EDOLIISOMA. 113 



C2rema.S EID0I-iHS03^-A., Pucheran. 



Edoliisoma tenuirostre. 



JARDINE'S CATERPILLA.R-EA.TER. 

 Graucahis tenuirostris, Jard., Edin. Journ. Nat. it Geog. Sci., No. -t, n.s., p. 211. 

 Campephaga jardinii, Gould, Bds. Austr., fol., Vol. 11., pi. GO (1848); id., Handbk. Bds. Austr., 



Vol. I., p. 200 (186.5). 

 Edoliisoma tenuirostre, Sharpe, Gat. Bds. Brit. Mus., Vol. IV., p. 5.5 (1879); North, Rec. Austr. 

 Mus., Vol. I., p. 177 (1891). 

 Adult male — General colour above and belotit dark slattj-greij; lesser wing-coverts like the back; 

 median wing-coverts black at the base, dark slaty-grey at the tip ; primaries black, externally edged 

 tvith grey; secondaries and greater iving-coverts black, broadly margined on their outer webs with 

 grey : two central tail-feathers dark slaty grey with a spot of black near the tip, the remainder black, 

 the outer one on either side tipped with slaty-grey ; lores, feathers below the eye, and the ear-coverts 

 black; bill black; legs and feet black: iris dark brown. Total length in the flesh 10-6 inches, wing 

 5-5, tail Jf-1, bill 0-82, tarsus 1. 



Adult vv.yikhv.— General colour above ashy-brown, the feathers of the rump and upper tail- 

 coverts more conspicuously shaded with grey, and having pale yellonnsh-buff edges and an indistinct 

 blackish suhterminal cross-bar: primaries, secondaries, and upper iving-coverts broicn, externally 

 margined with buff; two central tail-feathers brown, tvashed with buff, the remainder olive-brown 

 tipped with rich creamy-buff, increasing in e:ctent tou-ards the outermost feather on either side, 

 which has the outer web creamy-buff] except at the base; a line of feathers above and around the 

 eye creamy -bnf: a spot in front of the eye and the ear-coverts blackish, the latter streaked with 

 pale creamy-buff: chin, throat, and all the under surface creamij-buff; the feathers of the chest, breast, 

 and sides of the body crossed n-ith two arro/nhend blackish lines; under tail-coverts and under 

 wing-coverts rich creamy-huff. Total length in the flesh OS inches, wing 51, tail J^'l, bill OS, 

 tarsus O-H-j. 



Distribiition.—NoTthem Territory of South Australia, Queensland, New Soutli Wales, 

 \'ictoria. 



/-f^HIS species is distributed in favourable situations throughout the greater portion of 

 J_ Northern and Eastern Australia. Gilbert met with it at Port Essington, Mr. K. 

 Broadbent at Cape York, Mr. E. A. C. Olive procured e.xamples at Cooktown, Messrs. Cairn and 

 Grant obtained it at Cairns, and Mr. George Masters at Port Denison. To New South Wales 

 it is a spring visitant, departing again at the end of summer, when the breeding season is 

 over. During these seasons it is by no means uncommon in the northern coastal districts. 

 South of the Hawkesbury River it is less frequently met with until the Illawarra District is 

 reached, e.\cept in the contiguous mountain gullies of the National Park and Waterfall. In 

 the south-eastern portions of the State, and in Southern Mctoria it is a comparatively rare 

 species. It evinces a decided preference for the taller trees in rich brush lands or humid 

 mountain ranges and gullies, and is seldom met with far inland. During November, 1898, in 

 company with Mr. George Savidge, I found it tolerably plentiful in the Upper Clarence 

 District, resorting generally in pairs to the topmost branches of the highest trees, its presence 

 being detected chiefly by the peculiar note of the male, resembling "kree-kree, kree-kree" rapidly 

 utter^'ed, and which could be heard a considerable distance away. In November of the following 

 year I observed the males only of this species in the loftiest trees growing in the palm brushes at 

 Ourimbah, a few miles north of the Hawkesbury River. Evidently the females were sitting, 

 for I saw and heard the males day after day in the same places, and from which they chased 

 all other birds. The dense undergrowth, covered with bush-lawyer vines, howfever, precluded 



