M X I A K K A C E I M M M D 3 M . , T r i s t r .
MYIAGRA CER VI NIC AUD A, T ristr .
Fawn-tailed Flycatcher.
Myiagra cervinicmtia, Tristram,' I b j g |l8 7 9 ,p .439— Salvad. Ibis, 1880, p. 1 3 0—Tristr, tom. cit. p. 246.—Salvad.
Orn. Papuasia, etc. ii. p. 79 (1 8 8 1 ).—Ramsay, Proc. Linn. Soc. N . S. W. vi. p. 726 (1881). Tristr. Ibis,
1882, pp. .137, 142.—Salvad. Ann. Mus. Civic.,Genov, xviii. p. 423 (18 8 2 ).—Id. Orn. Papuasia, etc. iii.
p. 533 (1 882).—Ramsay, Proc. Linn. Soc. N. S. W. vii. p. 24 (18 8 2 ).
Many o f the Myiagra!, or Broad-billed Flycatchers, seem to be more easily recognized by the females than by
the male birds. Such is certainly the case with the present species ; for the male is scarcely to be distinguished
from the same sex o f M. melarmra of the New Hebrides, whereas the hens o f the two species are
easily separable, the clear grey head and ear-coverts, the fawu-coloured abdomen and under tail-coverts, as
well as the fawn-coloured tail-feathers, a t once distinguishing M. certinicauda. As might be expected,
M . ferrocyanea is also very like the present species ; but the male is distinguished by its purplish upper
surface, and the female by the white underparts.
The present species is doubtless peculiar to the Solomon group o f islands, having been met with in Rendova
by Capt. Richards and by Mr. Morton in Ugi.
The following is a description o f a pair of birds lent to us by Mr. Ramsay :—
Adult male. General colour above dull bottle-green, becoming greyer on the lower back and rum p ; upper
tail-coverts like the b a ck ; wing-coverts like the b a c k ; bastard wing, primary-eoverts, and quills blackish,
externally edged with the same colour as the back, rath er greyer on the secondaries ; tail-feathers greenish
black, with a greyish shade on the ed g e s; lores and feathers below the eye velvety black ; sides of face,
ear-coverts, cheeks, throat, and chest greenish black; breast and remainder o f under surface, including the
thighs and under tail-coverts, white ; axillaries and under wing-coverts white, the edge o f the wing mottled
with greenish black ; quills blackish below, white along the edge o f the inner web. Total length 5 '7 inches,
culmen 0 -55, wing 2 '6 5 , tail 2 ‘3, tarsus 0 ‘6.
Adult female. General colour above rufous-brown, the upper tail-coverts fawn-coloured and contrasting with
the b a ck ; wing-coverts blackish, edged with rufous-brown like the b ack ; bastard wing, primary-eoverts, and
quills blackish, with scarcely any rufous margin, except on the secondaries ; two centre tail-feathers entirely
brown ; the next two brown, with a small fawn-coloured tip ; the next brown along the inner web, fawn-coloured
at the tip and along the outer web, the two outermost entirely pale fawn-colour ; head and nape French grey,
contrasting with the back ; a line across the base o f the forehead, lores, and eyelid pale tawny buff; ear-coverts
French grey like the crown ; cheeks, throat, and breast deeper tawny, the abdomen and thighs lighter and more
tawny brown, deeper again on the sides o f the body and the under tail-coverts; axillaries and under wing-coverts
like the breast. Total length 5 ‘2 inches, culmen 0 ‘65, wing 2 ‘45, tail 2'3 , tarsus 0 ’65.
T h e figures in the Plate are drawn from the pair o f birds above described, and represent an adult male
and female o f the natural size.
[R. B. S.]