Report on the zoological collections made in the Indo-Pacific Ocean ...

;12 COLLECTIONS FROM MELANESIA.and round the fore and lower part of the latter white, with hairlikeblack shaft-lines ; ear-coverts dark brown ; chin and cheekswhite, the hinder part of the latter streaked with dusky brownlower throat tinged with yellow and streaked with blackish centresto the feathers ; remainder of under surface white, slightly tingedwith yellow and broadly streaked with dark brown on the fore neckand chest and with rufous-brown on the breast and abdomenthighs and tarsal plumes yellowish, spotted with brown ;under tailcovertswhite, with a few heart-shaped spots iitar the end of thefeather ; axillaries and under wing-coverts deep yellowish buff,broadly streaked with chocolate-brown, the central markings moreor less irregular in shape ;quills dusky brown, barred with white,somewhat ashy whitish on the quills, but very pure white on thelower series of under wing-coverts, which resemble the lower surfaceof the quills in appearance. Total length 15 inches, culraen 0-85,wing 10'2, tail 6'5, tarsus 1--15.3. Corvus coronoides, F. ^ U.Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. ill. p. 20.a. (S ad. Port MoUe, Queensland, May 1881.4. Oriolus flavicinctus {King).Sharpe, t. c. p. 206.Mimeta flavocincta, Ramsay, t. c. p. 188.a. 2' ^^^^ Darwin, Oct. 1881. Bill flesh-colour; legs and feetslaty grey ; iris bright red.A smaller bird than the Cape-York examples (wing 5*2 inches),with rather a smaller alar speculum. The black centres to thefeathers of the upper surface are wider, and the bird consequentlyappears darker ; but this is probably due to abrasion and wearingaway of the plumage.^ 5. Sphecotheres flaviventris, Gould.Sharpe, t. c. p. 225 ; Ramsay, t. c. p. 188.a,h. $. Thursday Island, Aug. 1881. Iris black.rt, 6. c?6. Chibia bracteata {Gould).Sharpe, t. c. iii. p. 236; Ramsay, t. c. p. 182.. Friday Island, Aug. 1881.c. .(S Port Darwin, Oct. 1881. Iris orange-colour.7. Grallina picata {Lath.).Sharpe, t. c. p. 272 ; Ramsay, f. c. p. 180.o. J. Port Curtis, April 1881.