AUSTRALASIAN CHANNEL-BILL. 379 



phastos, from which it principally differs in the 

 greater strength or stoutness of the bill, and in 

 having the tongue entire at the sides, and bifid at 

 the tip. 



The Australasian or New- Holland Channel-Bill 

 is nearly of the size of a Crow, and measures in 

 total length about seventeen inches, of which the 

 bill measures almost four inches. The general 

 proportions of the bird somewhat resemble those 

 of a Cuckow, but with a longer and more cune- 

 ated tail. The colour of the upper parts of the 

 body, wings, and tail is deep blueish ash-brown, 

 the tips of the feathers somewhat more intense 

 than the rest : the head, neck, and under parts of 

 the bird are of a pale grey or dove-colour : the 

 two middle tail-feathers have a black bar near the 

 tip, which is white : all the remaining tail-feathers 

 are ash-brown externally, but on the inner webs 

 are v/hite, crossed by numerous black bars, and 

 marked, like the middle ones, by a broader black 

 bar near the end, the tips being white : the eyes 

 and the nostrils are seated in a reddish naked 



. skin : the bill and legs are pale yellow; the former 

 marked on the upper mandible by a longitudinal 

 dusky streak or two, and on the lower by three or 



jfpur dusky bars near the base. 



This bird is a native of New-Halland, where it 

 is sometimes seen in small flocks, but more fre- 

 quently in pairs; frequenting trees, and uttering, 

 during flight, a loud, screaming noise, not unlike 

 the crowing of a cock. Its food appears to con- 

 sist of fruit and insects. 



