114 From Magazines, &^c. [isf Oct. still wider range. The Cuckoo- Shrikes {Graucali) are all called " Mutton-Birds," the Oreoica the "Ventriloquist-Bird," the Drongo-Shrike has " Fish-tail " added to its name, and the Smicrornis is termed the " Wee-bill Gerygone," &c., &c. Regarding the geographical range, Mr. Broadbent records for the first time several species new for Queensland, namely : — PadiycepJiala lanioides, Pcccilodyras cervmiventris, Memira su- perba,^ AcantJiiza pyrrJiopygia, CalaviantJms Julzginosits, C. canipestiis, Poephila acuticauda, and Cinclosonia castmionotum. But probably more proof will have to be forthcoming before students will believe that PacJiycepJiala gilberti (Gould) is found at Cape York Peninsula and Eopsaltria gularis (Quoy) in Victoria. When the Aust. O.U. takes in hand its official "Check List of Australian Birds," Mr. Broadbent's paper will prove extremely useful as a local reference.
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In "Appendix F," Report on Exploration of North- West Kimberley, 1901, by Fred. S. Brockman (Leader), Mr. A. W. Milligan, Honorary Ornithologist to the Western Australian Museum, has reported, through Mr. Bernard H. Woodward, F.G.S. (the Curator), on the birds collected by Dr. F. M. House, the naturalist who accompanied the expedition. The collection contains 43 skins, the number of species being 29. Dr. House is evidently a discriminating collector, for out of that small consignment one species is quite new to science, while five are new for the district of North-Western Australia — a very creditable result, considering the difficulties of moving with a restless exploring party.
The new species is an extremely interesting one — an Amytis — which has been deservedly named housei by Mr. Milligan, after its discoverer, but on account of its characteristic colouring to be known on the vernacular list as the Black Grass- Wren. Dr. House's field observations are that —
"This bird was first found near Camp F.B. 25, where the surrounding country was exceedingly rough, and strewn with piled-up masses of sandstone, in colour chiefly shading from red to black. It was observed running over the boulders, with which its colouring harmonizes so perfectly that it might easily pass unnoticed. In running the bird lowers the head and tail, giving it a peculiar appearance, not unlike that which the Pheasant Coucal presents when running on the ground. Its distribution seemed to be entirely determined by the colour of the rocks. It was only observed running over the sandstone, and only in places where the colouring of the rocks har- monized with its own."
- Precise locality given is King's Creek. King's Creek comes out of the main
range at Pilton, and runs through the Darling Downs for about 28 miles, joining the Condamine River at Clifton. The creek is famous for fossils. Timber-getters report that its head waters are crowned with fern trees, overshadowed with principally "spotted gums " (eucalypts), and that the gullies thereabouts are scratched all over by Brush Turkeys, or Talegallus, as well as by Lyre-Birds. — Eds.
