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Show 344 MR. E. P. RAMSAY ON THE BIRDS O F [Apr. 1 7, 240. TRIBONYX VENTRALIS. Tribonyx ventralis, Gould, Handbk. B. Austr. ii. p. 325. I do not remember meeting with this species at Rockingham Bay ; but I have received specimens from Port Denison (where, at certain seasons, it appears to be plentiful), some miles inland. 241. GALLINULA TENEBROSA. Gallinula tenebrosa, Gould, Handbk. B. Austr. ii. 328. Not so plentiful in any part of Queensland as in New South Wales. I found it, however, thinly distributed as far north as Rockingham Bay, in such situations as are preferred by the Porphyrio melanotus. 242. GALLINULA RUFICRISSA. Gallinula ruficrissa, Gould, Suppl. Bds. Austr. vol. i. pl. 79. A specimen of this rare species was obtained a few miles from Brisbane, in 1873. I have also examined a skin obtained by Mr. A. Goldie at Port Moresby, New Guinea, the dimensions of which are as follows- total length 9*5 inches, wing 5*5, tail 2*5, tarsus 2, bill 1*2, middle toe 2, its nail 0*3, hind toe 0*75, its nail 0*35. The under tail-coverts are not so bright as in Mr. Gould's figure; and the back is of a more uniform tint. 243. PARRA GALLINACEA. Parra gallinacea, Gould's Handbk. B. Austr, ii. p. 330. This Parra is tolerably abundant throughout the swampy regions which abound over the eastern portion of Queensland and northeastern parts of New South Wales. I have obtained specimens as far south as the Clarence river in New South Wales, its most southern limit, and as far north as the Herbert river in the Rockingham-Bay district. It is found most plentiful in the Rockhampton district wherever the swamps and lagoons occur; the leaves of the gigantic Nymphcea and Nelumbium afford a safe retreat for this species. I know of few more interesting or more pleasing sights than a troop of this handsome Parra wandering among the bright blue and crimson blooms of the giant waterlilies which abound in almost every sheet of water of any extent in North-eastern Queensland. 244. HYPOTANIDEA PHILIPPENSIS. Hypoteenidea philippensis, Gould, Handbk. B. Austr. ii. p. 334. Universally dispersed over the whole of the Australian and South- Sea Islands, and particularly plentiful in the cane-fields of the sugar-growing districts of Queensland. I have before me a very interesting variety of this species from one of the South Sea-Islands of the Fiji group which has the chin, throat, chest, and breast of a light ashy grey, with a few indistinct bars of slaty ash-colour or greyish slate on the chest and breast; the abdomen and flanks are much the same as in ordinary individuals of the same species ; the bill is orange at the base of the lower man- |