178 MUSCICAPID.E. 



particularly one specimen on which the markings are almost obsolete. Length: — (A) 079 x 

 o'55 inches; (B) o-8 x 0-56 inches. 



The breeding season of this species apparently extends over several months, as Mr. 

 Elsey found it nesting in November and again in February and March. Mr. Keartland 

 observed young birds that had recently left the nest, being fed near the Fitzroy Ri\er on 

 the 1st January, 1897; and the above described eggs from the Northern Territory, which 

 were fresh, were taken respectively on the 17th January, 1902, and the 6th January, 1903. 



PcEcilodryas superciliosa. 



WHITK-EYEBROWED ROBIN. 

 Petroica superciliosa, Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc, 1846, p. 106; id., Bds. Austr., fob, Vol. III., pi. 9 

 (1848). 



Pmcilodryas superciliosa, (iould, Hanilbk. Bds. Austi-., Vol. I., p. :i89 (1865); Sliarpe, Cat. Bds 

 Brit. Mus., Vol. IV., p. 242 (1879). 



Adult .male — General colour above brown, the hearl sHij idly darker : lesser and median ming- 

 coverts like the back, the greater coverts blackish-brown with small and very narrow irhite edges 

 to the tips of some of the Jeathers; primary coverts blackish-brown : quills blackish-brown, paler 

 towards the tips, and crossed near the base tvith a conspicuous white band, the apical portion 0/ the 

 primaries and outermost secondaries externally edged with white, the latter also tipped jvilh white, 

 innermost secondaries brown like the back ; tail feathers broivn, all but the central pair tipped with 

 white, more broadly towards the outermost feathers; a broad line extending from the nostril over 

 the eye tchite; in front of the eye a blackish spot: beloiv the eye a larger spot 0/ dull ichite ; car- 

 coverts dark broion, with ilull white shaft streaks and bases; chin., throat, and sides of the neck 

 white; remainder of the under surface dull tchite, loith an ashy shade tvhich is more pronounced 

 on the fore-neck and upper portion of the breast: under tail-coverts white ; bill black : legs and feet 

 dark greyish-black. Total length 5'8 inches, wing 3"2, tail 2-6, bill 55, tarsus <i'8. 



Adult femalk — Similar in plumage to the male. 



Distribution. — North-eastern Queensland. 



^^HF present species is an inhabitant of the dense scrubs extending from the coast to the 

 Great Dividing Range, in the central portion of North-eastern Queensland. Gilbert, 

 who accompanied Dr. Leichhardt on his overland expedition, discovered it on the 14th May, 

 1845, in the scrubs on the banks of the Burdekin River, between the Sea-view Range and the 

 Great Dividing Range, and some little distance to the north of the \'alley of Lagoons. In the 

 same district, and on the coastal side of the Sea- view Range, near Card well, the late Mr. 

 Edward Spalding obtained specimens, also the nests with eggs, in 1867. Mr. J. A. Boyd 

 found it breeding at Ripple Creek, near the mouth of the Herbert River, and kindly forwarded 

 me its nest and eggs; and there are two specimens in the .Vustralian Museum collection that 

 were obtained in the neighbourhood of Port Denison. 



Poecilodyyas superciliosa has also been recorded as occurring at the Gulf of Carpentaria and 

 the Northern Territory of South Australia, but on what authority I know not. Neither of the 

 large collections made in the former district by Mr. Gulliver and Mr. Broadbent contained 

 examples of this species, neither was it met with by Mr. Alex. Morton at Port Essington, 

 or by the late Mr. Spalding at Port Darwin. 



The nest is an open cup-shaped structure, built over the junction of a forked horizontal 

 branch. Externally it is formed of thin dried plant stems and dried grass stalks, slightly 

 held together with cobweb, the inside being lined with fine vegetable fibre; the rim, which is 

 very thick, and the exposed portion of the nest having a few large pieces of bark attached here 



