Mr. W. R. Ogilvie-Grant on the Genus Tiirnix. 473 



wliite bars are the females, while the smaller ones (wing 

 4-4-1) witli brown or greyish foreheads, white chins, and 

 whitish breasts with subterrainal transverse Y-shaped black 

 marks on each feather are the males. 



But of course this is quite uncertain and cannot be decided 

 till we are able to obtain properly sexed specimens, though 

 I have no doubt that my theory is correct. 



Mr. Ramsay,, in his tabular list of Australian birds, gives 

 the range of this species as being from Wide Bay to New 

 South Wales. 



20. TuRNix VARius (Lath.). 



(1802.) Perdix varius, Latham, Lid. Orii. Suppl. ii. p. 283. 



(1845.) Hemipodius scintillans, Gould, P. Z. S. pt. xiii. 

 p. G2. 



(1848.) Hetnipodlus variu^t, Gould, Birds of Austr. v. pi. 

 82, with text. 



(1848.) Hemipodius scintillans, Gould, Birds of Austr. v. 

 pi. 83. 



Although we possess a very fair series of this species, 

 unfortuuately only a few of the specimens are either sexed 

 or dated ; yet on examination certain facts are clear enough 

 and easily deducted. In the first place the species iJ. scintil- 

 lans, described and figured by Mr. Gould from East and West 

 Wallaby Islands of the Houtman's Abrolhos group on the 

 west coast of Australia, is nothing more nor less than the 

 male of T. varius, and what he figures and describes as 

 H. varius is the female of that species. 



Mr. E. P. Ramsay follows Mr. Gould and, as regards 

 the geographical distribution of these two so-called species in 

 his 'Tabular List of all the Australian Birds ^ p. 18, states 

 that T. scintillans inhabits South, West, and North Australia, 

 while T. varius is found from Rockingham Bay to Tas- 

 mania. 



The fact is that this species is found all round Australia 

 and in Tasmania in suitable localities, such as dry stony hills 

 and barren sandy islands, and in spite of its wide distribution 

 shows little or no variation in its plumage in examples of the 



SER. VI. VOL. I. 2 I 



