Vol. xxiii.] 72 



Mr. W. E/. Ogilvie-Grant contributed descriptions of 

 three new species of birds from West Australia. These 

 formed part of a large and extremely valuable collection of 

 birds which had recently been presented to the British 

 Museum by Mr. W. E. Balston. The specimens had been 

 collected by Mr. G. C. Shortridge. 



Malurus bernieri, sp. n. 



Adult male. Nearly allied to M. assimilis, North, but the 

 feathers round the eye and the ear-coverts are bright 

 purplish-blue (not bright cobalt-blue) and contrast but little 

 with the darker purple-blue colour of the crown, which is 

 the same in both species. Bill black. Wing 1*8 inch. 



Adult female. Indistinguishable from the female ofM. lam- 

 herti. Iris dark brown ; bill light chestnut ; legs dark 

 cinnamon-brown. 



Hab. Bernier Island, Carnarvon, W. Australia. 



Sericornis balstoni, sp. n. 



Adult male and female (in worn plumage). General colour 

 above, including the sides of the head, pale greyish-brown, 

 almost drab. A distinct white superciliary stripe narrowly 

 edged above with brownish-black, and extending from the 

 lores to behind the eyes ; lores blackish in the male, whitish 

 in the female. Underparts white, the throat- and breast- 

 feathers with brownish-black shaft-streaks ; sides of the 

 belly and flanks slightly washed with buff"; quills brownish 

 with pale margins to the outer webs ; wing-coverts 

 blackish-brown, margined with white when freshly moulted ; 

 under wing-coverts white; tail-feathers dark grey, with 

 a black subterminal band and tipped with white. Iris 

 yellowish-white; bill pinkish-cinnamon-brown, darker along 

 the culmen ; legs pinkish-cinnamon. 



Male. Total length ca. 4'4 inches ; culmen from gape 0*65 ; 

 wing 2"05 ; tail 1'8 ; tarsus 0*8. 



Female. Total length ca. 4'2 inches ; culmen from gape 

 0*6; wing 1*85; tail 165 ; tarsus 0*78. 



Hab. Bernier Island, Carnarvon, W. Australia. 



