INSESSORES. 323 



scrub, each troop appearing to have a leader, and keepmg just 

 beyond the range of the gun. 



The male in summer has the crown of the head, chin, 

 throat, abdomen, upper part of the back, upper and under 

 tail-coverts beautiful metallic blue ; ear-coverts verditer-blue ; 

 lores, back of the neck, band across the breast, and lower 

 part of the back velvety black ; external margins of all the 

 wing-feathers green ; tail bluish green, indistinctly barred 

 with a darker tint, and slightly tipped with white; bill 

 black ; irides and legs blackish brown. 



The female has the lores and circle surrounding the eye 

 reddish brown ; all the upper surface brown ; under surface 

 brownish white ; wings brown ; tail green, each feather slightly 

 tipped with white ; bill reddish brown ; feet brown. 



Total length 4f inches ; bill ^ ; wing 2 ; tail 2^ ; tarsi |-. 



Sp. 188. MALURUS SPLENDENS. 



Banded Superb Warbler. 



Saxicola splendens, Quoy et Gaim. Voy. de I'Astrol. Zool., torn. i. p. 197, 



pi. 10. fig. 1. 

 Malurus pectoralis, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, part i. p. 106. 

 Djur-jeel-ya of the Aborigines of the lowland, and Jeer-jal of the 



Aborigines of the mountain districts of Western Australia. 



Malurus splendens, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. iii. pi. 21. 



The Malurus splendens, which may very justly be considered 

 more gorgeous than any other of its race, its whole plumage 

 sparkling with beautiful shining metallic lustre, is an in- 

 habitant of the western coast of Australia, and is, I believe, 

 very generally distributed over the Swan River settlement, 

 where it inhabits scrubby places covered with underwood. 



Its song very nearly resembles that of the Tasmanian spe- 

 cies, M. longicaudus. It breeds in September and the three 

 following months : the nest is constructed of dried, soft grasses, 

 and lined either with hair, wool, or feathers, is of a dome- 



Y 2 



