ASHBY — Notes on Birds collected near Fine Greek, N.T. 69 



greenish metallic sheen on the mantle, whereas the mantle of 

 the southern form is dead black or greyish black. 



Micro-philemon orientalis sordMus, Gld. — Little friar bird. — 

 The first batch of skins from Pine Creek contained two speci- 

 mens of this species, one in the immature plumage showing the 

 golden yellow collar and yellow throat. The other shows none 

 of these features. In the second batch of skins was a single 

 specimen collected months later which is a larger bird. _ On 

 comparison with specimens from North-western Australia I 

 find it identical with that sub-species Micro-philemon orientalis 

 occidentalis, Ram. (Western yellow-throated friar bird). Ap- 

 parently the two sub-species overlap at certain seasons of the 

 year at Pine Creek, or it may be that they are inseparable, and 

 Ramsay's sub-species may have to be dropped. 



Meliphaga sonora cooperi. Mat. — Northern singing honey- 

 eater. — The four specimens received are identical with the 

 specimens in the Adelaide Museum received from Melville 

 Island. The bird is smaller and more slender and the bill 

 narrower than the allied sub-species from S.A. or W.A., also 

 the colouration of the crown and back is paler — a grey-brown 

 rather than a brown. 



Cissomela pectoralis, Gld. — Banded honey-eater. — I received 

 in all eight specimens of this interesting little honey-eater. The 

 series is a very interesting one. While in the adult specimens 

 there is not the slightest indication of yellow ear coverts some 

 of the immature ones have them bright yellow. In some the 

 whole of the back and part of the head and wings is cinnamon 

 coloured, others have the mantle only of that colour sprinkled 

 with well defined black dashes. Again others have only a few 

 cinnamon blotches in the normal black ground colour of the 

 back, another has none of these cinnamon markings — the 

 crown of the head, nape, back wings, and tail being uniformly 

 black except a narrow edge of white margins on the tips of the 

 wing feathers, the underside pure white with black pectoral 

 band. The black pectoral band is present in all the specimens. 



Stigmatops indistincta media, Mat. — Wyndham least honey- 

 eater. — I received one specimen of this species from Pine Creek. 

 It differs from specimens received from the coast (Stigmatops 

 indistincta melvillensis, Mat.) in being much paler both on the 

 upper and under sides, the breast, instead of being of the 

 dark-brown of the coastal species, is as pale as the abdomen. 



