THE BIRDS OE AUSTRALIA. 
lower-throat ; back and scapulars slate-grey ; upper wing-coverts and outer aspect 
ot quills grey with black bases to the former and black inner portions to the latter ; 
inner margins of the latter white ; upper tail-coverts and tail black fringed with 
grey on the former and grey edges to the tips and some of the edges of the outer 
webs of the latter; throat, breast, abdomen, under tail-coverts, axillaries, and 
under wing-coverts white, ^ inclining to grey on the sides of the body and thighs ; 
under-surface of quills hair-brown with whitish inner edges ; lower aspect of tail 
dark brown with pale margins to the feathers. Bill black ; eyes reddish-brown ; 
feet and legs leaden-black. Total length 207 mm. ; culmen 16, wing 94, tail 69, 
tarsus 26. Figured. Collected on Buchanan Island, near Melville Island, Northern 
Territory, on the 30th of April, 1912. 
Adult female. General colour of the upper-surface slate-grey, including the top of the 
head, hind-neck, back, upper tail-coverts, scapulars, and upper wing-coverts ; 
inner webs of the greater upper wing-coverts, bastard-wing, primary-coverts, and 
flight- quills dark brown, with white inner margins to the last ; the feathers on the 
back have pale grey bases which show through more or less ; tail-feathers pale 
brown with grey margins on the outer webs ; lores and a narrow ring round the 
eye dull white ; rictal feathers feebly developed ; chin white with black hair-like 
tips to the feathers ; throat and fore-neck white with brown shaft-streaks to 
the feathers , breast and sides of body pale grey, tinged with buff and narrow 
dark shaft-lines on the former ; thighs grey ; abdomen and under tail-coverts 
white ; axillaries and under wing-coverts pale buff ; under-surface of flight-quills 
pale brown with whitish inner margins ; lower aspect of tail greyish-brown. Bill 
leaden-black, with the base of the lower mandible greyish-brown. Measurement 
as in male. Figured. Collected at the same place as the male, on the 23rd of 
April, 1912. 
Adult mule. General colour above ashy-grey, a trifle lighter on the rump ; lesser and 
median wing-coverts ashy-grey, slightly mottled with concealed black bases ; 
greater series blackish, externally ashy-grey like the back ; bastard-wing, primary- 
coverts and quills blackish, narrowly edged with ashy-grey, the secondaries more 
broadly edged, especially the innermost ; under tail-coverts ashy-grey, with black 
bases ; tail-feathers black with narrow ashy edgings (the lateral tail-feathers broken 
off, so that it is impossible to say if there are pale tips to any of them) ; head black ; 
hind-neck with a maroon-chestnut band which extends across the fore-neck, being 
somewhat wider on the sides of the latter ; lores, ear-coverts, and sides of face 
black, as also a chin spot ; cheeks and throat white, the latter encircled by a narrow 
band of black, which borders the upper edge of the chestnut band and extends on each 
side to the black ear-coverts ; chest an i remainder of under-surface white ; the 
sides of the body pale ashy ; axillaries white, under wing ashy on the inner web ; 
under wing-coverts white ; quills dusky-brown below, hoaiy- whitish along the inner 
webs, especially of the secondaries. Total length 164 mm. ; culmen 19, wing 95, 
tail 65, tarsus 24. Collected at Kimberley ( — Normanton), Gulf of Carpentaria, 
North Queensland. 
Adult female. General colour above light ashy-brown, a little clearer ashy on the lower 
back and rump, but scarcely perceptible ; lesser and median wing-coverts like the 
back, the greater series dusky-brown, with paler ashy-brown edges ; bastard- 
wing and primary-coverts dusky-brown with very faint ashy margins ; quills 
dusky-brown, narrowly edged with ashy, the secondaries more broadly ashy along 
the outer webs, the outermost with much paler edges ; upper tail-coverts and 
tail-feathers dusky-brown, with a faint olive tint, the outer webs of all the feathers 
more or less ashy ; crown of the head like the back, and scarcely darker than the 
latter ; lores ashy-whitish ; upper and lower eyelid whitish ; ear-coverts ashy- 
brown, like the head ; cheeks and throat white, with dusky- brown shaft-lines ; 
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