CHANNEL BILL. 
Adult male. Back, wings, and tail slate-grey with an olive tinge and dark brown margins 
to the tips of the feathers, many of which are emarginate ; inner-webs of primary 
and secondary quills dark brown, becoming paler towards the base ; middle tail- 
feathers hke the back, with a broad subterminal band of black and narrowly tipped 
with white, the lateral feathers somewhat browner and largely toothed with white on 
the inner- webs — ^the white margined with dark brown on the sides towards the base — 
a wide subterminal band of black and broadly tipped with white ; entire head and 
neck all round ash-grey somewhat paler on the throat, fore-neck and upper-breast ; 
Icwer-breast, abdomen, under tail-coverts, sides of body, axiUaries, and under ving- 
coverts creamy -white baiued with pale ash-grey, some of the bars on the low’er flanks 
and under tail-coverts dark brown ; under-surface of the quills grey with dark brown 
on the terminal portion ; lower aspect of the tail grey with a wide subterminal bar of 
dark browm and tipped with white, much more broadly on the latemal feathers, inner- 
webs of outer feathers notched with white and barred with brown. Eyes red, skin 
round the eyes, lores, ring round the nostril and a line from the nostril round the 
lower mandible red. Eeet and tarsus leaden-grey. Cuhnen and sides of upper- 
mandible pale browm, balance of bill a mixture of grey and brow n. Total length 670 
mm.; culmen 86, wing 350, tail 280, tarsus 40. Figured. Collected on Parry’s Creek, 
North-Avest Australia, on the 18th of December, 1908. 
Adult feinale. Similar to the adult male. 
Immatwre. Have the tips of the feathers on the wings and back buff-coloured. All the 
feathers of the tail tipped with white. The under-surface much more barred and 
the grey of the head and neck blotched with buff. 
Nest. The egg is placed in a nest of Corvus or Strepera. 
Egg. Ground-colour yeUowIsh-brow n, spotted and blotched, especially at the larger end 
with brown and lavender — 47 mm. by 30. 
This extraordinarj^ bird was secured by the first settlers at Sydney, New 
South Wales, and was simultaneously figured in White’s Journal, and PhiUips’ 
Voyage, where it was called Anomalous HombiU and Psittaceous HombiU. 
At the same time Latham technically desc:* bed it and instituted for it a new 
genus, and Latham’s name has been in use ever since. Wlien Latham examined 
the Wathng drawings he found a long account which he transcribed in the 
Supplement referring to the authority as Mr. White. It is thus possible that 
these Wathng drawings were prepared under the supervision of Mr. White, 
but at present we have only Latham’s word for this, though certainly the 
reading of the item seems to favour that view. As it is the earliest, and rather 
a fuU account, I here include it as it was written near Sydney between 
1788-1792 : 
“ The native name Goe-re-e-gang. This singular bird is by no nfeans 
numerous about us, even in the months that it is seen, which are only tlu’ee 
or four times in a year. It generally makes its appearance in October, and is 
seldom seen unless in the mornings and evenings ; they are sometimes seen 
seven or eight together, but oftener in pairs ; both on the wing and when perched 
they make a strange loud screaming noise, not uiihke that made by the common 
cock or hen, when they perceive a hawk or any other bird of prey hovering 
over them. Their errand to tliis part of New South Wales seems to be merely 
VOL. vn. 
377 
