1879.] MR. W. A. FORBES ON THE GENUS MYZOMELA. 275 



Genoa Museum, described above, has only a trace of red on the 

 throat, and is probably a bird of the year. The varied colouring of 

 each feather gives a somewhat flammulated appearance to the head, 

 back, and chest of the young and females. 



25. Myzomela nigra. 



Myzomela nigra, Gould, B. A. iv. pi. 6G ; id. Handb. B. A. i. 

 p. 558 [nee Cissomela niffra, Bon. C. R. xxxviii. p. 261 (1854)1. 



c? capite, dorso, uropygioque cum pectore superiore et Unea media 

 abdominali nigris ; lateribus abdominis, ventre et subcaudalibus 

 albis ; alis, subalaribus caudaque brunneis ; rostro j^edibusque 

 nigris. Long, alee 2v, caudal 1*7, rostri "fio, tarsi -5 {poll. 

 AngL). 

 2 supra hrunnea, subtus albida, mento, gala et pectore fusco 

 variegatis ; stria superciliari et remigum margine interna albidis. 

 Hob. in Australia. 



This species, which differs somewhat in coloration from the other 

 members of the group, has a wide range over Australia. Gould 

 found it on the plains of the Namoi; and Gilbert met with it in 

 "Western Australia on the Swan River. Mr. Ramsay, in addition, 

 marks it in his list from the Port-Darwin district, from the interior, 

 Victoria, and S. Australia. 



26. Myzomela pectoralis. 



Myzomela pectoralis, Gould, P. Z. S. 1840, p. 170; id. B. A. iv. 

 pi. 65 ; id. Handb. B. A. i. p. 557. 



Cissomela nigra, Bon. (nee Gould), C. R. xxxviii. p. 265(1854). 



c? ad. niger, uropygio, mento, gutture et corpore subtus albis, 

 pectore fascia angusta nigra transversim notato ; rostro pedi- 

 Inisque nigris. 



$ {aut jr.) dorso medio castaneo-brunneo diversa. 



Long, tola 4-5, al. 2^, caud. ]|, rostr. ^, tars. |- (ijoll. AngL). 



Hab. in Australia septentrionali. 



This Myzomela, which in its black-and-white coloration departs 

 considerably from the general coloration of the group, is confined to 

 the more northern parts of Australia. Gould's original specimens 

 were from the N.W. coast. Mr. Ramsay in his list records it from 

 Ports Darwin and Essington, the Gulf of Carpentaria, Cape York, 

 and Rockingham Bay. 



It is not as yet ascertained with certainty whether the chestnut- 

 backed birds are the adult females, or merely the young, of thia 

 species. 



Besides the above 2(3 species, which are all founded on actual 

 specimens, and which are here recognized as valid, there remains the 

 following, based on a figure of one of the older authors, but never 

 yet again met with, which may or may not be a real bird. This is 



IS* 



