REVISION OF THE GENUS MALURUS. 
in some of the white feathers of the upper back, and there are 
one or two white, or partially white, feathers evident in the blue 
of the crown and nape. In the series examined there are two 
specimens, collected on the same date, at Buckingay, New 
South Wales ; one is typical cyanotus, while the other approaches 
leuconotus in having the long feathers of the upper back white, 
or grayish white, broadly tipped blue, and the uppermost 
feathers of the lower back distinctly white tipped blue. In 
four other examples from further inland a limited amount of 
white is apparent on the upper surface apart from the scapulars 
and innermost secondaries. In view of the foregoing, it appears 
to me evident that there is only one species ; specimens having 
the back entirely or partially white are merely evidence of pro- 
nounced variation within the species. A further extreme 
example is the single male for which H. L. White proposed the 
name diamantina. It is one of a number of specimens from 
various localities which exhibit a “bleached” appearance to a 
varying degree. The other forms named are based apparently 
on individual variation. M. leuconotus perplexus was described 
when Mathews accepted two distinct species, and it must have 
been based on a specimen having the back blue (M. cyanotus), 
not white (M. leuconotus). Unfortunately, the name leuconotus 
has priority over the much more suitable cyanotus. 
10 Malurus ( Hallornis ) leuconotus ; 11 Malurus ( H .) leucopterus ; 
12 Malurus (H.) melanocephalus melanocephalus ; 12a M.(H.) m- 
pyrrhonotus; 12b M.(H.) m. cruentatus. 
[119 j 
