Vol 



19 



|-^/'"] Campbell, New Birds for Australia. IQ 



New Birds for Australia. 

 By A. J. Campbell, Col. Mem. B.O.U., Melbourne. 



{Published in " Bulletin No. 3 " of the R.A.O.U., 2 1/5/ 12.) 



Mr. H. L. White, of Belltrees, New South Wales, has been good 

 enough to send for examination and exhibition a small parcel of 

 northern skins, among which three may be separated as new, 

 namely : — 



(1) Ptilonorhynchus minor (Lesser Satin Bower-Bird). 



The discovery of a second but smaller species of the familiar 

 Satin Bower-Bird is of considerable interest to ornithologists. 



The new bird is from that rich region the Herberton Range 

 (the peculiar home of such novelties as Scenopceetes and Priono- 

 duni), and is about half the bulk of its more southern representa- 

 tive, P. violaceus. Two mature males secured possess the same 

 lustrous, deep blue-black plumage as that of the larger Satin 

 Bower-Bird. 



The following are the comparative dimensions in inches of the 

 two birds : — 



P. violaceus — Length, 13 ; wing, 6.5 ; tail, 5 ; tarsus, 2 ; culmen, 0.9. 



P. minor— „ 10.5; „ 5.75; ,,4; „ 1.75; „ 0.8. 



Mr. White describes the eggs of P. minor in the pages of this 

 Bulletin, while the description of the female and further informa- 

 tion concerning this species will be awaited with interest. 



(2) Ptilotis carpentariensis (Gulf Honey-eater). 



Dr. E. P. Ramsay, in his " Tabular List of Australian Birds " 

 (1888), indicates P. cratitia for Port Darwin and Gulf of Car- 

 pentaria districts. Mr. A. J. North, in a more recent work 

 (" Special Catalogue No. i " of the Australian Museum), does not 

 mention either of those districts for P. cratitia. 



However, in the collection abo\'e mentioned is a Ptilotis from 

 Burketown resembling cratitia, but its general colouration is more 

 yellow, especially the margins of the primaries and tail feathers, 

 about the gape, &c., while the dark mark across the face is 

 brownish instead of dull black. 



There is no collector's note on the label of the specimen to 

 indicate what was the colour of the naked flesh at the gape in the 

 living bird, which in P. cratitia is lilac. 



As the bird was collected near the shores of the Gulf of Carpen- 

 taria, the name Ptilotis carpentariensis is suggested for it. 



(3) Ptilotis sub-chrysops (Lesser Yellow-faced Honey-eater). 



Attention has been more than once drawn to the smaller variety 

 of P. chrysofs frequenting the coastal scrubs of Northern Queens- 

 land, notably the Cooktown district. 



Although northern and southern birds are similar, except 'for 

 size, it is feasible to suppose that P. chrysops, frequenting, say, the 



