SERICULUS MELINUS {Lath.). 
Regent Bird. 
Yellow-bellied Thrush, Lath. Gen. Syn. Suppl. ii. p. 187 (1801). 
Turdus melinus, Lath. Inch Orn. Suppl. ii. p. xliv (1801).— Vieill. N. Diet. d’Hist. Nat. xx. p. 243 (1818).— 
Id. Enc. Meth. ii. p. 647 (1822). 
Meliphaga chrysocephalci, Lewin, Birds of New Holland, p. 10, pi. 6 (1808). 
Turdus mellinus, Steph. in Shaw’s Gen. Zool. x. p. 240 (1817). 
Golden-crowned Honey-eater, Lath. Gen. Hist. iv. p. 184 (1822). 
Oriolus regens, Quoy et Gaim. Yoy. Uranie, p. 105, pi. xxii. (1824). — Tetrnn. PI. Col. ii. pi. 320 (1825). 
Wagl. Syst. Av., Oriolus, sp. 2 (1827). 
Sericulus chrysocephalus, Swains. Zool. Journ. i. p. 478 (1825).— Vig. & Horsf. Trans. Linn. Soc. xv. p. 326 
(1826).— Steph. in Shaw’s Gen. Zool. xiv. p. 266 (1826).— Jard. & Selby, 111. Orn. i. pis. xviii., xix., xx. 
(1827). — Less. Traite d’Orn. p. 340 (1831). — Swains. Classif. B. ii. p. 237 (1837). Gould, B. Austr. 
iv. pi. 12 (1847). 
Sericulus regens, Less. Yoy. Coquille, Zool. i. p. 640, pi. 20 (1826).— Id. Man. Orn. i. p. 256 (1828).-Id. Ois. 
Parad., Syn. p. 21. — Id. Hist. Ois. Paracl. pis. 26, 27 (1835). 
Sericulus magnirostris, Gould, P. Z. S. 1837, p. 145. 
Sericulus mellinus, Gray, Gen. B. i. p. 233 (1845).— Bp. Consp. Av. i. p. 349 (1850). 
Sericulus melinus, Gould, Handb. B. Austr. i. p. 456 (1865). — -Ramsay, Ibis, 1866, pp. 325, 330. Schl. Mus. 
Pays-Bas, Coi’aces, p. 99 (1867). — Ramsay, Ibis, 1867, pp. 415, 456. Gray, PIand-1. B. i. p. 293, no. 4333 
(1869). — Elliot, Monogr. Parad. pi. xxxii. (1873). — Ramsay, Proc. Linn. Soc. N. S. W. ii. p. 188 
(1878). — Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. vi. (1881). — Ramsay, Proc. Linn. Soc. N. S. W. (2) i. p. 1138, 
pi. xix, tig. 4 (1887).— North, t, c. pp. 1160, 1173.— Ramsay, Tab. List Austr. B. p. 11 (1888). — 
North, Proc. Linn. Soc. N. S. W. (2) iii. p. 1780 (1889).— Id. Nests & Eggs Austr. B. p. 181 (1889).— 
Id. Proc. Linn. Soc. N. S. W. (2) v. p. 507 (1891).— Campbell, Proc. R. Soc. Victoria, new ser. v. 
p. 128 (1893).— Sharpe, Bull. Brit. Orn. Club, iv. p. xiv (1894). 
This splendid Bovver-bird is one of the best known ot the whole family, as it is one of the finest and most 
conspicuous species. It appears to be strictly confined to Eastern Australia, where Dr. Ramsay gives its range 
as New South Wales, and the Wide Bay, Richmond, and Clarence river districts. Mr. Gould’s experience 
of the distribution of the species was as follows : — “ It is occasionally seen in the neighbourhood ot 
Sydney, which appears to be the extent of its range to the southward and westward. I met with it in the 
brushes at Maitland in company with, and feeding on the same trees as, the Satin- and Cat-Birds, as well as 
the Green Oriole ( Mimeta viridis ). It is still more abundant on the Manning, at hort Macquarrie, and at 
Moreton Bay. I sought for and made every inquiry for it at Illawarra, but did not meet with it, and was 
informed that it was never seen there ; yet the district is precisely similar in character to those in which it is 
abundant, about two degrees to the eastward. While encamped on Mosquito Island, near the mouth of the 
River Hunter, I shot several, and observed it to be numerous on the neighbouring islands, particularly 
Baker’s Island, where there is a fine garden, and where it commits serious injury to the fruit-crops.” 
Mr. A. J. Campbell has recorded a specimen from Duaringa, near the Fitzroy River, and he believes this 
to be the most northern range of the species. 
Everywhere it appears to be the case that the males in full plumage are much more shy and difficult to 
procure, while the females and young males are not only much tamer, but are very much more plentiful. 
Mr. Gould never succeeded in obtaining a nest of the Regent Bird ; but the nest was found at Moreton Bay 
by Mr. F. Strange, wbo described it as “ rudely constructed of sticks, no other material being employed, not 
even a few roots as a lining.” Dr. E. P. Ramsay found a nest at Taranya Creek, in the Richmond River 
district, built in a cluster of “Lawyer Vines ” (Calamus australis). In shape the nest was like that of 
Collyriocincla harmonica, and composed of twigs, mosses, leaves, &c., about five inches across by three deep. 
The bower was first described by Mr. C. Coxen, who received the details from Mr. Waller, of Brisbane, 
a well-known Australian naturalist and collector. While shooting in a scrub on the banks of the Brisbane 
River, Air. Waller saw a male Regent Bird “ playing on the ground, jumping up and down, puffing out its 
feathers, and rolling about in a very odd manner, which occasioned much surprise, as he had never seen 
the bird on the ground before. The spot where it was playing was thickly covered with small shrubs, and 
