42. MALTJRTJ8. 297 



Reichenb. Vog. NeuJioU. pp. 102, 291 ; Gray, Hand-l. B. i. p. 204, 

 no. 2888 ; Harnsai/, I^: Linn. Soc. N. S. W. ii. p. 184. 

 Malurus cruentatus, Gould, P. Z. S. 1839, p. 143 ; id. Handh. B. 

 Austr, i. p. 334. 



Adult male. General colour above dark crimson ; wing-coverts 

 and inner secondaries velvety black ; remainder of the quiUs dark 

 brown, externally edged with whity brown ; upper tail-coverts and 

 tail-feathers black ; head and neck all round, as well as the entire 

 under surface velvety black, including the under wing-coverts and 

 axillaries ; quiUs blackish below, lighter along the edge of the inner 

 web; "bill black; legs fleshy brown" {J. Gould). Total length 

 3-4 inches, cuhnen 0-4, wing 1-55, tail 1-65, tarsus 0-75. 



Female. Uniform light brown, the abdomen inclining to white ; 

 bill and feet light brown. {Gould.) 



Ohs. The type of M. hroivni in the Museum scarcely equals in in- 

 tensity the blood- red or crimson colouring of the Port-Essington and 

 N.W.- Australian birds ; and it seems that there may be possibly three 

 species of red-bucked Mahiri, differing only in the intensity of the 

 colouring of the back. The oldest name for the crimson-backed 

 species, the M. cruentatus of Gould, is certainly the Sylvia dorsalis 

 of Lewin. 



Hab. jl^orthern and North-eastern Australia, as far south as 

 Rockingham Bay. 



a. S ad. sk. Austraha. Linnean Society [P.]. 



(Type oiM. brototii). 



b. c? imm. sk, Australia. Sir T. Mitchell [P.l. 

 c,d. c?; e,f. $ ad. sk. Port Essington. Cant. W. Chambers [P.]. 

 ff. 2 ad. sk. Port Essington. J. B. Jukes, Esq. [P." 

 h, i, k. cS ad. ; /, »n. J ad. sk. N.W. Australia. J. R. Elsey, Esq. [P.' 

 n. cJ ad. sk. Gilbert River. J. R. Elsey, Esq. [P.' 



15. Malurus albiscapulatus. 



MahuTis alboscapulatus, Mei/er, Sitz. k. Akad. Wim, Ixix. p. 496 ; 

 Salmd. Ann. Mus. Civic. Genov. vii. p. 778, ix. p. 36 ; Gotdd, B. 

 Netc Guinea, part iv. ; Sharpe, Pr. Linn. Soc. xiii. pp. 315, 494. 



Adult General colour blue- black, of a velvety texture ; scapulars 

 pure white, forming a conspicuous white patch on each side of the 

 back ; wing-coverts velvety black, like the back ; quills and tail- 

 feathers black, edged with velvety black ; entire under surface of 

 body velvety blue-black, with a little white tuft of feathers on the 

 sides of the upper breast, continuous with the white scapular patch. 

 Total length 4-1 inches, culmen 0-5, wing 1-8, tail 1-85, tarsus 0-75. 



Hab. North-western and South-eastern New Guinea. 



