HETERANAX MDNBUS.
W alter,Im p
HETERANAX MUNDUS.
Forbes’s Pied Flycatcher.
Monarcha mundus, Sclater, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1883, p. 54, pi. xii. fig. 2.
I n describing this species, Dr. Sclater seems to have had some suspicion that it was not a typical Monarcha,
for he figures the bill alongside that o f M. castas, in order to show the difference between them. On the
arrival o f the typical specimens in the British Museum, we a t once compared them with those species which
seemed to be their natural allies in the genus Piezorhynchus, and we found th at the Timor-Laut bird
differed in the structure o f its bill from all o f them. I t is closely allied to the Australian genus S izu ra;
but the latter has the bill flattened, although it is very narrow ; whereas in M. mundus the bill is not only
narrow, but is strongly compressed, so th at it is higher than broad at the nostrils. Under these
circumstances, we have felt compelled to propose the new generic term o f Heteranax (erepos — alter, and
ava£ — rex).
Mr. Forbes informs us that he shot this species near the village o f Waitidal, on the island of L a ra t; it
was found not far from the coast.
T h e following description is taken from the original specimens
Adult male. General colour above iron-grey, with a band o f silky white plumes across the rum p ; wing-
coverts glossy blue-black, including the bastard wing and primary-coverts; quills black, externally edged
with iron-grey, broader on the secondaries; upper tail-coverts and four central tail-feathers blue-black, the
next pair with a white spot near the tip, the latter fringed with black, the other feathers broadly ending in
white, increasing in extent towards the outermost, where the white occupies the terminal half o f the fea th e r;
forehead, lores, a narrow superciliary line, ear-coverts, aud feathers round the eye velvety b lack ; feathers
below the eye, cheeks, sides o f face, aud sides o f neck pure w h ite ; base o f cheeks and centre of throat
black; sides o f the throat and rest o f the under surface pure white, with a slight wash o f grey on the
flanks; thighs black ; under wing-coverts and axillaries pure wh ite ; edge o f wing black ; quills dusky
blackish below, ashy along the edge of the inner web. Total length 6*4 inches, culmen 0 ‘7, wing 3 ‘25,
tail 2*8, tarsus 0 ‘85.
Adult female. Like the male, but with the black not extending so far down the throat. Wing 3'1 inches.
Dr. Sclater having very kindly lent us the typical pair o f specimens, before their deposition in the
British Museum, we have been enabled to give a figure o f them both. They are represented in the Plate,
o f the size o f life. [R . R . S.]