THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 
Australian ornithologists, professing to follow Gould in defiance of laws 
concerning priority, deliberately rejected Gould’s own choice. 
When I received specimens collected by Hill at Napier Broome Bay, I 
separated these subspecifically with the name “ Platycercus venustus hilli. 
Differs from P. venustus Kuhl, in having the white feathers of the face reduced 
to a narrow line, the blue spreading nearly all the way up to the black 
below the eyes. The blue on the primary-coverts is also very much more 
intense.” 
Campbell added ( Emu X., p. 339, 1911) : “ In some specimens (Hill’s) 
I have examined, the extent of the white patch is variable, even on the same 
bird, one skin showing a larger patch of white on one cheek than on the other ; 
also, like P. amathusia , P. browni has red feathers occasionally on the head.” 
Later, in the Austral Avian Record, Vol. I., p. 36, 1912, 1 distinguished 
Platycercus venustus melvillensis subsp. n. : “ Differs from P. v. venustus in 
its much blacker back, the feathers of the mantle being black with a very faint 
edge of greenish-yellow. Melville Island.” 
In my List of the Birds of Australia, p. 132, 1913, I only recognised two 
subspecies. 
Platycercus venustus venustus (Kuhl). Northern Territory. 
Platycercus venustus hilli Mathews. North-west Australia. 
I placed P. v. melvillensis in the synonymy of the typical form of which 
the typelocality was Arnhem Land. 
With accession to Brown’s original manuscript I find the original specimen 
was procured at Arnhem Bay, so that the M‘ Arthur River specimens are 
geographically the nearest. I now recognise three sub-species as follows : 
Platycercus venustus venustus (Kuhl). Arnhem Bay, Northern 
Territory. 
This form ranges from the M‘ Arthur River, Northern Territory on the 
mainland, through Arnhem Land to the Daly River. North quotes : “ North- 
western Queensland,” in the range of the species, but I have no authentication 
of that locality. 
Platycercus venustus melvillensis Mathews. Melville Island, Northern 
Territory. 
This is a much darker island form, comparable with the Kangaroo Island 
form of P. elegans, or the Bass’s Straits forms of P. caledonicus. 
Platycercus venustus hilli Mathews. North-west Australia. 
This is a more lightly marked form with bluer cheeks. It is quite 
comparable with the Cape York form of P. adscitus, which has been commonly 
recognised as a valid subspecies. The cheeks in that form are more variable 
than in the present form. The red forehead is quite an inconstant feature 
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