14. ST REFER A. . 59 



Hah. Lord Howe's island. 



rt. ff ad. sk. Lord Howe's Island, Sept. V2, J. Gould, Esq. [P.]. 

 IS^-j (J. Macf/il/ivra;/). (Type of species.) 



3. Strepera arguta. 



Strepera arguta, Gould, P. Z. S. 1840, p. 19; id. B. Austr. ii. pi. 44 ; 



JBp. Consp. i. p. 367; Gould, Ilandh. B. Austr. i. p. 171 ; Grai/, 



Hand-l. B. ii. p. 1. 

 Cracticus argutus, ScJd. Mus. P.-B. Ooraces, p. 123. 



Young. Ashy brown, the feathers which are developing black on 

 the upper parts, greyer on the lower; quills narrowly tij)ptd with 

 white ; under tail-coverts white ; tail as in adult. 



Adult male. General colour dull blackish, with very slight gloss 

 and rather browner on the sides of the neck ; under surface of body 

 blackish, the narrow shaft-streaks on the breast-feathers slightly 

 metallic ; wings black, the secondaries narrowly tipped with white, 

 the primaries white for a considerable extent of the inner web ; 

 tail blackish, washed with grey extemallj-, the two centre feathers 

 with no perceptible white tip, but all the others broadly tipped with 

 white on the inner web, extending on to the outer one at the tip ; 

 under tail-coverts white ; bill and feet black ; corner of the mouth 

 yellow ; iris orange-yellow. Total length 21 inches, culmcn 2-75, 

 wing 11 9, tail 9-8, tarsus 2-8. 



Adult female. Much greyer than the male. Total length 21 inches, 

 culmen 2-65, wing 12, tail 10'5, tarsus 2-85, 



Obs. If we consider the big Strepera arguta of Van Diemen's Land 

 to be the typical species of this group of the genus Strepera, we find 

 three verj^ closely allied species, whose exact relations time and a 

 larger series of specimens are necessary to determine. I have sepa- 

 rated the smaller form from Port Lincoln as Strepera hitermedia, as 

 well as the South-Australian S. melanoptera ; but whether these 

 both grade into one another or into S. arguta must be proved by the 

 comparison of larger series. They seem to me at least to have dis- 

 tinct habitats. 



Hah. Van Diemen's Land. 



a. Juv. sk. Spring Hill, interior of Van Die- J. Gould, Esq. [C] 



men's Land, Jan. 2, 1838. 



b. 5 ad. sk. Norfolk, Van Diemen's Land, J. Goidd, Esq. [C] 



December 4, 1838. 



c. c? ad. St. George Town, \?i\\ Diemen's J. Gould, Esq. [C] 



Land, May 1839. 



d. Ad. sk. Van Diemen's Land. J. Gould, Esq. [C.J 



e. Ad. sk. Van Diemen's Land. J. Gould, Esq. [C.J 



4. Strepera intermedia. 



Adtdt. General colour above and below blackish brown, blacker 

 on the lores and region of the eye, and slightly shaded with grey on 

 the breast and abdomen ; vent and under tail-coverts white ; thighs 

 blackish brown ; tail blackish, all the feathers tipped with white, 



f2 



