The term _Alectura_ having been previously employed for a group of Flycatchers, and the present bird possessing all the characters of M. Lesson’s genus _Talegalla_, which was published prior to Mr. Swainson’s _Catheturus_, I feel that I ought to adopt that appellation. How far its range may extend over Australia is not yet satisfactorily ascertained; it is known to inhabit various parts of New South Wales, from Cape Howe on the south to Moreton Bay on the north; but the assaults of the cedar-cutters and others who so frequently hunt through the brushes of Illawarra and Maitland, having nearly extirpated it from those localities, it is now most plentiful in the dense and little-trodden brushes of the Manning and Clarence. I was at first led to believe that the country between the mountain-ranges and the coast constituted its sole habitat; but I was agreeably surprised to find it also an inhabitant of the scrubby gullies and sides of the lower hills that branch off from the great range into the interior. I procured specimens on the Brezi range to the north of Liverpool Plains, and ascertained that it was abundant in all the hills on either side of the Namoi. It is a gregarious bird, generally moving about in small companies, much after the manner of the _Gallinaceæ_, and, like some species of that tribe, is very shy and distrustful. When disturbed it readily eludes pursuit by the facility with which it runs through the tangled brush. If hard pressed, or when rushed upon by its great enemy the native dog, the whole company spring upon the lowermost bough of some neighbouring tree, and by a succession of leaps from branch to branch ascend to the top, and either perch there or fly off to another part of the brush. They are also in the habit of resorting to the branches of trees as a shelter from the mid-day sun, a peculiarity that greatly tends to their destruction, as the sportsman is not only enabled to take a certain aim, but, like the Ruffed Grouse of America, they will even allow a succession of shots to be fired until they are all brought down. Unless some measures be adopted for their preservation, this circumstance must lead to an early extinction of the race; an event much to be regretted, since, independently of its being an interesting bird for the aviary, its flesh is extremely delicate, tender, and juicy.