| 96. Cracticus leucopterus, Gould. |
Inhabits Western Australia; is of the same size as C. destructor, but has the white mark on the wings much larger and more clearly defined.
| 97. Cracticus Quoyii | [Vol. II. ] Pl. 53. |
Genus Grallina, Vieill.
Only one species of this genus is at present known. It is peculiar to Australia, over every portion of which country it is dispersed; and it may be considered one of the anomalies of the Australian ornithology, since its alliance to any group of birds with which we are acquainted is very remote.
| 98. Grallina Australis | [Vol. II. ] Pl. 54. |
Genus Graucalus, Cuv.
The woods of every part of the Old World from India to Australia are tenanted by species of this genus, which, from their great size, their being strictly insectivorous, and individually very numerous, must tend to keep insect life in check, and consequently perform a most important part in the economy of nature.
In my description of Graucalus melanops, I have stated that New South Wales, Van Diemen’s Land, Swan River and Port Essington, are each inhabited by Grauculi so nearly allied to each other that it was questionable whether they were not one and the same species, and that the slight differences they present were attributable to some peculiarity in the districts they inhabit; after much attention to the subject, I have been induced to regard the Van Diemen’s Land bird as distinct, and I have therefore assigned it a name, parvirostris; those of the other countries appear to be local varieties or races peculiar to their respective habitats.
All the members of the group build a flat slight nest of fine short dead twigs, curiously joined together with cobwebs, on which they lay two eggs.