110 Mr. W. R. Ogilvie-Grant on Birds 



with brown backs and white underparts he regarded as 

 representing a distinct species, 3i. lorentzi. 



In the Tring Museum there are eight adult specimens 



collected at Takar in North New Guinea by W. Doherty, 



three marked ^ and five ? : all are black, but those marked 



? are duller and less glossy. There is also a nestling in 



first plumage which is sooty-black. 



In the whole of our large series the black birds, fourteen 

 in number, are without exception males, while of those with 

 brown upperparts and white underparts, fifteen in number, 

 eleven are females and four are males, three being in eclipse- 

 plumage and one (No. 24) in first plumage. In at least 

 four instances black males were shot in company with one 

 or two brown and white females, and there can be no doubt 

 that they are males and females of the same species. 



Again, in the smaller race, M. a. naimii, there is an adult 

 male from the Aroa River moulting from a white breast 

 into a black one, that is, from the eclipse-plumage to the 

 breeding-plumage. 



It would therefore seem that the birds collected by Doherty 

 at Takar in North New Guinea represent a distinct form 

 in which the female is black like the male, but is duller and 

 less glossy ; and the nestling is sooty-black. Whether this 

 bird with the black female is the typical M. alhoscapulatus 

 or not, I am unable to say, not having been able to examine 

 or find a description of a female from Arfak. If the female 

 of the Arfak bird is black, then our series from Southern 

 New Guinea is not M. alhoscapulatus and must stand as 

 M. lorentzi van Oort, which was based on males in eclipse- 

 plumage and females. 



"The Pied Wren -Warbler was a fairly common bird, 

 especially near Wakatimi, frequenting the long grass and 

 reeds, along the stony river-beds or the more or less open 

 banks of the rivers. It was usually observed in smnll 

 parties, and in its habits and actions is very similar to the 

 species of Cisticola and Prinia. It was a delightful little 

 bird, very tame^ and might constantly be seen crossing the 

 open spaces with an undulating flight. Its note is short and 

 rather sharp." — C. H. B. G. 



