344 MR. E. P. RAMSAY ON THE BIRDS OF [Apr. 17, 
240. TRIBONYX VENTRALIS. 
Tribonye ventralis, Gould, Handbk. B. Austr. ii. p. 325. 
I do not remember meeting with this species at Rockingham Bay ; 
but I have received specimens from Port Denison (where, at certain 
seasons, it appears to be plentiful), some miles inland. 
241. GALLINULA TENEBROSA. 
Gallinula tenebrosa, Gould, Handbk. B. Austr. ii. 328. 
Not so plentiful in any part of Queensland as in New South Wales. 
I found it, however, thinly distributed as far north as Rockingham 
Bay, in such situations as are preferred by the Porphyrio melanotus. 
242, GALLINULA RUFICRISSA. 
Gallinula ruficrissa, Gould, Suppl. Bds. Austr. vol. i. pl. 79. 
A specimen of this rare species was obtained a few miles from 
Brisbane, in 1873. 
I have also examined a skin obtained by Mr. A. Goldie at Port 
Moresby, New Guinea, the dimensions of which are as follows— 
total length 9°5 inches, wing 5:5, tail 2°5, tarsus 2, bill 1:2, middle 
toe 2, its nail 0°3, hind toe 0°75, its nail 0°35. The under tail- 
coverts are not so bright as in Mr. Gould’s figure; and the back is 
of a more uniform tint. 
243, PARRA GALLINACEA. 
Parra gallinucea, Gould’s Handbk. B. Austr, ii. p. 330. 
This Parra is tolerably abundant throughout the swampy regions 
which abound over the eastern portion of Queensland and north- 
eastern parts of New South Wales. I have obtained specimens as far 
south as the Clarence river in New South Wales, its most southern 
limit, and as far north as the Herbert river in the Rockingham-Bay 
district. It is found most plentiful in the Rockhampton district 
wherever the swamps and lagoons occur ; the leaves of the gigantic 
Nymphea and Nelumbium afford a safe retreat for this species. I 
know of few more interesting or more pleasing sights than a troop 
of this handsome Parra wandering among the bright blue and crimson 
blooms of the giant waterlilies which abound in almost every sheet 
of water of any extent in North-eastern Queensland. 
244, Hyror#NIDEA PHILIPPENSIS. 
Hypotenidea philippensis, Gould, Handbk. B. Austr. ii. p. 334. 
Universally dispersed over the whole of the Australian and South- 
Sea Islands, and particularly plentiful in the cane-fields of the sugar- 
growing districts of Queensland. 
I have before me a very interesting variety of this species from 
oue of the South Sea-Islands of the Fiji group which has the chin, 
throat, chest, and breast of a light ashy grey, with a few indistinct 
bars of slaty ash-colour or greyish slate on the chest and breast ; 
the abdomen and flanks are much the same as in ordinary individuals 
of the same species ; the bill is orange at the base of the lower man- 
