192 



MUSCICAPID.E. 



/T3? 



Gerygone albigularis. 



WHITE-THROATED BUSH-WARBLER. 

 Psilopus alhogularis, Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc, 1837, p. 147. 

 Gerygone albogularis, Gould, Bds. Austr., fol., Vol. II., pi. 97 (1848); id., Handbk. Bds. Austr., 



Vol. I,, p. 26G (186.5). 

 Gerygone albigularis, Sharpe, Cat. Bds. Brit. Mus., Vol. IV., p. -212 (1879). 



Adult malk — General colour above pale ashy-brown, washed 7vilh olive; lesser wing-coverts 

 like the back, the median and greater coverts dark brown, externally edged with ashy-brown; quills 

 dark brotvn, externally edged with light ashy-brown ; upper tail-coverts pale ashy-broum ; two central 

 tail feathers ashy-brown, with a large indistinct blackish-broion oval spot near the tip, the remainder 

 blackish-brown with a brand white band on their inner webs near the centre of the feather and a spot 

 of white at the tip, the apical portion of the outer web of the outermost feather white except at the 

 tip; loral streak white: feathers in front of the eye and the ear-coverts rich broivn; cheeks and 

 throat white; remainder of the under surface yellow ; under tail-coverts yelloivish-n-hite ; bill black; 

 legs and feet blackish-brown; iris light red. Total length in the flesh JpS inches, ?ring ;.'V>, tail 

 17, bill 0-Jf, tarsus 0'7. 



Adult female — Similar in phnnage to the male. 

 Distribution. — Queensland, New South Wales, \'ictoria. 



K%HE eastern portion of the Australian continent 

 is the habitat of this species, and in no part does 

 it appear to be more abundantly distributed than in New 

 South Wales. It is but sparingly dispersed in \'ictoria, 

 although the first nest and eggs of this species I had 

 seen, together with a skin of the bird, were obtained 

 near Beechworth in November, i88o. There is con- 

 siderable variation in the wing-measurement of adult 

 specimens, even when procured in the same neigh- 

 bourhood; 2-3 inches is the average, but the wing of 

 a fine old adult male obtained at Middle Harbour, 

 Sydney, measures only 2-15 inches; of another, procured 

 at Ashfield, 2-45 inches. Specimens from the Burnett 

 River and Rockingham Bay, Queensland, are similar 

 in colour and average measurements to New South W'ales examples. 



It is a strictly migratory species, arriving in New South Wales early in spring, remaining 

 to breed, and leaving again in the autumn. During a period of fourteen years I have generally 

 noted its arrival in the vicinity of Sydney between the 7th and 15th September, on the average 

 being nearer to the earlier date. In 1902, however, a year of unprecedented drought inland, it 

 did not arrive at Roseville until the 7th October. The time of its departure depends a great 

 deal upon the season, generally it is during the first or second week in April, my latest record 

 being the 21st April, i8g8, the weather that year being unusually warm and mild. It frequents 

 chiefly sapling scrubs, open forest country, and mountain ranges, and except in the arid 

 portions I have met with it in nearly every part of the State visited. 



From its sweet and pleasing note it is known in tlie neighbourhood of Sydney and in 

 many parts of New South Wales as the "Native Canary." It is impossible to convey by 

 words any idea of its clear and varied song, which is uttered at intervals throughout the day, 

 and can be heard at a great distance. During the late spring and early summer months it 



\VHITE-TI1R0.\TEU UUSII-WARBLEH. 



