THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 
When Sharpe examined the “ Watling ” drawings he wrote : 
No. 66. Piping Roller, Lath. Gen. Syn. Suppl., p. 122. 
Coracias tibicen, Lath., Ind. Orn. Suppl., p. xxvii. 
Gymnorhina tibicen Gadow, Cat. B. VIII., p. 91. 
“ This figure is the type of Gymnorhina tibicen (Lath.). Watling’ s note is : 
4 Natural size. Native name Iarra-ivon-nang. This bird has a soft note not 
unlike the sound of a well-tuned flute. It is a bird of prey.’ Latham, as 
usual, has published the original note, without acknowledgment, and has 
twisted it into : ‘ It preys often on small birds,’ which is not what Watling 
wrote.” 
Here again the “Watling” and “Lambert” drawings are confused, as 
the Lambert drawing is the basis of Latham’s description, not the Watling 
one, which is consequently not exactly “ the type.” Latham’s reading of the 
vernacular name is printed Tarra-war-nang. 
Vigors and Horsfield printed the first field note after the above : “ The 
birds of this species, ‘ Mr. Caley informs us,’ are gregarious, and found only 
in particular places. In the morning they make a loud whistling noise high 
up in the trees. The natives call the species C a' ruck ; and they tell me it builds 
its nest of sticks lined with grass in Iron-bark and Apple-trees (a species of 
Angophora ). It has three young ones. These birds do not appear to be 
migratory. To the best of my recollection I have never missed them.” 
It may be noted that the vernacular name given by Caley is one cited by 
Watling as applied to the Magpie-Lark. 
Gould’s notes read : “ The Gymnorhina Tibicen is a bold and showy bird, 
which greatly enlivens and ornaments the lawns and gardens of the colonists 
by its presence, and with the slightest protection from molestation becomes so 
tame and familiar that it approaches close to their dwellings, and perches round 
them and the stock yards in small families of from six to ten in number. Nor 
is its morning carol less amusing and attractive than its pied and strongly 
contrasted plumage is pleasing to the eye. To describe the notes of this bird 
is beyond the power of my pen, and it is a source of regret to myself that my 
readers cannot, as I have done, listen to them in their native wilds ; . . . 
It lives almost entirely on insects, which are generally procured on the ground, 
and the number of locusts and grasshoppers it devours is immense. Cleared 
lands, open flats, and plains skirted by belts of trees are its favourite localities ; 
hence the interior of the country is more favourable to its habits than the 
neighbourhood of the coast.” 
Captain S. A. White has written me: “ This bird is to be found on the 
River Murray and also in the interior. I did not meet with this bird till I got 
fairly high up on the Finke River, and as the MacDonnell Ranges were 
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