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Show 592 MR. E. P. RAMSAY ON [Nov. 16, and abdomen ; on the throat and chest the margins are almost black, and tinged with yellowish olive on the sides of the neck and chest, and the buff central portion of a deeper tint; the under surface has the appearance of being broadly streaked with lanceolate marks of buff, which become more and more indistinct as they approach the under tail-coverts, becoming obsolete on the abdomen. Total length 11 inches; wing 5*7; tail 4; tibia 2*2; tarsus 1*2 ; hind toe 0*6, its claw 0*4, its width 0*25 ; inner toe 0*65, its claw 0*3 ; middle toe 0*9, its claw 0*35 ; outer toe 0*7, its claw 0*3 ; width of the sole of the foot 035 ; bill from gape 1*2, from forehead 1*1, from the nostril 0*6, height at nostril 0*6, width at nostril 0*5, culmen 1 • 1; upper mandible black, lighter at the tip ; lower mandible blackish brown ; gape yellow; legs and feet black, claws brown. Note.-The cheeks and sides of the face and the ear-coverts have a rufous tinge, which may be from blood-stains ; the greater portion of the breast and abdomen having been shot away, it is almost impossible to describe these parts accurately. The only specimens procured were shot by Inspector Johnstone, of Cardwell, with his rifle, and were consequently much damaged. Hab. Bellenden-Ker range and the dense brushes clothing the steep sides of "Sea-view range" on the north-east coast of Queensland. This species is not as yet known to build a bower ; but like the Catbirds it clears a large space under the brushwood some 9 or 10 feet in diameter, and ornaments the cleared part with tufts and little heaps of gaily tinted leaves and young shoots. This bird, which cannot be placed in any of the known genera of the family of Bower-birds, nevertheless approaches AHluroedus; it differs, however, from that genus in the following particulars:- The head itself is more elongated, the forehead flattish, broad, sloping very gradually from the bill, which is short and thick, much swollen at the sides ; culmen much curved to the tip, which is blunt and strongly toothed ; the inner margin also is toothed, having three distinct indentations (hidden by the outer margin) for the teeth of the lower mandible to fit into; lower mandible with one terminal and two lateral teeth on the margin on either side ; nostrils basal, sunk, large, circular ; the culmen just over these is compressed laterally ; they are not hidden, although the bill is thickly clothed with feathers at the base ; a few black short bristles over the nostrils; bill, measuring from its extreme base on the forehead, nearly the full length of the head ; wings moderate, quills elongate, narrow, all more or less rounded; the secondaries squarish at the tips, being of a nearly equal breadth throughout; tail short, square, of twelve feathers, nearly all equal in length, the under coverts reaching to about the middle of the tail ; tarsi short, about half the length of the tibia*; feet comparatively small, hind toe connected to inner toe at the base by interdigital membrane, its sole broad; outer toe connected to middle toe as far as first joint, toes short; outer and inner * One tenth of an inch longer than half the tibia. |