THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 
heard one utter this call previously—a hissing, throaty ‘ Kurr-rk,’ slowly 
repeated eight or ten times.” 
Upon receiving specimens from Melville Island I recognised their 
difference, and criticising the Queensland specimens I separated these into two 
subspecies, restricting Swainson’s name to the Cairn’s form, as no Cape York 
birds had reached Europe at the time he described liis species. I therefore named 
Philemon buceroides yorki. 
“ Differs from P. b. buceroides (from Cairns) in being much hghter above and 
below, and in having a deeper biU. Cape York,” 
and, what is now considered a different species, 
Philemon buceroides gordoni. 
“Differs from P. b. buceroides in its much smaller size generally; the bill is very 
small, and the knob on the top of the culmen not much raised. Melville Island.” 
In my 1913 “List” I placed these in the genus Neophilemon, stiU allowing 
the three subspecies. 
HeUmayr drew up a List of the Avifauna of Timor and being a specialist 
in South American birds was unacquainted with the hteratme of Timor 
Birds. Consequently his nomenclature was not aU correct. A Httle later, 
visiting the Paris Museum, he took the opportunity of rectifying his nomenation 
by an examination of the Paris types collected by Lesueur and Mauge and Peron. 
As is weU known to Austrahan ornithologists the collections made by these 
voyagem's were confused, and many Austrahan forms were labelled Timor, 
Shark’s Bay, King Island and King George Sound inaccurately. 
HeUmayr found that the species named Philedon buceroides by Swainson 
was one of these and, though Swainson said “New HoUand,” his type had been 
coUected at Timor by Mauge, and was the species known as P. tinioriensis 
MiiUer, quite distinct from the Austrahan species. This was also obvious 
from the exceUent figure given bj^’ Swainson, but it had not been regarded as 
accurate. This left the Austrahan bird to bear the name I had given to the 
Cape Y'ork form, and HeUmayr caUed it Philemon yo7-ki and the Melville 
Island form Philemon yorki gordoni (Nov. ZooL, Vol. XXIII., pp. 101-2, 1916). 
I stiU consider that Neophilemon is avaUable for this group and that the 
type should be considered as P. buceroides auct, i.e. P. buceroides yorki Mathews. 
I therefore use: 
Neophilemon yorki yorki (Mathews). 
Cape Y’ork, North Queensland. 
Neophilemon yorki confusus (Mathews). 
Cairns district, Queensland. 
Darker above and below than the above and has a slimmer biU. 
I consider the MelvUle Island bii’d as a different species. 
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