Genus— WHITE ORNIS. 
White ornis Mathews, Austral Av. Rec., Vol. I., pt. 5, p. 
110, Dec. 24th, 1912. Type (by original designation) : Muscicapa goodenovii 
Vigors & Horsfield. 
The short diagnosis reads : “ Differs from Petroica in its much shorter, weaker 
bill and weaker legs and feet.” 
Agreeing with that group in coloration the difference in size is noticeable, 
and it is possible that it is a direct evolution upon converging lines from an 
original source, though it seems more like a depauperated product ; while 
this theory seeks rejection from the fact that typical Petroica exists in the 
New Hebrides Islands. 
The bill is small and rictal bristles weak and inconspicuous. 
The wing is generally as in the whole series, the fourth and fifth primaries 
longest, the third little shorter and equal to the sixth, the second equal to 
the seventh and less than the eighth, the first less than half the length of 
the second. 
The distribution is puzzling, as it is absent from Tasmania, while it is 
found in the north, where Petroica ( sensu stricto ) does not occur. 
vol. vrn. 
89 
