MAHKUS. 223 



brown; bill black; legs and feel dark flushy-brown ; iris dark broiim. Total length 5 inches, wing 

 1-9, tail J 6', bill Jo, tarsus OS. 



Adult female — General colour above brown; iviiigs brown; the quills narrowly edged externally 

 with brownish-white; tail dtill greenish-blue, the lateral feathers tipped with white ; a broad loral 

 streak and a narrow circle of feathers around the eye rich chestnut; chin and upper portio-n, of the 

 throat dull rvhite; remainder of the tender surface pale fulvous ; bill reddish-brown; legs jieshy- 

 brotvn, the feet slightly darker ; iris dark brown. Total length ^8 inches, rving IS, tail 2- 15, bill 

 OSS, tarsiis 8. 



Distribution. — Northern Territory of South Austraha, Queensland, New South Wales, 

 Victoria, South Australia, Central Australia, Western Australia, North-western Australia. 

 •yCgyOK a number of years past it has been known that the inland and western form of 

 -L^ Mahirus hwiherti was of a deeper colour than typical specimens obtained near the 

 eastern coast of iVustralia. More than a ijuarter of a century ago. Dr. Ramsay pointed out 

 that the New South Wales birds differed in the tint of colouring from those procured fn South 

 Australia." Subsequently, in 1876, Mr. George Masters made reference to two specimens 

 obtained bv Mr. Kendal Broadbent at the Gulf of Carpentaria, and stated that it might prove 

 to be a distinct species, but for the present (at that time) he looked upon it as a local variety 

 of Malnrus lambcrti.\ These differences in colour were brought more prominently under my 

 notice in iqoi, while working at the Maluri and comparing a series from widely separated 

 parts of the continent. 



The present species belongs to that section of the genus in which the adult males are 

 distinguished by their chestnut shoulders, and is more closely allied to Malnrus lambcrii. 

 \Mien compared with typical examples of the latter species, however, J\I. assimilis may be 

 easily recognised in having the crown and sides of the head purplish-blue instead of deep 

 cobalt; moreover, the feathers around the eye and the ear-co\-erts are rich cobalt instead of 

 turquoise-blue, and the mantle and upper portion of the back purplish-blue instead of cobalt- 

 blue. In the colour of these parts it more closely resembles M. ptdchcrrimtis, Gould, with 

 which it has been frequently confused. Both Western Australian representatives of this 

 section of the genus, however, M. pidcherrimus and M. elegans, are widely separated from 

 M. lambcrti and its allies in luuing the throat and upper portion of the breast dark blue 

 instead of black. 



Malnrus assimilis has an extensive range over the Australian continent. Mr. K. Broadbent 

 obtained specimens near Port Augusta in South Australia, also at the Gulf of Carpentaria in 

 North Queensland. The late Mr. K. H. Bennett procured the types in the thick scrubby 

 undergrowth of the Mossgiel District, New South Wales, where he found this species breeding; 

 and, later on, at Yandembah Station, near Booligal. Mr. James Ramsay also obtained examples 

 of this species, together with its nest and eggs, at Tyndarie. Mr. G. A. Keartland met with it 

 in Central Australia in 1894, and in Western Australia in 1896. Dr. A. M. ^lorgan has also, 

 at various times, obtained specimens in different parts of South Australia, as well as nests and 

 eggs. Specimens were kindly lent for examination by the Director of the South Australian 

 Museum, that were obtained at Marion Bay, York Peninsula; the Finke River, Central 

 Australia; and Mildura, \'ictoria. Also adult males, females, and a young male, collected by 

 Dr. A. M. Morgan, at Laura, about one hundred and forty miles north of Adelaide; and an 

 adult male, procured by Mr. Edwin Ashby at Sandy Point, A'ork Peninsula. From Point 

 Cloates, North-western Australia, Mr. Tom Carter also sent me for identification an adult 

 male. 



* Proc. Zool. Soc, 1875, p. 589. 



t Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W., Vol. ii., p. 53 (1876). 



