Australian Birds . 
399 
Numenius minutus. Num . uropygio t ex trie ib usque cauda 
intembfmds; marginibm plumarum albo-guttatis; cor - 
subtils luteolo. 
Forehead dark brown, mottled with buff; lores and line 
behind the eye buff; back, sides, and front of the neck buff, 
with a line line of brown down the centre of each feather; all 
the upper surface blackish brown, with a series of triangular 
spots round the margins of the feathers of a sandy buff; shoul¬ 
ders, primaries, and secondaries blackish brown, the latter with 
white shafts ; rump and tail-coverts dark brown, spotted with 
white on the margins ; tail greyish brow r n, barred with black ; 
chin white ; under surface light "buff; flanks and under surface 
of the wing deep buff, regularly barred with arrow-shaped 
marks of brown; irides black; "bill fleshy at the base, olive 
brown at the tip ; feet bluish flesh-colour. 
Total length, 12 inches; bill, If; wing, 7; tail, 3; tarsi, If. 
Hab. New South Wales. 
This is one of the smallest species of the genus. I never 
but once saw a flock of this bird; out of which I killed two, 
on the race-course at Maitland, on the Upper Hunter. 
Porphyrio bellus. Porph. capite , collo et corpora subtus 
intensh cceruleis; fade, gutture et pectore mrescenti-caru - 
Ids; dor so, alls cauddque e fusco nigris . 
Head, neck, and all the under surface deep blue; sides of the 
face, front of the throat, and chest greenish blue ; back, w r ings, 
and tail brownish black ; shoulder and edge of the wring and 
outer margins of the primaries greenish blue ; under tail-coverts 
white ; irides bright red ; bill red ; legs grass-green, except the 
knees, low r er part of the tarsi, and inside of the feet, which are 
dark greenish grey. 
Total length, 18 inches; bill,If; wing,10J; tail,4J; tarsi,3£. 
Hab . Western Australia. 
Otis Australasianus. Ot. vertice et occipite nigris; 
capitis lateribm , collo et pectore e cinereo-alb is fusco ad- 
sperm; singulis plumis crebri lineis transversis fuscis et 
tortuosis vel fmetis striatis; pectore fascia nigrd hand 
ceqmli ornato . 
Crown of the head and occiput black; sides of the head, 
the neck and breast greyish white, each feather crossed by 
numerous fine zigzag bands of brown, giving those parts a 
freckled appearance; w r ing-coverts black largely tipped with 
white; all the upper surface, wrings, and upper tail-coverts 
brown very minutely freckled with reddish brown; some of the 
feathers towards the hinder parts of the body tinged with grey; 
tail grey, crossed near the centre by an interrupted band of 
white, minutely freckled with white, margined with brown, and 
slightly tipped with white; chest crossed by an irregular band 
of black, beyond which the under surface is white; under tail- 
