Vol. XVI. 



I9I7 



] Mathews, Some Neiv Australian Birds. 183 



not increase by one, as it is necessary to eliminate Collocalia 

 esculenta. No authentic occurrence of this species in Australia 

 is at present known. The species was added on account of the 

 specimens in the British Museum, but these are " Cocke rell " 

 birds. No " Cocke rell " species can, in my opinion, be admitted 

 without confirmation. 



When I introduced C. f. yorki I wrote : — " Differs from C. /. 

 terrcB-regincB (Ramsay) in lacking the whitish rump, in being 

 darker below, and in having the bill bigger and broader." These 

 characters will suffice to determine any other Australian speci- 

 mens, but the legs should be carefully examined under a lens, 

 as there is a very closely allied species which has the tarsus 

 feathered on the outside. This might also occur in Australia, as 

 there is a specimen from Southern New Guinea in the British 

 Museum. As above noted, I will give fuller particulars in my 

 " Birds of Australia," where the present bird will be figured. 



Magnamytis dorothese. 



Barnard recorded {Emu, vol. xiii., p. 188, 1914) his " Search 

 for Amytornis woodwardi in the Northern Territory," and in 

 vol. xiv., p. 45 (1914), added a further note. 



In the Austral Avian Record, vol. ii., p. 99 (24th September, 

 1914), I sub-specifically separated these under the name Magna- 

 mytis woodwardi dorothece, writing: — "Differs from M. w. 

 woodwardi in its much smaller size and in lacking the black 

 feathers on the head, the head feathers having only a narrow 

 black line on each side of the white shaft. The co-type of M. 

 woodwardi measures — culmen 15, wing 78, tail 103, tarsus 26 mm. ; 

 M. w. dorothecB — culmen 12, wing 62, tail 86, tarsus 23 mm. 

 Type from Macarthur River, Gulf of Carpentaria, Northern 

 Territory ; collected on the 24th September, 1913. Range, 

 Northern Territory (east)." 



Recently, reconsideration of this group has convinced me that 

 the bird is specifically distinct, though it is certainly allied to M. 

 woodwardi and is referable to the genus Magnamytis. Thus it 

 agrees in bill characters, wing formula, feet, and tail with that 

 genus, and differs from Diaphorillas in the bill structure, though 

 approaching in its small size the latter genus. In M. woodwardi 

 the feathers of the sides of the lower breast are like those of the 

 top of the head, white centres and black edges ; these continue 

 across the loweV breast, fading into the deep red-brown of the 

 abdomen. In M. dorothecB these black-edged feathers are entirely 

 missing, the sides of the breast agreeing in coloration with the 

 abdomen, which is very pale buff. The mantle feathers are 

 reddish-brown, not black, with white centres, while the secondaries 

 show a broad reddish margin which is only seen as a very narrow 

 line in M. woodwardi. Further, the inner primaries of M. 

 dorothecB show the inner edges to be reddish, whereas this is 

 missing in M. woodwardi. The accumulation of all these differ- 

 ences compels the specfic distinction of M. dorothece. 



