KUNGL. SV. VET. AKADEMIENS HANDLINGAR. BAND 52. N:o |7. 49 
the forehead and the eyebrows only a narrow white band; in some old specimens 
this band is extended over all the forehead and the ear-coverts. 
Moulting. — No specimen is in typical moulting, but to judge from the spe- 
cimens from Nooncanbah the season for the annual moulting is in Dec. and Jan. 
Ecological. — The white-fronted heron was common at »the billabongs>. 
I found its nest at Meda in Dec. It was built of twigs and situated high up in the 
top of an Eucalyptus. 
With regard to the S-shaped position of the neck, when the bird is flying, I 
have made the following notes. The first curvation is due to the perpendicular placing 
of the 4th cervical vertebra against the 5th one, and the second curvation through 
a similar position between the Sth and the 6th vertebrae. The gullet and the wind- 
pipe, however, do not have any part in this change. On account of the great quantity 
of föod that a heron can swallow, a corresponding position of the gullet would be 
disadvantageous, even impossible. Instead of that it crosses the 5th cervical vertebra 
and is placed on the back of the neck as far as the 13th cervical vertebra, so that 
it can remain straight or very little curved, and not get an S-shape like the neck. 
LB DJ 
——— = ) 
3 me 
9” — > 
Fig. 20. The position of the gullet and the wind-pipe by 
Notophoyx nove-hollandie (LATH.), when flying. 
Notophoyx pacifica LATH. 
Math. handl. n:r 205. SJ juv. Lower Leverynga, Fitzroy river !9/4 1911, moult.; & juv., 2 ad. Beagle 
bay, Dampier land 39/6, 4 1911. 
Juvenals. — In both of them the quill want maroon scapulars and maroon 
patches. The black spots on the throat are also developed on the elongated lower 
neck-feathers, where they are more brown. The top of the head greyish and the neck, 
too. Dull blackish on the back; the young female has a few glossy greenish feathers. 
Moulting. — The juvenal sS moults in April and the June-specimen (juv. 2) 
has glossy green feathers in developing. The old female of the 5th of July has a 
pretty, new dress. 
Was rather common both in Beagle bay and at Fitzroy river. 
Notophoyx aruensis GRAY. 
Math. handl. n:r 207. 9 juv. Beagle bay, Dampier land 2/7 1911. 
The specimen, a young female, has the head and neck not entirely white but 
tinged with greyish, especially the head; throat white. A small white spot at the 
K. Sv. Vet. Akad. Handl. Band 52. N:o 17. 7 
