GREAT BOWER-BIRD. 
Campbell and Barnard confirmed this : “ Only one bird made its presence 
known. It used to frequent a thick tree in the street near the post office, 
Cardwell, where it sometimes mimicked cries of the Whistling Eagle.” 
Gould wrote: “ This fine species was first described and figured in the 
lUustrations of Ornithology by Sir William Jardine and Mr. Selby, from the 
tlien unique specimens in the collection of the Lirmean Society ; but neither 
the part of Australia of wliich it is a native, nor any particulars relative to its 
habits were known to those gentlemen ; it is now clearly ascertamed that it 
is an inhabitant of the north-west coast, a portion of the Australian continent, 
that has, as yet, been but httle visited. I am indebted for individuals of both 
sexes to two of the officers of the ‘ Beagle,’ Messrs. Bynoe and Bring; but 
neither of these gentlemen furnished me xvith any account of its economy.” 
I have quoted this as some time later Gould, receiving specimens from 
North Queensland, named these Chlamydodera orientalis, overlookmg the 
necessity of re-investigating the orighial locahty. 
This altogether misled Ramsay, who elaborated the mistake thus: 
Chlamydodera orientalis Gould is allied to C. nuchalis, being its representative 
ia North-eastern Australia, Port Denison, and Rockingham Bay districts. 
The type of C. nuchalis was first found in North-west Austraha, probably 
during Leichhardt s Expedition, by Gilbert or Elsey near Port Essington. 
The type of C. orientalis Gould came from Port Denison, and -was previously 
recorded by me as C. nuchalis; the upper-surface is more mottled with 
silvery-grey and the spots are larger,” 
This mis-statement was accepted without examination until I rectified 
it by examination of the coloured figure and comparison with specimens. It 
IS a matter of great interest, as also explaining Gould’s mistake, that this was 
the last Australian bird described by him, and he only named a couple of 
Humming Birds afterwards, being well over the allotted span of threescore 
years and ten at this time. 
I thus in my “ Reference List ” in 1912 aUowed 
Chlamydera nuchalis nuchalis (Jardine and Selby). 
North Queensland. 
Of this G. orientalis Gould is a synonym, 
Chlamydera nuchalis oweni Mathews. 
Differs from C. n. nuchalis in its larger size and paler coloration, 
^eciaUy on the head, which is uniform, not speckled with white. Point 
torment. North-west Austraha.” 
, , North-west Australia, Northern Territory. 
I then added 
Chlamydera nuchalis melvillensis. 
349 
