BLACK BUTCHER-BIRD. 
Cracticus quoyi spaldingi Mathews, ib. 
Cracticus quoyi jardini Mathews, Austral Av. Rec., Vol. I., pt. 4, p. 94, Sept. 18th, 1912 : 
Cape York, Queensland. 
Melloria quoyi spaidingi Mathews, list Birds Austr., p. 242, 1913. 
Melloria quoyi rufescens Mathews, ib. 
Melloria quoyi jardini Mathews, ib. 
Distribution. North Queensland as far south as Mackay and Northern Territory. 
Adult male. Black phase. General colour above and below glossy blue-black with steel 
reflections ; primary-quills dull blackish-brown ; tail similar to the back with 
obsolete cross bars ; forepart of head and lores velvety-black with black hair-like 
tips to the feathers similar to those on the chin and upper throat ; under-surface 
of flight-quills blackish-brown with glossy reflections ; lower aspect of tail similar 
to its upper-surface. Eyes brown, feet black, bill black with bluish base. Total 
length 330 mm. ; culrnen 50, wing 175, tail 140, tarsus 41. Figured. Collected 
at Bellenden Ker, North Queensland, on the 11th of December, 1899. 
Adult female. Similar to the above. 
Immature resemble the adults in general. 
Adult female. Red phase. General colour of the upper-surface dull blackish-brown with 
rufescent-buff shaft-lines to the feathers on the top of the head, back, rump, and 
upper tail-coverts ; lesser upper wing-coverts also blackish-brown, the buff deeper 
in colour and occupying the greater part of the feather, becoming paler on the 
median coverts and inclining to oclireous-brown on the greater series, bastard- 
wing, primary-coverts and outer margins of flight -quills, the inner webs of the last 
blackish with buff margins ; middle tail-feathers dark brown, paler on the lateral 
ones, which are buff on the inner webs ; sides of face rufescent-buff with black 
hair-like tips to the feathers ; rictal-bristles black ; chin greyish-buff with black 
hair-like tips to the feathers ; throat, breast, sides of body, thighs, and under tail- 
coverts fawn-colour like the axillaries and under wing-coverts ; under-surface of 
flight-quills greyish-brown fringed with dull buff ; lower aspect of tail isabelline- 
buff, becoming darker on the central feathers. Eyes brown, bill slatey-blue, feet 
blue-grey. Total length 310 mm. ; culrnen 44, wing 168, tail 136, tarsus 40. 
Figured. Collected on the Barron River, near Cairns, North Queensland, on 
the 29th of February, 1912. 
Adult male. Similar to the above. 
Immature female. Crown of head, hind-neck, sides of neck, and mantle blackish with 
white or buffy-white shaft-streaks to the feathers, becoming paler and inclining 
to dark smoke-brown on the back, rump, and scapulars ; upper tail-coverts cinnamon 
with dark blackish markings ; upper wing-coverts dark smoke-brown with whitish 
or rufescent shaft-lines and pale edges to the feathers ; flight-quills dark smoke- 
brown, paler on the outer webs and broadly margined with buff on the inner ones, 
chiefly on the basal portion ; tail-feathers also smoke-brown with dark shafts and 
pale margins ; rictal-bristles whitish at the base with black tips ; base of forehead, 
lores, and sides of face buff like the line over the eye ; chin and throat whitish-buff 
with black hair-like tips to many of the feathers ; breast, abdomen, and thighs 
pale buff with dusky bases to the feathers, inclining to cinnamon-buff on the sides 
of the body ; under tail-coverts dull cinnamon ; axillaries, under wing-coverts, and 
inner margins of flight-quills below bright fawn-colour, remainder of quill-lining pale 
367 
