ACANTIIIZA. 



271 



length 37 inches, wing rS, tail i-6, bill 0-32, tarsus 0-75. I purpose to distinguish it as 

 Acanthiza sietzi, after its discoverer, should the characters here given prove constant in the birds 

 from this island. Probably referrable to this form is a set of eggs sent me by Mr. W. 

 White, together witli the following note: — "The eggs of Acanthiza apicalis I am sending 

 you I took on Kangaroo Island, from a moderately neat domed nest, formed of fine grasses 

 interwoven with small strips of bark on the outside, and lined with finer grases, the soft 

 parts of various flowers, a few feathers, and a large quantity of thistle-down. This nest 

 was built in a low shrub not more than two feet high, growing in a valley running up 

 from American River, on the western side of the island. It contained only one egg when 

 I first found it, but it had the full complement two days after. Another nest I found built 

 in a tea-tree about six feet from the ground, was externally formed of strips of tea-tree bark, 

 intermingled with a very little grass, and lined principally with feathers, contained three fresh 

 eggs. On the same day I found another nest with three young ones, in which cobwebs were 

 largely used in its outer construction." The eggs taken by Mr. White are similar to those of 

 typical examples of A. pusllla, being o\al in lunn and of a dull white ground colour, which is 

 sprinkled over with freckles and dots of dull red particularly on the larger end, where in two 

 specimens the markings coalesce and form irregular zones. They measure: — Length (A) 0-62 

 X 0-48 inches; (B) 0-63 x o-^g inches; (C) 0-62 x 0-48 inches. 



Acanthiza apicalis. 



WESTERN THORN-BILL. 

 AcanthKi apicalis, Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc, 18-17, p. 31; id., Bds. Austr., fol., Vol. III., pi. 57 

 (18-18); id., Handbk. Bds. Austr., Vol. I., p. 368(1865); Sharpe, Cat. Bds. Brit. Mus., 

 Vol. VII., p. 296 (1883). 



Adult male — General colour above olive-hroton ; upper wing-coverts like the back, the greater 

 series with dusky centres; quills dusky broivn, externally edged with ashy-olive, narrower and lighter 

 on the primaries; rump like the back but of a slightly clearer olive; upper tail-coverts dull rufous- 

 broivn; tail feathers ashy-brown narrowly margined externally with olive and crossed with a 

 subterminal black band, less distinct on the central pair artd having an irregular-shaped spot of 

 white e.vlending about half-ivay across the tip of the inner web and as far down the feather as the 

 black band; lores and feathers around the ege dull white; forehead blackish with pale rufous tips 

 to the feathers; chin, cheeks, throat, and fore-neck dull white with dusky-grey bases and narrow 

 blackish edges to the sides of all the feathers, giving these parts a distinctly mottled appearance; 

 centre of the loiver breast and abdomen dull white: sides of the body, flanks, and under tail-coverts 

 palefuhous. Total length J/, inches, wing 2, tail IS, bill OJ, tarsus OS. 



Adult female — Similar in plumage to the male. 



Distribution. — Western A ustralia. 

 /■•I^ IlE present species bears a strong resemblance to Acanthiza piisilla of Eastern .Australia, 

 -L but may be distinguished by its olive-brown upper parts, slightly deeper coloured 

 upper tail-coverts, pale fulvous flanks, and principally by the spot of white at the tip of the 

 inner web of the tail feathers. In some adult specimens, collected by Mr. George Masters at 

 King George's Sound, W^estern Australia, in October, 1868, the tail feathers are much abraded, 

 duller in colour, and the white spot at the tip of the inner web almost obsolete; the tips of the 

 feathers, too, on the forehead are whitish instead of pale rufous. The latter character does not 

 appear to be due to either age or sex, and I have also seen it in perfectly plumaged individuals. 

 Mr. Masters, who collected a number of examples at King George's Sound, informs me that it 

 does not differ in habits from A. pnsilla, and that most of his specimens were collected in the 

 thick undergrowth near the coast. 



