BLACK-BACKED WREN. 
“ Differs from M. m. melanotus in its larger size and deeper purple 
coloration. Carina, Victoria.” 
Victoria. 
M alurus melanotus whitei Campbell. 
South Australia. 
Malurus melanotus callainus Gould. 
South Australia. 
Malurus melanotus germaini Mathews. 
“ Differs from M. m. callainus in its throat being darker purple and its 
head, back, and upper tail-coverts bright peacock-blue, not silvery-blue, and 
especially in having the abdomen purplish-blue ; in the type this is greenish- 
blue. Port Germein, South Australia.” 
Note. — With the type of both M. melanotus and M. callainus in front of 
me, and having also notes on the type of M. whitei , which I have also handled, 
and my own series, I am compelled to admit four forms of this species as 
inhabiting South Australia, but I am unable to indicate the distribution of the 
subspecies. 
The researches of Captain S. A. White, the son of Mr. S. White, the collector 
of M. callainus Gould, prove that the type of M. callainus came from the 
western shore of the Gulf and not Port Germein as I gave in my 1913 List. 
Thus Captain S. A. White recorded birds from the Musgrave and Everard 
Ranges as M. m. callainus, observing : “I have placed a bird of this genus 
under the above heading because it resembles that subspecies most, yet it has 
not the same shade of blue upon the head or mantle, but comes between 
M. callainus and M. whitei, approaching the first named more closely. 
This bird was found all over the country visited, but one could not say in any 
numbers.” Then from the Nullarbor Plains he wrote : “ Upon my first trip 
into the Ooldea country I had seen several parties of brown Wrens, but, do 
what I could, could not get a glimpse of a blue bird, and from descriptions 
given me, expected to find a new species. Upon a later trip I secured a full- 
plumaged male, and found upon comparison that it did not differ at all from 
skins procured from my father’s type locality. The birds were found in small 
parties in the thick scrub growing on the Ooldea sandhills ; they were also 
observed near Tarcoola.” 
Mr. J. W. Mellor wrote to me : “ Port Germein is the only place that I 
know of where M. whitei is found, as a bird taken from here last year was identified 
by A. J. Campbell (the describer of the species) as this bird, therefore, my 
belief is that his locality (interior of Australia) is incorrect. I know that on 
the west side of Spencer’s Gulf the bird is M. callainus , north of Port Augusta 
it is the same, and out north-west it is still the same, as all around it is M. 
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