New or Little Known Species of Birds. 211 



and making the tail appear very long and slender. The feet 

 and legs are remarkably strong. One of the specimens sent is, 

 fortunately, a young bird, evidently in the state of first moult, or 

 about four or five months old. In this the general colour is of a 

 brownish tinge, the feathers tipped with a paler margin ; those 

 of the head and neck of the usual form, not pointed and elon- 

 gated as in the adults ; the white parts of the plumage in the 

 adult, are here of a dull reddish brown ; the bill has not attained 

 its full bend, and the very strong notch is not fully developed. 



No. 2. — Gracaulus tenuirostris^ Jard. Slender-billed Gra- 

 caulus. 



G. griseus, loris tectricibusque narium iiigris ; remigibus, secundariis, 

 scapularibus nigris etiamsi, marginibus, pallide griseis ; cauda siib- 

 furcata ; reetricibus duobus mediis griseis, apicibus nigro maculatis, 

 reliquis ijigris griseo terminatis, griseo exteriorum tertio longitudinis 

 equanti. 



I have applied the above specific title to this bird at the 

 suggestion of Mr Swainson, to whom it was submitted for 

 examination as an undescribed species. The name is charac- 

 teristic of the slender and more than usually attenuated bill, being 

 actually as high as it is broad, in which it differs from its con- 

 geners, though, in other respects, there is a perfect resemblance. 



The specimen in my possession was received some time since 

 from New Holland. The exact length is ten inches ; that of 

 the bill, to the extremity of the rictus, one inch and an eighth. 

 The space between the eye and nostril is clothed with thick and 

 strong bristly feathers of a deep black colour, which lie over and 

 cover the nostril more than in the typical species. The entire 

 plumage of the body is a rich bluish gray, of a duller shade on 

 the under parts, and on the chin and cheeks, approaching to 

 blackish gray, forming an indistinct band of that colour below 

 the eyes. The quills, secondaries, and scapulars, are black, — 

 the latter with broad, the former (excepting the first and second) 

 with narrow, clear, grayish margins. The tail contains twelve 

 feathers, — the two centre ones of the same colour with the 

 body, and having the shafts, as well as a round spot at the ends, 

 surrounded by a narrow margin of grayish black ; the next four 

 feathers become gradually longer, and give the form of a slight 

 fork ; they are black, with a narrow margin of gray at the tips ; 

 the last, on each side, are nearly half an inch shorter than the 

 longest, are also black, but have a large oblong patch of gray at 

 the ends. The stiff feathers on the rump of this individual are 

 remarkably abundant, forming a complete pad, and possess 

 an equal pointedness and rigidity with the African species. 

 They are in this respect at variance with M. Temminck's des- 

 cription of the genus in the letter-press to his Planches coloriees^ 

 where he remarks, that the species from Asia, New Holland, 

 and the islands in the South Pacific, are similar in plumage to 



