HYLACOLA. 203 



Oen-o-s H-!ri_,..£^COILi^^, Gould. 

 Hylacola pyrrhopygia. 



KED-RUMPED SCRUB-WARBLER. 

 Acanihiza pyrrhojiyyia, Vig. A- Horsf., Trans. Linn. Soc, Vol. XV., p. 227 (1826). 

 Hylacola pyrrhopygia, Gould, Bds. Austr., fol., Vol. III., pi. 3!) (18-i8); id., Handbk. Bds. Austr., 

 Vol. I., p. 3-tG (1865); Sharpe, Cat. Bds. Brit. Mus., Vol. VII., p. 346 (1883). 



Adult male — General colour above brown, with a rufescent-olice tinye which in more pro- 

 nounced on the lorver back and rump : upper tail-coverts pale cliestmit ; wings like the back ; inner 

 webs iif the quills hroivn, the apical half of the outer ivebs of the primaries externally edged with 

 ashy-brown, their bases dull whitish which is almost entirely concealed by the brown primary coverts; 

 tail feathers brown, tinged with rufescent-olive, and all but the central pair crossed by a siibterminal 

 black band and tipped with ashy-brown ; a spot in front of the eye dusky-brown; a distinct line 

 extending from the nostril over the eye whitish; ear-coverts brown, luiih ivhite shaft-lines ; under 

 surface of the body dull white, each feather except on the centre of the abdomen with a longitudinal 

 streak of blackish-brown down the centre; under tail-coverts cheslmit; thighs brown; bill dark 

 brown; legs and feet flesh colour tinged with grey ; iris hazel. Total length in the flesh oS inches, 

 iving ,2'15, tail .'''So, bill 0'^5, tarsus O'S. 



Adult female — Similar in plumage to the male, but has all the urider surface pale buff and 

 less distinctly streaked, the dark brown centres being narrower, shorter, and not extending so near 

 the tips of the feathers ; centre of the abdomen icliitish. 



Distribution. — New South \\'ales, \'ictoria, South Australia. 

 /~r(^HE Red rumped Scrub Warbler is found only in the south-eastern portions of the 

 -L continent. It is a resident in New South Wales, and although distributed in favourable 

 situations over the greater portion of the coastal districts of the State, nowhere is it more 

 abundant than in the stunted scrub-covered lands lying between the Hawkesbury River and 

 Botany Bay. Inland its is found as far as the western slopes of the Blue Mountains, but there 

 may be regarded as a very rare species. I have never seen an example from any of the northern 

 coastal districts of New South Wales, and Mr. C. W. De Vis, M.A., informs me that he has 

 never seen or heard of it being obtained in any part of Queensland. In a southerly direction 

 its range extends into Western Victoria, and Mr. H. C. Smart has sent me a specimen for 

 examination shot in the Grampians on the loth January, 1898. From the Director of the 

 South Australian Museum, Adelaide, I have also received a specimen obtained at Square 

 Waterhole, near Mount Compass, in the hills south of Adelaide. This is the farthest point 

 west I have seen a specimen from. 



Near Sydney I have only observed it in the scrubby undergrowth or thick bush growing 

 in the shallow sandy soil which more or less covers the outcrops of Hawkesbury Sandstone. 

 From Middle Head to Hornsby, and Bondi to La Perouse, are its favourite haunts, but one 

 may walk through the scrub all day without getting a glimpse of this bird unless acquainted 

 with its habits. 



About Middle Harbour, in June or July, I have generally met with it frequenting the 

 more open parts of the country, studded here and there with low clumps of Dwarf Apple- 

 trees M"g'''/'/wra coydifolia), and stunted Banksia, between which flourish A'an^/w^-rA^^^ and the 

 rock-loving Isopogons and Epacridcv. At this time of the year they usually traverse the low 

 undergrowth singly, and are not so wary, but it is difficult to see them for they are almost 

 constantly on the move. I have heard a bird give a shrill double note quite close to me; the 

 next time it is uttered, which is generally at an interval of a few minutes, it may be twenty or 

 thirty yards away, without once exposing itself to view. About once or twice in every half 



