GYMNORHINA. 



Family LANIID^. 

 Sub-Family GYMNORHININ^. 



G-en-u-s o-'S'n^iisroismnsr-A., Gray. 

 Gymnorhina tibicen. 



BLACK-BACKED MAtiPIE. 

 Coracias tibicen, Lath., Ind. Orn., Suppl., p. xxvii., (1801). 



Gymnorhina tibicen, Gould, Bds. Austr., fol., Vol. II., pi. id (1848); id., Handbk. Bds. Austr,, 



Vol. I., p. 175 (1865); Gadow, Cat. Bds. Brit. Mus., Vol. VIII., p. 91, (1883); Sharpe, 



Hand-1. Bds., Vol. IV., p. 276 (190.3). 



Adult male — Head, sides of the neck, scapulars and upper portion of the back glossy blue-black; 



hind-neck and lower portion of the rump and the upper tail-coverts white ; upper wing-coverts ivhite ; 



primary coverts black, the outer webs of the innermost feathers white for about three-fourths of their 



length; quills black; tail white with a broad terminal band of black, increasing in width towards the 



outermost feather, which has the outer web entirely black for the greater portion of its length ; cheeks, 



throat, and all the under surface glossy blue-black, the feathers on the lower portion of the body devoid 



of lustre ; bill bluish-horn colour blackish at tip; legs and feet black; iris reddish-brown. Total 



lengtli in the flesh 17 inches, wing ]06, tail 6'35, bill 3, tarsus 3'o. 



Adult female — Differs from the male in being slightly smaller, and in Iiaving the hind-neck, 

 lon-er portion of the back and the rump grey instead of lohite. 



Distribution. — Oueensland, New South Wales, Mctoria, South Australia, Western Australia? 



^EW birds, if any, 



-psi 



re better known 

 to the inhabitants of 

 Australia than the Black 

 and the White-backed 

 Crow-Shrikes, or Magpies, 

 as they are more frequently 

 called; either in a wild state 

 or in captivity. 



The present species is 

 widely distributed over 

 nearly the whole of the 

 eastern and southern 

 portions of the continent. 

 In the Catalogue of Birds 

 in the British Museum, 

 Dr. H. Gadow also records 

 an adult male from 

 North-western Australia, 

 obtained on the Sutton River, by Mr. M. Elsey on the 2nd November, 1S56. 



It is resident throughout the year in New South Wales, and evinces a decided preference 

 for open forest country, partially cleared lands and cultivation paddocks. Although never found 

 in heavy timber-clad ranges, no sooner is a clearing made to any extent in one of these virgin 

 forests and cultivated, than it is usually tenanted by a pair or more of these birds. It is also 

 frequently met with in large flocks on the open plains, more especially during the summer and 

 autumn months. 



BLACK-BACKED MAGPIE. 



