POF.CII.ODRYAS CINEREA. 25 



NOTE vm. 



POECILODRYAS CINEREA, 



On a new species of Poecilodryas. 



By R. Bowdler Sharpe, F. L. S. etc. 



The genus Poecilodryas was founded by Gould in 1865 

 (Handbook to the Birds of Australia, vol. I, p. 287), for 

 the reception of the Petroeca cerviniventris , which he had 

 described in 1857 from North-Western Australia. He also 

 placed in the new genus , P. superciliosa (Gould , P. Z. S. 

 1846, p. 106), and that these two birds are rightly se- 

 parated from the genus Petroeca, no one who has com- 

 pared the two forms will reasonably doubt. This is not 

 the case with Mr. Gould's genus Amaurodryas , which, 

 in my opinion, cannot be separated from Petroeca. 



When the first collection of Signor D'albertis came 

 from the Arfak Mountains and was described by Dr. Sclater 

 in 1873 , the latter gentleman brought forward a new 

 genus Leucophantes , with a new species , L. hracliyurus ; 

 but on comparing this species , of which there are exam- 

 ples in the Leyden Museum , with Poecilodryas as repre- 

 sented by the Australian species, it will be seen that 

 they are generically inseparable, and that Leucophantes is 

 synonymous with Poecilodryas. Lastly I consider that the 

 fine species, Megalestes albinotatus ., described in 1875 by 

 Count Salvadori (Ann. Mus. Civic. Genov. VH, p. 769) 

 is a true Poecilodryas also , and I believe that the follo- 

 wing will be a correct list of the members of this genus , 

 as at present known. 



^otes from the Leyden M-useum. 



