163 



ANTHOCH^BA. 



Anthochaera paradoxa. 



GREAT WATTLED HONEY-EATER. 

 Corims paradoxus, Lath, Ind. Orn. Suppl. p. xxvi. (1801). 



■ r^ ij vtA. An=fr fol Vol IV d1. .54 (1S4S); if?., Haiulbk. Bds. Austr., 

 Anthochm-a mauris, Gould, Bds. Austr., lol. v oi. i v ., pi. * v /, > 



Vol. I., p. 536 (1805). 

 Acanthochora inauris, Gadow, Cat. Bds. Brit. Mus., Vol. IX., p. 26.3 (1884). 

 Anthochcera paradoxa, North, Ibis, 1906, p. 57. 



ADULT ,iALi,-Forehead, crorvn of the head, hind neck and mantle hlackish-hroron, each feather 

 broadly margined at the sides with greyish-tvhite, giving these parts a distinctly streaked appearance; 

 back brown, each feather having a paler shaft and indistinct greyish-white margms; rump browmsk- 

 grey with paler margins, the upper tail-coverts similar but of a clearer grey; upper wmg-coverts and 

 nuUls blackish-brown, some of the greater coverts and primaries narrowly edged, and the latter also 

 tipped will. greyish-roUte, more largely on the third, fourth,Mh, and sixth primaries, the secondares 

 margined externally with greyish-ivhite more broadly on the innermost series; tail feathers blaclcisn- 

 broron, tipped ,oith white, more largely on the outermost on either side, the central pair washed wUh 

 grey except near the shaft: feathers above and behind the eye dull white, small feathers below silvery- 

 white with black bases, a few similar feathers also being scattered over the otherwise bare space bet n-een 

 the eye and the ear-opening, below which is a long pendulous yellow wattle; cheeks dull wUte with 

 blackish bases to the feathers; chin and upper throat rvhite, the apical portion of the feathers lanceolate 

 hair-like and slightly recurved, as are also those on the centre of the lower throat and fore neck, but 

 which have blackish-grey bases; sides of the lower throat and fore neck blackisl.grey wUh rndistinct 

 silvery tips visible in certain lights; remainder of the under surface dull greyish-whtte wUh a 

 lanceolate brown marking in the centre of the apical portion of each feather ; centre of the lower breast 

 and abdomen bright yellow; vent and lower flanks brownish-whUe, the feathers of the latter long soft 

 and dotcny; under tail-coverts dull white, brown in the centre; "bill black; legs and feet flesh-colour ; 

 iris brownish-black" (Gould). Total length Iro inches, wing 7-4, tail 10, bill OS-, tarsus Poi. 



Adult female -Similar in plumage to the male hut smaller, and having comparatively shorter 

 wattles. Wing I'rJf- incites. 



Distrihulion-T^sm^m^ and some of the adjacent Islands; King Island, Bass Strait. 

 yT3VHIS species was originally described by Latham in his "Index Ornithologicus," under 

 i the name of Covvus paradoxus, but the habitat was erroneously recorded as New Zealand. 

 It IS an mhabitant of Tasmania, and some of the adjacent islands, and has also been found by a 

 party from the Field Naturalist's Club of Victoria, on King Island in Bass Strait. I- rom 

 i„thodu,ra cavunadata of the .Australian continent it may be at once distinguished by its larger 

 size, longer wattles, the white margins to the feathers of the head, hind neck and mantle, and its 

 more greatly cuneiform tail. 



I cannot understand how Gould could refer the Covvus paradoxus-^- of Latham to the 

 Wattled Honey-eater (Anthochmva cavunculata) of Australia. It was founded by Latham on 

 the "Wattled Crow" of his 'General Synopsis of Birds.' t In the latter description Latham 

 remarks — The feathers at the top of the head and neck edged with whitish, on the cheeks a 

 little downy, at the bottom of which arises a cylindrical caruncle ten lines in length, hanging on 

 each side of the neck; throat white, . . . .; tail greatly cuneiform, each feather tipped with 

 white •• The length of the wattle alone, which is much shorter in the Australian species, would 

 preclude it from being the Wattled Honey-eater (Anthochava cavunculata), and m other respects 

 ♦ Suppl. Ind. Orn., p. xxvi (iSor, f Gen. Syn. Bds., Suppl- ii., p. iig- 



