MATHEWS— Birch of North and North-West Australia. 205 



The breeding adult has a narrow band of green round 

 the eye, all the rest of the face including the bases of the rami 

 of the lower jaw is bright orange; bill, mottled horn colour; 

 lower mandible somewhat darker. I had previously thought 

 that the stage described by me (S.A. Ornithologist, Vol. iii., 

 p. 77), was the breeding plumage. That colouration is pro- 

 bably the. adult non-breeding plumage, or possibly a prelude 

 to the breeding plumage. The occurrence of the black 

 feathers on the breast of the young of both the little 

 pied and orange faced birds is of phylo-genetic interest as 

 indicating their descent from an all black ancestor. 



Birds of the 

 North and North-West of Australia. 



From Skins and Notes by the late Capt. T. H. Bowyer-Bower. 

 By Gregory M. Mathews, F.R.S.E., F.L.S., M.B.O.F., etc. 



No. 15. 



251. Whitlocka yielanura melanura. Black-tailed Tree 



Creeper. 



Climacteris melanura (Gould). Proc. Zool. Soc. Loud., 1842, 

 p. 138, 1843. Derby, North-west Australia. 



No. 160— 5 . Length, 6.6 inches (21/6/86). 



Irides dark brown; bill, legs, and feet black. 



Thinly dispersed through the country, generally seen 

 singly or in pairs, which appear to keep at some distance from 

 each other. They utter a very shrill harsh note when on the 

 tree, and also just before flying. It never flies far, but alights 

 in another tree about 20 yards off, clinging to the trunk and 

 working upwards examining all the cracks and nooks for in- 

 sects. 



No. 187— $ . Length, 6.7 inches (26/6/86). ■ 



No. 207— $ . Length, 6.6 inches (29/6/86). 



No. 208— $ . Length, 7.2 inches, (29/6/86). 



No. 237— $ . Length, 7 inches (13/7/86). 



No. 239— 8 . Length, 7.2 inches (13/7/86)". 



No. 369— 5 . Length, 6.9 inches (26/9/86). 

 255. Austrgdicaetjm hirundinaceum tormenti. Western 



Mistletoe Bird. 



Dicaeum hirundinaceum tormenti (Mathews). Nov. Zool., 

 Vol. XVIII., p. 387, 1912. Point Torment, North-west Aus- 

 tralia. - i 



