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Show 1879.] MR. W. A. FORBES ON THE GENUS MYZOMELA. 275 Genoa Museum, described above, has only a trace of red on the throat, and is probably a bird of the year. The varied colouring of each feather gives a somewhat flammulated appearance to the head, back, and chest of the young and females. 25. MYZOMELA NIGRA. Myzomela nigra, Gould, B. A. iv. pi. 66 ; id. Handb. B. A. i. p. 558 [nee Cissomela nigra, Bon. C. R. xxxviii. p. 261 (1854)]. cf capite, dorso, uropygioque cum pectore superiore et linea media abdominali nigris; lateribus abdominis, ventre et subcaudalibus albis; alis, subalaribus caudaque brunneis; rostro pedibusque nigris. Long, alee 2*7, caudee 1*7, rostri '65, tarsi *5 (poll. Angl.). 2 supra brunnea, subtus albida, mento, gula et pectore fusco variegatis; stria superciliari et remigum margine interna albidis. Hab. in Australia. This species, which differs somewhat in coloration from the other members of the group, has a wide range over Australia. Gould found it on the plains of the Namoi; and Gilbert met with it in Western Australia on the Swan River. Mr. Ramsay, in addition, marks it in his list from the Port-Darwin district, from the interior, Victoria, and S. Australia. 26. MYZOMELA PECTORALIS. Myzomela pectoralis, Gould, P. Z. S. 1840, p. 170; id. B. A. iv. pi. 65; id. Handb. B. A. i. p. 557. Cissomela nigra, Bon. (nee Gould), C. R. xxxviii. p. 265(1854). cf ad. niger, uropygio, mento, gutture et corpore subtus albis, pectore fascia angusta nigra transversim notato; rostro pedibusque nigris. 2 (aut jr.) dorso medio castaneo-brunneo diversa. Long, tota 4*5, al. 2f, caud. If, rostr. -|, tars. |- (poll, Angl.). Hab. in Australia septentrionali. This Myzomela, which in its black-and-white coloration departs considerably from the general coloration of the group, is confined to the more northern parts of Australia. Gould's original specimens were from the N . W . coast. Mr. Ramsay in his list records it from Ports Darwin and Essington, the Gulf of Carpentaria, Cape York, and Rockingham Bay. It is not as yet ascertained with certainty whether the chestnut-backed birds are the adult females, or merely the young, of this species. Besides the above 26 species, which are all founded on actual specimens, and which are here recognized as valid, there remains the following, based on a figure of one of the older authors, but never vet again met with, which may or may not be a real bird. This is J ° 18* |