58 CARTER, Notes on Some Australian Birds. RffuTy" 



coyne and X.W . Ca[)e districts) as being of a typical bird in good 

 plumage, and I can assure I\Ir. W'hitlock that I did not, in any 

 way "make up" the skin for the special purpose, but I hope, and 

 think, that the well-executed plate answered the purpose for 

 which it was made. In my paper in The Ibis, October, 1917, 

 referring to the above, I stated on page 592 — "]\Iuch depends, 

 too, on the making of a skin, as to whether these white feathers 

 show or not." Apteria occur in practically all birds, to a greater 

 or less extent, but in the ordinary way are concealed by the over- 

 lapi)ing feathers, which need displacing, or uplifting, before the 

 apteria are visible. Air. ]\lilligan made some interesting notes 

 on the "white wing-patches" of M. cyanotus, v. leiiconotus, in 

 The Emu, \o\. l\ ., p 52. There is no doubt but that the extent 

 of the white feathers varies considerably, according to varia- 

 tions in the seasonal plumage, moulting, and probably also indi- 

 vidually. 



Page 183. Referring to the Grass-Wrens {.hnytornis tex- 

 tilis and D. carteri), Mr. Whitlock says: "It is hard to conceive 

 that the Dirk Hartog birds should show any but the slightest 

 differences from the type obtained a few miles away." 



I admit that one specimen was not much material upon which 

 to work, and form an opinion, but the above statement is a 

 sweeping one, and it is quite evident that those "few miles" of 

 sea water are enough to prevent Maliirus leucopterns and 

 leuconotus and also Acanthica from crossing it ; so why not .Imy- 

 tornis, which is a bird of (apparently) feeble flight, using its 

 legs more than its wings. As a matter of fact, the narrowest 

 part of the South Passage, between the south end of Dirk 

 Hartog and the mainland (Edel Land) is barely one mile wide, 

 yet I found Shrike Thrushes (Colluricincia) and Babblers 

 (Pomatostomus) in Edel Land, and Wedgebills (Sphenostoma) 

 and Babblers on the Peron Peninsula, and none of these three 

 species were found on Dirk Hartog by Mr. Whitlock or myself. 

 Even the Dirk Hartog Crow (Corviis) appears to be distinct 

 from the mainland form. 



The channel between Bernier and Dorre Islands is also about 

 one mile in width, yet I believe, so far as is yet known, Dorre 

 Island can claim a distinct sub-species in Calamanthus dorrei 

 (which is very similar to the Dirk Hartog bird) and Bernier 

 Island has a good sub-species in Maliinis bernieri, and another 

 in Sericornis balstoni. Other similar instances might be quoted 

 if space i)ermitted, including the most remarkable case of the 

 distribution of birds in the Canary Islands, where live well- 

 defined sub-species of Frim/illcr (Blue Chaffinches) occur in the 

 western group of these islands, all five of the islands being within 

 sight of each other {vide Mr. D. A. Bannerman's paper. The 

 Ibis. July. V)ZO, with coloured plates). 



