526 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 



Taimly SAXICOLID-aS, 



Sp. 2. PETROICA ERYTHROGASTRA. 



Norfolk Island Robin. 



Muscicapa erythrogastra, Lath. Ind. Orn., vol. ii. p. 479. 



multicolor, Gmel. Edit. Limi. Syst. Nat., vol. i. p. 944. 



Red-bellied Flycatcher, Lath. Gen. Syn., vol. iii. p. 343. pi. 50. 

 Petroica pulchella, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, part vii. p. 142, male. 

 modesta, Gould lb., part v. p. 147, female. 



Petroica erythrogastra, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. iii. pi. 4. 



Under the impression that this Robin, which I believe to 

 be strictly confined to Norfolk Island, and the Petroica muti- 

 color, with which it has been confounded, were identical, and 

 that the terms erythrogastra and multicolor were synonymous, 

 I was induced to characterize the male under the name of 

 pulchella, and the female under that of modesta, believing as I 

 then did that they were distinct; subsequent research has 

 however enabled me to perceive the errors into which I had 

 fallen, and I now proceed to point out the differences between 

 the two species, and to restore to the Norfolk Island bird the 

 term erythrogastra, originally applied to it by Latham. The 

 P. erythrogastra may be distinguished then from its near ally 

 by the greater size of the bill ; by the greater extent and more 

 silvery hue of the white feathers on the forehead ; by the tail 

 being wholly black, while in the P. multicolor the lateral 

 feathers are white ; by the white on the wing forming a large 

 spot near the shoulder, instead of a line as long as the second- 

 aries ; and by the scarlet of the breast and abdomen being 

 much more intense in colour : the females of the two birds 

 also differ from each other, the tail of the P. erythrogastra 

 being wholly brown, while that of the P. multicolor has the 

 lateral tail-feathers marked with white. 



The male has the forehead silvery white ; a small patch on 



