PTILONOEITYNCHUS llAWNSLEYI. 



(Hawnsleif s Satm Bird.) 



Head, throat, neck, chest, abdomen, back, upper and under tail coverts, rich glossy bluish black; wing coverts and spurious wing, jet black, 

 edged with the former color ; primaries, black, with the exception of a small portion of the outer webs, and a large portion of the inner webs 

 near the base, which are of a bright yellow color ; the secondaries are brilliant orange for the greater part of their length, their basal portions 

 being edged with black, and have a large rounded or oval patch of black near their tips ; a narrow stripe of deep orange runs in a wavy form 

 through the centre of the outer webs of the tertiaries, the inner webs being wholly black; the two middle feathers of tail, jet black, the 

 remainder, the same, slightly tipped with golden brown ; feet, olive black ; bill, the same, but lighter at the tip ; irides, greenish blue. 



Length, Hi inches ; wing, 6 ; tail, 4 ; tarsus, li ; bill, 1^. 



This splendid new species must be regarded as a most interesting addition to the avifauna of Queensland. The strong resem- 

 blance in its coloring to the common Satin Bird, and also the Eegent Bird, might lead to the suspicion of its being a hybrid, but the important 

 testimony of A. C. Grregory, Esq., the explorer, and now Survey or- Greneral of Queensland, will have much weight in assisting the naturahst to 

 a right conclusion. The specimen from which my figure is taken was submitted to the inspection of that gentleman, who immediately 

 recognised it as a species seen by him on his route from the Gulf of Carpentaria to Moreton Bay, about the month of October, 1856. The 

 locality was the Suttor River, a branch of the Burdekin. Mr. Gregory always took considerable trouble to distinguish the different notes of 

 birds and cries of bush animals, knowing that the natives frequently use them for their own purposes as decoy notes or signals of communica- 

 tion ; and his attention was drawn to the present species from its peculiar note, which was a prolonged " o-hoo " several times very distinctly 

 repeated, the same being in the minor key, giving it a very plaintive character. Mr. Gregory states that he had an excellent opportunity of 

 observing its plumage, and cannot possibly be mistaken; and that, on mentioning the circumstance to Mr. Elsey, the surgeon and naturalist 

 attached to his party, it became a matter of discussion between them as to whether it ought to be placed in the genus Ptilonorhynchus or 

 Sericulus. The country in which it was seen was an open box flat, with brigalow scrubs in the neighborhood. The present specimen was 

 obtained by H. C. Eawnsley, Esq., in the scrub behind his house, at Witton, on the River Brisbane, a few miles from the city, on the 14th 

 July, 1867. As a naturalist possessing a large acquaintance with Australian oi-nithology, I have much pleasure in dedicating this bird to him. 



