30 REMARKS ON FOREGOING LIST OF AUSTRALIAN BIRDS. 



Ptilotis gracilis, Gould. {Ptilutis notata, Gould, Supp. Bds. Aust., pi. -11). 



Notwithstanding Mr. Gould's remarks respecting these so-called species, I consider them to be 

 varieties, identical with P. similis, of MM. Hombron and Jacquinot, a very variable species both in 

 size, and in the extent and shape of the yellow patch on the ear-coverts, as well as in the length of 

 the bill, and of the nariow yellow stripe from the angle of the mouth to under the eye. In some of 

 the numerous specimens examined, one from Rockingham Bay, has this stripe almost obsolete, 

 Mr. Gould mentions a specimen of F. notata from Dunk Island, which is opposite Rockingham Bay, 

 but I find that specimens from this disti-ict agree so well with the original description of P. similis, 

 of Homb. et Jacq. (Voyage au Pole Sud., sp. 46), that there can be no doubt of all three being mere 

 varieties of one and the same species, which will of course retain the name of Ptilutis similis. 

 Its range extends from Rockingham Bay, north to New Guinea. The following ai^e the measurements 

 of one of the smaller specimens in the Dobroyde collection. Total length :3-2 inch to tip of bill ; 

 bill 0"8, wing 2-7, tail 2-2, tai-si O'T inches; this small variety from Queensland may be known as 

 P. gracilis, Gould. 



1 notice '■''^s Astur crue'iUus, Gould," has been reported by Sal vadori and D'All)ertis from New 

 Guinea. This will probably Ije my Astur sharpei. I feel convinced it is not the true A. emeritus 

 of Gould, which has recently been rediscovered by the late Mr. Boyer-Bower, near Derby, N. W. 

 Australia, and is a good and distinct species. 



•PoDARGUS MEGACEPliALUS,. Latham. I have never seen this bird, nor is it to be found in any 

 collections in Australia. 



Aprosmictus insignissimus, Gould, P.Z.S., 1875 (April), p. .315. 



This is merely a las. 'lud. of A. scaindatus (cyanopyyius). Patches of yellow feathers frequently 

 may be observed in the plumage of this species ; when last in the Richmond River district I shot 

 one with a patch of yellow on the abdomen, and another with yellow feathers on the back of the 

 head ; there is one now in the Australian Museum with a row of yellow feathers on the upper wing- 

 coverts, and another with a yellow tinge pervading the whole of the upper surface. Mr. Shaw, who 

 shot the bird described l)y Mr. Gould, informed me that it had paired with a female in the ordinary 

 plumage of that sex of A. scapulaius. 



Cacatua goffini, Finsch. There is no authentic record of this species having been obtained in 

 Australia, it is probably C. ducorpsi, (Homb. et Jacq.) from the Solomon Islands. 



Ptilopus (LamprotQ-eronJ porphvrostictus,(t'o?(/(;/, Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist. (4), 1 874, No. 74, p. 137. 



The females of Ptilopus superlnis of Tennuinck, agree exactly with the description of P. 

 porphyrostictiis, Gould, given in tiie Annals above quoted. I have also compared and examined a 

 large series of skins of P. superbus, in all stages of plumage, from various localities ; from Port 

 Denison, Rockingham Bay, Cape York, Duke of York and the Solomon Islands, iL'c. ; the adult 

 females are always alike, but the young of both sexes differ, particularly the young males. After 



