6KAU CALOS MAFOREITSI'S.
GRAUCALUS MAFORENSIS.
Mafoor Island Cuckoo-Shrike.
Campephaga mafarmsss, Meyer, SiiS, Akad. Wien, M i p. 386 (1 8 7 4 ).
Graucalus mafonmis, Salvad. Ann. M u . # S e . Genov, vii. p . 927 (1 8 7 5 ).-S h a rp e , Mitth. zool. Mus. Dresden,
i. p. 365, pi. i n . ( 1878) .—Id. Brit. Mus. Cat. B. iv. p. 41 (1 8 7 9 ).—Salvad. Ann. Mus. Civic. Genov.
XV. p. 35 (1879).—Id. Om. della Papuasia &c. p. 141 (1881 .
T his species was discovered by Dr. Meyer in the island of Mafoor in the Bay o f Geelvink, and belongs
to th at section of the genus Graucalus which contains G. lineatus o f Australia and G. axillaris from Mount
Arfak. Mr. Sharpe states th at the female is so like th at of G. axillaris that it can scarcely be separated, hut
the male bird is very different, and is distinguished by having the breast and abdomen black, crossed by
very narrow wavy lines o f white, whereas in G. axillaris the male;)»?:perfectly uniform below. Comparing
G. maforensis with G. lineatus o f Australia, Count Salvador! says that the colour is o f a more intense ashy blue,
and the transverse striations on the abdomen are much less strongly defined.
T he following descriptions o f the type specimens are given by Mr. Sharpe in his ‘ Catalogue of Birds E S
“Adult male. Above light bluish grey, the wing-coverts like the b ack; bastard-wing plumes black, narrowly
edged with white ; primary-coverts black on the inner webs, externally grey, rath er lighter on the extreme
margin; quills black, the primaries with a narrow edging o f hoary grey, the secondaries like the back, blackish
on the inner web; tail-feathers entirely black (only three feathers remaining); sides o f face a little darker
bluish grey than the head ; a narrow frontal line, lores, feathers in front o f the eyes and a t base o f cheeks
b lack ; throat and chest bluish g r e y ; breast and remainder of under surface o f body black, crossed with very
fine narrow lines o f greyish white ; thighs bluish g rey ; 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 7 5 , wing 4 7 , tail 3-8, tarsus 0-8.
"A d u lt 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 o n e s ; above, the colour is darker bluish grey than in
the male, the black a t the base o f the forehead being more dusky and not so velvety b lack ; 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 p a rt of their extent, black a t 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 D r. Meyer for the purpose.