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white tips to the rectrices only half as wide, and the middle 
of the lower breast and upper part of the abdomen not 
white to the base, but brown with wide white tips. The 
colour of the upperside is also lighter than in R. leucothoraxr 
and almost as pale as in threnothorax. The wing is slightly 
longer than in both the latter species, measuring 87 mm. 
This bird may either be a new species, or a hybrid 
between R. leucothorax and R. threnothorax, having the 
white throat and paler back of the latter, white in the 
middle of the breast and abdomen and to the tips of 
the rectrices as in the former. Both species occur together 
in many parts of New Guinea. 
Rhipidura fumosa Schlegel is evidently a third species 
found on Jobi Island, and so far only known from the 
type in the Leyden Museum. Sharpe was clearly wrong 
in considering it to be the young of threnothorax. Cf. 
Salvadori, Orn. Pap. 11. p. 56 (1881); also Ogilvie-Grant, 
Ibis, Suppl. 2, p. 150 (1915). 
Dr. Exnst Harrert communicated the following notes 
on various species of Rhipidura:— 
In ‘ Novitates Zoclogice,’ 19038, p. 242, I united certain 
Rhipidure from the northern South-East Islands—i. e. from 
the Key Islands and the islands of the Tiandu group (Taam, 
Koer and Kilsoein, or Kur and Kilsuin) and the Watubela 
group (Kisoei or Kisui and Teoor, cf. Nov. Zool. 1901, 
pp. 1, 2)—under the name of Rhipidura setosa assimilis. 
T am, however, now of opinion that assimilis, setosa, tenkatei, 
pullidiceps, biittikofert, hoedti, bouruensis, obiensis, gularis, 
cinerea, vidua, kordensis, lenzi, niveiventris, isura, and nigro- 
mentalis are representative subspecies of Rhipidura rufiventris 
Vieill. 1818, which is the oldest name. With regard to most 
of these forms, Stresemann (Nov. Zool. 1914, p. 130) has 
already come to the same conclusion. Moreover, what I 
called fifteen years ago R. setosa assimilis is not a uniform 
group, but is separable into three subspecies :— 
1. Rhipidura rufiventris assimilis Gray: Key Islands.— 
