C. L- Harrison at page 19 of Vol. IV. of our Magazine, or

Horsfield’s Whistling-bird ( 1 \ 1 . horsfieldij, a species which has

been represented at the London Zoological Gardens in by-gone

days.


As soon as Bob (for the sake of convenience, I will call

him by this handy name) reached this country, I was invited by

a dealer to come and see a “ blue bird from New Guinea.” One of

our members had inspected him on the previous day, and, made

of sterner stuff, had returned home with his money in his pocket.

I, of weaker mould, was tempted and fell, and left my money in

the dealer’s pocket—but then I had Bob ! ! !


The dealer’s reiterated statements that he had been

assured that Bob came from New Guinea, having been obtained

at Townsville in Queensland (or Thursday Island), are important,

as tending to confirm my opinion that it is a new species ; for I

understand that no species of the genus Myiophoneus has yet

been found in that Island. I made what enquiries were possible

in the circumstances, and found that he was brought to England

in a Queensland steamer passing through Torres Straits, the

actual importer being (1) a reliable man and (2) a good man.

Some time later, thanks to Mr. Seth-Smith, it became pretty clear

that Bob was brought over by Mr. Carrick of our Society. When

Mr. Carrick is next in England, if this should meet his eye,

perhaps he will be so kind as to inform us what he knows of the

history of the bird, as a statement from him which would help

us to fix the country of origin would be of the greatest value.


So far as our present knowledge extends, seeing that the

genus has not been discovered in Australia, it is as likely that

Bob should have come from New Guinea as elsewhere. Vol. VII.

of the British Museum Catalogue of Birds was published in 1883.

Thanks to the courtesy of Dr. Butler, I have been informed by

the Museum authorities that two species of the genus Myiophoneus

have been discovered since the Catalogue was published, viz.,

M. borneensis (Ibis, 1885, pp. 123, 124 ; see also Ibis, 1901, p. 131),

and M. tibetanus (Ibis, 1886, p. 145^. These make up the number

of recognised species to thirteen ; but my specimen does not

agree with the published descriptions of any one of the thirteen.


New species are still being discovered from time to time ;

and a bird may well have escaped observation in such a country

as New Guinea, especially such a one as Bob, who has no

brilliant plumage nor loud note or cry to attract attention; and

is of so artful and cunning a nature that, should an army of

naturalists and collectors sweep New Guinea from end to end, it



