A iH JM E IM J g SBEXi AH'© H l g 0
AILURCEDUS MELANOTIS .
Black-cheeked Cat-bird.
Ptilonorhynchus melanotis, Gray, P. Z. S. 1858, p. 181.—Id. Cat. Mamm. & Birds N. Guin. p. 37. Von Rosenb.
J. f. 0 . 1864, p. 1 2 2—Schl. Mus. P. B. Coraces, p. 1 1 8—Gray, Handl. B. i. p. 2 9 4—Schl. N. T. D.
iv. p. 51.
jElurcedus melanotis, Elliot, Monogr. Paradiseidee, pi. 35.
T h e discovery of this genuine and unmistakable Cat-bird in the Papuan Islands, forms part of the evidence
that the latter are Australian, and not Indian, in their geographical affinity.
The Ailurcedus melanotis of the Aru Islands is the largest of the five species o f this genus now known to u s :
the nearest ally is the A . arfakianus o f the mainland o f New Guinea, and by some may he considered the same
species; Mr. Meyer, however, has separated them ; and I have followed him and given figures o f both. Whatever
they may ultimately prove to be, it will be seen that the mainland bird differs materially both in the colour
and form o f its markings. The newly discovered species at Rockingham Bay, in Queensland, is also nearly allied,
but is at once separated by its much smaller size, and less developed markings on the tips o f the secondaries,
a feature so prominent in the Aru bird as to remind us very forcibly o f the round marks so abundantly
dispersed over the whole upper surface in Chlamydodera maculata. These marks, both in form and colour,
are not the usual tippings o f such feathers, but are rounder and more sharply defined ; in colour they will
be found deeply tinted with yellowish grey, affording a strong contrast to the pure white ends o f the tail-
feathers. These facts in my mind tend to confirm the alliance between the members o f the genus Ailurcedus
and Chlamydodera, while the length and greater development o f the mantle in most o f the species shows
an alliance to many of the Birds of Paradise. Mr. Wallace did not fail to obtain specimens o f the present
bird during his visit to the Aru Islands ; neither was Mr. Cockerell less active in this respect: from these
two sources our cabinets are now well supplied. The Dutch travellers, Baron von Rosenberg and
Mr. Hoedt, have also forwarded a large series to the Leiden Museum, from the islands of Wokan, Trangan,
and Maykor, all belonging to the Aru group. Nothing whatever has been written about its habits.
Male.—Bill fleshy white; crown o f the head, nape, and mantle black, with longitudinal spots o f buffy
brown occupying the centre o f each feather ; lores grey ; ears black, separated from the back of the head
by a narrow line of buffy white ; throat greyish white, mottled with dark brown ; all the undersurface dull
greenish yellow, each feather having darker tips and a hair-like stripe o f white down the centre ; the breast
generally darker than the belly and flanks, the latter being strongly suffused with green ; all the upper
surface lively grass-green; the tips of all the secondaries greyish white, all the tail-feathers tipped with pure
white, the outermost ones largely, while in. the two centre ones the white marks are almost obsolete; legs
and toes bluish black.
Total length 12$ inches, bill I f, wing 6$, tail 4 f, tarsus 2.
The sexes are much alike in colour; but the female is decidedly the smallest.