits and starts like the Robin of Europe; it uttered no cry or note during the time I was watching its motions; two others were after- wards procured in the same kind of open scrub, and the birds being probably in the immediate neighbour- hood of their nest, hopped up quite close to the observer.” The sexes assimilate in colour, but the female is somewhat smaller than the male. Lores white; immediately above and below the eye a black mark forming a conspicuous moustache ; crown of the head and upper surface reddish brown, passing into chestnut-red on the rump and six middle tail-feathers ; remainder of the tail-feathers black, tipped with white ; wings black, with the base of the primaries and the tips of the coverts white, forming two bands across the wing; throat and centre of the abdomen fawn-white; chest and flanks washed with tawny; irides umber-brown ; legs and feet flesh-colour. The Plate represents the two sexes of the natural size. aS EOPSALTRIA CAPITO, Gould J boudd and. Richter, dil. ct tithe. Hidlpandel & Walton, Imp EOPSALTRIA CAPITO, Gow. Large-headed Robin. Eopsaltria Capito, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., part xix. p. 285. Tue great country of Australia is characterized by many striking and varied physical features; in none other, I believe, does the earth’s surface present so many different aspects, or are the contrasts more strongly marked, the central area being either a sterile waste of burning sand or an inland sea, as a drouthy or rainy season prevails; while on the inner slopes of the mountain ranges towards this area, there exist beautiful and fertile downs richly clothed with grass, interspersed with Eucalypt: and Angophore, presenting a park- like picture to the eye. Again, the outer slopes of the high ranges which skirt along the south and eastern coasts, at a distance of from forty to sixty miles from the sea, have in the course of time changed into a soil so rich and deep as to be favourable, not only to the growth of the largest kinds of Eucalypt:, but to magnificent cedars, fig-trees and palms of two or three species. Favoured by an aspect. which commands the rays of the sun, and by humidity from the sea, the vegetation here becomes of that dense and peculiar character technically known in New South Wales by the name of Brushes; these districts are tenanted by a bird-life equally peculiar; so that the fauna of the brushes is as distinct from that of the plains as if hundreds of miles of sea rolled between. The unobtrusively coloured bird here represented is a native of the brushes of the south-east coast, and is tolerably plentiful in the neighbourhood of the Clarence, the Manning and the Brisbane rivers. Its existence was not known to me when the “Birds of Australia” were published ; and its discovery is due to the late Mr. Strange, who sent me several specimens a short time after its completion. Of its habits nothing is known, but they are doubtless very similar to those of the other Eépsaltrie. Like them the sexes do not differ in colour, but the female may generally be distinguished by her somewhat smaller size. Upper surface olive-green, inclining to brown on the head; wings and tail slaty-brown, faintly margined with olive-green ; ear-coverts grey; lores, a lime below the eye and the throat greyish white; under surface yellow; irides hazel; bill black; feet brownish flesh-colour. The figures are of the natural size. EOPSALTRIA LEUCURBA, Goudd. Lh» J Gould &HChichuer, del et lithy Walter, Lp. EOPSALTRIA LEUCURA, Gowda. White-tailed Robin. Eopsaltria leucura, Gould in Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist., 4th ser., vol. iv. p. 108. Tue late John Gilbert was probably the first person who shot this fine species of Eopsaltria, of which I have had a mutilated skin, obtained by him at Port Essington, in my possession for the last twenty years. The specimen alluded to is too imperfect for describing or figuring; but I am enabled to supply these desiderata from two others now before me in the finest state of preservation. Unfortunately nothing is known respecting the Hopsaltria leucura, except that it inhabits the great beds of mangroves bordering the coasts of the northern part of Australia (to which, according to Mr. Cockerell, it is confined), that it is very quiet in all its actions, and rather rare in the neighbourhood of Somerset. There appears to be no difference what- ever in the colouring of the sexes, in which respect this new species assimilates to the little group of Yellow-breasted Robins (Zopsaltria australis, EL. griseogularis, &c.). Its nearest ally is the EL. leucog-aster of Western Australia; but it differs from that species in being of larger size, and in the basal portion of the five outer tail-feathers on each side being white. The following description of the colouring of this new species was published by me in the ‘ Annals and Magazine of Natural History,’ above referred to :— - ‘‘ Forehead, lores, and a line nearly surrounding the eye and the ear-coverts black ; head and upper sur- face dark leaden grey, fringed posteriorly with greyish white ; wings blackish brown, darkest on the shoulders ; upper tail-coverts black ; two centre tail-feathers black, the next on each side black, with a stripe of white on the basal part of the shaft and outer web ; the remaining four on each side white at the base, and black for the remainder of their length ; all the under surface and the under tail-coverts white, with the exception of a broad band of pale grey across the breast ; bill and feet black. «Total length 63 inches, bill +3, wing 34, tail 3, tarsi 1.” “Habitat. The Cape-York district,” and other parts of the north coast as far as the Coburg Peninsula. The figures are supposed to represent a male and a female, of the size of life. oe on NN Avy. Fiullinande & Walton MENURA ALBERTI, Gow. Albert Lyre Bird. Menura Alberti, Gould in Proc. of Linn. Soc., February 5, 1850.—Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., p. 215.—Jard. Cont. Orn., 1850. Tue dense, luxuriant, and almost impenetrable brushes which skirt along the eastern coast of Australia from Sydney to Moreton Bay, are, as might be supposed, tenanted by many forms both of mammalia and birds peculiarly their own; many of these districts are very partially known, and some of them may be said to be as yet untrodden, hence it is not surprising that an additional species of this extraordinary form should have been there discovered. I must fairly admit, however, that I was not prepared for the acquisition of so remarkable a bird within the limits of the colony of New South Wales. I have great pleasure in naming this species JZ Alberti, in honour of His Royal Highness Prince Albert, as a slight token of respect for his personal virtues, and the liberal support he has rendered to my various publications. The specific differences between the present bird and the older known species, MW. superba, are very apparent; they consist in the rufous colouring of the plumage, and in the total absence of the brown barrings of the lyre-shaped tail-feathers, which, moreover, are much shorter than the other feathers of the tail, while in M. superba they are the longest; they are “‘ composed,” says Sir William Jardine, who has carefully com- pared the specimens of the two species in my possession, “ of very broad webs, loose but not separated. The next six feathers on each side are similar in structure, having wide separated barbs, but they are finer and shorter than in JZ. superba. The two centre feathers are also of the same structure, and cross each other at the base; but the inner webs are broader, the outer rudimentary barbs stronger and placed more thickly ; the entire tail considerably shorter.” The first specimens of this bird that came under my notice were sent to me by Mr. Strange of Sydney; my friend Dr. Bennett also forwarded to me almost simultaneously a fine example belonging to the Museum, which the Directors with their wonted liberality, had at his request permitted to be sent to England for illustration in the present work. «TJ have often seen this new species of Menura,” says Dr. Bennett, “but always regarded it as a young male of M. superba, until Dr. Stephenson residing at York Station, Richmond River, (who accompanied Sir Thomas Mitchell on his last expedition,) mformed me that he believed it to be new, which on comparison I found to be the case. I cannot, perhaps, do better than send you the following extract from Dr. Stephenson’s letter, dated Sept. 20, 1849 :— nya & Walton hap, vbnandel \ Richter del cb lithe. r (€ TLbeald and A. PYCNOPTILUS FLOCCOSUS, Gouwid. Downy Pycnoptilus. Pycnoptilus floccosus, Gould in Proce. of Zool. Soc., May 14, 1850. In the Birds of Australia I instituted the genus, Hylacola, for the Acanthiza pyrrhopygia of Vigors and Horsfield, adding thereto another species under the name of ZH. cauta. ‘The present bird is allied to that form, but still differs in so many points, that I am constrained to make it the type of a new genus, with the appellation of Pycnoptilus, from the dense and silky character of its plumage: unfortunately I know nothing of its habits and economy. I purchased it of Mr. Warwick, who had obtained it in a small collection of birds said to have been formed in the interior of New South Wales towards the River Morumbidgee: judging from its very thick clothing and overhanging back feathers, I conclude that, like the members of the genus Dasyornis, it is a frequenter of the ground in dense and scrubby places; a conjecture which I should be happy to have verified by residents in New South Wales who may be favourably situated for observing it. General plumage brown, inclining to rufous on the lower part of the back, upper tail-coverts and tail ; forehead, lores, throat and breast dark reddish buff, with a very narrow crescent of dark brown at the tip of each feather; centre of the abdomen greyish brown, crossed by crescentic bands of black; flanks and vent brown, passing into deep rufous on the under tail-coverts; bill brown; base of the under mandible fleshy brown; legs and feet fleshy brown. The Plate represents the bird in two positions, of the natural size. au oa a ACANTHIZA MAGNA , Gould oA Hedlmandes b Walton, Imp. Titouldl end He Biodtor, del. ce tah ACANTHIZA MAGNA, Gowid. Great Acanthiza. For the knowledge of this new and very distinct species of Acanthza we are indebted to Ronald C. Gunn, Esq., a gentleman who has long resided in Van Diemen’s Land, and whose name will be for ever perpetuated in the annals of science for the numerous botanical discoveries made by him in the island he has adopted as his home. I am, moreover, indebted to Mr. Gunn for the only specimen of this bird which has come under my notice, and which was collected by him in one of the districts of the northern part of the island. I have carefully compared this specimen with every other member of the genus, and have no hesitation in pronouncing it an entirely new species of this Australian form. In size it approaches the smaller species of Sericornis; but in its structure and the character of its plumage, it is closely allied to the members of the genus in which I have placed it. Head, all the upper surface, sides of the neck and flanks olive-brown, becoming of a more rufous hue on the rump and upper tail-coverts; wings blackish-brown, washed with olive on the external webs; coverts, particularly the greater ones, tipped with white ; primaries narrowly edged with grey, innermost secondaries margined all round the tip with white ; tail olive, crossed near the tip by a broad band of dusky-brown, beyond which the external feathers are margined on both webs with greyish-white ; lores black; ear-coverts slaty-brown ; throat and under surface straw-yellow ; bill blackish-brown ; feet fleshy-brown. The figures are of the size of life. PITTA MACKLOTI, - TGould & LCRichter, deb eb lili. . PITTA MACKLOTLH, miu. et Settee. Macklot’s Pitta. Pitta Mackloti, Miill. et Schleg. Verh. Nat. Gesch. Neder. &v. Land-en Volk., p. 22.—Temm. Pl. Col. 547.—G. R. Gray, Proc. of Zool. Soc., 1858, p. 175, and Gen. of Birds, vol. 1. p. 213, Pitta, sp. 20. Brachyurus Mackloti, Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., tom. i. p. 255, Brachyurus, sp. 14. Erythropitta Mackloti, Bonap. Consp. Vol. Anisod., p. 7. no. 187. Brachyurus (Erythropitta) Mackloti, Elliot, Mon. of Pittidee, pl. xxi. Since we have become better acquainted with the zoology of Australia, and particularly with that of the district termed Cape-York Peninsula, naturalists are more than ever convinced that that country, New Guinea, and probably the Aru Islands were at one time united—an opinion which seems to be strikingly confirmed when we find several species of birds common to them all. The Pitta Mackloti is an instance in point ; for it is found in each of the countries above mentioned, and, although I have not received any of its eggs from New Guinea or the Aru Islands, I possess undoubted examples, as well as young birds, from the neighbourhood of Somerset, in the Cape-York district, where they were collected by Mr. James Cockerell, who informs me that, although not common, it is sufficiently abundant there to render the obtaining examples a matter of no great difficulty. It inhabits thick viny scrubs, based with stones, and overrun with rank herbage of various kinds. Its mournful whistle, which is most frequently uttered near sundown, is very deceptive, appearing to come from an opposite direction to that in-which the bird is stationed ; it is, in fact, a perfect ventriloquist. It sometimes leaves the ground, and may occasionally be seen perched on the tops of the highest trees, where it sits very close. One of the nests of this bird, found by Mr. Cockerell, was placed on the head of a stump about six or seven feet from the ground ; it was a loose structure of interlaced grasses and fine woody fibres. ‘The eggs m this instance were three in number, of a creamy white, covered all over with small speckles and streaks of a purplish hue, many of which were much paler than others and appeared as if beneath the surface of the shell. In some specimens, these markings are less numerous, but in all instances are alike in character. The eggs appear to vary in size, even in the same nest, some being one inch in length by thirteen sixteenths in diameter, while others measure one inch and an eighth in length by fifteen sixteenths of an inch in breadth. This species is much less noisy than the Prtta simelima ; its note, too, is less varied ; and it appears to make a more or less distant migration, smce Mr. Cockerell tells me that it arrives in the neighbourhood of Somerset in October and November, and departs again in January and February; whither, he knows not, but supposes to New Guinea. The Editor of ‘ The Ibis’ for 1868 suggests that this Australian bird may be specifically distinct from the true P. Mackloti, hitherto only known from New Guinea, as it seems not to have the entirely black throat and cheeks of the Papuan; but, after a careful examination of specimens from both countries, I can affirm that New-Guinea and Australian examples are precisely alike. . Crown of the head dark reddish brown, striated with a few streaks of light blue; nape and back of the neck dull red; throat reddish brown, deepening into a gorget of velvety black; ear-coverts brown, indi- stinctly tipped posteriorly with blue; across the breast a broad band of verditer-blue, below which is a nar- rower one of velvety black ; abdomen, flanks, vent, and under tail-coverts deep scarlet ;_ back and scapularies dark green; wing-coverts and secondaries deep blue, with lighter edges, and with a white spot on the shoulder, mostly hidden by the coverts ; primaries black, washed with grey near the tips of the outer webs ; the third with a broad patch of white on the inner web, near its base; the fourth with a band of white at the same part across both webs and the shaft ; and the fifth with a patch of white on the same part on the outer web and shaft and slightly intruding on to the inner web, these white marks forming a small but conspicuous spot on the centre of the wing; rump and tail deep blue; bill black; legs and feet flesh-colour. In the immature state, the head and neck are brown, with indications at the back of the neck of the future red colouring ; the green of the upper surface is mottled with brown; the blue of the wings and tail is much paler ; moreover there are a greater number of white feathers on the shoulder than in the adult ; the throat and breast are striated with brown, amidst which are a few feathers of the future black gorget and blue and black breast-bands ; in like manner, the abdomen is tawny, with a few red feathers appearing on the upper part, down the centre, on the flanks, and the vent. The Plate represents the two sexes, of the size of life. x ‘ Bing * _ a aaa j iS eee MERULA POLIOCEPHALA. J Gould ind Ml Pachter, del. ch bith. Fialirruuriibe, b Walitr, Lrg. MERULA POLIOCEPHALA., Grey-headed Blackbird. Turdus poliocephalus, Lath. Ind. Orn. Supp., xliv. 25.—Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 219, Turdus, sp. 72. fuliginosus, Lath. in Lamb. Icon. ined., vol. ii. pl. 42. Merula Nestor, Gould.—Jard. and Selb. Ill. Orn., new series, pl. 37. Ash-headed Thrush, Lath. Gen. Syn. Supp., vol. ii. App. p. 373.—Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. x. p. 226. Turdus fuliginosus, Lath. Ind. Orn. Supp., xlii. ? Sooty Thrush, Lath. Gen. Syn. Supp., vol. ii. p. 185 ?,—Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. x. p. 195?.—Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. v. p. 125 ?. Tur present species of Meru/a appears to have been known for a much longer period than I had supposed ; indeed I was not aware that Latham had given a good description of the bird under the name of Turdus potiocephalus, otherwise I should not have proposed the additional name of Nestor. When Norfolk Island was first made a penal settlement, this bird was doubtless very common there ; but I have reason to believe it has now become scarce, having been partially extirpated by the Government officers and convicts who tenanted this beautiful island for so many years. Some short time since, I described a second species of this form from Lord Howe’s Island, under the name of Merula vinitincta ; and I have seen a third species in the British Museum (Werula xanthopus 2, Turdus aurantius, var. 8 Gmel.), which I believe is from New Caledonia. All these have a general resemblance both as to form and style of colouring ; and it would be as well perhaps if they were formed into a new genus among the Meruline, for I have always considered them somewhat removed from the true Blackbirds of Northern Asia and Europe. I have long wished to know something of the habits and economy of these birds, but at present nothing has been ascertained : there appears to be less difference in the colouring of the sexes than occurs among the true Merule; for the birds I consider to be females are very similarly coloured, and are only a trifle less in size. Head, neck, and front of the throat light ashy brown, the remainder of the plumage dark sooty black; in some specimens the under tail-coverts have a stripe of dull white down the centre of each ; bill, eyelash and feet yellow. The figures are of the natural size. f / WERULA VINITINCTA. Gnudi J bould andl fichier del. a lithe. Siullmendd & Walton, Pap. MERULA VINITINCTA, Gow. Vinous-tinted Blackbird. Merula vintincta, Gould in Proc. of Zool Soc., July 24, 1855. Amone the various writers on ornithology, some confine their labours to the birds of particular countries, _ while others take up the subject in the most extended sense by studying the birds of our globe generally. Those of the latter class cannot but have been struck with the facts, that while certain forms are universally dispersed, others have a less extended range; and that while in some countries certain genera are numerous, in others of close proximity, and apparently quite as well adapted for their residence, they are entirely absent. For instance, members of the genus Corvus, or typical crows, are to be found in North America, but not in South America: of this form, too, members of which are numerous throughout the Old World, that is m Europe, India, China and Africa, and in Australia, no example is to be found in New Zealand or in Polynesia. ‘The Swallow tribe may also be cited as a case in point; numerous species being found in Australia, while none occur in New Zealand, and few if any among the more northern Polynesian Islands. The genus Merula, of which the bird now under consideration is a typical example, is a familiar form in Europe, India, Africa and South America; but in the great country of Australia and in New Zealand no species has yet been discovered ; yet, strange to say, the form does exist, and two very distinct species have been discovered in Lord Howe’s and Norfolk Island—two small spots lying nearly midway between those two countries. This is most puzzling to an ornithologist who makes the birds of the world his study, for he is at a loss to conceive why this form and some few others should thus be dotted over the face of the globe ; and the mystery I fear will not be readily solved. That, however, such is the fact, is proved by Mr. MacGillivray having procured two fine examples of the present bird on Lord Howe’s Island. I regret that no account of their habits accompanied the specimens, as it would be most interesting to know what is the character of the vegetation and other circumstances favourable to the existence of a species so intimately allied to our own well-known Blackbird. In size and form this bird very closely approximates to the Merula Nestor of Norfolk Island, but differs very considerably in its colouring. The male has the head and nape blackish-brown ; upper surface and wing-coverts reddish-brown ; Wing's brown, margined with olivaceous; tail brown; throat dark bluish-grey; under surface vinaceous red; Dill bright gamboge-yellow ; eyelash yellow; tarsi and toes yellow. The Plate represents the two sexes of the size of life. CINCLOSOMA CASTANEOTHORAY , Goud. J Gould ond LC Richivor, del, & bith Hetimoande & Wabttow, Lp. CINCLOSOMA CASTANEOTHORAX, Gow. Chestnut-breasted Ground Thrush. Cinclosoma castaneothorax, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc. 1848, p. 139, Aves, pl. vi. castaneithorax, Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av. p. 278, Cinclosoma, sp. 4. For a knowledge of this richly coloured and very distinct species of Ground Thrush, science is indebted to Charles Coxen, Esq., who discovered it in the scrubby belts of trees growing on the table-land to the north- ward of the Darlmg Downs in New South Wales. In size it nearly equals the Cinclosoma castanotus, but differs from that bird in the buffy stripe over the eye, in the colouring of the back, and in the band of chestnut-brown which crosses the breast. I regret to say that only a single male specimen has yet been forwarded ; I trust, however, that through the kindness of Mr. Coxen or some other lover of natural history, we may ere long be favoured with an example of the female. Every ornithologist will Iam sure hail the discovery of this new species with pleasure, since it is not only an interesting addition to the ornithology of Australia, but an additional species to a singular form, of which, when I commenced my work on the Birds of that country, but one species, the Crnclosoma punctatum, was known; I myself shot for the first time the C. castanotus in the Murray scrub; and Captain Sturt had the honour of making us acquainted with the beautiful little species to which I have given the name of cinna- momeus ; with the addition of the present bird, four well-defined species of the genus are now known to exist. Are there not others yet tocome? Yes, in all probability, but we must wait for them until the vast tracts of hilly and sterile country to the northward of Moreton Bay have been explored, for it is not in the rich plains that the members of this group are to be found; stony ridges and deep rocky gullies are more favourable to their habits and modes of life. ; Crown of the head, ear-coverts, back of the neck and upper tail-coverts brown ; stripe over the eye and another from the base of the lower mandible, down the side of the neck, white; shoulders and wing-coverts black, each feather with a spot of white at the tip; all the upper surface, the outer margins of the scapularies and a broad longitudinal stripe on their inner webs next the shaft deep rust-red; primaries, secondaries, and the central portion of the scapularies dark brown ; tail black, all but the two central feathers largely tipped with white; chin and throat black; chest crossed by a band of rich rust-red; sides of the chest and flanks brownish-grey, the latter blotched with black ; centre of the abdomen white ; under tail-coverts brown, deepening into black near the tip, and margined with white; bill and feet black. The figures are of the natural size. Hidlnandd & Walion toy. 1 andl FC Hichter del 2b lth. ne 4. GoW APLONIS METALLICA. Shining Aplonis. Lamprotornis metallicus, Temm. Pl. Col. 266. Calornis metallica, Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. ii. p. 327, Calornis, sp. 2. Mooter, Goodang tribe of Aborigines at Cape York. Many years have now elapsed since I established the genus 4plonis for the reception of a bird, which at the time I considered to be Australian, but which I have since ascertained was from Norfolk Island; the form is common, and many species have been described from the islands of the Louisiade Archipelago, the Navigator Islands, New Guinea and Java, but the present is the first and only species of the genus yet dis- covered on the Australian continent. It is apparently very common at Cape York, where it was found breeding in great numbers: it also inhabits New Guinea, Timor, the Celebes, Amboyna, and New Ireland. As is the case with other members of the genus, a very striking difference exists between the plumage of the immature and adult birds—rso great in fact is the difference, that were we not aware of it, we could scarcely regard them otherwise than as distinct species: when fully adult, the sexes of the present bird are so precisely alike, that dissection must be resorted to, to distinguish the one from the other,—a circumstance ascertained by Mr. MacGillivray, who has obligingly furnished me with the following interesting account of its habits and nidification :— “During the early part of our last sojourn at Cape York, this bird was often seen passing rapidly over the tops of the trees in small fiocks of a dozen or more. In their flight they reminded me of the Starlings, and like them made a chattering noise while on the wing. One day a native took me to a breeding place in the centre of a dense scrub, where I found a gigantic cotton-tree standing alone, with its branches literally hung with the pensile nests of the bird: the nests, averaging two feet in length and one in breadth, are of a somewhat oval form, slightly compressed, rounded below and above, tapering to a neck by the end of which they are suspended; the opening is situated in the centre of the widest part; they are almost entirely composed of portions of the stem and the long tendrils of a climbing plant (Cissus) matted and woven together and lined with finer pieces of the same, a few leaves (generally strips of Pandanus leaf), the hair-like fibres of a palm (Caryota cereus), and similar materials: the eggs, usually two, but often three in number, are an inch long by eight-tenths of an inch broad, and of a bluish grey speckled with reddish pink, chiefly at the larger end; some have scarcely any markings, others a few minute dots only. The note of the bird is short, sharp and shrill, and resembles ‘ éwee-twee,’ repeated, as if angrily, several times in quick succession. “On the tree above mentioned the nests were about fifty in number, often solitary, but usually three or four together in a cluster—sometimes so closely placed as to touch each other. Tempted by the promise of a knife, the lad who accompanied me offered to climb the tree, though how he was to do so I was at a loss to know, on account of the smoothness of the bark and the size of the trunk, which measured four feet and a half in diameter at the base, and rose to the height of sixty feet before a branch was given off; after much exertion, however, he succeeded in reaching the nests,—a feat which he accomplished with the aid of a piece of tough pliant vine (Cissus), sufficiently long to pass nearly round the tree; holding one end of this in each hand and pressing his legs and feet against the trunk, he ascended by a series of jerks, and threw me down as many nests as I desired, one of which is now in the British Museum. “The bird appears to enjoy a wide range. During the progress of the expedition two were shot at the Duchateau Isles in the Louisiade Archipelago, and I saw a specimen on board H.M.S. Meander which had been procured at Carteret Harbour in New Ireland. «¢The stomachs of those examined contained triturated seeds and other vegetable matter.” The general plumage is a mixture of dark rich bronzy green and purple, the green hue predominating on the lower part of the throat and the upper part of the back; wings and tail bluish black, washed on the margins with bronzy green; bill and feet black; irides vermilion. The young of both sexes have the upper surface similarly coloured, but not so bright as in the adult ; wings brown, narrowly margined with brownish white ; all the under surface buffy white, streaked on the breast, flanks and under tail-coverts with brownish black. The Plate represents an adult male and a young bird of the year of the natural size. ve ee eat Sen ee Ae a lng 7 S 2 LS S CRi T Gould & Hi PTILONORHYNCHUS RAWNSLEYIL, Digg. Rawnsley’s Bower-bird. Ptilonorhynchus Rawnsleyi, Diggles, Orn. of Austr., part xv. pl. 3. I am greatly indebted to H. C. Rawnsley, Esq., of Brisbane, in Queensland, for his kindness in forwarding for my inspection his specimen of a bird which, for the last two years, has been a subject of much interest to every Australian ornithologist, the point which renders it of interest being whether it is a distinct species or a hybrid between the Satin Bower bird (Péilonorhynchus holosericeus) and the Regent-bird (Sericulus melinus). It is evident, from the letters I have received on the subject, that both Mr. Coxen and Mr. Rawnsley himself have a lurking suspicion that itis a hybrid; for myself, after having carefully compared the specimen with examples of the Satin- and Regent-birds over and over again, I am unable to arrive at any satisfactory conclusion, but am inclined on the side of hybridism. We know for certain that the Regent-bird, like the Satin-bird, makes a bower or playing-place, where the sexes meet, the females coquet, and the males, perhaps, fight for mastery ; and as both these birds inhabit the same brushes, it is just possible that the Hall of Assembly of one of them may have been visited by a member of the other; and hence, probably, sprang the bird under consideration. Whether it be a hybrid or not, time alone can determine. The following extracts from Mr. Rawnsley’s and Mr. Coxen’s letters respecting it may prove of interest, and in- fluence the opinion of those European ornithologists who have not seen the specimen, a figure, or a description of it. ‘Tt may interest you,” says Mr. Rawnsley, ‘to learn the circumstances under which the bird was killed. A large flock of Satin-birds were feeding in the garden around my house at Witton, near Brisbane, on the 14th of July, 1867, and I had just shot an adult black male, when my attention was attracted by, as I thought, another, which had alighted ona tree a short distance off. Loading as quickly as possible, I fired and killed the bird ; as it fell, the yellow portion of its plumage caught my eyes, and I made sure it was a Regent-bird ; but on picking it up, I was, as you may suppose, greatly astonished. The bird was quite dead; I instantly drew back the eyelid, and found that the iris was of a pale sea-green, without a trace of the beautiful magenta tint which encircles and radiates from the pupil in the Satin-bird. I took the bird to Mr. A. C. Gregory, the explorer and now Surveyor-General of Queensland, who immediately recognized it as a species seen by him near the Suttor River, a branch of the Burdekin, on his route from the Gulf of Carpentaria to Moreton Bay, about the month of October 1856.” “Mr. Gregory,” says Mr. Diggles, “ always took considerable trouble to distinguish the different notes of birds and cries of bush-animals, knowing that the natives frequently use them as decoy-notes or signals of communication ; and his attention was drawn to the present species from its peculiar note, which was a prolonged o-/ao several times very distinctly repeated in a minor key, giving it a very plaintive character. Mr. Gregory states he had an excellent opportunity of observing its plumage, and cannot possibly be mistaken, and that on mentioning the circumstance to Mr. Elsey, the surgeon and naturalist attached to his party, it became a matter of discussion between them as to whether it ought to be placed in the genus Pélonorhynchus or that of Sericulus. The country in which it was seen was an open box-flat, with brigalow-scrubs in the neighbourhood.” «Tt certainly partakes much of the character of both the Satin- and the Regent-bird,” remarks Mr. Coxen ; “ but hybrids, I believe, never occur in a state of nature, especially between the members of different genera. Mr. Gregory is very clear as to his having seen the bird on the Suttor; he watched it some time, and on his return to the camp he mentioned it to Mr. Elsey, who, not having himself observed it, very naturally imagined for some time that Mr. Gregory had merely seen a Regent-bird. Mr. Gregory told me it was its peculiar note that first drew his attention to it, and that he could have made no mistake on the subject.” I suspect, however, that he did make a mistake (for neither the Satin- nor the Regent-bird gives utterance to such a sound), and that the note heard was that of an adult black or an immature black-and-buff male of the Australian Koel (Zudynamis Flinders:), it being well known that the Indian bird, which is probably identical, does emit a note similar to the one he describes. “Head, throat, neck, chest, abdomen, back, upper and under tail-coverts rich glossy bluish black ; wing- coverts and spurious wing jet-black, edged with the former colour; primaries black, with the exception of a small portion of the outer webs and a large portion of the inner webs near the base, which are bright yellow ; secondaries brilliant orange for the greater part of their length, their basal portions being edged with black, and there is a large rounded or oval patch of black near their tips; a narrow stripe of deep orange runs in a wavy form through the centre of the outer webs of the tertiaries ; their inner webs wholly black ; tail jet-black ; all the feathers, except the two middle ones, slightly tipped with golden brown ; feet olive-black ; bill the same, but lighter at the tip; irides greenish blue. Length 11+ inches, wing 6, tail 4, tarsus 12, bill 14.” (Diggles.) I have figured the bird in two positions, as near the natural size as possible. CHLAMYDERA GUTTATA , Gould. SJ Gould and HC Weichiter, deb, ev, litlv. CHLAMYDERA GUTTATA, Gowa. Guttated Bower-bird. Chlamydera guttata, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., 1862, p. 161. Chlamydodera guttata, Id. Handb. Birds of Aust., vol. i. p. 452. I am indebted to the researches of T. F. Gregory, Esq., for a knowledge of this new species. It was collected in North-western Australia, and is doubtless the bird which constructs the bowers described by Captain (now Sir George) Grey in his ‘Travels,’ vol. i. pp. 196 and 245, where he states that, on gaining the summit of one of the sandstone ranges forming the watershed of the streams flowing into the Glenelg and Prince Regent’s Rivers, “we fell in with a very remarkable nest, or what appeared to me to be such. We had previously seen several of them, and ‘they had always afforded us food for conjecture as to the agent and purpose of such structures. This very curious sort of nest, which was frequently found by myself and other individuals of the party, not only along the sea-shore, but in some instances at a distance of six or seven miles from it, I once conceived must have belonged toa Kangaroo, until I was informed that it was the run or playing-place of a species of Chlamydera. ‘These structures were formed of dead grass and parts of bushes sunk a slight depth into two parallel furrows in sandy soil, and then nicely arched above. But the most remarkable fact connected with them was, that they were always full of broken sea-shells, large heaps of which protruded from each extremity. In one instance, in a bower the most remote from the sea that we discovered, one of the men of the party found and brought to me the stones of some fruit, which had evidently been rolled in the sea ; these stones he found lying in a heap in the nest, and they are now in my possession.” The bird sent to me by Mr. Gregory is rather larger, but bears a general resemblance to the Chlamydera maculata, being spotted all over like that species ; but it differs in the guttations of the upper surface being ofa larger size and much more distinct, in the abdomen being buff, and in the shafts of the primaries being of a richer yellow. In all probability the specimen is a female; for it is entirely destitute of the beautiful lilaceous mark seen in the males only of C. maculata and C. nuchahs. Since Mr. Gregory discovered this interesting bird, Mr. Stuart, as all the world knows, has crossed the continent of Australia from Adelaide to the Victoria River; and that he met with this bird in some part of bis journey is shown by bis having kindly left at my house the head of a male adorned with fine lilaceous feathers at the back of the neck, like C. nu- chalis and C. maculata. Having seen no more than this head of a male, the remaining portion of my fizure of that sex is imaginary; at the same time, judging from analogy and the close alliance of the bird to C. maculata, 1 may venture to predict that my delineation of it is not far wrong. The species last mentioned is confined to New South Wales, Queensland, and the south-eastern portion of Australia; the C: guttata, on the other hand, was discovered more than two thousand miles to the westward ; the two species must there- fore be regarded as representatives of each other in the countries they respectively inbabit,—a view which is confirmed by neither of them having yet been found in the intermediate country of South Australia. Of the very remarkable genus to which these birds belong, we now know four very distinct species, viz. Chlamydera nuchalis, C. maculata, C. guttata, and C. cervinwentris, all of which are peculiar to Australia. That they are intimately allied to Péonorhynchus on the one hand, and Serculus on the other, is very evident from the similarity in their structure, and from the circumstance of the members of all the three genera constructing the wonderfully curious bowers described in my account of each species; we have yet to learn whether the Cat Bird C4i/uredus) has a similar habit; I think it likely that this may prove to be the case, although we find in that form a departure from those of the other members of this singular family. The figures are of the natural size. a tty? Rte Feast ae a0 7 at i ore CHLAMYDERA CERVINIVENTIRIS, ¢owd FTialtrnarrdel & Wadlior, Lr 7 ° cheber, del ob beth, Sboudd ama HC Fe é gas ae oe CHLAMYDERA CERVINIVENTRIS, Gowa. Fawn-breasted Bower-bird. Chiamydera cerviniventris, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., part xviii. p. 201. Ir any one circumstance more than another would tend to hand down the name of the author of the “ Birds of Australia” to posterity, it would be the discovery and the publication of the singular habits of the Bower-birds. In figuring and describing, then, an additional species of this group of birds, I feel that I am presenting to the notice of the ornithological world another of the most interesting birds with which we are acquainted. The discovery of the present species is due to Mr. John MacGillivray, who procured a specimen at Cape York, secured its curious bower, and transmitted both to the British Museum. ‘The two formerly known and nearly allied species being both conspicuously adorned with a lovely frill of lilaceous feathers at the nape of the neck, I naturally supposed that the same kind of ornament would be found in all the species; but it appears that such is not the case, for there is not a trace of it in any of the examples of C. cerviniventris [have yet seen ; and I believe some of them are very old birds. In size this species is rather larger than C. maculata, or almost intermediate between that species and C. nuchalis; it has also a similar character of markings on the back, but the brown spots are neither so large, so round, nor so deeply coloured: the distinguishing feature of the present species is its rich, uniformly-coloured, buff under surface, a feature which does not exist either in the C. maculata or C. nuchalis. The bower differs very remarkably from those of the other two species; it is about 13 imches long and 10 or 11 inches high; its walls, which are very thick, are nearly upright, or but little inclining towards each other at the top, so that the passage through is very narrow. This elevated structure, which is formed of fine twigs, is placed on a very thick plat- form of thicker twigs, nearly 4 feet in length and almost as much in breadth: here and there a small snail- shell or berry is dropped in the way of decoration. | The following note relative to this bird is extracted from Mr. MacGillivray’s “‘ Narrative of the Voyage of H.M.S. Rattlesnake :°— «Two days before we left Cape York, I was told that some Bower-birds had been seen im a thicket or patch of low scrub, half a mile from the beach; and after a long search I found a recently-constructed bower, 4 feet long and 18 inches high, with some fresh berries lying upon it. The bower was situated near the border of the thicket, the bushes composing which were seldom more than 10 feet high, growing in smooth sandy soil without grass. «Next morning I was landed before daylight, and proceeded to the place in company with Paida, taking with us a large board on which to carry off the bower as a specimen. I had great difficulty in inducing my friend to accompany me, as he was afraid of a war party of Gomokudins, which tribe had lately given notice that they were coming to fight the Evans Bay people. However, I promised to protect him, and loaded one barrel with ball, which gave him increased confidence; still he imsisted upon carrying a large bundle of spears and a throwing-stick. «While watching in the scrub, I caught several glimpses of the ¢ewnga (the native name) as it darted through the bushes in the neighbourhood of the bower, announcing its presence by an occasional loud churr-r-r, and imitating the notes of various other birds, especially the Leatherhead. I never before met with a more wary bird ; and, tor a long time, it enticed me to follow it to a short distance, then flymg off and alighting on the bower it would deposit a berry or two, run through and be off again before I could reach the spot. All this time it was impossible to get a shot. At length, just as my patience was becoming exhausted, I saw the bird enter the bower and disappear, when I fired at random through the twigs, for- tunately with effect. So closely had we concealed ourselves latterly, and so silent had we been, that a kangaroo, while feeding, actually hopped up within fifteen yards, unconscious of our presence until fired at. My Bower-bird proved to be a new species, since described by Mr. Gould as Chlamydera cerviniventris ; and the bower is exhibited in the British Museum.” When Mr. MacGillivray speaks of the bird alighting on the top of the bower, he must mean on the plat- form, as, from the fineness of the twigs of which the bower itself is constructed, with the weaker ends up- wards, they could not support the weight of the bird. Upper surface brown, each feather of the back and wings margined and marked at the tip with buffy white; throat striated with greyish brown and buff; under surface of the shoulder, abdomen, thighs, and under tail-coverts light pure fawn-colour. The front figure is of the size of life. VEN TRIS ao FLA » Gould LGould and LOHicdder deb cf tith, Hullmandd & Walten Imp. SPHECOTHERES FLAVIVENTRIS, Gowid. Yellow-bellied Sphecotheres. Sphecotheres flaviveniris, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., 1849, p. 111. By the discovery of another species of this form on the north-eastern coast of Australia, we know that the fauna of that country is graced by at least two well-defined species of the genus, namely the S. Austrahs and the present bird, which may always be distinguished from its near ally by the beautiful jonquil-yellow of its under surface. Mr. MacGillivray informs me that it is a very common bird in the neighbourhood of Cape York, where he daily observed it either in pairs or in small parties of three or four individuals, which were generally very shy and difficult of approach. It frequents the open forest land in company with the Tropidorhynchus argenticeps, and resorts to the branches for its food, which consists of fruit of various kinds, such as figs, &c. His specimens were procured by keeping himself carefully concealed beneath one of its favourite feeding trees and watching until an opportunity offered of getting a shot. He once saw several nests which he had no doubt belonged to this species, nearly all of which were built among the top- most branches of very large gum-trees, which he could not induce the natives to attempt to climb; a de- serted nest was however within reach, being placed on an overhanging branch not more than twenty feet from the ground; it measured about a foot in diameter, and was composed of small sticks lined with finer ones. As is the case with the other members of the genus, the sexes offer a marked difference in colour. The male has the crown of the head and cheeks glossy black; orbits, and a narrow space leading to the nostrils naked, and of a light buffy yellow, or flesh-colour; all the upper surface, wing-coverts, outer webs of the secondaries, and a patch on either side of the chest, olive-green; chin, chest, abdomen and flanks beautiful yellow; vent and under tail-coverts white; primaries and inner webs of secondaries black, edged with grey; tail black, the external web and the apical half of the internal web of the outer feather on each side white; the apical half of the second feather on each side white; the next, or third, on each side with a large spot of white at the tip; bill black; feet flesh-colour. The female is striated on the head with brown and whitish; has the upper surface olive-brown ; the wing- feathers narrowly edged with greenish grey; the under surface white, with a conspicuous stripe of brown down the centre of each feather; and the vent and under tail-coverts white, without striz. The Plate represents the two sexes of the natural size. . [ATORHINUS RUFICERS , aril Kellaaadel ke Walicw, Lig. and HC Richter, dl. hth Lbou POMATORHINUS RUFICEPS, Hart. Chestnut-crowned Pomatorhinus. Pomatorhinus ruficeps, Hartl. in Cabanis’ Journ. fiir Orn., vol. i. p. 21.—Ib. Mag. de Zool. 1852, p. 316. Ar the period of my visit to South Australia (1838) the colony was in its infancy, and the city of Adelaide a chaotic jumble of sheds and mud huts, with trees growing here and there in the newly marked-out streets and squares. Among these trees Parrakeets of various kinds, and Honey-eaters still more numerous, were busily occupied in search of food or otherwise engaged; the former principally among the Eucalypt:, while the latter paid their devoirs to the Banksie : here and there also might be seen groups of newly-arrived emigrants, both English and Irish, who had chosen this distant country for their future home; groups of Germans, too, whose fatherland no longer offered opportunities for enterprise, were dotted about the country busily engaged in constructing their little villages and getting their gardens under cultivation. It was one of these German emigrants, whose name I have heard, but which I now forget, svho, inspired by the works of nature with which he was so profusely surrounded, employed some of his leisure hours in collecting the novel ornithological forms which came under his notice and transmitting them to the Museum at Bremen. Among the birds so collected and transmitted was the present new and very beautiful Pomatorhinus, the discovery of which has both surprised and gratified me: to me, indeed, as the author of the “ Birds of Australia,” it is of especial interest ; and not the less so from the singular circumstance that it should have escaped the researches of Sir George Grey, Captain Sturt, and every other person who has attended to ornithological science since the establishment of the colony; a very fine species it certainly is, and so pre- cisely does it accord in form with the other Australian members of the genus, that, had it been shown me without its habitat being mentioned, I should undoubtedly have named Australia as the country to which it belonged. Dr. Hartlaub of Bremen, to whom among many other favours I am indebted for the loan of the specimen from which my figure is taken, has given a description of this species, and assigned it the specific appellation of ruficeps in the first volume of Cabanis’ “Journal fiir Ornithologie” above quoted, with the following remarks, which I beg to transcribe :— ‘‘Of this fine and typical species the Bremen Collection received two examples, scarcely differing in colour, in a collection of South Australian birds sent from Adelaide. It is remarkable that the bird escaped the researches of Mr. Gould and his collectors, and one cannot help imagining that it must have recently arrived from some part of the interior of the country, and accompanied other stragglers towards the coast. “In size and colour P. ruficeps is more nearly allied to P. superciliosus than to any other, but it differs from that species in the brown-red colour of the head, in the white bars on the wings, and in the black mark which separates the reddish-brown of the flanks from the white of the breast. In our two specimens the sexes have not been ascertained; one of them is rather less brilliantly coloured than the other.” Crown of the head and nape chestnut- or brown-red, bounded below by a conspicuous line of white; lores blackish-brown ; behind the eye and ear-coverts brown; upper part of the back and wing-coverts grey, each feather with a dark brown centre, giving those parts a mottled appearance ; lower part of the back and rump pure dark grey; greater and lesser wing-coverts and secondaries tipped with white; throat, breast and centre of the abdomen white; flanks reddish-brown, separated from the white of the abdomen by a stripe of black; under tail-coverts brown, spotted with greyish-white ; four central tail-feathers dark brown, indistinctly rayed with black; the three outer feathers on each side brown, largely tipped with pure white ; bill and feet blackish horn-colour, the base of the mandibles lighter. The figures are of the size of life. PTILOTIS CASSIDIX , Jad. J Goulds and HL Richter, del a lith Walter, Emp. PTILOTIS CASSIDIX, Jara. Helmeted Honey-eater. Ptilotis cassidia, Jard. in Proc. of Zool. Soc., 1866, p. 558. Wuie on a visit to Scotland in the autumn of the year 1866, my friend Sir William Jardine sent to me in the Highlands a well-executed drawing, made by his daughter, Mrs. Strickland, of a bird which he believed to be new to science, and which had been obtained by bim in Edinburgh from among a collection of ordinary Australian species. On inspecting the drawing, I at once perceived that Sir William was right in his conjecture, and that the bird was not only new, but one of the- finest species of the genus Ptilotis yet discovered. Subsequently the origmal specimen was sent to me to be exhibited at the December meeting of the Zoological Society of London; and the name of Ptilotis cassidiv was assigned to it. Almost simultaneously with the arrival of the above and a second example in Edinburgh, others were transmitted to London; the latter were obtained at Western-Port Bay, near Port Phillip Heads, in the colony of Victoria; and now that the bird is figured, and the characters by which it may be distinguished from its nearest ally (the Pézdotis auricomis) are pointed out, we shall not, I trust, long remain ignorant of its habits and economy. The P. cassidix differs from P. auricomis in its much larger size, in the dark olive-black colouring of its upper surface, wings, and tail, in the greater amount of black surrounding the eye, in the erect tuft of wax- yellow feathers on the forehead, in all but the four central tail-feathers being tipped with white, and in the chin and centre of the throat bemg black or black interspersed with light yellow. This I am sorry to say is all I have to communicate respecting a species which must hereafter be placed im our museums at the head of the genus Péz/otis, the members of which are nearly as numerous as the various kinds of Hucalypti, upon the flowers of which they mainly subsist, and with which their yellow ear- tufts vie in beauty of colouring. The following is a description and admeasurement of one of my own specimens, which does not materially differ from that exhibited at the meeting of the Zoological Society above alluded to. Raised tuft of feathers on the forehead, crown, nape, breast, and under surface wax-yellow ; cheeks and ear-tufts rich yellow; lores, sides of the face, and ear-coverts jet-black; all the upper surface, wings, and tail olive-black ; primaries. and lateral tail-feathers fringed with wax-yellow ; all but the four central tail- feathers tipped with yellowish-white ; bill black; feet bluish. Total length of the male 83 inches; bill ¢; wing 43; tail 48; tarsi 1. The admeasurements of the female are considerably less. In some specimens I find the black of the throat interspersed with yellow; these I suspect are females, and I also believe that this sex, like the young birds, has the upper surface more or less tinged with wax-yellow. The figure is rather less than the natural size. eh ee - a. ey a x 5 i H A .. K oY = ' Hn . t 1 a PTILOTIS FASCIOGULARIS, Goud. » bel, ef Lith. : Hullnandel & Kalion Jmp. PTILOTIS FASCIOGULARIS, Gowda. Fasciated Honey-eater. Piilotis fasciogularis, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., part xix. p. 285. Ir is pleasing to record for the first time a new species so well marked as the’ present, and differing as it does from all other members of its genus, in the distinct bars of pale yellow and brown which occupy the throat and fore part of the neck, whence its specific name of fasciogularis; perhaps fusciigularis would have been more correct, and if such should be the opinion of learned grammarians, I would sugeest that the latter spellmg be the one adopted. All the specimens of this new bird that have yet come under my notice were sent to me a few years since by Mr. Strange, who collected them on the low swampy islands lying off the eastern coast of Australia, to the northward of Moreton Bay. Some of them have the locality of Mangrove Island, Moreton Bay, written on the labels attached to them: it would seem then that the islands lymg off this coast generally are their proper home. My specimens comprise examples of both sexes, ascertained by actual dissection, and the only difference between them consists, as is usual with the other members of the genus, in the smaller size of the female, their markings and colouring being alike. For a Péilotes this is a large and robust species, equalling in size the P. chrysotis, to which it bears the nearest affinity. All the upper surface, wings and tail olive-brown, the feathers of the head and back with darker centres, and the primaries and tail-feathers narrowly margined externally with wax-yellow; lores and a streak down the side of the head from the posterior angle of the eye blackish-brown ; ear-coverts pale yellow; on each side of the neck a patch of yellowish-white; feathers of the throat brownish-black, each bordered with pale yellow, presenting a fasciated appearance; breast blackish-brown; under surface striated with brown and buff, becoming paler towards the vent; irides lead-colour ; bill bluish-black, with a yellow gape; feet black. The figures are of the natural size. PTILOTIS NOTATA . Gould. Walter, Lng. Jlculd éHiCRichte, de wv tit PTILOTIS NOTATA, Gout. Yellow-spotted Honey-eater. Ptilots notata, Gould in Ann. and Mag. Hist. 1867, 3rd ser. vol. xx. p. 269. Turs species of Pz/ots is a native of the Cape-York peninsula, where it appears to be tolerably common. It belongs to a section of the genus of which three or four species are known ; of these, the largest is the P. ery- sots of New South Wales, and the smallest the bird to which I have assigned the name of P. gracilis; all three are distinguished by possessing disproportionately large bills. The fourth species of the section is the P. semis of Hombron and Jacquinot, from the Aru Islands, a bird which, in the size of its body, resembles the P. notata, but has a more lengthened patch of yellow behind the ears and a much shorter and stouter bill; the P. sémzhs also differs from all the others in the profusion of its rump-feathers, the dark bases of which show conspicuously in certain positions. The late Mr. John Macgillivray brought a Prilotis from Dunck Island which so nearly resembles the P. xo¢ata that, although its wings are somewhat shorter, I believe them to be identical. Of the habits and economy of these birds nothing is known ; and it would be interesting to ascertain upon what particular trees they obtain their food. On the southern coast of Aus- tralia the members of the genus Pilots frequent the Eucalypti which there abound ; whether any of that class of trees also exist on the Cape-York peninsula, or on Dunck and the Aru Islands, I know not, but I may be reasonably inferred that some of them do. I have lately received specimens, through John Jardine, Esq., from the Cape-York district of Queensland ; and Gilbert collected a bird very nearly allied, if not the same as this, at Brown’s Lagoon, on the 20th of December, 1844, when travelling with Leichardt from Moreton Bay to Port Essington. The following is a copy of my original description as published in the ‘Annals and Magazine of Natural History ’ above quoted, to which I have nothing to add :— «Crown and all the upper surface greenish olive ; lores, a line beneath the eye, and the anterior portion of the ear-coverts brownish black ; from the angle of the mouth a pale-yellow stripe ; posterior part of the ear-coverts pale yellow, assuming the form of a nearly round spot ; under surface pale greyish olive, obscurely streaked with pale grey down the throat and breast; bill black, with a thick fleshy yellow gape ; legs bluish. “¢ Total length 64 inches, bill 15, wing 33, tail 2%, tarsi 3.” The Plate represents two birds, supposed to be one of each sex, of the natural size. THLOTIS FIMLIGK RAs: Gould. Jioudld and IC Richter del et title. PTILOTIS FILIGERA, Goud. Streaked Honey-eater. Pitlotis filigera, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., December 10, 1850. Austra.ta is evidently the head-quarters of this genus of birds, inasmuch as I have already figured no less than fifteen species; and here we have another quite distinct from either of them, but which is, perhaps, more nearly allied to P. unicolor than to any other. The P. filigera is one of the novelties which rewarded the researches of Mr. James Wilcox, who obtained two examples among some mangroves at Cape York, where he observed it in company with another species of the same genus. These specimens are now in the possession of the Zoological Society of London, to whom they were presented by the late Captain Owen Stanley, R.N. Although on the whole a dull- coloured species, it is rendered interestingly different from all its congeners by the thread-like streak beneath the ear-coverts, and by the small striz which decorate the back of the neck and the upper part of the mantle. Upper surface, wings and tail rich olive-brown, with numerous small marks of greyish white on the apical portion of the nuchal feathers; the wing-coverts broadly and the remainder of the feathers narrowly edged with brownish buff; from the gape beneath the eye a streak of white; ear-coverts blackish grey; from the centre of the lower angle of the ear-coverts a very narrow streak of silky yellow, which proceeding back- wards joins the line of white from beneath the eye; throat brownish grey; under surface sandy buff, the feathers of the breast and the middle of the abdomen with lighter centres ; bill olive-black; naked space beneath the eye yellow ; legs and feet slate-colour. The young are destitute of the white marks on the nape, and have the under surface more rufous and without the lighter centres. PTILOTIS COCKERELLI, Gould Gould &HCRichter, del et bith Walter. Imp. PTILOTIS COCKERELEL, Gowa. Cockerell’s Honey-eater. Ptilotis Cockereli, Gould in Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist., 4th ser., vol. iv. p. 109. Iv is but an act of justice that at least one of the birds of Australia should be named after Mr. James Cockerell, inasmuch as he is a native-born Australian, has collected very largely in the northern parts of that great country, and discovered more than one new species, among which must be enumerated the present very interesting bird. Mr. Cockerell informs me that it frequents the forests of the little-explored parts of the Cape-York peninsula, often in company with the Blue Mountain-Lory and the Yellow-spotted Honey-eater (Ptilotis notata), to which latter bird it assimilates in its actions and habits ; it appears to be most numerous in the neighbourhood of Somerset in October, November, and December, when the trees are in blossom, and is tolerably common in the districts above mentioned. When chacterizing it in the volume of the ‘Annals and Magazine of Natural History’ above referred to, I remarked that ‘“ although I have placed this beautiful new species in the genus P¢ilotis, 1 am by no means certain that I am correct in so doing ; for the bird possesses characters which ally it to at least three genera, namely Stigmatops, Meliphaga, and Pitilots, while it also possesses characters peculiar to itself of almost sufficient importance to demand a distinct generic appellation. It somewhat resembles in its colouring the Ptilotis polygramma of Mr. G. R. Gray (wde Proc. Zool. Soc., 1861, pp. 429, 434).” The male has the fore part of the head grey, merging into the brown of the upper surface, which has a mottled appearance, owing to each feather being of a darker hue in the centre; lesser wing-coverts dark brown, with a spot of dull white at the tip of each, forming a spotted band across the shoulder; greater coverts and primaries dark brown margined with wax-yellow ; tail brown, the lateral feathers margined ex- ternally at the base with wax-yellow; ear-coverts silvery, with a few of the anterior feathers pale yellow, and a posterior tuft of rich gamboge-yellow ; throat and breast clothed with narrow lanceolate white feathers, a few on the sides of the chest tinged with deep yellow; abdomen dull greyish white, changing to a creamy tint towards the vent ; bill black ; feet horn-colour. The female in colouring differs only in the spots at the tips of the lesser wing-coverts being nearly ob- solete, but, as is the case with many other species of the family, is much smaller than the male, as will be seen by the following admeasurements :— Male.—Total length 5 inches, bill 1, wing 34, tail 22, tarsi 2. Female.—Total length 4 inches, bill 2, wing 23, tail 24, tarsi 4. The figures are of the natural size. TROPIDORHYNCHUS BUCEROIDE 8, Siboutds amd He Reielter, dict bith. Hallrmairadel b Walton, Lp TROPIDORHYNCHUS BUCEROIDES. Helmeted Honey-eater. Philedon buceroides, Swains. Anim. in Menag., p. 325. Tropidorhynchus buceroides, Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 125, Tropidorhynchus, sp. 2.—Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av. p. 390, Tropidorhynchus, sp. 9. Noruine is more evident than that every peculiar kind of vegetation is accompanied by a corresponding peculiarity of animal life; be that life mammal, bird or insect. In no country are the trees and general vegetation of so peculiar and so marked a character as in Australia; in proof of which I may cite as instances in point, the Hucalypti and Banksie. These trees are frequented by a numerous family of birds called Honey-eaters, among the species of which a general similarity of structure reigns, but certain differences in form occur, corresponding in a great measure with the different botanical groups among which they obtain their subsistence; thus, the large Hucalypt: are tenanted by the members of the genera Anthochera, Entomyza, and Tropidorhynchus, while the smaller species are resorted to by the Pv/otes, Glyciphile, Melithreptes, &c., and the Banksie afford shelter and food to Acanthogenys and the true Meliphage. All these birds have lengthened tongues with filamentous brush-like tips, extremely small stomachs, and live partly on the pollen and honey which they extract from the flower-cups and partly on the insects attracted by the nectar. The bird here represented belongs to a genus the members of which are widely dispersed over Australia wherever the Hucalypti abound. It may be regarded as the representative on the north coast of the Z7opr- dorhynchus corniculatus of the southern part of the country, for it was in the Cape York Peninsula that it was obtained ; not, however, by Mr. MacGillivray, who, I believe, mistook it for the common species, and did not procure examples; which is much to be regretted, since the bird is so extremely rare in our collections that I beg to direct attention to it, in the hope that, should any other expeditions visit the northern shores of Australia, so fine a species might not be overlooked. The Tropidorhynchus Buceroides differs very considerably from the ZT. corniculatus and every other Australian species; these differences, which will be readily seen by reference to the accompanying Plate, consist in its much larger size, in the great elevation of the culmen, and in the crown of the head being clothed with feathers. Feathers of the crown and nape brown, with pale greyish or silvery edges; all the upper surface, wings and tail light brown; feathers of the under surface lighter brown with a silky lustre, those of the throat with darker centres; face leaden-black ; bill black ; feet blackish-brown. The figure is of the natural size. The beautiful plant is the Stenocarpus Cunninghame. NECTARINIA AUSTRALIS 2 Gould. J. Gould and HC Richter del & lithe, — : Ttlinandel & Walton mp. o : NECTARINIA AUSTRALIS, Gowda. Australian Sun-bird. Nectaruma Australis, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., July 23, 1850.—Jard. Cont. Orn. 1850. Terridirri, Aborigines of Cape York. I wait with great pleasure the discovery of a true Nectarinia in Australia, a discovery which, however, might have been expected, when we consider how short is the distance between the northern part of that country, and Timor and New Guinea, where these birds are known to abound. I have carefully compared the present bird with all the species from those islands, and find it different from the whole of them. It offers a very close alliance to the NV. frenata of the Celebes ; it will be found, however, to differ from that species in its considerably larger size, in the mark above the eye being less conspicuous, and in the straighter form of the bill; Ihave therefore thought it but right to assign to it the name of Australis, as indicative of the only country in which it has yet been found. For my first know- ledge of this species I am indebted to the researches of my late much-valued friend Captain Ince, R.N., who, while attached to H.M.S. Fly, paid unceasing attention to the natural history of the various parts of Australia visited by that vessel, and who, since his recent appointment to the command of H.M.S. Pilot in the China Seas, has paid equal attention to the ornithology of that region; but a short time has elapsed since his first interesting consignment reached me, and within the last few days (Feb. 19, 1851) the melancholy intelli- gence of his premature death has communicated a degree of grief to his friends which will be participated in by all who take an interest in the welfare of a most excellent officer and an ardent lover of natural history. ; “This pretty Sun-bird,” says Mr. MacGillivray, “ appears to be distributed along the whole of the north- east coast of Australia, the adjacent islands, and the whole of the islands in Torres Straits. Although thus generally distributed, it is nowhere numerous, seldom more than a pair being seen together. Its habits resemble those of the Pé/otes, with which it often associates, but still more closely to those of Myzomela obscura; like those birds, it resorts to the flowering trees to feed upon the insects which frequent the blossoms, especially those of a species of Seéadophyllum: this singular tree, whose range on the north-east coast and that of the Australian Sun-bird appears to be the same, is furnished with enormous spike-like racemes of small scarlet flowers, which attract numbers of insects, and thus furnish an abundant supply of food to the present bird and many species of the Meliphagide. Its note, which is a sharp, shrill cry, pro- longed for about ten seconds, may be represented by ‘ Tsee-tsee-tsee-tss-ss-ss-ss.’_ The male appears to be of a pugnacious disposition, as I have more than once seen it drive away and pursue a visitor to the same tree; perhaps, however, this disposition is only exhibited during the breeding season. I found its nest on several occasions, as will be seen by the following extracts from my note-book :— “Nov, 29, 1849. Cape York. Found two nests of Nectarinia to-day: one on the margin of a scrub, the other in a clearing. The nests were pensile, and in both cases were attached to the twig of a prickly bush: one, measuring seven inches in length, was of an elongated shape, with a rather large opening on one side close to the top; it was composed of shreds of Melaleuca bark, a few leaves, various fibrous substances, rejectamenta of caterpillars, &c., and lined with the silky cotton of the Bombaw Australis so common in the neighbourhood. The other, which was similar in structure, contained a young bird, and an egg with a chick almost ready for hatching. ‘The female was seen approaching with a mouthful of flies to feed the young, and the male was not far off. The egg was pear-shaped, generally and equally mottled with obscure dirty brown on a greenish grey ground. “Dec. 4th.—Mount Ernest, Torres Straits. A nest of Nectarinia found to-day differs from those seen at Cape York in having over the entrance a projecting fringe-like hood composed of the panicles of a deli- cate grass-like plant. It contained two young birds, and I saw the mother visit them twice with an interval of ten minutes between; she glanced past like an arrow, perched on the nest at once, clinging to the lower side of the entrance, and looked round very watchfully for a few seconds before feeding the young, after which she disappeared as suddenly as she had arrived.” The male has the crown of the head and upper surface olive-green; over and under the eye two incon- spicuous marks of yellow; throat and chest steel-blue; remainder of the under surface fine yellow; irides chestnut; bill and feet black. The female differs in having the whole of the under surface yellow, without a trace of the steel-blue gorget so conspicuous in the male. The Plate represents two males and a female of the natural size. LOSTEIROPS ALBOGULARIS , Gould Slould anal Peuckiver, da, we bith, | Hiudtrrucndel, & Walton, Trap ZLOSTEROPS ALBOGULARIS, Gowa. White-breasted Zosterops. Zosterops albogularis, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., part iv. p. 75; and in Syn. Birds of Aust., pl. . fig. 2.— Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 198, Zosterops, sp. 6. Tse members of the genus Zosterops have a most extensive range over the old world. India proper has its own peculiar species, and so have Southern Africa, Japan, and China; but the countries in which the species are most numerous are Australia, Lord Howe’s and Norfolk Islands, and the great Papuan group, including New Caledonia and the adjacent islands: in all these localities they occur in abundance. Every island appears to have its own particular species, and some of them two or three: Lord Howe’s Island has two, and in Norfolk and Philip Islands two others occur. On the continent of Australia there are at least three or four very distinct species, all different from those of the islands, Tasmania excepted. Of all these numerous species, the present bird is one of the largest ; it was characterized and figured by me as long since as January 1837 ; its native country is Norfolk Island, whence specimens have been sent from time to time ever since it was formed into a penal settlement. As is the case with the other members of the genus, there appears to be but little difference in the outward characters of the sexes, all the specimens that have reached this country being very similar. All the upper surface and wing-coverts greenish olive, strongly tinged with chestnut on the back; wings and tail brown, margined with olive-green; a broad zone of white feathers surrounds each eye, bounded in front and below with black; throat and centre of the abdomen white; flanks pale chestnut, under tail-coverts pale yellow ; bill and legs lead colour. The figures are the size of life. ZOSTEROPS TENULROSTRIS, Ga Gould und He leachter, dd eb teihe. Malina é Watton, Trap. ZOSTEROPS TENUIROSTRIS, Goud. Slender-billed Zosterops. | Zosterops tenuirostris, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., part iv. p. 76, and in Syn. Birds of Aust., pl. . fig. 1. lateralis, Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 198, Zosterops, sp. 5. Tue specific name of ¢enuirostris has been given to this bird from the circumstance of its bill being some- what prolonged when compared with the bills of the other members of the genus; not only is its bill more lengthened, but its body is also more slender and elegant in contour than that of any of its congeners. Its native country is Norfolk Island, whence all the specimens I have seen have been forwarded to this country, by way of New South Wales. It is a very distinct and well-defined species, and is of large size when compared with most of its near allies. Of its habits, manners, and mode of life nothing has yet been recorded, which is much to be regretted, as they might present some peculiarities consequent upon the particular character of the vegetation of this remote island, which differs very considerably from that of Australia. I fear the time is gone by when we might expect to glean any information respecting it from some intelligent Government officer stationed in this famed Paradise of climate and vegetation ; it can scarcely be supposed that the Pitcairn Islanders, who now inhabit.it, can have contracted a taste for natural history. All the specimens I have seen being similarly coloured, it is believed that the sexes, like those of Zoste- rops albogularis, do not differ in outward appearance. Head, all the upper surface, and wing-coverts olive-green, brightest on the head and upper tail-coverts ; wings and tail brown, margined with olive-green; throat yellow, stained with red in the centre; centre of the abdomen and under tail-coverts pale yellow; flanks olive-brown ; bill and legs light brown, inclining to lead-colour; eye surrounded by a narrow zone of white feathers, bounded below by a line of blackish brown. | The figures are of the natural size. ZOSTEROPS STRENTUS , Goud. Jbculd and HC kiehier, del, & bith. Hidlbmundel b Wilton, Lrg. ; ZOSTEROPS STRENUUS, Gowda. Robust Zosterops. Zosterops strenuus, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., July 24, 1855. Tux present new species is the largest member yet discovered of a group of birds comprising numerous species, and which are very generally dispersed over the old world from India to Australia; some of the islands of the South Pacific are also tenanted by their own peculiar species ; Norfolk Island claims two which have not been found elsewhere, and we now find that Lord Howe’s Island, although but scantily supplied with vegetation, is not devoid of bird-life even of the great order of Insessores, it being inhabited by at least two species of the present genus. Her Majesty’s Ship Herald, commanded by Captain Denham, having paid a visit to this interesting spot in the wide ocean, Mr. MacGillivray had an opportunity of extending his fame as a successful naturalist by securing and sending, with many other interesting objects, an example of each of these species, which I find to be quite different from all others that have come under my notice. The bird here represented is the larger of the two, and its prominent characters consist in its comparatively great size, robust form of body and unusually lengthened and powerful bill; at the same time, in the general style of its colouring, in its snow-white eye-ring, and in all other essential points, it closely agrees with the other species of the genus of which it is a member. The only specimen of this new bird which has yet been transmitted to this country, now forms part of the National Collection, where all the other novelties which may be acquired by Captain Denham’s Expedition will be deposited. Head and upper surface bright olive-green, with a mark of dark grey across the shoulders ; wings and tail slaty-brown, margined with greenish-olive ; eyes surrounded by the usual ring of white feathers, beneath which is a narrow line of black; chin and throat yellow; flanks pale vinaceous-brown ; centre of the abdomen nearly white; under tail-coverts pale yellow; bill and feet bluish-black. The figures are of the natural size. — bet Tike a ZOSTEROPS TEPHROPLEURUS, éndi SG0uld ant LC Lachior del & tithe ‘ Hidlinindel & Walton, Lp. ZOSTEROPS TEPHROPLEURUS, Goud. Grey-breasted Zosterops. Zosterops tephropleurus, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., July 24, 1855. Ar least three species of the genus Zosterops are inhabitants of Australia, all of which have been seen in a state of nature, either by myself or by my collector Mr. Gilbert, and we found that no difference occurred in the plumage, and scarcely any in the size of the sexes: had I not positive evidence of this, as far as regards the Australian species, I should have thought it probable that the two species (the present bird and the Z. strenuus) sent from Lord Howe’s Island by Mr. MacGillivray were only different sexes of the same bird, so similarly are they coloured; I feel convinced, however, that such is not the case, and that the Z. tephropleurus differs from all other known species. In size it rather exceeds the well-known Australian Z. dorsalis, and moreover differs in having a much more robust bill and less highly coloured flanks. Among the many pleasing recollections connected with my explorations in Australia, none are more grateful than those pertaining to this little group of birds, whose’ pretty cup-shaped nests and spotless blue eggs so vividly reminded me of home, my early life, and the nest and eggs of our own Hedge Accentor. Head and upper surface bright olive-green, with a wash of grey across the shoulders; wings and tail slaty-brown, margined with olive-green; throat dull yellow ; around the eyes a circle of white feathers, below which is a mark of black; under surface pale vinaceous-brown, becoming gradually paler on the lower part of the abdomen, and passing into the pale yellow of the under tail-coverts. The figures are of the natural size. Ae ce aa te a Aisne a AON ED TT AIS Chg tf : OIRILAE 2 Gould. IGould and HE Richley AA cb lth. Tidimandd & Walton Trp, rae | J PTILORIS VICTORIA, Gouwiz. Victoria Rifle Bird. Ptiloris Victorig, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., 1849, p. 111, Aves, pl. xii. Tue discovery of a new and beautiful Rifle bird has enabled me to fulfil a wish I had long entertained, of dedicating to our most gracious Queen one of the loveliest of the ornithological productions of her anti- podal dominions; and I had therefore no ordinary pleasure in naming the present species Victorie, as a just tribute of respect for the many virtues which have endeared Her Majesty to all classes of her subjects, and as some slight acknowledgment on my part of her kindness and liberality in permitting me to dedicate to her my great work on the ‘ Birds of Australia.’ The Piloris Victorie is one of the many novelties which have rewarded the researches of Mr. MacGilli- vray, the able Naturalist of the late expedition of H.M.S. Rattlesnake. The value of its acquisition is greatly enhanced by the notes he has recorded of its habits; which are particularly interesting to myself, inasmuch as they tend to confirm the opinion I have expressed in the Introduction as to the alliance of the mem- bers of this genus to the Clmacteres. The present species is smaller in all its admeasurements than the Ptloris paradsea, but is still more resplendent in colour; it may be distinguished by the purple of the breast presenting the appearance of a broad pectoral band, bounded above by the scale-like feathers of the throat, and below by the abdominal band of deep oil-green, and also by the broad and much-lengthened flank feathers which show very conspicuously. It appears to be strictly an inhabitant of the north-eastern portion of Australia, and the chain of islands lying between the Barrier Reef and the mainland. The following notes respecting it have been transmitted to me by Mr. MacGillivray :-— «This bird was seen by us during the survey of the N.E. coast of Australia on the Barnard Isles, and on the adjacent shores of the mainland at Rockingham Bay, in the immediate vicinity of Kennedy’s first camp. On one of the Barnard Isles (No. III. in lat. 17° 43’ 8.) which is covered with dense brush I found the Victoria Rifle Bird (supposed at the time to be the P. paradisea), in considerable abundance. Females and young males were common, but rather shy; however, by sitting down and quietly watching in some favourite locality, one or more would soon alight on a limb or branch, run along it with great celerity, stop abruptly every now and then to thrust its beak under the loose bark in search of insects, and then fly off as suddenly as it had arrived. Occasionally I have seen one anxiously watching me from behind a branch, its head and neck only being visible. At this time (June) the young males were very pugnacious, and upon one occasion three of them were so intent upon their quarrel that they allowed me to approach sufficiently near to kill them all with a single charge of dust shot. The adult males were comparatively rare, always solitary and very shy. I never saw them upon the trees, but only in the thick bushes and masses of climbing plants beneath them; on detecting the vicinity of man they immediately shuffled off among the branches to- wards the opposite side of the thicket and flew off for a short distance. I did not observe them to utter any call or cry; this, however, may have arisen from my attention not having been so much directed to them as to the females and young males, which I was more anxious to procure, the very different style of their colouring having led me to believe they were a new species of Pomatorhinus.” The male has the general plumage rich deep velvety black, glossed on the upper surface, sides of the neck, chin and breast with plum-colour; feathers of the head and throat small, scale-like, and of a shining, metallic bronzy green; feathers of the abdomen very much developed, of the same hue as the upper surface, but each feather so broadly margined with rich deep olive-green, that the colouring of the basal portion of the feather is hidden, and the olive-green forms a broad abdominal band, which is sharply defined above, but irregular below; two centre tail-feathers rich shining metallic green, the remainder deep black ; bill and feet black. The female has all the upper surface greyish brown, tinged with olive; head and sides of the neck dark brown, striated with greyish brown; over each eye a superciliary stripe of buff; wing-feathers edged with ferruginous ; chm and throat pale buff; remainder of the under surface, under wing-coverts, and the base of the inner webs of the quills rich deep reddish buff, each feather with an irregular spot of brown near the tip, dilated on the flanks into the form of irregular bars ; bill and feet black. The Plate represents two males and a female of the natural size. ees Fe 4 \ ' td 2 = WTR TSW ta Seah stigmata RNY HEIN, Hrthrire Walton. Toup, Souk cond HCRreltes del eb tith PTILORIS MAGNIFICA. Magnificent Rifle Bird. Le Promefil, Levaill. Ois. de Parad. p. 36. pl. 16. Falcinellus magnificus, Vieill. Nouv. Dict. d’Hist. Nat. tom. xxvil. p. 167. pl. G. 30. No. 3.—Ib. Ency. Méth. Orn. pt. 11. p. 579. Epimachus magnificus, Cuv. Regn. Anim. pl. 4. fig. 2—Wagl. Syst. Av. Epimachus, sp. 10.—Less. Cent. Zool. p. 22. pl. 4. fem., p. 27. pl. 5. young.—Gray and Mitchell, Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 94.—Less. Traité d’Orn. p. 321, Atlas, pl. 74. fig. 1—Hist. Nat. des Ois. de Parad. pls. 32, 33, 34. Epinachus paradiseus, Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. 1. pl. xxxii. Promerops @ parures chevelues, Dum. Dict. des Sci. Nat. tom. xlili. p. 367. avec fig. Craspedophora magnifica, G. R. Gray, List of Gen. of Birds, 2nd Edit. p. 15. Here then we have a third species of Pz/oris, rendering the ornithology of Australia still more interesting : unlike the P. Victorre, however, this has no claims to novelty, inasmuch as it has been known to us for nearly fifty years. ‘It is New Guinea,” says Vieillot, ‘ Zoological Society ;” and therefore I cannot do better than transcribe them here :-— “The Nestor notabilis, which is called “Kea” by the natives, is the largest of the four species of the form now known, and is certainly one of the most interesting of the ornithological novelties lately discovered. It not only differs from its near allies V. hypopolius and N. productus in its greater size, but in the greater uniformity of its colouring, in the yellow toothed markings of the inner webs of the primaries and seconda- ries, and in the orange toothed markings of the inner webs of the tail-feathers ; the yellow colouring of the under mandible is another of the peculiarities by which it may be distinguished. «Mr. Mantell informed me that he first heard of the existence of the Kea about eight years ago, from some old natives whom he was questioning as to the birds of the Middle Island. They said the Kea some- what resembled the Adka (Nestor hypopolius), but that, unlike that bird, it was green; and added that it used formerly to come to the coast in severe winters, but that they had not seen it lately. Mr. Mantell has only obtained the two specimens exhibited of this fine bird: they were shot in the Murihiku country; and for one of them he was indebted to Mr. John Lemon of Murihiku. “General hue olive-green; each feather tipped in a crescentic form with brown, and having a fine line of the same colour down the shaft ; feathers of the lower part of the back and the upper tail-coverts washed near the tip with fiery orange-red; primaries brown, margined at the base with greenish blue; tail dull green; inner webs of the lateral feathers brown, toothed on their basal two-thirds with orange-yellow ; all the tail-feathers crossed near the extremity with an indistinct band of brown, and tipped with olive-brown ; feathers of the axille fine scarlet; under wing-coverts scarlet tipped with brown, the greater ones banded with brown and with yellow stained with scarlet; basal portion of the primaries and secondaries largely toothed with fine yellow, which is not perceptible on the upper surface unless the wings are very widely spread ; upper mandible dark horn-colour; under mandible yellow, becoming richer towards the point ; feet nearly yellowish olive. “Total length, 18 inches ; bill, 25; wing, 123; tail, 72; tarsi, 13. ‘* Habitat. The Middle Island, New Zealand.” The figure on the accompanying Plate is of the natural size. shai ia) i Ga Tix is ere sal ee " a ze - oe Hullmandd & Walton imp ROGLOSSUS ECs yy J. Gould and HC Richter det & lit. MICROGLOSSUS ATERRIMUS. Great Palm Gockeatoo: Psittacus Gigas, Lath. Ind. Orn., vol. i. p. 107. Black Cockatoo, Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. viii. p. 474. pl. 71—Lath. Gen. Syn., vol. i. p. 260.—Ib. Gen. Hist., vol. il. p. 198. Great Black Cockatoo, Edw. Glean., pl. 316. Grey Cockatoo, Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. ii. p. 199. Le Kakatoes now, Buff. Hist. Nat. des Ois., tom. vi. p. 97. L’ Ara noir a trompe ; : ; ee CS Le Vaill. Hist. des Perr., pls. 11, 12, 13. TL’ Ara gris a trompe, Psitiacus aterrimus, Gmel. Edit. Linn. Syst. Nat., vol. i. p. 330.—Kuhl, Consp. Psitt. in Noy. Acta, vol. x. p. 91. ——— griseus, Bechst. ——— Gohath, Kuhl, Consp. Psitt. in Nov. Acta, vol. x. p. 92.—Less. Man. d’Orn., tom. ii. p. 145. Cacatua aterrima, Vieill. Nouv. Dict. d’Hist. Nat.—Ib. Ency. Méth. Orn. Part iii. p. 1415. Microglossus aterrimus, Vieill. Gal. des Ois., tom. i. pl. 50.—Wagl. Mon. Psitt. in Abhand., vol. i. p. 682.—Bonap. Consp. Genera Av., p. 7. Microglossum aterrimum, Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. ii. p. 424.—Less. Man. d’Orn., tom. ii. p. 145.— G. R. Gray, List of Gen. of Birds, 2nd edit. p. 69. Perroquet a trompe, Cuv. Regne Anim., tom. i. p. 465. Microglossus ater, Less. Traité d’Orn., p. 184, Atlas, pl. 19. fig 1 et A. Payuntoo, Goodang Tribe of the Aborigines at Cape York. As might have been expected, the fauna of the extreme northern portion of Australia is found to comprise many species common to the island of Papua or New Guinea; and hence we find this noble species of Cockatoo, hitherto only known to us as a native of that country, to be also a denizen of the palm forests of Cape York. Although not new to science, there is no one of the accessions obtained during the late expe- dition of H.M.S. Rattlesnake of greater interest to myself than the present bird, adding as it does another to the already rich series of the Psettacide gracing the ornithology of Australia. At present the Cape York district is the only part of the country it is known to inhabit; but it is probable, that when colonization has advanced into its tropical regions, it will be found that the bird enjoys an extensive range. Although the bird appears to have been known as long, back as 1707, in which year, according to Edwards, S. Van der Meulen published a figure of it at Amsterdam, under the name of Corvus Indicus, nothing has been recorded of its habits and economy; Ihave therefore much pleasure in communicating the following interesting notes by Mr. MacGillivray, in which the reader will not fail to notice the perfect adaptation of the bill to the express purpose for which it was designed :— “This very fine bird, which is not uncommon in the vicinity of Cape York, was usually found in the densest scrub among the tops of the tallest trees, but was occasionally seen in the open forest land perched on the largest of the Hucalypti, apparently resting on its passage from one belt of trees or patch of scrub to another : like the Calyptorhynchi, it is a slow flier, and usually flies but a short distance. In November 1849, the period of our last visit to Cape York, it was always found in pairs, very shy and difficult of approach. Its cry is merely a low short whistle of a single note which may be represented by the letters ‘Muweet-hweet.’ The stomach of the first one killed contained a few small pieces of quartz and triturated fragments of palm cabbage, with which the crop of another specimen was completely filled ; and the idea immediately suggests itself, that the powerful bill of this bird is a most fitting instrument for stripping off the leaves near the summits of the Seaforthia elegans and other palms to enable it to arrive at the central tender shoot.” ‘ Lores deep velvety black; lengthened crest-feathers greyish black ; the remainder of the plumage black, with purple reflexions; irides purplish brown; cheeks pale dull crimson bordered with pale yellow, the two colours gradually blending into each other; bill and feet purplish black. In the young male the tip of the upper and the whole of the lower mandible is horn-colour, and the under surface is brownish black, with narrow obscure crescentic marks of yellowish white at the tips of the abdo- minal feathers. The figure of the head is of the natural size. | ary Sime ee era 7 ve ae ee POLYTELIS ALEXANDRA: . Gould. 7 . Walter, Imp. JGould and HC Richter, del. eb itl. POLYTELIS ALEXANDRA, Gowda. The Princess of Wales’s Parrakeet. Polyteles alexandre, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc. 1863, p. 232. Polytelts alecandre, Gould, Handb. Birds of Aust., vol. ii. p. 32. I reex assured that the discovery of an additional species of the lovely genus Polyteiis will be hailed with pleasure by all ornithologists, and that they will readily assent to its bearing the specific name of Alexandre, in honour of the princess destined, we trust, at some future time to be the queen of these realms and their dependencies, of which Australia is by no means the least important. The Polytehs Alexandre is in every respect a typical example of its genus, having the delicate bill and lengthened tail characteristic of the other species of that form. About the same size as P. Barraband,, it differs from that species in having the crown blue and the lower part of the cheeks rose-pink, instead of yellow. , For my knowledge of this new species I am indebted to the Board of Governors of the South Australian Institute, who liberally forwarded to me a series of the birds procured by Mr. Frederick G. Waterhouse during the late Mr. Stuart’s exploratory expedition into Central Australia. The locality on the label attached to the specimens was, “‘ Howell’s Ponds, lat. 16° 54' 7" S.” The extremely delicate tints which pervade the plumage of this new bird render it conspicuously different from all other Australian Parrakeets that have yet become known to us; and I cannot believe that one will be discovered more fitting to bear the name of an illustrious lady as a specific designation. Its acquisition tends to prove that many fine species, of which we previously had no conception, inhabit the unexplored parts of the great continent of Australia, and that other novelties will from time to time be discovered as the interior of the country becomes accessible to the settler and the naturalist; hence it is that so much interest attaches to the journeys made by the pioneers of civilization, particularly when they have associated with them such a naturalist as Mr. Waterhouse. Surely, then, it is not too much to hope that, in all future explorations undertaken by the authorities of the colonies, zoological science will receive that degree of attention which its importance demands. At present all we know respecting this interesting bird is, that, like the other species of its genus, it is numerous in its own area; but the extent of that area is yet to be ascertained, as is also a knowledge of its habits and economy; these latter, however, are doubtless very similar to those of its near allies, Polytelis Barrabandi and P. melanura. Forehead delicate light blue; lower part of the cheeks, chin, and throat rose-pink ; head, nape, mantle, back, and scapularies olive-green; lower part of the back and rump blue; shoulders and wing-coverts pale yellowish green; external webs of the principal primaries dull blue; breast and abdomen olive-grey; thighs rosy-red; upper tail-coverts olive, tinged with blue; two centre tail-feathers bluish olive-green, the two next on each side olive-green on their outer webs and dark brown on their inner ones; the remaining’ tail- feathers tricoloured, the central portion being black, the outer olive-grey, and the inner deep rosy-red ; bill coral-red ; feet mealy-brown. The figures, which are of the natural size, were taken from the individuals mentioned above, and which, having been duly returned, doubtless now form part of the collection of the South Australian Institute at Adelaide. PLATYCERCUS CYANOGIENYS , Goudd. Sbould and HC Richter, dé lith. ullmunde ¢ Nalton, Imp. PLATYCERCUS CYANOGENYS, Gow. Blue-cheeked Parrakeet. Platycercus cyanogenys, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., July 24, 1855. Ir cannot be denied, I think, that the principal feature in the ornithology of Australia consists in the numerous species of Parrots which abound in that country. ‘The presence of so many of these beautiful birds communicates a peculiar charm to this distant land, and gives to it a tropical character at once striking and novel to the multitudes of newly arrived emigrants from the British Islands, where they are only seen in cages and regarded as beautiful rarities. The numerous species of the Platycerc? and their allied genera, feeding, as they do, exclusively on seeds and vegetables, have all delicate flesh, and are consequently very generally eaten, from the elegant little Melopsittacus undulatus to the largest member of the genus to which the present bird belongs. Fancy killing and plucking a dozen of such beautiful birds as the one figured in the accompanying Plate, for the purposes of the table! yet such was commonly done at the period of my visit to the colony, and the practice will doubtless be continued as long as the supply is equal to the demand; the emigrant must, however, greatly extend his roaming, and many fearful scenes will probably occur between him and the aborigines before the present bird can be subjected to such an ignoble sacrifice, for it is only at the distant peninsula of Cape York, on the extreme north of Australia, that the bird is to be found. It was there that the single specimen now in the British Museum was shot by Mr. MacGillivray, on the 7th of October 1848. The Platycercus cyanogenys is very nearly allied to P. palliceps, but differs in the general tone of the colourig of the body, and in the rich blue cheeks, which has suggested the specific name. Crown of the head pale sulphur-yellow; cheeks ccerulean-blue; feathers of the nape, back and scapularies black, broadly margined with sulphur-yellow, and stained with green on the lower part of the back; rump and upper tail-coverts greenish-yellow, with an extremely narrow fringe of black at the tip of the feathers ; shoulder and greater wing-coverts deep blue; lesser coverts black, bordered with deep blue; primaries and secondaries blackish-brown, the basal half of their external webs deep blue, the apical half pale blue ; tertiaries black, broadly margined with greenish-yellow; breast pale greenish-yellow; abdomen light greenish-blue ; all the feathers of the under surface slightly fringed with black ; under tail-coverts scarlet, narrowly margined with yellow ; two middle tail-feathers greenish-blue ; the next on each side blue, slightly tipped with pale blue; the remainder blackish-brown at the base of their internal webs, and deep blue externally, their apical portions being beautiful pale blue. The front figure represents the bird of the natural size. Ant, rake abit uJ on i Ween ea Sb0utd andl Tiichier, tel, ch tilde. : : 4 4 3 : i H g PSEPHOTUS CHIRYSOPTERYGIUS, Cou Hiuliinendel & Wilton, LDR. PSEPHOTUS CHRYSOPTERYGIUS, Gouid. : Golden-backed Parrakeet. Psephotus chrysopterygius, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., part xxv. p. 220. Ons of the greatest pleasures enjoyed by the late celebrated botanist Robert Brown, during the last thirty years of his life, was to now and then exhibit the drawing of a parrot made by one of the brothers Bauer, from a specimen procured somewhere on the north coast of Australia, but of which no specimen was preserved at the time, and none had since been brought to England. It afforded him at times much amusement to exultingly show me this drawing as a bird I could not find, and which I had not included in my great work on the birds of that country. Now the only way in which I could meet this kind of half taunt from my friend, was to remark that I should get it some day or other; and I certainly did exult when I received an example from the hands of Mr. Elsey, a year or two prior to Mr. Brown’s death. On comparing the bird with the drawing made at least forty years before, they proved to be so much alike that no doubt remained on my mind as to its having been made from an example of this species. This, then, is one of the novelties for which we are indebted to the explorations of A. C. Gregory, Esq. ; and I trust it may not be the last I shall have to characterize through the researches of this intrepid traveller. Mr. Elsey, who, as is well known, accompanied the expedition, obtained three examples—a male, a female, and a young bird—all of which are now in our national collection. The bird is in every way a true Psephotus, and moreover is a very lovely species. It is allied both to the P. pulcherrimus and P. multicolor, but differs from them, among other characters, in the rich-yellow mark on the shoulder. In the notes accompanying the specimens, Mr. Elsey states that they were procured on the 14th of Sep- tember, 1856, in lat 18°S. and long. 141° 33’ E., and that their crops contained some monocotyledonous seeds. The male has a band across the forehead, extending above the eye to its posterior angle, of very pale yellow ; on the centre of the crown a patch of black ; sides of the head, cheeks, neck, throat, upper portion of the abdomen, lower part of the back, rump, and upper tail-coverts verditer blue, somewhat green on the cheeks and upper-tail coverts ; immediately below the eyea tinge of yellow; back of the neck, back, and scapularies light greyish brown, slightly tinged with green; shoulder and lesser wing-coverts fine yellow; primaries and secondaries black, margined externally with blue; feathers of the lower part of the abdomen, vent, and under tail-coverts light scarlet, margined with greyish green ; two centre tail-feathers dark green at the base, pass- ing into deep blue towards the extremity, and tipped with dull black; the remaining tail-feathers light green crossed by an irregular oblique band of dull bluish black, beyond which they become of a paler glaucous green, until they end in white; but each has a dark stain of bluish green on the outer margin near the tip; irides brown; bill and nostrils bluish horn-colour ; feet mealy grey. ee The female is similar to the male in colour, but all the hues much paler, and the markings much less strongly defined. In the young state the whole of the head, all the upper surface, wing-coverts, throat, and breast are of a pale glaucous green; the rump and upper tail-coverts and the tail similar to the same parts in the male, but not so bright ; and the lower part of the abdomen is greyish white, with faint stains of scarlet. The figures represent the male and the female of the size of life, and a reduced figure of the young in the distance. ote Nozewe he af a) ," CYCLOPSITTA COXENL , Gould J Gould: & HC Richter, deb c& titty Halter, Limp CYCLOPSITTA COXENI, Gowa. Coxen’s Parrakeet. Cyclopsitia Conent, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc. 1867, p. 182. My thanks are due to Mr. Waller, of Brisbane, for his kindness in sending me a fine specimen of this little Parrakeet, which, at his request, I have named after C. Coxen, Esq., a Member of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland, who has for many years taken a lively interest in ornithology. At present it is the only member of the genus Cyclopsitta that has been found in Australia; but other species of the same form are somewhat numerous in the islands to the northward of that country. Mr. Wallace enumerates the following m his paper ‘‘On the Parrots of the Malayan Region,” published in the Proceedings of the Zoological Society for 1864, viz. :—Cyclopsitta diophthalma of the Aru Islands ; C. Desmaresti of New Guinea ; C. Blytha of Mysol; and C. lowia, C. lunulata, and C. leucophthalma of the Philippines. The history of. the bird, so far as I can learn, is, that during the month of June, 1866, several specimens were procured about thirty miles from Brisbane, by a sawyer, who had seen a flock in the neighbourhood for some weeks, and had shot several for a pudding. Being somewhat interested in ornithology, and observing a difference between these and the ordinary green Parrakeet, he skinned three or four, two of which he brought to Mr. Waller, who subsequently visited the locality and succeeded in obtaining additional examples, and who, in a letter recently received from him, informs me that “the large scrubs of the mountainous district about forty or fifty miles north-west of Brisbane, which has been but little visited by Kuropeans, appears to be the natural home of the bird. There it sits on the large and lofty fig-trees, silent as death ; and its presence can only be detected by attentively listening to the falling of the refuse of the wild figs, upon which it seems solely to subsist, and the hard tops of which are easily cut off with its strong bill. All the specimens I examined had their crops filled with the soft interior portion; but it appears to reject the fully ripe fruit. Its colouring so closely resembles that of the large leaves with which it is sur- rounded that it almost defies detection; and the only chance of obtaining examples is by watching the falling of the refuse of its food, and never moving your eyes until your have marked your bird; or it is ten to one you will be unsuccessful. When it has finished with one bunch of figs, it silently removes to another. It emits no call while on the trees, but when it leaves them utters a very low sound resembling cheep, cheep. The sexes are alike in plumage; but the female is rather larger than the male.” _ In size and in some other respects the Cyclopsitta Coweni is nearly allied to the C. diophthalma, but differs in the absence of scarlet on the crown and in the smaller extent of that colour on the cheeks. General plumage green ; across the forehead a narrow band of red, which unites through the lores with a large patch of the same hue on the ear-coverts, beneath which is a patch of blue; primaries margined with blue; a streak of red on the tertiaries near the body; tail short and wholly green ; bill very stout, the upper mandible of a bluish horn-colour, blending with a whitish line at the base; under mandible whitish, tips of both black ; feet pale greenish white ; nails light horn-colour, darker at the point ; irides hazel. Total length 72 inches, bill 3, wing 35, tail 2, tarsi 3. The figures are of the size of life. —e MP2 TP LAY IRTD FT PINOD PP) “SITVINACIOOO SNOVILLISdOAD GEOPSITTACUS OCCIDENTALIS, Gowa. Nocturnal Ground-Parrakeet. Geopsittacus occidentalis, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc. 1861, p. 100.—Id., Handb. Birds of Aust., vol. 11. p. 88. I rrusr that Ornithologists will not for a moment consider the present species identical with the Pezoporus formosus in any state of plumage, as a first glance at its colour and markings might lead them to suppose ; for I am sure it is not only specifically, but generically distinct ; and I believe that the differences in its structure, pointed out below, will be found to be accompanied by a corresponding difference in its habits, actions, and economy, whenever they become known. Both sexes of Pezoporus have a red frontal band, a moderately short bill, rounded wings, a lengthened tail, long, thin tarsi, and long curved nails; while Geopsittacus is a stout, short-tailed, dumpy bird, with a bluff head, a full, round, jet-black eye, no frontal band, a very stout bill, large wings, fleshy legs, and extremely small nails—a structure which leads me to the conclusion that it affects holes in rocks or the hollow boles and branches of large prostrate trees. Besides the differences already mentioned, I observe that its nostrils are larger and more fleshy, reminding us in this respect of S¢rzgops, to which it also assimilates in colour and markings. The precise locality inhabited by this remarkable Parrakeet is unknown to me. The specimen from which my original description was taken I received direct from Perth, in Western Australia; and all the information that accompanied it was that it came from the interior. Every part of the plumage (on the body, wings, and tail) indicates that it was fully adult ; and I trust that the time is not far distant when other examples will be collected and sent to Europe, with an account of the habits and economy of the bird. Thus much had been written and sent to press respecting this new species, when I was informed that a living example of a strange and remarkable Parrakeet had been transmitted by Dr. Ferdinand Mueller, Director of the Botanic Garden at Melbourne, to Mr. P. L. Sclater, the Secretary of the Zoological Society of London. On visiting the Society’s gardens for the purpose of inspecting it, I found, to my great delight, that it was an example of the bird under consideration, in good health, and in the finest state of plumage. This unexpected event enables me to give a more perfect representation of the bird than I could have given from a dried skin. However much I was pleased with the sight of the living bird, I was still more so when I found my views as to some of its habits confirmed by Dr. Mueller’s letter to Mr. Sclater, in which he states that the bird is a nocturnal one, living during the day in the rocky caves of the ranges, and coming out at night for food, like the Owls and crepuscular Nightjars. Dr. Mueller adds that the living individual sent by him was caught in the Gawler Ranges, situated in that part of South Australia which lies westward of the head of Spencer’s Gulf, the fauna of which, we have abundant evidence to show, is very nearly the same as that of Western Australia; I have therefore very little doubt that the bird inhabits all the intervening districts. In its actions and disposition in a cage, the Geopsittacus justifies its generic appellation; for it has never been seen to perch, but moves over the floor of its domicile in a series of jumps, much like those of a Sparrow; at times, however, it dashes about from corner to corner with a more rapid motion. Mr. Bartlett informs me that, like all other nocturnes, it becomes much more wakeful and active at night, nibbling its tuft of grass, water-cress, millet, and canary-seed like a Rabbit. As yet it has not been heard to utter any sound, except a faint whistle. In closing this necessarily brief account of this Strigops-looking Parrakeet, I must not omit recording our obligations to the Zoological Society’s valued Corresponding Member, Dr. Mueller, for his kindness in transmitting this singular bird to England. All the upper surface grass-green, each feather crossed by irregular bands of black and greenish yellow ; feathers of the crown and nape with a streak of black down the centre; throat and breast yellowish green, passing into sulphur-yellow on the abdomen; spurious wings brown; primaries and secondaries brown, narrowly fringed with a greenish hue on their external webs, with the exception of the first three; those feathers have also an oblique mark of yellow near their bases, which increases in breadth and in depth of colour as the feathers approach the body ; two central tail-feathers dark brown, toothed on the edge of both webs with greenish yellow; the next on each side dark brown, toothed on the outer web only with brighter and longer marks of yellow; the remainder dark brown, crossed by bands of yellow, which, in some cases, are contimuous across both webs, and in others alternate; under tail-coverts sulphur-yellow, crossed on their outer webs with narrow, oblique and irregular bands of blackish brown; bill horn-colour. Total length 10 inches, bill 4, wing 54, tail 5, tarsi 2. _ The above is the description and admeasurements of the original specimen; an inspection of the living bird enables me to add that the nostrils are large and bluish grey, tle eyes round, full, and jet-black, and the feet flesh-coloured. The figures are of the natural size. liould. B) ILS OPHAGA ASSIMIL CARP ip. WY Tillmundd & Walton Ln Aitcr, del. hth, J Gold and HC fie CARPOPHAGA ASSIMILIS, Gow. Allied Fruit Pigeon. Carpophaga assimilis, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc. 1850, p. 201. I am not surprised that an additional Fruit Pigeon should have been discovered in the northern part of Australia, since in every degree nearer the tropics palm-trees, among which these birds are principally found, become more abundant. In the more southern country of New South Wales certain districts only are favoured with the presence of these trees, such as Illawarra and the brushes, which extend along the east coast, from the Hunter to Moreton Bay; it is in these districts only that the near ally of the present species, the Carpophaga magnifica, is to be found; and as I have never seen the latter bird from the north coast, it may be presumed that the two birds are representatives of each other in their respective parts of the country. There exists in New Guinea another nearly allied species, to which the name of pueda has been given by M. Lesson. ‘This bird is still smaller than the present one, and has the yellow markings at the tips of the wing-coverts in the form of round spots instead of oval blotches ; its face and neck are more grey, and its back less golden or sulphur-green, than in C. assimilis, which latter must be regarded as a diminutive representative of C. magnifica rather than an enlarged C. puella. Numerous specimens of this bird were collected on the Cape York Peninsula by Mr. MacGillivray and the officers of Her Majesty’s Ship Rattlesnake. The only outward differences between the sexes consists in the somewhat smaller size and less brilliant colouring of the female. Head, throat and ear-coverts grey; all the upper surface, wings and tail sulphur-green ; each of the wing-coverts with an oblong mark of rich yellow at the tip, forming an oblique band across the shoulder ; line down the centre of the throat, chest and abdomen rich purple; under wing-coverts, vent, thighs and under tail-coverts rich orange-yellow ; basal portion of the inner webs of the primaries and secondaries cinnamon. The figures are of the natural size. ee, LOPHOPHAPS FERRUGINEA, Goud. J Gould & Hkichter, ded. et lethy. Walter Lip. LOPHOPHAPS FERRUGINEA, Gow. Rust-coloured Bronzewing. Lophophaps ferruginea, Gould, Handb. Birds of Aust., vol. ii. p. 137. For a knowledge of this species I am indebted to the researches of T. F. Gregory, Esq., a gentleman whose name, like that of his brother, A. T. Gregory, will ever be associated with Australia as one of its most successful explorers, and who informs me that “its habitat is the extreme western part of that great country, opposite Sharks’ Bay and Dirk Hartog’s Island,” and that he “found it in large numbers on the Gascoigne River, almost invariably frequenting rocky ground near water; and in such situations more than five hundred occasionally came down to drink in less than half-an-hour. On the wing it exactly resembles the common Partridge, but it is not quite so plump in the body, and does not appear ever to fly in coveys. Its eggs, which are two in number, are generally laid on the ground during the months of July and August.” Besides the specimen presented to me by Mr. Gregory, I have since seen a second example, sent home by A. H. DuBoulay, Esq., of Champion Bay, Western Australia, which coincided in every respect with the individual from which my original description was taken; it is now in the British Museum. The Lophophaps ferruginea differs from L. plumifera and L. leucogaster in the nearly uniform rust-red_ colouring of its body and in the absence of the broad white pectoral band so conspicuous in those birds. As the present bird is abundant in the country a little to the northward of Swan River, the collections of Europe will doubtless ere long be supplied with this highly curious species. Bill olive black ; irides yellow ; lores and bare skin round the eye either crimson or orange red, bounded above and below by a narrow line of black ; forehead and a line above the black one over the eye grey ; centre of the crown and the lengthened crest-plumes cinnamon; chin and lower part of the neck black ; centre of the throat and upper part of the ear-coverts white, lower part of the ear-coverts grey, all the under surface deep rust-red; on each side of the chest two or three narrow crescentic bars of black, the longest of which nearly meet in the centre; under tail-coverts brown, edged externally with white; under surface of the wing deep cinnamon; basal portion of the primaries rust-red, their apices brown ; a beautiful oblong bronzy-purple metal-like mark on three of the secondaries ; back of the neck and mantle alternately rayed with rust-red and dark brown; the feathers of the upper portion of the wings rayed with rusty red, blackish-brown and grey, the tips being rust-red, the centre black and the base grey; rump and upper tail-coverts rusty brown; basal half of the tail-feathers rusty brown, the apical half black; legs greenish grey inclining to purple. Total length 8 inches, bill 3, wing 4, tail 28, tarsi =. The figures are of the natural size. a] AN Wy TT Ws t > TA a PHAPS PER, Gould. | ; [Gould & HCRichter deb eb lid. eee Walter Erp. LOPHOPHAPS LEUCOGASTER, Gouwia. White-bellied Bronzewing. I apmir that the propriety of describing and figuring this very lovely Pigeon as distinct from Lophophaps plumifera is somewhat questionable ; but when I reflect upon the difference which I find to exist between the two birds, and how distant are their respective homes, I cannot regard them otherwise. The L. plumifera inhabits the neighbourhood of the Victoria River, where six or eight were shot by the late Mr. Elsey; Mr. Bynoe also found it in the country between Cape Hotham and Depuch Island; and Gilbert met with it in lat. 17°, while journeying with Dr. Leichardt from Brisbane to Port Essington. Now all these localities are far away from South Australia, whence the specimens here represented came; moreover the two individuals from which the opposite figures were taken are far more beautiful than those represented in vol. vy. pl. 69 under the name of Geophaps plumifera; but even should it ultimately prove that the two birds are identical, and that I have encumbered science with a name which, in that case, must descend into the rank of a synonym, I feel that I shall be excused for giving additional figures of such lovely objects. The specimens from which they were taken were sent to this country by Mr. Galbraith, of Machribanish Station, South Australia, and are now in the possession of his sister, Mrs. Craufuird, of Budleigh Salterton, Devon. The question is, Are there two or three species of these charming little crested Pigeons ?—the L. ferruginea, of the extreme western part of the country, the LZ. plumifera, of its northern portions, and the L. leucogaster, of South Australia? If so, the latter is probably the bird seen by Captain Sturt, during his arduous travels in that country, who states :— “‘It was on the return of my party from the eastern extremity of Cooper’s Creek, that we first saw and procured specimens of this beautiful little bird. Its locality was entirely confined to about thirty miles along the banks of the creek in question; it was generally perched on some rock fully exposed to the sun’s rays, and evidently taking a pleasure in basking in the tremendous heat. It was very wild, and took wing on hearing the least noise. In the afternoon it was seen running in the grass on the creek-side, and could hardly be distinguished from a Quail. It never perched on the trees; when it dropped after rising from the ground, it could seldom be flushed again, but ran with such speed through the grass as to elude our search.” One of the principal differences between the present bird and the LZ. plumifera is the whiteness of it breast, and another the brightness of the rayed markings of its upper surface; it is also a somewhat larger bird. My figures, which accurately represent it of the size of life, render a detailed description unnecessary. :, . : 7 \ o : J CASUARIUS AUSTRALIS, Wail. Jbould ¢ HC Richter, de eb tithe CASUARIUS AUSTRALIS, Wau. Australian Cassowary. Casuarius australis, Wall, Mlustrated Sydney Herald, June 3, 1854.—Gould, in Proc. of Zool. Soc., part xxv. 1857, p. 270.—Sclat. in Proce. Zool. Soc. , part xxvill. 1860, p. 210, and 1866, pp. 168, 557.—Benn. ibid., 1867, p. 473.—Sclat. ibid., 1868, p 376.—Gould, Handb. Birds of Australia, vol. ii. p. 206. ——— Johnsonii, Muell. in the Australasian, Dec. 15, 1866; Melbourne Herald, Dec. 17, 1867; and Proc. of Zool. Soc., 1867, p. 242.—Krefft, ibid., 1867, p. 483.—Dige. Orn. of Aust., part xiii. pl. 5. Tux discovery of a species of Cassowary in Australia may be looked upon as one of the most interesting results of the later explorations of that vast portion of the globe ; interesting indeed is the acquisition of the truly noble bird represented in the accompanying Plate, since it is one of the few remaining species of a great group of wingless birds which formerly tenanted the austral regions of our planet. For our first know- ledge of its existence we are indebted to the late Mr. Thomas Wall, who, like Gilbert, Strange, Leichardt, Johnson, Drummond, Burke, and Wills, and many other explorers, left his bones in the inhospitable wilds of Australia. It was communicated to the world in nearly the following words :— A specimen of this bird was shot near Cape York, in one of the almost inaccessible gullies which abound in that part of the Australian continent, and where, as well as in other deep and stony valleys of that neighbourhood, it was runuing in com- panies of seven or eight. On that part of the north-eastern coast, therefore, it is probably plentiful, and will be met with in all the deep gullies at the base of high hills. The bird possesses great strength in its legs, and makes use of it in the same manner as the Emu. Its whole build is more strong and heavy than the latter bird. It is very wary; but its presence may be detected by its utterance of a peculiarly loud note, which is taken up and echoed along the gullies ; and it could be easily killed with a rifle.” These particulars were published in the ‘Illustrated Sydney Herald,’ of the 3rd of June, 1854, by Mr. Thomas Wall’s brother, Mr. William Sheridan Wall, Curator of the Australian Museum, who at the same time suggested for the bird the specific name of australis, a term which has been adopted by every European ornithologist. In a note from Dr. Bennett, that gentleman says :—‘* Carron, the survivor of Kennedy’s Expedition, informed me that the Cassowary shot by Wall had a helmet or crest on the head of a black colour, and not red as first stated, and that two specimens were shot and eaten by his party in the dense scrubs in Weymouth Bay, near Cape York, and close to the coast.” The next notice of the bird is contained in a communication to the Zoological Society of London, on the 13th of December, 1866, by Mr. Sclater, who stated that he had been informed by Mr. Walter J. Scott, who had an extensive sheep-run in the Valley of Lagoons, on the Upper Burdekin River, about 100 miles westward of Rockingham Bay, that in the neighbourhood of the latter locality the bird was well known under the name of the Black Emu, but was shy and very difficult to obtain. “J fear I can tell you but little respecting these birds,” says Mr. Scott ; ‘I have never had the fortune to meet with one myself, but have received information of their being seen on three or four occasions, in spots thirty or forty miles apart. Some black troopers of the native police, returning from an unsuccessful pursuit of one they had seen about three miles from our Vale of Herbert Station Cin lat. 18° S.), who were perfectly familiar with the Common Emu, informed me that the bird they had seen was quite distinct from it. The Superintendent of the same station told me, on a former occasion, he had seen two Black Emus, but thought they were a mere variety. Another person in our employment saw one on the ‘ Separation Creek’ of Leichardt, which is really a tributary of the Herbert River.” Two days later, December 15th, 1866, the following communication from Dr. Mueller appeared in the Melbourne newspaper, ‘The Australasian ’:— © For the intelligence of the existence of an Australian true casoar, and for the means of defining pre- liminarily its specific characters, I am indebted to G. Randall Johnson, Esq., who in September last, while on a visit to Rockingham Bay, shot in the Gowrie Creek scrub the only specimen of this remarkable bird yet obtained, and whose name I wish it should bear ; and I cannot do better than to give in the first instance publicity to the lucid remarks transmitted to me by that gentlemen” :— “ibonyx, a person may be in its vicinity for weeks without ever catching a glimpse of it. From the thickness of its plumage and the great length of its back-feathers, we may infer that it affects low and humid situations, marshes, the banks of rivers, and the coverts of dripping ferns, so abundant in its native country: like Porphyrio, it doubtless enjoys the power of swimming, but would seem, from the structure of its legs, to be more terrestrial in its habits than the members of that genus. I have carefully compared the bill of this example with that figured by Professor Owen under the name of Notornis Mantelli, and have little doubt that they are referable to one and the same species. I cannot conclude these remarks without bearing testimony to the very great importance of the results which have attended the researches of Mr. Walter Mantell in the various departments of science to which he has turned the attention of his inquiring mind, nor without expressing a hope that he may yet be enabled to obtain some particulars as to the history of this and the other remarkable birds of the country in which he is resident. Head, neck, breast, upper part of the abdomen and flanks purplish blue; back, rump, upper tail-coverts, lesser wing-coverts and tertiaries dark olive-green, tipped with verditer-green; at the nape of the neck a band of rich blue separating the purplish blue of the neck from the green of the body; wings rich deep blue, the greater coverts tipped with verditer green, forming crescentic bands when the wing is expanded ; tail dark green; lower part of the abdomen, vent and thighs dull bluish black; under tail-coverts white ; bill and feet bright red. Total length of the body, 26 inches; bill, from the gape to the tip, 2}; from the tip to the posterior edge of the plate on the forehead, 3; wing, 83; tail, 33; tarsi, 33; middle toe, 3; nail, 7; hind-toe, 7; nail, 2. The Plate represents the bird in two positions of the natural size. ‘ ee a ; 4 . ee ' | . CLL TILER OLDIE . a -_ | ; | a "SDINVULUVE SQUNLILOV = | Bigs foi “2 ACTITURUS BARTRAMIUS. Bartram’s Sandpiper. Tringa Bartramia, Wils. Amer. Orn., vol. vii. p. 63, pl. 59. fig. 2. Totanus Bartramius, Bonap. Syn. Birds of Unit. States, p. 262.—Gould, Birds of Europe, vol. iv. pl. 313.—Swains and Rich. Faun. Bor.-Am., pt. ii. p. 391. Bartramia, 'Temm. Man. d’Orn., tom. ii. p. 650, and tom. iv. p. 415. Tringa longicauda, Bechst. Vog., Nacht. p. 453. Actitis Bartram, Naum. Naturg. Deuts., pl. 196. Actiturus Bartramius, Bonap. Sagg. Distr. Met. An. Vert.—Gould, Handb. Birds of Aust. vol. ii. p. 242. Bartramia laticauda, Less. Traité d’Orn., p. 553. Euliga Bartramia, Nutt. Man., vol. ii. p. 169. Totanus variegatus, Vieill. Gal. des Ois., tom. ii. p. 107, pl. cccxxxix. campestris et melanopygius, Vieill. Nouv. Dict. d’Hist. Nat., 2° édit. tom. vi. pp. 400, 401. Tringoides Bartramius, G. R. Gray, Gen. of Birds, vol. iii. p. 574. a Tuar the Directors of the Museum of Sydney are imbued with feelings of liberality and courtesy, I have had abundant proofs; for whenever Zoological science could be advanced through their instrumentality, they have ever readily responded to the requests proffered by myself and other naturalists of their father- land; and it is to them that I am indebted for the opportunity of figuring the present species in this supplementary volume to the ‘ Birds of Australia,’ from the only example that has yet been taken in that country, and which they kindly transmitted to me some years since on loan for that purpose. The note accompanying it stated that it had been killed by an old sportsman, while snipe-shooting near the reservoir between the town of Sydney and Botany Bay in 1848, and that on dissection it proved to be a male and had the stomach filled with aquatic insects. The accompanying figure having been taken, the specimen referred to was returned to the Museum in 1861; and there it doubtless still exists, affording undeniable evidence of the wandering disposition of a bird whose natural home is the New World, where it ranges over the temperate portions of the United States, Mexico, Guatemala, and some of the West-Indian Islands ; it is also occasionally found in Europe, and even in England. That it should extend its range to the antipodes is most remarkable. It will be seen, by the list of synonyms, that this bird has been removed from the true Tringe and Totani, with which it was originally associated, and that various generic appellations have been applied to it: of these Bartramia appears to have the priority; but this term not being generally adopted, I have preferred that of Actiturus, proposed by Bonaparte. The best accounts of this species are contained in the works of Wilson and Audubon, the latter of whom states that it is the most truly terrestrial of all its tribe with which he was acquainted; for although not unfrequently met with in the vicinity of shallow pools, the muddy margins of the shores of the sea, and fresh- water lakes and streams, it never ventures to wade into them. ‘The dry upland plains of Opellousas and Attacapas in Louisiana are amply tenanted with these birds in early spring and in autumn. They arrive there in the beginning of March from the vast prairies of Texas and Mexico, where they spend the winter, and return about the first of August. They are equally abundant on all the western prairies on both sides of the Missouri, where, however, they arrive about a month later than in Louisiana, whence they disperse over the United States, reaching the middle districts early in May, and the State of Maine by the middle of that month, at about which period they are also seen in Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio. That some proceed as far north as the plains adjoining the Saskatchewan River is certain; for Dr. Richardson there met with examples in the month of May. In the neighbourhood of New Orleans, where the bird is known by the name of “Papabote,” it usually arrives m great bands in spring, and is met with on the open plains and large grassy savannas, and usually remains about a fortnight. On their return southward in the beginning of August, when they tarry in Louisana until the Ist of October, they are fat and juicy. In spring, when they are poor and thin, they are usually much less shy than in autumn, at which period they are exceedingly wary and difficult of approach. Like all experienced travellers, Bartram’s Sandpiper appears to accommodate itself to circumstances as regards food; for in Louisiana it feeds on Cantharides and other Coleopterous insects; in Massachusetts on grasshoppers, on which it soon grows very fat; in the Carolinas on crickets and other insects, as well as the seeds of the crabgrass (Digitaria sanguinaria); and in the barrens of Kentucky it often picks the strawberries. Those which feed on Cantharides require to be very carefully cleaned, otherwise persons who eat them are liable to suffer severely ; but when their flesh is imbued with the flavour of ripe strawberries, it is truly delicious. The Australian specimen is much lighter m its general colouring than those killed in Europe and America, but is not in my opinion sufficiently different to warrant its bemg regarded as a distinct species. , The accurate representation of the bird on the opposite Plate, of the natural size, renders a detailed description of its colouring unnecessary. WP PP BUTT DT® PO [° | ere \ Myey “TOTOOTLL WNITTVY | RALLINA TRICOLOR, G. R. Gray. Red-necked Rail. Rallina tricolor, G. R. Gray in Proc. of Zool. Soc., 1858, p. 188; 1859, p. 159; 1861, p. 438.—Gould ibid., 1866, p. 218. Rallus tricolor, G. R. Gray in Proc. of Zool. Soc., 1858, p. 197. Tus avifauna of Australia may be regarded as greatly enriched by the discovery in the Cape-York peninsula of this elegant species of Rail, an example of which was sent to me by C. Coxen, Esq., as undescribed ; but on comparing it with skins of a Rail brought from New Guinea and the Aru Islands by Mr. Wallace, to which Mr. G. R. Gray has given the name of Rallina tricolor, | found it to be identical therewith ; and thus we have another bird uniting the fauna of New Guinea to that of Australia. Mr. Cockerell states that, in the neighbourhood of Somerset, this bird inhabits the dry scrubs which fringe a small stream, and that he once found the nest and eggs, which he says were white ; if this be the case, it is the only instance known to me of the eggs of a Rail being destitute of colour. Its native name is Tangata, from the peculiar sound the bird utters at night. There appears to be little or no difference in the external appearance of the sexes, except in size, in which respect my specimens differ rather considerably—not more so, however, than is found to occur in our Common Water-Rail, of which the female is by far the smallest bird; and this is doubtless the case in the present species. Head, neck, nape, and breast rusty red, becoming very pale on the throat; back, wings, and tail dark olive- brown ; under surface light olive-brown, with a transverse band of deep or reddish buff near the tip of each feather ; thighs lighter brown, spotted with dull buff; along the inner webs of each of the wing-feathers three transverse oval spots, forming as many bands when the wing is uplifted; the spots nearest the shoulder tawny, those in the centre of the wing nearly white ; bill dark green, fading into bright yellow at the tip; legs and feet olive or greenish-black ; irides red. The figures are of the natural size. Tiida cere : dS ame UA , ne acy: oie ay tists Wie we Py “VTSSTHOIIoAMt VIONITIVS ee see ee ee ee YY POP PRYRT ITS POD GALLINULA RUFICRISSA, Gowa. Rufous-vented Gallinule. Gallinula ruficrissa, Gould in Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist., 4th ser., vol. iv. p. 110. For a knowledge of the existence of this new species of Gallinule I am indebted to Mr. F. G. Waterhouse, Curator of the Museum of the South Australian Institute at Adelaide, South Australia, who, in a note ac- companying the specimen from which my figure was taken, states that it was obtained from Mr. Rainbird, a collector, who shot it on the Cape River, in Queensland. Mr. Waterhouse was under the impression that it was a new species of Zridonyx, but it appears to me to be more nearly allied to the genus Gallinula. With the assistance of Mr. G. R. Gray I have carefully compared it with all the members of the last-men- tioned genus in the British Museum, also with the descriptions of all the known species ; and we cannot find one with which it can be considered identical. I have therefore characterized it as new. Its nearest ally appears to be the Gadhnula olivacea of Meyen, from Manilla (vide Nova Acta, 1834, p. 109, t. 20); but that bird is of larger size, and is of still greater disproportion in the length of its legs. It gives me great pleasure to figure this species so soon after its discovery, since it may incite collectors to obtain additional specimens and some information respecting its habits and economy, of which at present nothing is known. The features which distinguish the Gadlinula ruficrissa from the typical members of the genus are the absence of white spots on the flanks, and the uniform pale rufous colouring of the vent and under tail- coverts; it is this latter character that allies it to the G. odivacea, in which the same parts are similarly coloured, while in the other Gallinules they are black and white; in my opinion the Gadlinula phenicura perhaps the Gallinula Akool, of India, are also nearly allied to it. Professor Reichenbach has instituted the genus Amaurornis for the reception of the G. okvacea, with which the late Prince Bonaparte associates the G. femoralis of Tschudi ; it is for ornithologists to decide upon the propriety of such a separation. Head, all the upper surface, wings, and tail brownish olive; sides of the face, neck, breast, and under surface deep olive-grey ; vent and under tail-coverts pale rusty red ; bill greenish yellow, with a mark of red on the base of the culmen; legs and feet greenish yellow. The figures in the accompanying Plate, both drawn from the same specimen, are of the natural size. Pee eer mare) rere GATA, ba my 4 SPATULA VAIKULE a Richter, ol, et lithe C tb ana 7: JG a SPATULA VARIEGATA, Gouia. ‘Variegated Shoveller. Spatula variegata, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., part xxiv. p. 95. Amone the novelties brought by Mr. Walter Mantell from New Zealand was a species of Shoveller Duck, which is certainly new to science, for with no one of the members of this well-defined genus of typical ducks can it be confounded. Its nearest ally is the Australian species, Spatula rhynchotis ; but it differs from it in its more variegated plumage, and in other particulars, as will be readily seen on an examination of the accompanying Plate. Supposing it to have been collected at the same time as the fine Parrot Nestor nota- behs, the Middle Island of New Zealand will be the part where at least it is occasionally found. It is some- what strange that so large a bird as this duck should not have fallen to the gun of the collector before ; yet, on the other hand, how seldom does the common Shoveller of Europe (Spatula clypeata) fall before the gun of the sportsman ; even in the parts of England where it is most common, he may pass years without an opportunity occurring for shooting one. The Spatula variegata, which forms the fifth and is by far the handsomest species of the genus Spatula, is distinguished from the other members by the dark crescentic markings which decorate the feathers of the breast, sides of the neck, and scapularies. ‘The species of this well-defined form previously described are Spatula clypeata, which inhabits Europe, North America, India and China; 8. rhynchotis, which is found throughout Australia; S. maculata, the habitat of which is Chili and probably the neighbouring countries _ of Peru and Bolivia; and S. capensis of South Africa. Crown of the head and space surrounding the base of the bill brownish black; on either side of the face between the bill and the eye a lunar-shaped streak of white, bounded posteriorly with speckles of black ; cheeks, sides and back of the neck dark grey with greenish reflexions ; front of the neck dark brown, each feather narrowly fringed with white; back brownish black, the feathers of the upper part margined with greyish brown ; feathers of the breast, sides of lower part of the neck, the mantle and scapularies white, with a crescent of blackish brown near the tip; under surface dark chestnut blotched with black ; flanks lighter chestnut barred with black; lesser wing-coverts dull greenish blue; greater wing-coverts dark brown, fringed at the tip with white; first elongated scapularies blue-grey, with a conspicuous line of white on the outer web next the shaft, bounded posteriorly with black ; the next blue-grey, margined on the inner web with white; the remainder greenish black, with a lengthened lanceolate mark of dull or brownish white down the centre of the apical half; speculum deep green; primaries dark brown with lighter shafts ; under surface of the shoulder white; on each side of the vent a patch of white freckled with black; under tail- coverts black, tinged with shining green; tail dark brown; irides bright yellow; bill dark purplish black, the under mandible clouded with yellow; legs and feet yellow. Total length, 162 inches ; bill, 3; wing, 9:; tail, 43; tarsi, 1. The figure is of the natural size. iM hey ke r ns hey cup, p ppeind iy UDUELELO DOLE YI LEE, (hie GELOCHELIDON MACROTARSA, Gowiad. Great-footed Tern. Sterna macrotarsa, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., part v. p. 26; and in Syn. Birds of Aust., pl. elie 2: Ir is now about twenty-five years ago since a small collection of Australian birds was sent to the Council of King’s College, London, as a donation to their museum. In this collection was a fine species of Tern, which proved to be new to science, and of which I published, in 1837, a full description, together with its ad- measurements and a sketch of the head, under the name of Sterna macrotarsa. In the interval between 1837 and 1859, I have only seen two other examples; it is evident, therefore, that the bird is extremely rare, or that we have not yet visited its true habitat. One of the two specimens referred to was procured by the late Mr. Elsey on the Victoria River in North-western Australia, and is now in the British Museum ; the other, which is in my own possession, was obtained at Moreton Bay. The specimen in my ‘own collection (and, I believe, the one procured by Mr. Elsey) is considerably larger in all its admeasurements than that in the King’s College Museum; and the latter, which is probably a female, very much exceeds in size the Gull-billed Tern (Gelochelidon Anglica) of Europe, to which species the present bird is nearly allied, and of which it is evidently the representative on the Australian continent. One of the principal features which distinguishes the Australian bird from its northern representative, is its light and silvery- coloured back and wings; it has also a much stouter and longer bill, as well as longer and larger legs. I have at this moment before me, for the purpose of comparison, beautiful skins of the G. Anglia, col- lected by Mr. Osbert Salvin in North Africa; one from the continent of India, and another from Java: all these are as nearly alike as possible in colour and admeasurements ; it is evident therefore that the European and Indian birds are of the same species. The following are the admeasurements of the bird I have figured from :— Total length 17 inches; bill, 2+; wing, 132; tail, 6; tarsi, 1%. In summer the crown of the head and back of the neck are black; all the upper surface and primaries are light silvery grey; the remainder of the plumage is white; and the bill and feet are black. In winter the black colouring of the head probably disappears and is replaced by white. The figure is somewhat less than the natural size. tiga ene PUA a PON | } hese Ra ies et peavey ie Cie Me i. Way cy ee rey Nee a a ae ML a Ae ioe Kw ire id D. wait 7088 OOe2a8secal 4 MA crlsrb fOL693.G697 Sup The birds of Australia, supplement / a Z a = Ee 2 |= = D ze z = Zz fe) 2) xt = 2 7) =m ebdeeenepcess: Sobvagcuasasees Eel ie a Ade PD es Ee ee ee ks Pro 3 a3 8