RHIPIDURA COCKERELLI.
Cockerell’s Fantail Flycatcher.
Sauloprocta cockeretti, Ramsay, Proc. Linn. Soc. New South Wales, iv. p. 81 (1879).—Salvad. Ann. Mus. Civic.
Genova, xiv. p. 508.—Id. Ibis, 1880, p. 129.—Id. Orn. Papuasia, etc. ii. p. 53 (1 8 8 1 ).—Id. op. tit. iii.,
App. p. 531 (1882).
Rhipidura cockeretti, Ramsay, Proc. Linn. Soc. New South Wales, vi. p. 181 (1 8 8 1 ).—Tristr. Ibis, 1882, p. 142.
—Ramsay, Ibis, 1882, p. 473.
T h is species was described by Mr. Ramsay from a specimen obtained in Guadalcanal in the Solomon group,
by Mr. Cockerell. In the absence o f specimens Count Salvadori was inclined to think that it might be the
same species as R . tricolor, an identification which was rather warmly resented by Mr. Ramsay, who certainly
might be supposed to know thoroughly so familiar a species as R . tricolor of Australia. On examining the
type specimen, which Mr. Ramsay has kindly lent to us, we find that it is not of the Sauloprocta type a t all,
but is, as Count Salvadori has more recently suggested, a true Rhipidura as regards coloration. As,
however, we cannot admit that Sauloprocta is generically distinct from Rhipidura, it follows that its position
in the latter genus would be between R . perlata and R . tricolor, in the same black-throated section as the
last-named bird. I t may, however, be distinguished by its smaller size, by the ovate drops of white on the
fore neck and chest, and by the broad white margins to the inner secondaries.
T he following description is taken from the type specimen lent to us by Mr. Ramsay:—
Adult male (type o f species). General colour above brownish black, the long feathers of the rump tipped
with white and forming a tolerably complete band ; lesser wing-coverts like the back ; median and greater
coverts blackish brown, narrowly edged with black, the latter with a small spot of white at the en d s ; bastard
wing, primary-coverts, and quills blackish brown, the inner secondaries broadly margined with white,
extending round the ends o f the innerm ost; upper tail-coverts and tail-feathers blackish brown ; head black,
deeper than the b ack; over the eye a spot o f silvery w h ite ; cheeks, throat, and chest black, the cheeks
slightly varied with a few white tips to the feathers, the lower throat, fore neck, and chest variegated with
large ovate suhterminal drops o f white on each feather ; breast, abdomen, and under tail-coverts white, with
a few blackish edgings to the breast-feathers; thighs black; axillaries blackish brown tipped with wh ite;
under wing-coverts black, with white spots a t the ends o f the fea th e rs; quills dusky blackish below, browner
along the edge of the inner web. Total length 6‘3 inches, culmen 0 ‘6, wing 3 -35, tail 3 ‘4, tarsus 0 ‘6.
The Plate represents the adult male in two positions, drawn from the typical example. The figures are
o f the natural size.
[R. B. S.]