130 Mr. W. B. Ogilvie-Grant 07i Birds 



Iris very dark brown ; bill and legs black. 

 Total length in the flesh 267 mm. ( = 10^ inches). 

 This perfectly distinct form was described by Sharpe in 

 1878 from specimens procured by D'Albertis on the Fly 

 River, and the type-specimens are preserved in the Grenoa 

 Museum. Since that date (r. si<JaZans has been frequently 

 confused with G. hoyeri Gray, though in his original descrip- 

 tion Sharpe clearly pointed out the marked differences 

 between the females of the two species, .the lores in G. sub- 

 alaris being bluish-grey like the sides of the head and throat, 

 whereas in G. hoyeri they are pure white. In 1879 and 1880 

 Sharpe received two male examples from Port Moresby 

 which he rightly referred to G. suhalaris, evidently noting 

 their paler under wing-coverts and axillaries, which con- 

 stitute the principal differences between that bird and 

 G. hoyeri. Messrs. Rothschild arid Hartert [N. Z. x. p, 204 

 (1903), and xix. p. 201 (1912)] referred specimens from 

 Kumusi River, Collingwood Bay, and Milne Bay to G. svh- 

 alaris, but those from the two first-named localities are 

 certainly typical G. boyeri,,vfh\\e those from Milne Bay, 

 where males only were procured, are almost as certainly 

 referable to G. subalaris, having paler cinnamon under 

 wing-coverts and axillaries. This caused their difficulty in 

 distinouishino- the two forms, and accounts for their statement 

 that G. suhalaris can " hardly even rank as a subspecies." 



There are no female examples of G. subalaris in the Tring 

 Museum. 



The range of the species seems to include the whole of 

 the south coast from the Mimika River to Mullin's Harbour 

 and Milrie Bay in the extreme south-east of New Guinea. 

 G. hoyeri ranges from the Arfak Peninsula along the north 

 coast to the Kumusi River and Collingwood Bay. 



The plate of G. strenua given by Gould [B. N. Guinea, ii. 

 pi, iii. (1876)] is evidently not of that species but represents 

 a male of G. hoyeri ; the text, however, refers to G. strenua 

 Schlegel, which is synonymous with G. cceruleogriseus Gray, 

 and also inhabits Western New Guinea. There is evidently 

 some mistake about the total length given, viz. 6*6 ins. ; 



