( 79 ) 



The six skins before me are all alike, aad all marked as males. 



Several uests and a clutch of eggs were found in the latter half of January. 

 The nests are of the usual form of Rhipidura nests, riding on a branching stick, 

 forming a tightly woven deep cnii, and having a kind of tail hanging down below the 

 twig. They consist of fibres and rotten wood. The cujj measures about 4o — 55 mm. 

 across, and is about 28—35 mm. deep. The two eggs are light yellowish buff, with 

 a ring of paleliver-brown and darker blackish spots and blotches near the broad end. 

 They are glossless, and measure Is : 14 and 175 : 13-7 mm. 



8. Myiagra plumbea Vig. k Horsf. 



Evidently not rare. i ad. " Iris brown, feet black, bill slaty blue." The 

 young male resembles the oAwli/emale. 



9. Gerygone rosseliana sp. nov. 



S ad. Upperside greenish olive, hardly perceptibly brighter on the rnmp, some- 

 what duller on the hind-neck. Eyelids whitish yellow. Eectrices olive-gre}', edged 

 with greenish olive, inner web with an ill-defined subterminal whitish spot, across 

 the tail a dull black bar, about 3 — 5 mm. distant from the tip, the width of this 

 blackish bar being about 5—7 mm. Undersurface bnffy yellow, sides washed with 

 olive-brown, throat much paler. Iris brown, feet bluish slate-colour, bill black. 

 Wing 51 — 52, tail 40, tarsus 17, culmen 13 mm. ? similar to the male, but 

 somewhat duller and slightly more brownish. 



There are only three males &nCioaQ female from Rossel Island. 



10. Myzomela albigula Hart. 



Descr. origin, in Bull. B. O. G. Dec. Meet. 1898. No. LVlll. p. 20. 



(? ad. Upperside greyish blackish brown, feathers of the crown, rump, and 

 upper tail-coverts with paler edges. Tail blackish brown. Remiges blackish brown, 

 inner webs with broad pale ashy white borders, outer webs narrowly edged with 

 dusky grey. Throat and chin pale brownish grey, in some specimens almost pure 

 white, with a short, more or less developed dark red line, formed by the red tips to 

 the feathers, on the lower portion of the throat. Chest dark ashy brown, remainder 

 of underparts a little paler ashy brown, most of the feathers with slightly paler 

 edges, thus producing a faintly streaked appearance. Under wing-coverts greyish 

 white or whitish grey. Iris brown, bill black, legs and feet bluish slate-colnur. 

 Wing 75, tail 58, culmen from forehead 23-5, tarsus 20 mm. ? ad. Smaller, mostly 

 paler on the underside, throat in nearly all the specimens before me whitish, in sharp 

 contrast to the dark chest. Wing 68, tail 53, culmen 21 mm. 



This interesting species of Mi/zomela seems to be common on Rossel Island. 

 The name I gave to it is perhaps not very luckily chosen, as only some of the males 

 have the throat white ; but this is probably (?) the most complete dress of the adnlt 

 bird. 



