632 Messrs. H. C. Rolnnsou and VV. S. Laverock on 



From its dimensions — wing 101, tail 130, culraen 39*5, 

 tarsus 31 mm. — it is evident that this specimen must be 

 referred to this race, originally described from Port Essington, 

 but which lias not (so far as we are aware) been hitherto 

 recorded from further east than the Gulf of Carpentaria. 



49. Cracticus rufescens De Vis, Proc. Linn. Soc. 

 N.S.W. vii. p. 562 (1883) ; Sharpe in Gould's Birds of 

 New Guinea, iii. pi. xvi. (1887) ; Rotlisch. Bull. B. O. C. 

 vol. X. p. xl; id. Ibis, 1900, p. 374. 



Cracticus quoyi auct. from Eastern Australia. 



It is after very considerable hesitation that we have come 

 to the conclusion that all specimens of the black Cracticus 

 from Eastern Australia must be referred to C. rufescens 

 De Vis. This name, however, is rather misleading, as it is 

 only tlie young bird that is rufescent. 



In the course of the last three mouths some thirty speci- 

 mens of the species from Cooktowu and Cairns have passed 

 through our hands. Of these, three have been in the plumage 

 figured and described as C. rufescens. lu one specimen, 

 however, several of the primaries were black, and in another 

 the under wing-coverts were partially black. We had called 

 Mr. Olivers special attention to the point, and he assures us 

 that the C. rufescens in brown plumage sent from Bellenden 

 Ker was found associating with the black-plumaged birds, 

 and that he had no doubt whatever that they were one and 

 the same species, as he has stated on the label. The large 

 series of birds in black plumage present certain difficulties 

 among themselves, some being less lustrous than others, 

 and having the basal portions of the flank-feathers greyer ; 

 but they cannot certainly be distinguished from the Port 

 Essington and New Guinea bird, which is, however, black 

 in every stage of plumage. 



" Found generally in thick scrub country, and only plentiful 

 during the winter months. Iris brown ; feet black ; bill 

 black, the basal portion bluish'^ [Olive). 



50. fDic^UM HiRUNDiNACEUM (Lath.) ; Sharpe, Cat. 

 Birds Brit. Mus. x. p. 19 (1885). 

 Two males from Bellenden Ker. 



