GRAUCALUS MAFORENSIS. Mafoor Island Cuckoo-Shrike. Campephaga maforensis, Meyer, Sitz. Akad. Wien, lxix. p. 386 (1874). Graucalus maforensis, Salvad. Ann. Mus. Civic. Genov. vii. p. 927 (1875).—Sharpe, Mitth. zool. Mus. Dresden, i. p. 365, pl. xxx. (1878).—Id. Brit. Mus. Cat. B. iv. p. 41 (1879).—Salvad. Ann. Mus. Civic. Genov. xv. p. 35 (1879).—Id. Orn. della Papuasia &c. p. 141 (1881 . Tuts species was discovered by Dr. Meyer in the island of Mafoor in the Bay of Geelvink, and belongs to that section of the genus Graucalus which contains G. Zineatus of Australia and G. avillaris from Mount Arfak. Mr. Sharpe states that the female is so like that of G. awillaris that it can scarcely be separated, but the male bird is very different, and is distinguished by having the breast and abdomen black, crossed by very narrow wavy lines of white, whereas in G. aallaris the male is perfectly uniform below. Comparing G. maforensis with G. lineatus of Australia, Count Salvadori says that the colour is of a more intense ashy blue, and the transverse striations on the abdomen are much less strongly defined. The following descriptions of the type specimens are given by Mr. Sharpe in his ‘ Catalogue of Birds ’ — « Adult male. Above light bluish grey, the wing-coverts like the back ; bastard-wing plumes black, narrowly edged with white ; primary-coverts black on the inner webs, externally grey, rather lighter on the extreme margin; quills black, the primaries with a narrow edging of hoary grey, the secondaries like the back, blackish on the inner web; tail-feathers entirely black (only three feathers remaining) ; sides of face a little darker bluish grey than the head ; a narrow frontal line, lores, feathers in front of the eyes and at base of cheeks black; throat and chest bluish grey; breast and remainder of under surface of body black, crossed with very fine narrow lines of greyish white; thighs bluish grey; under wing-coverts and axillaries black, barred with white like the breast, but the bars much broader ; quills ashy grey below, narrowly edged with white along the inner web; ‘iris yellow’ (Meyer). Total length 8°8 inches, culmen 0°75, wing 4°7, tail 3°8, tarsus 0°8. «Adult female. Differs from the male in having much broader white cross bars on the under surface, the black ones, however, being broader than the white ones ; above, the colour is darker bluish grey than in the male, the black at the base of the forehead being more dusky and not so velvety black ; the secondaries as well as the primaries have a narrow and nearly obsolete hoary grey edging, and are much more broadly margined with white on the inner web below; tail black, the outer feathers with a narrow white tip, the centre feathers dark grey for the greater part of their extent, black at the tips. Total length 8:8 inches, culmen 0°75, wing 4°85, tail 4, tarsus 0°8.” The male and female birds depicted in the Plate have been drawn from the typical examples, which were kindly lent to me by Dr. Meyer for the purpose. [R. B. S.] f) y, 4 A f = S a BP RE “Tye Pog ya as aT