678 



each, apparently, as the were three young larvae enclosed in each capsule. 

 Some of the large mud cells of the wasp Pelojyaeus laetus were also shown, 

 too-ether with a large green parasite (Fam.. Chrysididae) taken from one of 

 the cells. — Mr. Hedley exhibited a pelagic crustacean, Plironiina seden- 

 taria Forsk. w^hich he had found stranded on Maroubra beach in August 

 last. It was then alive and breeding in a »Phronima house« , formed of the 

 bell or test of the ascidian Pyrosoma. Mr. A. McCulloch, who determined 

 the specimen, informed him that the species had not hitherto been recorded 

 from Australia, though an unnamed Phronima was taken by the »Challenger« 

 between Sydney and New Zealand. — Mr. North sent for exhibition a 

 specimen of a Motacilla closely allied to Motacilla horcalis and M. cinereica- 

 pilla of Europe. It was obtained on the 10th June, 1905, at Bimbi, on the 

 Dawson River, Queensland, by the well-known collector Mr. H. G. Barnard. 

 The addition of the genus Motacilla to the Australian avifauna is of consi- 

 derable interest. It is somewhat remarkable, however, that its single repre- 

 sentative is not allied to 31. flava ^ whose range extends to Java and Timor, 

 but to species of more restricted habitats. The specimen under consideration 

 is an adult male, in perfect plumage. It has a well pronounced white super- 

 ciliary stripe, as is shown in Dr. R. B. Sharpe's fig. 6 of the head of Jf. 

 cinereicajnlla^j but the throat is yellow, not white; the lores and feathers 

 below the eye are black, and a blackish wash extends over the anterior portion 

 of the ear coverts, and the chin is white. On the underparts it resembles 

 fig. 1 on the same plate, M. borealis, in having the throat yellow, and a 

 blackish narrow band across the foreneck. Total length 6,5 inches, wing 

 3,08, tail 2,9, bill 0,5, tarsus 0,9. Owing to seasonal changes and varying 

 phases of plumage, considerable difference of opinion exists among ornitho- 

 logists who have made a life-long study of the genus Motacilla^ as to the 

 validity of certain of its species or subspecies. Should the specimen obtained 

 by Mr. Barnard in Queensland not be an unusually plumaged visitor or 

 straggler from another clime, and the characters pointed out above in which 

 it diflfers from M. cinereicajnlla, prove constant, Mr. North proposed to dis- 

 tinguish it under the name of Motacilla harnardi in honour of its discoverer. 

 Mr. Barnard thus refers to the above specimen: »I send you a small bird I 

 shot at Bimbi on the 10th June, 1905, which is new to me. "When first seen 

 it was on the ground, and ran along like the Australian Pipit [Ant J /us aiistralis). 

 During flight the white feathers on each side of the tail were very conspicuous. 

 It is the only one I have ever seen, and my attention was first attracted to it 

 by its sharp whistling note. « 



III. Personal-Notizen. 



Herr Prof. Dr. Davide Carazzi in Sassari wurde zum Professor und 

 Direktor des Zoologisclien Instituts in Padua berufen und ist dorthin 

 übergesiedelt. 



1 Cat. Bds. Brit.^Mus. Vol. X. pl. VII. 



Druck von Breitkopf & Härtel in Leipzig. 



