The Emu. 
27 
According to The Ibis (July, 1901) the specimens of birds 
collected by the Governor of New Zealand (the Earl of Ranfurly) 
during various trips to the outlying southern islands have been 
received at the British Museum. Although the birds were 
merely preserved in formalin, successful skins were made. 
Besides two Southern Mergansers (Mergus australis) and the 
Flightless Duck (Nesonetta aiicklandica), there are specimens of 
a new Cormorant yP Jialacrocor ax ranfurly i) — named in honour of 
His Excellency — and of other rare birds. 
* * * 
The Victorian Naturalist — the organ of the Field Naturalists' 
Club of Victoria — has the distinction of having published more 
matter in ornithology and oology than any other Australian 
magazine. The issues for July, August, and September (1901) 
contain a series of field notes by Dr. Wm. Macgillivray on 
" Some North-West Queensland Birds." The notes, although 
more or less brief, are sufficiently succinct, and many are quite 
new. Through the instrumentality of the Doctor and his brother, 
Mr. A. S. Macgillivray, two new birds from the district in ques- 
tion have been described by Mr. A. J. North, of the Australian 
Museum — namely, Ptiloiis leilavalensis and Barnardius macgilli- 
vrayi. 
In the August number Mr. Robt. Hall has described a 
distinctly new and interesting Owlet Nightjar, which he has 
called the Rufous — y^s^otJieles rufescens. Its characteristic name 
adequately describes the creature. In the September number 
he also describes a new Pseudogerygone — P. tenebrosa, or the 
Dusky Fly-eater. This little bird, on account of its sombre- 
coloured tail and general unassuming dress, and by having the 
least conspicuous markings, is distinguished from the other known 
members of its genus. It is noticeable of late that Australian 
authors in describing new birds also coin an appropriate ver- 
nacular name for the species — a distinct step towards popularizing 
ornithology. Under " New Nests and Eggs," Mr. Hall furnishes 
descriptions of the nest of the Yellow-tinted Honey-eater 
{P. flavescens) and the nest and eggs of the recently described 
Rufous Bush Lark {Mirafra zvoodwardi, Milligan). Mr. Hall 
acknowledges his indebtedness to Mr. J. P. Rogers, who collected 
all the above-mentioned material in North-Western Australia. 
Regarding M. zvoodwardi, some ornithologists {Naturalist, p. 
70), without having seen the type, hint that the bird is possibly 
the well-known horsfieldi. The authority, and not his critics, is 
responsible for the naming of the new species. Mr. Milligan is 
starting in a new and comparatively unexplored field. Whatever 
ornithologists do, let them not discourage one another. 
* * * 
Mr. Thomas Carter, in The Zoologist for July last, contri- 
butes an exceedingly interesting and chatty chapter on " Notes 
from Point Cloates, N.W. Australia." A favourable rainfall had 
