Mr. G. R. Gray on a new Species of Smithornis. 457 
the intruder, giving deep guttural growls, followed afterwards by a 
vibration of the whole body from the head to the tail, uttering at the 
same time its plaintive notes of goo, goo, goo, repeated in quick suc- 
cession. On the 23rd of October, the bird looks well; it has not 
eaten for the last two days, but has taken a large quantity of gravel. 
We find the bird requires a large supply of that material for the 
purpose of aiding digestion. As it was considered the lequat-seeds 
might have disagreed with the bird, they were discontinued. On the 
25th it appeared worse ; and fearing it might die, I placed it in a Par- 
rot-cage to enable the artist to finish the drawing from life, as in a 
cage of that description he could have a good view of the plumage, 
&e., over every part of the bird; when, to our great surprise, it 
jumped from the perch to the bottom of the cage and commenced 
eating what, on examination, was found to be hemp-seed ; and from 
that time it has been fed on that kind of food. It soon regained its 
usual health, the diet of hemp-seed being occasionally diversified by 
some bleached almonds ; stale bread is also placed in the cage, but 
it eats but very little, if any, of it. This circumstance points out the 
difficulty of arranging a diet for a bird with whose habits we are un- 
acquainted, as at one time it thrives well upon a certain diet, on a 
sudden appears to be dying, and then becomes in good health from 
a change of food accidentally discovered, as in this instance. Since 
then, the Didunculus has continued in most excellent health ; and 
has now just been placed on board the ship ‘La Hogue,’ Captain 
Williams, under the care of Mr. Broughton, the steward, from whose 
experience in the management of birds there is every chance of this 
rare bird arriving safe at its destination in the Gardens of the Zoolo- 
gical Society in the Regent’s Park. ‘ La Hogue’ sailed from Sydney 
early on the morning of the 12th of January, 1864. 
The whole of the time the bird was in my possession it never be- 
came domesticated, nor evinced the slightest attachment to the lady 
who daily fed it: it was the same to her as to strangers; and I do 
not consider the Didunculus a bird that will be readily domesticated 
or reconciled to captivity. For some period of time this bird would 
be very tame comparatively, and then, without any apparent cause 
to account for the change, would become very wild. At that time 
the cleaning of the cage was attended with some difficulty, from 
its violent fluttering on any one approaching for the purpose, in 
which it evinced no little power of wing. 
Own a New Species or Smirnornis. By Greorce Rosertr 
Gray, F.L.S., etc. 
I beg to call the attention of the Society to a new species of bird 
belonging to the interesting genus Smithornis, which was established 
by the late Prince Bonaparte on the Platyrhynchus capensis of Sir 
A. Smith. 
It is characterized as follows, under the name of 
SMITHORNIS RUFOLATERALIS, Sp. nov. 
Head and occiput deep black ; lores white ; nape with a narrow 
