THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 
Among the Watling drawings was one No. 151 upon which Latham based his 
Maxillary Thrush,” Gen. Syn. Suppl. II., p. 186, 1801. The description reads: 
“Size of the last ( i.e . a Song Thrush) ; crown of the head black, passing between 
the bill and eye on each side, and ending in a large patch below the jaw ; 
hind part of the neck dull blue ; back, wings, and tail brown, with a tinge of 
greenish-bronze on the shoulders, mixed with black and green ; all the under 
parts of the body bluish-white ; tail even at the end ; the tips of all the feathers 
of it white ; the bill has both mandibles slightly curved, and brown ; irides 
orange; legs yellow. Met with at Port Jackson, in New Holland .” 
Such a description does not exactly fit any Australian bird, so that the 
name was not applied until 1843, when the drawings in the possession of the 
Earl of Derby were examined by G. R. Gray, H. E. Strickland, and Gould, 
when a vague resemblance to the present species was noted, and for some 
unknown reason it was deemed advisable to resurrect the Lathamian name 
in this connection. Having been accepted by such authorities, it became 
commonly used and persisted until a couple of years ago, when I reproduced 
the Watling drawing in the Austral Avian Record and rejected Latham’s 
name as a legitimate one for usage. In that place I reproduced the above 
description and indicated the discrepancies, and gave full reasons for my 
action. If this description be read alongside the coloured figure now 
given, these discrepancies will be well seen : these may be pointed out as 
cumulative, as in each item there are discrepancies — the black patch below 
the jaw, dull blue hind-neck, the shoulder coloration : the bluish -white under- 
surface, the tail-feathers with white tips, the orange irides with no bare 
space, etc. It is possible that the artist painted his figure from a specimen 
of this bird, but if so he was a very poor painter and apparently was responsible 
for most of the unidentified paintings in the “ Watling ” series : it need not 
be again emphasised that this painting was not made by Watling himself. 
When Vigors and Horsfield met with a specimen of this species in the 
Collection of the Linnean Society they referred it to Sphecotheres viridis Vieillot, 
and commented as follows : “ M. Vieillot ranks this genus among or near the 
Thrushes. Its strong bill, however, inclines us to give it a station among the 
Shrikes ; but at that extremity of the family which approaches the Thrushes. 
We do not see in this bird any of the leading characters of Graucalus Cuv. 
in which genus MM. Quoy and Gaimard have placed it. In particular, it 
wants those sharp and pointed feathers on the back which distinguish the 
birds of that group. In its habits perhaps, which those naturalists had the 
best opportunity of observing, it may approach Graucalus, and thus indicate 
the affinity which unites the present subfamily ( Thannophilina Swains.) to 
the succeeding ( Campephagina Swains.), of which that genus makes a part. 
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