76 Mr. G. M. INlatliews on a recent 



feathers cannot be connted ; it is in very worn plumage 

 and moulting, and has no swelling on the forehead. It 

 appears to be a very old bird. 



In the young example the tail is composed of 22 feathers, 

 and is in entirely brown plumage and not much worn. 

 Evidently in first dress. 



\^Ad. Irides red-brown ; bill blue, pinkish flesh, red in 

 stripes; legs and toes orange; round eye flesh ; pouch yelloAV. 



Jnv. Irides yellow, pouch dirty yellow ; bill greyish horn; 

 legs and toes dirty yellow. 



Two seen at Lake Naivasha; tolerably common and asso- 

 ciating Avith Flamingoes at Lake Hannington.] 

 [To be continued.] 



II. — A recent Ornithological Discovery in Australia. 

 By Gregory M. Mathews, F.R.S.E., M.B.O.U. 

 In the Introduction to my 'List of the Birds of Australia,' 

 1913, pp. xviii-xxiv, I made a few comments on zoo-geo- 

 graphical study, and on pp. xxv-xxvi added to the Australian 

 avifauna three species, representing three genera not hitherto 

 represented in the fauna, viz., Globicera pucijica, Geofroyus 

 yeoffroyi, and Eclectus pectoralis. That two of these were 

 residents newly brought to light was made clear by the 

 fact that they were new subspecific forms, and not subspecies 

 previously named from elsewhere and here simply recorded. 

 For the first-named an old name was revived, but the fact 

 remains the same. 



Many ornithologists of repute have handled collections of 

 birds from the islands north of the Australian continent, but 

 they have rarely compared them with Australian birds, and 

 appear to have been unacquainted with the local conditions 

 and with the vast extent of Australia, ornithologically con- 

 sidered. Showing a disregard of the literature, they have 

 probably caused considerable confusion and have retarded 

 the advancement of knowledge. This is written without 

 prejudice, but simply from an examination of the facts 



