4 Proceedings of tJte Royal Society of Victoria. 



or to persist in agreeing with what appears to be the old type in 

 being nearly uniformly black upon the dorsal surface. 



The following ai-e measurements of the principal parts of 

 specimens of each so-called species : — 



G. LEUCOXOTA, Gld. 



Specimens in the National Museum, Melbourne, shew the 

 length of culmen to be in : — 



(a) S - - - 1-9 inches. 



(b) 5 - - -1-9 inches. 



(c) ^ - - - 2-25 inches. 



(d) 3 - - - 2-2 inches. 



While {a) is a male with a culmen less than 2 inches, {c) is a 

 female with a culmen considerably more than 2 inches. 



Specimen U" is an example of a phase having an appearance 

 about the back that neither definitely indicates an adult female 

 nor a hybrid. The soft brown mark appearing as if beneath the 

 surface of the back are not those of a female bird, yet the adult 

 male should have a clear white back as this nearly is. The 

 marks are ancestral in appearance. The Brit. Mus. Cat. Birds, 

 vol. viii., p. 93, refers to a similar specimen as " a bird in fully 

 adult plumage with the middle of its back still mottled with pale 

 silvery grey." 



Specimen c^ is a large male shewing a narrow " saddle " on the 

 back (1 inch in diameter), and on the head, tail and sides of it a 

 number of light brownish marks. In a district where there do 

 not appear to be any living specimens of G. tibicen, these marks 

 are most likely ancestral. 



