40 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 



sheath without pellets." The fibrous structure is seen at once. 

 Dr. Hudson states that the tube of M. tuhicolaria " bears no 

 pellets at any time." While it is possible that, under some con- 

 ditions, the latter may make use of the ciliated cup, it has now 

 been so long known that such an occurrence must be extremely 

 rare not to have been seen or evidenced by structure left on the 

 gelatinous tube. Mr. Rousselet states that the tubes of M. tuhi- 

 colaria swell when placed in formalin to three times their original 

 length ; we have mounts of the new species put up for several 

 months in 2 per cent, formalin which show no enlargement 

 whatever. The structure of the tube, the use of the ciliated cup 

 and chin as a fibre-producing organ, together with the points of 

 difference in the body itself, appear to us to leave no doubt that 

 the species is distinct from those hitherto recorded. 



Finally, the specific characters may be stated as — lobes 

 when expanded three to four times the width of body ; ventral 

 antennae moderately long ; tube constructed of fibres formed 

 in the ciliated cup, and arranged radially. Dimensions. — 

 Length of animal (large specimen), i. mm. 



Description of Figures (much enlarged). 



Fig. I. Lateral view, showing animal only moderately extended. 

 The tube is seen in optical section— i.e., as it appears when the 

 microscope is focussed, not on the surface, but on the body of the 

 rotifer in the centre. 



Fig. 2. Ventral view. Amongst the other features this shows 

 the strong constriction between stomach and intestine when the 

 animal is not gorged with food. 



NOTES ON THE MAGPIES. 



By Robert Hall. 



{Read before the Field Naturalists^ Olub of Victoria, 10th April, 1899.) 



Under the sub-family Gymnorhinge of the Laniidai or " Crow- 

 Shrikes " there are thirteen species recorded for Australia and 

 Tasmania, but of these only four belong to the genus Gymnor- 

 hina — one of which, G. hyperleuca, occurs in Tasmania; a second, 

 G. dorsalis, in Western Australia ; while the remaining two, our 

 common magpies, are to be found widely distributed over the 

 Australian continent. It is with these two — the " Black-backed," 

 G. tibicen, and the " White-backed," G. leuconota — we are now 

 concerned, and even though it may seem strange, the former keeps 

 principally to the north of the Dividing Range and the latter to the 

 south, as far as concerns Victoria. Both species are to be found 

 in the interior (Horn Exp., 1896, Zool., p. 69 ; Ramsay, Tab. 

 List Aust. Birds, p. 41) and New South Wales, but only the 

 " Black-backed " is to be found in north-east Australia. 



