398 THE BIEDS OF AUSTRALIA 



and the ocular region bare, of a bluish-lead colour; the feathers of the 

 chest remarkable for their peculiar shape, the shafts ending in a small 

 white brush ; bill and feet leaden olive ; ' iris and eyelash nearly black. 

 Length 10 inches, wing 5.1. 



The Little Friar-bird. 



Philemon sordidus. 

 Northern Australia. 



Very similar to preceding, but smaller except in the bill, which is 

 more developed. Wing 4.54 to 4.68 inches. 



Familij Motacillidw. 

 Wing with nine primaries, the first fully developed and 

 usually very long. The inner secondaries nearly as long as the 

 primaries. No bastard primary. Nearly cosmopolitan. Wag- 

 tails and Pipits. 



Key to the Genera. 



Plumage uniform above, feet black, culmeu straigbt. Motacilla. 



Plumage mottled, lark-like, feet pale, culmen swollen. Anthus. 



Australia possesses but one Pipit {Anthus), while only a 

 single individual Wagtail {Motacilla) has been observed. 



Barnard's Wagtail. 



Motacilla iarnardi. 

 The single specimen was observed by Mr. H. G. Barnard at 

 Bindi, on the Dawson River, Queensland. In a letter to 

 Mr. North he says : " I send you a small bird I shot at Bindi on 

 the 10th June, 1905, which is new to me. When first seen it was 

 on the ground, and ran along like the Australian Pipit. During 

 flight the white feathers on each side of the tail were very con- 

 spicuous. It is the only one I have ever seen, and my attention 

 was attracted to it by its sharp whistling note." Mr. North 

 says that the bird was an adult male in perfect plumage. It 

 had a blackish narrow band across the forehead; a well pro- 

 nounced white superciliary stripe, the lores and feathers below 

 the eye black, the chin white, the throat yellow. Total length 6.15 

 inches, bill .5, wing 3.08, tarsus .9. The bird is closely allied 

 to the European M. borealis and M. cinereicapilla, and not to 



