590 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 



assigned to another bird of this form, the late Prince Charles 

 Bonaparte was pleased to dedicate the present one to myself. 



Sp. 362. ZOSTEROPS LUTEUS, Gould. 



Yellow Zosterops. 



Zosterops luteus, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. iv. pi. 83. 



This new species is an inhabitant of the northern portion 

 of AustraHa. " I first met with it," says Gilbert, " in August, 

 on Greenhill Island, Van Diemen's Gulf, dwelling among the 

 mangroves or the densest thickets. It is much more wild 

 and solitary than Zosterops ccerulescens, and does not resort 

 like that bird to the gardens and the neighbourhood of the 

 houses of the settlers ; its note is also very different, being a 

 pretty canary-like song. When disturbed it usually left the 

 thicket for the higher branches of the gum-trees, where it was 

 effectually hidden from view by the thick fohage. It was 

 generally met with in small families of from three to seven or 

 eight in number." 



All the upper surface olive-yellow ; primaries and tail-fea- 

 thers brown, margined with olive-yellow ; forehead and throat 

 pure yellow ; lores and lines beneath the eye black ; eye en- 

 circled with a zone of white feathers ; abdomen and under 

 tail-coverts dull yellow; irides light reddish brown; upper 

 mandible blackish grey, the basal half rather lighter ; apical 

 third of the lower mandible blackish grey ; basal two-thirds 

 light ash-grey ; legs and feet bluish grey. 



Total length 4 J inches ; bill \ ; wing 2f ; tail If ; tarsi 



Family EPIMACHID^. 



Many authors place the three following birds in the family 

 ParadiseidcB ; Cabanis makes them part of the subdivision of 

 the subfamily EpimacMnw. Mr. G. R. Gray retains them in 



