GERGYONE. 195 



Gerygone fusca. 



BROWN BUSH-WARBLER, 



Psilopns /usciis, Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc , 1837, p. 147. 



Gerygone fusca, Gould, Bds. Austr., fol.. Vol. II., pi. 98 (184:8); id., Handbk. Bds. Austr., Vol. I., 

 p. 267 (1865). 



Pseudogergy one fusca, Sharpe, Oat. Bds. Brit. Mus., Vol. IV., p. 22.3 (1879). 



Adult .male — General colour ahove hrotvu washed with light umber; upper wing-coverts and 

 quills brown externally margined tvitJt olive; tail ashy-broivn slightly tinged with olive, and crossed 

 with an indistinct blackish-brown band, all but the two central feathers having a large spot of white 

 near the tip of the inner web, this spot increasing in size towards the outermost feather on either 

 side, tvliich is subterminall y barred ivith white; lores, a narrotv line over the eye, and the lower 

 portion of the eyelid ashy-white; a spot in front of the eye blackish-brown ; sides of the face, throat, 

 and neck ashy-grey ; remainder of the under surface greyish-white, passing into a ptirer white on the 

 centre of the abdomen; tlie flanks, sides of the abdomen, and under tail-coverts strongly washed with 

 buff; bill black; legs and feet greyish-broivn ; iris brownish-red. Total length in the flesh J^-l inches, 

 wing 2'1, tail I'S, bill 32, tarsus 75. 



Adult fem.^le — Similar in plumage to the male. 



Distribution. — Queensland, New South Wales. 



/T^HE type oi Gerygone fusca was described by Gould in the Proceedings of the Zoological 

 -L Society, in 1837, from a specimen in the collection of the Earl of Derby, its habitat 

 being recorded as Australia. In his diagnosis there given, also in his descriptions of this 

 species in his folio edition of the "Birds of Australia," and which is copied in his " Handbook," 

 he states that the " two central tail feathers are brown, the remainder white at the base." This 

 is at variance with his figures, and with the above description which is that of the bird found 

 in the coastal brushes of Northern New South Wales, where Gould states Gerygone fusca 

 inhabits. 



.Vn adult male, obtained by ;\Ir. George Masters at Wide Bay, Queensland, in October, 

 1867, has not the light umber wash so pronounced as specimens procured on the Bellinger 

 River, New South Wales, and the under surface is dull white with only a slight tinge of buff 

 on the flanks and under tail-coverts. 



An adult male and female procured by Messrs. Cairn and Grant, in 1889, at Boar Pocket 

 on the table-land of the Bellenden Ker Range, North-eastern Queensland, which I have 

 now before me, were erroneously recorded as Gerygone culicivora.''- In the character of their 

 markings they are more nearly allied to the present species, but vary in other respects. They 

 may be described as follows: — Adult Male: General colour above earth-brown, with a faint 

 umber shade; upper wing-coverts like the back; quills dusky brown, e.xternally margined with 

 dull olive-brown; tail greyish-brown, tinged with olive and crossed with a broad-subterminal 

 blackish-brown band, and having a large spot of white near the tip of the inner web of all 

 but the two central feathers, this spot increasing in size towards the outermost feather on 

 either side, which is subterminally barred with white; lores and a narrow line of feathers 

 extending over the eye white; in front of the eye a spot of blackish-brown; ear-coverts earth- 

 brown, slightly washed with light umber; chin and feathers below the eye white; remainder 

 of the under surface and under tail-coverts white, tinged with faint brownish-bufT. Total 

 length 3-5 inches, wing 1-95, tail 17, bill 0-33, tarsus 07. Adult Female: Similar in plumage 

 to the male, but of a slightly purer white on the under surface. 



• Rec. Aust. Mus., Vol. 1., p. 30 (1890). 



