SILVERY-CROWNED FRIAR-BIRD. 
HiU from Borroloola wrote: “ Uncommon. Appeal' to frequent the 
range more than the lower country.” 
Macgillivray, from Cape York, observed: “ These birds were only noted 
on the western side of the Peninsula, where they were numerous in 1911 in 
the messmate and bloodwood forest country. The nest is usually placed 
high m one of these trees and is a pendant one, somewhat smaller than that 
of the Helmeted Friar-Bird. Usual clutch two. Irides light bro\vn, bare 
skin of head black, legs slaty-blue. Stomach contents, honey and insects.” 
He added later: “ Mr. McLennan saw numbers on the Pascoe River in 
messmate and bloodwood country,” while Barnard noted: “ A common 
bird about the lower McArthur, where it was foimd breeding.” H. L. White 
also published McLennan’s note “that at the King River it was numerous in 
forest amongst flowering trees, and occasionally seen in mangroves.” 
Reporting upon these King River specimens Campbell wrote: “ Two 
c? cJ, wing 135-138 mm. ; one $, wing 139 mm. Same drab-colom-ed back as 
in Philemon sordidus, and does not appreciably differ from Macarthur River 
(Territory) and North-west birds, the latter locality evidently being the true 
type locahty (see P.Z.S., 1839, p. 144). Gould procured his original specimens 
from Ben. Bynoe, surgeon, H.M.S. ‘ Beagle,’ whom Gould met at Sydney. 
That being so, Mr. Mathews can hardly sustain his sub. broomei for North¬ 
west Australia.” 
The reason why the “ sub. broomei ” was named was because Gould 
labelled his type specimens “ Port Essington, North-west Australia,” and I 
followed Gould’s own idea; and as the birds differed I named a bird from a 
new locality. It is possible that Gould substituted birds from Port Essington 
for his original types procured from Ben. Bynoe from “ North-west Australia,” 
in wliich case Campbell would be right, but at present we must take Gould 
to have acted rightly in localismg his own “ types ” as from Port Essington. 
I have mentioned already two or three times that geographically Port 
Essington is in “ North-west Australia,” although politically in Northern 
Territory, which, moreover, was not distinguished when Gould wrote. 
In my “ Reference List ” in 1912 I separated two subspecies : 
Philemon argenticeps argenticeps (Gould). 
North-west Australia. 
It may be noted that here I gave the type locahty as “ North-west Coast 
Austraha (Napier Broome Bay).” 
Philemon argenticeps alexis Mathews. 
“Differs from P. a. argenticeps in its smaller size (wing 122 mm.) and paler 
coloration. Alexandra, Northern Territory.” 
Northern Territory. 
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