— ii 
THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 
an absolute synonym of Gould’s leucoptera. This is one of the many cases 
where Gould’s North-west Australia proves to be Port Essington, a point 
that should be borne in mind. 
I therefore distinguished 
Neositta pileata broomei. 
“ Differs from N. p. leucoptera (from Port Essington) in having the centre 
of the feathers of the back very much darker and the rump whiter. Napier 
Broome Bay, North-west Australia.” 
I unfortunately overlooked the fact that I had used this name just a 
little previously for a southern form, so had to rename it 
Neositta pileata napieri. 
Consequently in my 1913 “ List,” where I still regarded these birds as 
forms of pileata, I ranged 
Neositta pileata rogersi Mathews. 
Interior of North-west Australia. 
Neositta pileata napieri Mathews. 
North-west Australia (Coastal Districts). 
Neositta pileata leucoptera Gould. 
Western Northern Territory. 
Neositta pileata melvillensis Mathews. 
Melville Island, Northern Territory. 
Neositta pileata subleucoptera Mathews. 
Eastern Northern Territory. 
Macgillivray, under the name Neositta mortoni, wrote: “ This is the 
common Sittella throughout the Gulf country, and will probably be found to 
be identical with N . magnirostris of Ingram, described from a cattle station 
a little westward of the Gulf country.” This is a little difficult to understand, 
as when North described his Neositta mortoni from Port Essington he claimed 
it differed from Cloncurry birds of the leucoptera style, while Ingram’s N. 
magnirostris is a form of N. striata, a different species altogether. 
Again, Campbell has recently recorded “ Neositta leucoptera Gould. One <J, 
one $, one not sexed. Port Essington birds are darker in general coloration than 
those from North-west Australia, Gould’s type locality (P.Z.S. 1839, p. 144), 
and which latter birds Mathews has named napieri (broomei) (A.A.R., I., p. 95); 
but females are usually darker in this species than the males. In the specimen 
‘ not sexed ’ the black on the head extends below the sides of the face to the 
chin. Macarthur River and Brunette Downs examples are typical. Wing 
77-81 mm. The R.A.O.U. ‘ Check-List ’ probably correctly separates, 
specifically, this white-winged bud from the black-capped, brown-winged 
N. pileata .” 
74 
