MONAKCIIA. 



157 



Monarcha gouldi. 



BLACK-FRONTED FLYCATCHER. 

 Monarcha trivirgata, (nee Temm.), Gould, Bds. Austr., fol., Vol. II., pi. 9G (1848); id., Handbk. 



Bds. Austr., Vol. I., p. 263 (186.-)). 

 Monarcha gonldi, Gray, Proc. Zool. Sac, 1860, p. •■)52. 

 Piezorhynchus goiddi, Sharpe, Oat. Bds. Brit. Mus., Vol. IV., p. 419 (1879) (part). 



Adult m.\le — General colour above dark grey: 'upper wing-coverts like the back; primaries 

 and secondaries brown, margined with dull grey on their outer webs; tail black, the three outermost 

 feathers tipped with while; forehead, lores, a narrow line of feathers above and below the eye, and 

 the ear-coverts black ; chin and centre of the throat black ; sides of the throat, fore-neck, chest, and 

 sides of the body orange-rufous; centre of the breast, abdomen, and under tail-coverts white; hill 

 bluish-grey, paler at the tip; legs and feet bluish-lead colour; iris black. Total length IJ inches, 

 wing 3-1, tail ,^-S, bill 0-4J, tarsus 0-7. 



Adult female — Similar in plumage to the male. 



Distribution. — Eastern Queensland, Eastern New South Wales. 



/T^HE ran^e of this species 

 -L extends throughout the 

 greater portion of Eastern Queens- 

 land and North-eastern New South 

 Wales. It is closely allied to Mon- 

 archa trivirgata of Timor, under 

 which name Gould figures and 

 describes it in his "Birds of Aus- 

 tralia." Gray, however, in the 

 "Proceedings of the Zoological 

 Society of London," pointed out 

 that theTimorbird has a larger bill, 

 that the three outer tail-feathers 

 are more largely tipped with white, 

 and also that the fourth has a spot 

 of white at the tip of the outer web, 

 and he proposed the name of Monarcha gonldi for the Australian bird. Individual variation 

 exists in the depth of colour on the breast and the extent of the black marking on the face, 

 even when procured in the same locality. In some specimens, too, the upper tail-coverts are 

 blackish, although as a rule they are grey. An example obtained near Cairns, North-eastern 

 Queensland, has the three outer tail-feathers tipped with white, and there is a spot of white at 

 the tip of the outer web of the fourth feather on one side only. Specimens from North-eastern 

 Queensland have the orange-buff chest, breast, and sides of the body of a much richer tint than 

 others procured in New South Wales. 



Numerous specimens of Monarcha gonldi were obtained by Messrs. Cairn and Grant m the 

 scrub near Cairns, and Mr. G. Masters procured examples at Wide Bay. It is also common 

 in the northern coastal brushes of New South Wales, although it is not so frequently seen in 

 winter. On the Upper Clarence River, in November, 1898, I observed it kept always to the 

 scrubs and gullies, and never ventured into the open forest lands. I found a partially built 

 nest in the fork of a \ine, and Mr. G. Savidge had taken a very pretty nest containing eggs, 

 built in a similar situation, just before my arrival. At Ourimbah, which is the furthest south 

 I have known this species to occur, a pair were nesting in No\ember, 1901, and I frequently 

 saw them bathing in a creek. 



BLACK-FRONTED FLYCATCHER. 



