THE BIEDS OF AUSTRALIA. 
Norfolk Island indicated a species different from 0. neglecta, and certainly more 
from O. montana Hull, and decided that examination of Dr. Metcalfe’s specimens 
would settle that point. After much search I have been able to discover the 
destination of the two specimens obtained by Dr. Metcalfe, both of which 
passed into the possession of Dr. Crowfoot, and through the generosity of that 
gentleman I have received one of these. This bird has nothing to do with 
P. melano'pus Gmelin, but is a close ally of P. neglecta Schlegel, an altogether 
different species. 
As Godman suggested, P. melano'pus Gmelin is very closely allied to P. mae- 
roptera Smith, but not by its dark plumage as considered by him, following 
Reichenow, but by it heavy bill, long wings, square-cut primaries, etc., and 
when subgenera are used must be placed in the typical subgenus. P. neglecta 
has a much weaker bill, and the Norfolk Island specimen has a bill considerably 
slighter than the typical specimens of P. neglecta. 
Whether P. melanopus still breeds on Norfolk Island remains undecided, 
but it may well be that the persistent persecution of the early colonists forced 
them to abandon that island, and take refuge on Lord Howe Island instead. 
What we now know is that Dr. Metcalfe’s bird was not P. melanopus Gmelin, and 
that no recent specimen of the latter species is known from Norfolk Island, 
though the bird breeding now on Lord Howe Island is undoubtedly the same as 
the one that formerly bred on the former island. 
My Plate is drawn from the type-specimen of 0. monta'na Hull, whose 
description I here reproduce for comparison with mine taken from the type 
P. solandri Gould : — 
General colour above slate, feathers of the back broadly margined with darker, shafts 
darker ; feathers of the crown of the head brown, each with a narrow subterminal grey band ; 
forehead brown, the sides of the feathers broadly margined with white ; lores, feathers 
brown, wholly margined with white ; throat slaty-grey, visible bases of the feathers white, 
producing a mottled appearance ; cheeks and sides of head brown, under surface 
ashy-brown, darker on the neck and abdomen, lower neck feathers broadly margined 
with paler shade ; bases of all the body -feathers pure white ; wing-coverts, primaries 
brown, faintly margined with grey ; secondaries brighter brown, margined with lighter ; 
primaries with quills black, except at the extreme base, where they shade gradually to white ; 
outer webs black ; inner web next to the quill blackish-grey, then shading from white at the 
base and for half the length of the feather to greyish-black at the tip ; secondaries slate, 
quills black ; outer web faintly margined at apical end with pale grey, inner web greyish-white 
at base, blackish along quill extending diagonally to the edge of the feather, which is faintly 
margined with white ; under wing-coverts slate, bases and margins of feathers white ; rump 
and upper tail-coverts slate, margined with darker, becoming less dark and succeeded by 
a narrow white outer edge ; outer tail-feathers dark slate, quills brown, basal hah of inner 
web with narrow margin extending to apical end of outer web white ; central tail-feathers almost 
uniform slaty-brown, with white bases, narrow edge and tips white ; bill black ; tarsi and 
first joint of i nn er toe horn-colour. Total length 17.6 in.* ; wing 11.6 ; tail 5.45 ; bill, 1.37 ; 
tarsus, 1.68 ; middle toe and claw 2.45 ; wing extends 0.75 in., beyond the tail. 
Mount Gower, Lord Howe Island. 
* The discrepancy in measurements is due to the different ways of taking such. Note those of 0. solandri 
in the Monograph, p. 220, where the tarsus is wrongly given as 1.2 inches. 
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