174 



MKL1PHAGID,=E. 



Philemon sordidus, Gadow, Cat. Bds. Brit. Mus., Vol. IX., p. 277 (1884) (Subsp.); North, Trans. 



Roy. Soc S.A., Vol. XXII., p. 149 (1898). 

 Fhilenion occidentalis. Ramsay, Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W., Vol. II., 2nd Series, p. 676 (1887). 



Adult ,m.\le. — (rtneral colour above iiicludimj the nnmjs and tail pale broion, with a sliyht ashy 

 ■■</i(/</>-, till' nuii'i- tri'ljs of quills and also the outermost of the outer series except a narroiv margin of a 

 darker shade <if hriuni : tin- tij/x nf thf tail futhfrs irldtish; forehead and croum of the head pale 

 brotun, sides of thi- luml Imn'. lurry mid a inirrnir riiuj nf feathers around the eye dark hroxjon; chin 

 and upper throat dull silvery-white, thefi-ufhrrs Imir-liki' hi firm : rlii-st very pale hroum, the feathers 

 having long bare shafts terminating in a irliitf hnisli-liki- tip: nmniiider of the under surface jjale 

 brownish-white passing into a dull white on the abdomen and under tail-coverts; bill black; legs and 

 feet black; bare space on sides of head dull bluish-grey; iri^ dark In-own. Total length in the flesh 

 10 inches, n-ing o-.'-f, tail j^-2, bill I'OS, tarsus l-Oo. 



Adult fesl^lk — Similar in plumage to tin; male. 



Distribution — Oueensland, New South Wales, \'ictoria. South Australia, North-western 

 .Vustralia, Northern Territory of South Australia. 



^^HE classification of Count Salvadori is followed here in referrmg the birds without the 

 protuberance on the culmen to the genus Philemon of Vieillot, of which the type is P. 

 moluccensis, while those with it are placed in the genus Tropidorhynchus of Vigors and Horsfield, 

 founded on the Australian species T. corniculatus. 



Some authorities separate Gould's northern form, P. 5o;'AW;/5, as specifically or subspecifically 

 distinct from the present species. I question, however, very much the propriety of so doing, 

 for neither its smaller size or larger bill, as I have shown elsewhere," can be upheld as constant 

 specific or even subspecific characters if a large series from different parts of the continent are 

 examined. It is the rule that in a widely distributed species, e.xamples from the northern portion 

 of the continent are smaller than those procured in Southern Australia. Moreover, in the 

 Report of "Voyage of H.M.S. 'Alert,'" Dr. R. B. Sharpe refers an example obtained at Port 

 Darwin to P. citrcogularis, and Dr. H. Gadow in the " Catalogue of Birds in the British Museum"f 

 enumerates this specimen, also one obtained by the late Mr. M. Elsey in North-western Australia, 

 under the name of P. citreogularis. If we accept these birds from Northern and North-western 

 Australia as P. citreogularis, then it would be better to sink Gould's name of P. sordidus into a 

 synonym of P. citrcogularis. As some writers however, regard the northern race as distinct, my 

 remarks on the two forms are kept separate. 



The original description of Philemon citreogularis wzs taken from a young bird obtained in 

 New South Wales. As Gould pointed out later in his folio edition of the "Birds of Australia," 

 the yellow colouring of the throat is peculiar to the period of immaturity and is entirely absent 

 in the adult. 



Philemon citreogularis, Gould, is freely distributed in favourable situations throughout 

 Southern Queensland and the inland portions of New South Wales, its range e.\tending in the 

 south-western portion of the latter State into the adjacent parts of Victoria and South .\ustralia. 



In New South Wales, open forest lands are its favorite haunts, and it is ne\er found 

 far away from permanent water. In August 18S7 Dr. E. P. liamsay and myself obtained 

 specimens at Wellington and Dubbo. It was at that time unusually plentiful and was found 

 feeding in company with Meliphaga phrygia and Tropidorhynchus corniculatus in the flowering 

 Eucalypti. Like the former species, it is nomadic in habits, Mr. A. E. Hays sending a specimen 

 to the Museum from Uralla in February 1902, where it had not been observed before. In New 



* Trans. Roy. Soc, S.A., Vol. XXII., p. 150 (1898). 

 t Gadow, Cat. Bds. Brit. Mus., Vol. IX., p. 277 (1884). 



