632 Messrs. H. C. Robinson and W. S. Laverock on 
From its dimensions—wing 161, tail 130, culmen 39*5, 
tarsus 31 mm.—it is evident that this specimen must be 
referred to this race, originally described from Port Essington, 
but which has not (so far as we are aware) been hitherto 
recorded from further east than the Gulf of Carpentaria. 
49. Cracticus rufescens De Vis, Proc. Linn. Soc. 
N.S.W. vii. p. 562 (1883) ; Sharpe in Gould’s Birds of 
New Guinea, iii. pi. xvi. (1887) ; Rothsch. Bull. B. O. C. 
vol. x. p. xl; id. Ibis, 1900, p. 374. 
Cracticus quoyi auct. from Eastern Australia. 
It is after very considerable hesitation that we have come 
to the conclusion that all specimens of the black Cracticus 
from Eastern Australia must be referred to C. rufescens 
De Vis. This name, however, is rather misleading, as it is 
only the young bird that is rufeseent. 
In the course of the last three months some thirty speci¬ 
mens of the species from Cooktown and Cairns have passed 
through our hands. Of these, three have been in the plumage 
figured and described as C. rufescens . In one specimen, 
however, several of the primaries were black, and in another 
the under wing-coverts were partially black. We had called 
Mr. Olive's special attention to the point, and he assures us 
that the C. rufescens in brown plumage sent from Bellenden 
Ker was found associating with the black-plumaged birds, 
and that he had no doubt whatever that they were one and 
the same species, as he has stated on the label. The large 
series of birds in black plumage present certain difficulties 
among themselves, some being less lustrous than others, 
and having the basal portions of the flank-feathers greyer ; 
but they cannot certainly be distinguished from the Port 
Essington and New Guinea bird, which is, however, black 
in every stage of plumage. 
“ Found generally in thick scrub country, and only plentiful 
during the winter months. Iris brown; feet black; bill 
black, the basal portion bluish" [Olive). 
50. fFic^UM hirundinaceum (Lath.) ; Sharpe, Cat. 
Birds Brit. Mus. x. p. 19 (1885). 
Two males from Bellenden Ker. 
