24 Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria. 



white; narrow base of forehead white; primaries narrowly 

 tipped and secondaries mostly edged with white ; the four outer 

 tail quills much as in C, except that there is more brown on the 

 basal half of the inner web of the second, and much more on the 

 third. This appears as if the colour gradation of the tail is no 

 safe index to the age of the bird. Certainly the tail appears not 

 to be so far advanced towards maturity as in C, also the wing 

 speculum is brown, while that of C is white, showing more 

 matui'ity. Evidently the parts of a bird's plumage do not 

 develop uniformly to indicate the age of the bird. Other parts 

 of the plumage are more advanced than in C. The sexes are 

 said to present no difference when adult. Bill and legs black. 

 Length of wing, 3"5 inches ; tail, 2*55 inches. 



Phase E. 



Adult (?, sk., 10-4-97. Heytesbury, Victoria. (Per Mr. Geo. 

 Graham). 



Similar to D, the whole upper surface having more grey upon 

 it. All the white edges of the wings are much deeper and 

 clearer, including the wing speculae. The tail has more white 

 upon the lateral quills, and the centre ones are tipped with white. 

 Under mandible and feet are blacker than in D. Length of 

 ■wing, 3 "5 inches ; tail 2 "55 inches. 



