f 



26 THE AUSTRAL AVIAN RECORD [Vol. I 



My collector, Mr. J. P. Rogers, who is now collecting 

 on Melville Island, has already forwarded two large col- 

 lections, and, as was expected, the majority of the birds 

 are clearly different subspecies. As far as I can trace no 

 collector has ever yet worked Melville Island, and the 

 only specimen I can trace as having come from that 

 locality is one mentioned by Gould (Birds of Australia, 

 Vol. VI., PI. 13). The majority of the remaining new forms 

 included in this paper are due to the energy and enterprise 

 of Captain S. A. White, of Pulham, South Australia, who 

 is gratuitously giving up much of his time to the making 

 of collections in many unworked parts of South Australia. 

 These collections will be of the greatest help in working 

 on my Birds of Australia, and the skins so freely given 

 have already proved very valuable in that many of the 

 forms described by Gould, from material collected by 

 Captain S. A. White's father, have been rediscovered and 

 reinstated as valid subspecies. 



5a. Megapodius duperreyi melvillensis, subsp. n. 

 Melville Island Scrub-Fowl. 

 Differs from M . d. tumulus in its lighter upper coloration. 

 Type, Melville Island, Northern Territory, No. 11,313. 

 Range, Melville Island. 



16a. Coturnix australis melvilllensis, subsp. n. 

 Melville Island Brown Quail. 



Differs from C. a. cervina in its smaller size : wing 90 mm. 

 The upper mandible is also more slender. 



Type, Melville Island, Northern Territory, No. 10,724. 

 Range, Melville Island. 



16b. Coturnix australis queenslandicus, subsp. n. 

 Queensland Brown Quail. 



Differs from C. a. cervina in being decidedly more reddish 

 on the under-surface. It is larger than C. a. melvillensis : 

 wing 96 mm. 



Type, Cape York, North Queensland, No. 9,783. 



Range, Queensland. 



