BROWN FLYEATER. 
available, but this they do not seem to have done, as they give no remarks 
on that subject. 
North’s characters read : 4 4 These birds may be distinguished by the earthy- 
brown hue of the upper parts, the lighter under-surface, which is devoid of 
the greyish wash on the throat and sides of the head and of the rich buff wash 
on the flanks, abdomen and under tail-coverts : the spot in front of the eye is 
darker and the lores and line over the eye purer white.” 
From the above I conclude that Gerygone pallida North is the bird I 
described as Gerygone Icevigaster mouki in 1912, and peculiarly enough my 
subspecific name must be used as there was a prior Gerygone pallida Finsch, 
Notes Leyden Mus., Vol. XX., p. 134, September 1898, described from Lobo 
Bay, S.W. New Guinea. This species appears to have been overlooked by 
Ogilvie-Grant when preparing his account of New Guinea birds (Ibis, Jub. 
Suppl . 2, 1915). 
Recently I separated the Richmond River form of fusca as 
Wilsonavis fusca richmondi. 
44 Differs from W. /. fusca in being much darker above with flanks much 
more buff. Type from Richmond River, N.S.W.” 
This is a case where not only must the well-known name be discarded, 
but when it must be transferred to another equally well-known species. The 
description of P. fuscus Gould does not apply to the species later figured by 
him under that name, but does absolutely apply to the bird he later renamed P. 
culicivorus. I would emphasise that this alteration is not due to nomenclatural 
research, and hence is not one of the unnecessary results of working through 
forgotten or overlooked literature, but is a necessary change due to the negligence 
of Gould himself. Some of his admirers have overlooked the fact that, like 
later students, he was not free from mistakes, and he himself was always 
ready to correct them. Had this error been pointed out to him in his lifetime 
he would have been the first to remedy it. As it is, the species name becomes 
Wilsonavis richmondi, and two subspecies are recognisable : 
Wilsonavis richmondi richmondi (Mathews). 
Richmond River district, north New South Wales. 
Wilsonavis richmondi gouldiana, subsp. nov. 
Gosford, New South Wales. 
Differs from the preceding in being paler throughout, especially on the 
flanks, and the bill also is narrower. Type collected at Gosford on May 1st, 
1915. As the coloration of the iris has been sometimes quoted in connection 
with specimens of this species, I note the immature is marked as slaty-grey,, 
while adults have variously, according to the collectors, dusky, dark hazel 
and red-brown. 
143 
