AMAURODRYAS. 



173 



white mottled with dark brown; remainder of the under surface dull white. Wing 3-5 

 inches. 



The fitjure represents an adult male. 



August and the four following months constitute the usual breeding season of this species 

 in Eastern and Southern Australia, during which time two broods are reared. In New South 

 Wales, nests with fresh eggs are generally found in August and November. 



Amaurodryas vittata. 



DUSKY ROBIN. 

 Gobe-tnoudie a bandit, Quoy et Gaim., Voy. de I'Astrol., Atlas, pi. 3, fig. 2. 

 Miiscicapa vittata, Quoy et Gaim., Voy. de I'Astrol., Zool, Tom. I., p. 173 (1830). 

 Petroica fusca, Gould, Bds. Austr., foL, Vol. III., pi. 8 (1848). 

 Amaurodryas cittata, Gould, Handbk. Bds. Austr,, Vol. I., p. 280 (1865). 

 PetrrMa vittata, Sharps, Cat. Bds. Brit. Mas., Vol. IV., p. 177 (1879). 



Adult yixi,^— General colour above bron-n, tinged with olive; lesser and median wing-coverts 

 like the back, the greater coverts blackish-broivn, with whitish tips; quills dark brown, crossed near 

 the base except on the outer primaries with a dull white band, the inner secondaries narrowly 

 edged and tipped with brow nish white : tail brown, the tips of the three outer feathers and the 

 external web of the outermost one white: lores blackish; ear-coverts brown with dull white shaft 

 lines; throat greyish-white ; remainder of the under surface pale brown, slightly tinged with buff; 

 centre of the abdomen dull white; under tail-coverts brown, indistinctly tipped with white; "bill 

 black: legs and feet black: iris dark stone colour" (Atkinson). Total length in the flesh (rS 

 inches, toing 3 0, tail 2-6o, bill Oo, tarsus 0-9-5 . 



Adult female — Similar in plumage to the male. 



Distribution.— Tasmania., and some of the Islands of Bass Strait. 



MM. OUOY AND GAIMARD first figured this species in the Atlas of the '^\'oyage de 

 r.Vstrolabe." Subsequently,- in dealing with it under the name of Muscicapa vittata, 

 it is stated that it inhabits King George's Sound, New Holland. This is undoubtedly an 

 error, and is probably the reason Gould in his Handbook placed a query against Quoy and 

 Gaimard's figure, being the same as his Petroica fusca, under which name he figured this species 

 in his folio edition of the "Birds of .\ustralia." 



There are a number of skins in the Australian Museum collection, obtained by Mr. George 

 Masters in different parts of Southern Tasmania, and specimens have been recently received 

 in the flesh from Mr. E. D. Atkinson, of Waratah. I have also received its eggs from the 

 north-western coast of Tasmania, and from King Island, but have never met with this species 

 or know of any authentic record of it being found in Australia. The wing measurement of 

 adult males varies from 3-45 to 3-65 inches. Just prior to the moult the white tips of the outer 

 tail feathers are narrower and less distinct. 



I have examined stomachs of these birds that were obtained by Mr. E. D. Atkinson at 

 Waratah, Mount Bischoff, on the 12th July, 1902, in the depth of winter, and found them to 

 contain several kinds of small seeds and a few bits of gravel. There was no trace of insects 

 upon which they chiefly live during the spring and summer months. 



* Voy. de I'Astrol., Zool., torn, i., p. 174 (1830). 

 0.1 



