WHITE-WINGED WEEN. 
Young males. Resemble the females, but have dark bills. 
Nest. Dome-shaped, with entrance near the top, composed of dried grass and lined with 
soft materials (feathers, wool, etc.), 4| inches high by 3 wide. 
Eggs. Clutch, four. White, finely freckled with purplish or reddish-brown, more on the 
larger end ; sometimes a zone is formed. 15-16 mm. by 12. 
Breeding-season. September to January. 
Malurus leuconotus was described by Gould who observed : “ In size this 
fine new species is very similar to the last, from which, however, it may be at 
once distinguished by its white back, which has suggested the specific name 
I have assigned to it. It inhabits the interior of Australia, but the precise 
locality is unknown to me ; it accompanied fine examples of Geophaps plumifera.” 
I find that Mitchell has recorded ( Three Expeditions into the Interior of 
Eastern Australia , Vol. II., p. 261, 1838) : “ W T e had several new birds, but 
the most admired of our ornithological discoveries was a White-winged Superb 
Warbler from the junction of the Darling and Murray, all the plumage not 
white being of a bright blue colour, but of this we had obtained only one 
specimen.” 
This was probably the earliest record of this species, and was not mentioned 
by Gould. 
The last referred to was the species Gould had figured under the name 
of Malurus leucopterus in his folio work, but which he queried later, writing : 
“ I regret that I have not been able to clear up the doubt which exists in my 
mind, whether the present bird is or is not distinct from the one figured by 
Messrs. Quoy and Gaimard in the Voyage de VUranie, since, on applying at the 
Museum of the Jardin des Plantes for the purpose of examining the original 
specimen, it could not be found ; the figure above quoted, if intended for this 
bird, is by no means correct, and it is, moreover, said to be from Dirk Hatich’s 
Island, on the western coast, a locality very distant from those in which my 
specimens were procured, New South Wales, which circumstance strengthens 
my belief that they may be distinct ; besides which, the bird under consider- 
ation is supposed to be exclusively an inhabitant of the interior, for I have 
never observed it between the mountain ranges and the coast, and it is 
scarcely probable, therefore, that it should inhabit an island like that of 
Dirk Hatich. In case they should prove to be different, I propose the name 
of Malurus cyanotus for the bird from New South Wales. The birds seen 
by me Vvere either in pairs or in small troops, and evinced so much shyness as 
to render the acquisition of specimens a task of no little difficulty, particularly 
of the full-plumaged male, who appeared to be conscious that the display of 
his gorgeously coloured dress might lead to his detection. Its powers of flight 
77 
