_Strigiceps leucopogon_ Lesson, Echo du Monde Savant 1840 (?); Rev.
Zool. 1840, p. 266; Suppl. aux oeuvres compl. de Buffon, Descr. de
Mammif. & Ois, récemm. découverts, p. 277 (1847--Nouvelle Hollande);
Hartlaub, Beitrag Gesch ausgest Vögel, in Abhandl. Naturw. Ver. Bremen,
2te Ausgabe, als M.S. gedr., p. 40 (1896).
Nobody has hitherto identified the curious bird described by Lesson, l.c.,
under the above name. From the generic characters he gives it is evident
that it was a bird with a long, curved bill, lanceolate feathers on the
head and throat, and long, strongly graduated tail, doubtless belonging to
the _Meliphagidae_. The description of the colouration is as follows:--
"Back, wings and tail bright greenish-olive; quills brown inside; shafts of
the rectrices canary-yellow from below, glossy brown-red from above; top of
head and neck chestnut, each feather being narrow and streaked with white,
then with fawn-colour on the top; the feathers of the throat are elongated
and fringed out on their edges, very narrow and lanceolate, grey at base,
white at the tips; cheeks, sides of neck and chest ferruginous, some white
streaks on the feathers of the chest and in the middle of the throat;
flanks and belly clear rufous, passing into canary-yellow on the under
tail-coverts. Tail from below greenish-yellow; tarsi horn-colour, bill
above brownish, below yellowish with brown tip. Length about eight french
inches and a half (0.23 centimètres)." (_Translated._)
This bird was said to have come from Australia. I have made enquiries, but
the type seems to have disappeared. There is something in the description
reminding us of _Chaetoptila angustipluma_. Unless the description is
faulty, this bird came probably not from Australia, but from one of the
Pacific Islands. It has not been observed since, and is possibly extinct.
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