THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 
and then the immature of Bulestes torquatus is less grey, and we arrive at 
the brown immature of Strepera fuliginosa. Study along these lines might 
also prove productive, especially if undertaken in connection with more 
detailed study of the internal structure of such immature forms, as these 
show development of osteological features sometimes in an important manner. 
Genus Neostrepera. 
This most extraordinary evolution of the Cracticoid series was differentiated 
“ from Strepera in lacking the very distinct hook at the end of the maxilla.” 
At the time I made the separation I regarded the value of the hooked 
tip as of little consequence, but as genus lumpers separated Gymnorhina from 
Cr adieus by this character alone I felt justified in naming this form of Strepera. 
Increased concentration on the group showed that Avhile the hook was still 
a matter of little import in itself it indicated quite an appreciable amount 
of divergence, and the peculiarities suggested by the lack of hook became 
emphasized. Superficially this genus is a “ Strepera ” with two slight charac- 
teristic differences, the paler grey coloration and the lack of the hook to the 
bill. As a matter of fact the juvenile shows a slight hooked tip to the bill 
very like the slight hooked tip seen in the juvenile of typical Cracticus, but 
where as in the latter genus the tip is developed to an extraordinary extent, 
in this it is altogether dispensed with. 
The bill is almost dagger pointed, conical and laterally compressed, the 
base expanding a little into a rounded frontal semi-shield, quite separated 
from the basal frontal feathering ; the points of both mandibles are sharp 
without any hook, the culmen ridge straight and anteriorly keeled and much 
compressed laterally. The wing has the second primary subequal with the 
seventh, the first shorter than the secondaries, and the third, fourth, fifth 
and sixth subequal and longest. The tail is long and rounded, but scarcely 
wedge-shaped though so regarded (“ cuneicaudata”). The legs are long and 
strong, showing six marked scutes anteriorly. 
This is the extreme development of the Cracticoid stem in the opposite 
direction from that pursued in the evolution of Cracticus. It is the largest 
form and, I consider, shows the most ancestral style of colouring. It has the 
widest distribution restricted to the southern parts of Australia ranging to 
the west, being the only form of this group that has reached that locality. 
It also exists in Tasmania in the largest form and occurs on the Furneaux 
Group, but not on King Island, where a different form of Strepera lives. This 
is suggestive, but the exact relationships of the forms are not yet apparent. 
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