172 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 



All the nests I found of this species either contained young 

 birds or were without eggs ; I am consequently unable to 

 give their size and colour. The nest, which is of a large size, 

 is generally placed on a horizontal branch of a low tree ; it is 

 round, deep, and cup-shaped, outwardly formed of sticks and 

 lined with fibrous roots and other fine materials. 



The sexes present no external difference whatever, neither 

 is there much difference in size ; the young are black from 

 the nest, except that the tertiary feathers are strongly tipped 

 with white, a character which is rarely I believe thrown off 

 in adult age. 



All the plumage brownish black, becoming much browner 

 on the tips of the wing-feathers, and of a grey tint on the ab- 

 domen ; base of the inner webs of the primaries and second- 

 aries, the under tail-coverts and the apical third of the inner 

 webs of the tail-feathers white ; irides orange-yellow ; bill and 

 feet black ; corner of the mouth yellow. 



Upon a careful examination of the numerous specimens of 

 this bird contained in my collection, I find among them two 

 very singular varieties ; one with the base of the primaries 

 of a nearly uniform black and the tips white, and another 

 in which the base of the primaries is white and the tips black. 

 It is evident, therefore, that the markings of this species are 

 not constant, and this induces me to believe that the bird I 

 characterized as S. melanoptera is nothing more than one of 

 the varieties above mentioned. I do not, however, venture 

 to affirm that the birds received from South Australia with 

 wholly black wings may not prove to be distinct from those 

 from Tasmania ; this is a matter for investigation of future 

 Australian naturalists. For the present I sink the appellation 

 melanoptera into a synonym. 



