MALURHS. 211 



western portions of New Soutii Wales, into \Vestern Queensland, wliere Mr. K. Boadbent 

 obtained specimens at Cliarleville, on the Warrego River, five hundred and twenty miles 

 west of Brisbane, and of which Mr. C. W. De Vis kindly forwarded me an adult male for 

 examination. 1 also saw a set of the eggs of this species in tlie collection of Mr. Charles 

 French, Junr., taken by him from a nest built in a hrusli-fence, in the Wimmera District, 

 North-western \'ictoria, in October, iSy8. 



The mantle is larger and darker in \ery old males, and the greater wing-coverts and 

 inner secondaries are more distinctly washed with blue. Some adult males have the cobalt- 

 blue feathers of the lower breast slightly tinged with green; others, shot while nesting, have 

 the centre of the abdomen dull brownish-white. The wing measurement varies from 1-85 

 to 2 inches. 



The nest is a dome-shaped structure with a rounded entrance near the top. Those found 

 by the late Mr. K. H. Bennett in the neighbourhood of Mossgiel and Ivanhoe, in the Western 

 District of New South Wales, were formed on narrow strips of bark, and dead grasses, with 

 wliich were intermingled a little wool, the inside being partially lined with a few feathers. 

 It is generally placed in a low bush. An average nest measures five inches and a half in 

 height by three inches and a half in diameter. 



The eggs are three or four in number for a sitting; oval or thick oval in form, the shell 

 being close-grained, smooth, and lustreless. They vary in ground colour from a pure white to 

 a rich pinkish or faint reddish-white, whicii is finely freckled, dotted, or blotched with different 

 shades, \'arying from pinkish-red to rich red. In some specimens the markings are sparingly 

 but distinctly and evenly distributed over the surface; in others they partake the form of 

 indistinct fleecy streaks, which gradually become darker on the thicker end, where they 

 coalesce and form a distinct cap or zone. A set of three, taken by the late Mr. K. H. 

 Bennett, at Mossgiel in November, i885, measures as follows: — Length (A) 0-63 x 0-48 inches; 

 (B) o'64 X 0-45 inches; (C) 0-65 x 0-45 inches. A set of four, taken by Mr. C. French, Junr., 

 in the Wimmera District, Victoria, in October, 189S, measures: — (.A) 0-67 x 0-48 inches; (B) 

 0'67xo-4i inches; (C) 0'6Sxo'4i inches; (D) 0-64 x 0-47 inches. 



Malurus callainus. 



TURQUOISINE SUPEKB WAKBLER. 

 Malurus callaiuus, Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc, 1867, p. 302 ; id., Bds. Austr., fob, Suppl., pi. '2'i 

 (ISG!.)); Sliarpe, Cat. IkIs. lint. Mus., Vol. IV., p. 28'J (1879). 



Adult male — Forehead, crutvn of the head, mantle, and upper portion of the back, lustrous 

 turquoiiit-blue ; lores, sides of crown, and ■neck, and a broad collar on the hind-neck velvety-black ; 

 lower back and rump velvety-black; upper tail-coverts turquoise-blue; winys brown, the quills washed 

 externally with yreeuish-blne ; the inner secondaries and the median and greater iciny-coverts margined 

 with blue; tail feathers blue, the central pair having narrow white tips, ivhich increases in extent 

 towards tlie outermost feathers ; feathers below the eye and the ear-coverts pale silvery turquoise-blue ; 

 throat deeji cobalt, folloived by a narroiv black crescentic baiid wliiali widens out on the sides and 

 connects with the black collar on the hind-neck ; remainder of the under surface and under tail-coverts 

 light cobalt-blue ; bill black; legs and feet brownish-black ; iris black. Total length .^.6 inches, iving 

 2, tail 2-25, bill 032, tarsus OS. 



Adult female — Above brou-n ; tail feathers ihdl blue; lores and feathers around tlie eye pale 

 rufous; all the under surface buffy-wliite, darker on the sides of the body and the abdomen. Total 

 length 4'3 inches. 



Distribution. — Queensland, Western New South Wales, South Australia, Central Australia. 



