^6 Campbell, Victorian Sericornes. [.^t "j^iy 



species— one of browner plumage, inhabiting only the mountainous 

 portions of the State ; and the other a common species, being found 

 throughout in the more open country. 



When specimens are examined they tahy exactly with those 

 described by John Gould as 5. frontalis and 5. osculans respectively. 

 That illustrious naturalist had eyes for a specific difference which 

 others of later day have been dull to see. It is this — 5. osculans, 

 he states, has an obscure dark subterminal band to the outer 

 feathers of the tail. Note the adjective " obscure," for the word 

 exactly describes the character. On spreading out the tail feathers 

 between the fingers the dark band may be distinguished, particularly 

 on the inner webs of the outer feathers. Now there is one specimen 

 of Sericornis that never shows this character, and it is the bird 

 obtained from what constitutes the Lyre-Bird country— the deep 

 mountain recesses of Dandenong and Healesville Ranges, of 

 Macedon, Upper Yarra, and Baw Baw, and of like localities in the 

 Alps and in Gippsland. This is, I take it, S. frontalis of Gould. 

 The difference in the two species is a nice one, but reliable. I may 

 add that the following simple key is also to be relied upon : — 



Head and back rich brown colour, similar to rump and tail. 



S. frontalis. 

 Head and back olive colour, not like rump, which is brown. 



5. osculans. 



The following is the key to the whole of the genus in Australia * : — 



I. — General colour grey ; lores white ; throat rufous in male. 



S. hrunnea. 

 II. — General colour brownish ; lores black, slaty, or tawny. 



A. — Shoulder feathers edged white ; lores black (male), or slaty 

 (female). 



1. White tips to outer tail feathers and dark subterminal 

 j band. 



{a.) Forehead black ; throat white, barely spotted. 

 I 5. Icevigastra. 



[b.) Forehead brown, like crown ; throat thickly 

 spotted. S. maculaia. 



2. No white to outer tail feathers ; tail band obscure or 



absent. 

 {a.) Obscure subterminal band on outer tail feathers ; 

 head and back olive, dissimilar to rump. 

 Upper throat white ; abdomen whitish ; fianks 

 brown ; legs light brown. 5. osculans. 



Upper throat speckled like lower ; abdomen and 

 fianks olive ; legs dark brown, 5. humilis. 

 {b.) No dark subterminal band on tail. 



Broad black crescent on lower throat ; wing, 

 2.4 inches. S. gutiuralis.i 



* For localities see Mathews' " Handlist," Suppl. £mii, vol. vii. 

 t — Oreoscopus gutturalis. 



