357 
Avifauna of New Caledonia. 
promised to give ns one hour; soon the long gun is pointed 
well up in a tree-top, the trigger pulled, and down comes a 
bird new to us ! 
It belonged to a species that frequents the bush, poking 
about branches, searching the leaves (chiefly the undersides) 
and blossoms in search of their insect food. Their habits 
reminded me of our Fijian Monarch a; L. L. says they utter 
a sharp shrill cry or note. 
While in New South Wales I procured specimens of Gery - 
gone albogularis, Gould, and Acanthiza pusilla (Lath.). To 
the former our bird bears a close resemblance in form and 
colour; but with the latter it shows no relationship. In the 
P. Z. S. 1859, p. 161, Mr. G. P. Gray described a New-Ca- 
ledonian bird under the name of Acanthiza flavolateralis; 
and the description accords pretty well with our specimen; 
but if Mr. Gray's bird is a true Acanthiza , our bird must be 
of a different species. Only a comparison with the type 
specimens in England will satisfactorily determine this; I (E. 
L. L.) therefore name our new bird Gery gone flavolateralis; so 
that I shall not make a synonym if I have described a species 
already known, but only transferred it to its right genus *. 
The next shot fell to L. L/s turn, and produced the lovely 
yellow-billed Pachycephala xanthetrcea. These pretty Bush- 
Shrikes appear not to be uncommon round Noumea ; they 
frequent the dense bush, not affecting the open Gum-tree 
forest. Their food consists of insects of all kinds, which they 
capture at rest or on the wing, darting at them as they pass 
their perch. 
It is singular -that the sole white- throated Pachycephala in 
Fiji (P. vitiensis ) should be found in Kandavu, the southern¬ 
most island of the group, and almost, if not quite, in the same 
latitude as the northern part of New Caledonia. Here all 
the species are t^ife-throated. In Fiji, moreover, they are 
all yellow on the underparts ; here some are yellow, some 
more or less rufous , approaching in this respect the Australian 
[* Mr. Sharpe has kindly compared Mr. Layard’s skin for us with Mr. 
Gray’s type, and pronounces them to he specifically identical; but Mr. 
Layard’s view as to its generic affinities is undoubtedly correct.—E dd.] 
SER. IV.—VOL. I. 2b 
