BLACK-THROATED BUTCHER-BIRD. 
very pugnacious bird; in one of the camps on the gold fields (Western Australia) 
I watched a wild bird of this species attack a tame nigrogularis through the bars 
of a cage, the floor of the cage was freely besprinkled with blood and both 
birds seemed badly mauled. It was necessary to drive away the intruder 
before more damage was done.” 
Gould separated the Port Essington bird as a distinct species on account 
of its smaller size only, and this was admitted for many years. When Hartert 
reviewed a collection of North-west Australian birds he had before him two 
females, one from Nullagine, the other from the Coongan River, which he 
referred to Cracticus nigrogularis nigrogularis , observing : 44 These specimens 
belong to the larger form, C. n. nigrogularis , the distribution of which is 
peculiar, as it seems to occur in New South Wales and throughout West 
Australia and in only replaced by the smaller G. n. picatus in the Northern 
Territory and in the northern portions of Queensland. Birds collected by 
Mr. Tom Carter at Point Cloates are distinctly of the large form, while I 
consider all the North Queensland examples from Cedar Bay, Cooktown, etc., 
to be typical picatus .” 
He then ranged a series from the Northern Territory under the name 
C. n. picatus. 
The preparation of my 44 Reference List ” necessitated the examination 
of a good series of this form and I then admitted five subspecies : 
Cracticus nigrogularis nigrogularis (Gould). 
New South Wales. 
Cracticus nigrogularis inkermani Mathews. 
44 Differs from C. n. nigrogularis in its smaller size ; wing 166 mm. to 
173 mm. ; typical wing 1.80 mm. Inkerman, Queensland.” 
Queensland. 
Cracticus nigrogularis mellori Mathews. 
44 Differs from C. n. nigrogularis in being larger; wing 186 mm. South 
Australia.” 
Victoria, South Australia. 
Cracticus nigrogularis kalgoorli Mathews. 
44 Differs from C. n. nigrogularis in its longer bill ; 48 mm. Kalgoorlie, 
West Australia.” 
West Australia. 
Cracticus nigrogularis picatus Gould. 
Northern Territory, North-west Australia. 
I later added 
Cracticus nigrogularis tormenti. 
44 Differs from C. n. picatus (the Northern Territory form) in having a 
381 
