184 Mathews, Some New Australian Birds [,-\h"]\u 



Eudyptes serresianus, Oustalet. 



lu my '■ Birds of Australia " Foiguinits chrysocome was included 

 and ligured, no authentic Australian specimen being available. 

 When drawing up the " List of the Birds of New Zealand," in 

 conjunction with Iredale, more study had to be given to these 

 birds, and it was found that there was much confusion. After- 

 wards, coiitinued investigations showed peculiar results, which 

 have been fully developed in The Ibis. I give here the items 

 especially affecting the Australian avifauna. 



Examination of Forster's drawing, preserved in the British 

 Museum, proved that the first record from Tasmania was of the 

 species known as " pachyrhynchus." This suggested further 

 reference to Gould's " Birds of Australia," when plate 83 of 

 vol. vii. was seen to portray the latter species, though given under 

 the name " chrysocome." Gould wrote : — " For a fine example 

 of this singular Penguin I am indebted to my friend Ronald C. 

 Gunn, Esq., of Launceston, Van Diemen's Land, who informed 

 me that it had been washed on shore on the northern coast of 

 that island after a heavy gale." I at once wrote to Mr. Witmer 

 Stone, who is in charge of the Gouldian collection at Philadelphia, 

 and he courteously repHed (8th September, 1913) : — " We have 

 a single specimen from Tasmania marked as Eudyptes chrysocome, 

 type of Gould's ' Birds of Australia,' and which matches well 

 Gould's plate, so I have no doubt it is the specmien referred to 

 by him as the basis of the painting. The tufts are bleached almost 

 white from exposure to light, and from the beginning of the white 

 stripe on the lore to the end of the longest feather of the tuft 

 measures 4 inches ; the bill, from feathering at base to tip, 2 inches ; 

 depth through nostril, .90 inch : width at nostril, .56 inch ; width 

 at beginning of basal feathering, .86 inch ; tail, 4.15 inches ; wing 

 {i.e., from carpal joint to tip), 3.75 inches. The total length I 

 should judge to be 19 inches, but, as the specimen is mounted 

 and head bent, this is somewhat guesswork. I see I have 

 identified the specimen as pachyrhynchus .... many years 

 ago." 



It should be noted that Coues also so determined this specimen, 

 though he used the name chrysocome as equivalent to pachyrhynchus. 

 In the Rothschild Museum at Tring is a specimen labelled 

 " Hobart. Tasmania, 7/1/91, ex Mus. Dresser." This is alscj 

 referable to E. pachyrhynchus. 



Consequently, in my " List of the Birds of Australia " I replaced 

 the species chrysocome by pachyrhynchus. When I was in Australia, 

 however, I noted in the Macleay Museum a specimen of another 

 species, also from Hobart. The trustees acceded to my request, 

 and forwarded this specimen to the British Museum, so that it 

 could be accurately named. This necessitated a review of the 

 group, which was undertaken, with the result that the name of 

 the s]>ecies proved to be the one given at the head of the note. 

 The two s])3cies differ in the following features : — Eudyptes pachy- 

 i'hy)u/iiis is the larger bird, with dark blue upper coloration, and 



