302 TIMEUID^. 



Sericornis magnirostris. 



LARGE-BILLED SCEUB-WREN. 



Acanthiza magnirostra, Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc, 1837, p. 14G. 



Sericornis magniroslrix, Gould, Bds. Austr., fol., Vol. III., pi. 52 (1848); id, Handbk. Bds. Austr., 

 Vol. I., p. 362 (18(i.5); Sl.arpe, Cat. Bds. Brit. Mus., Vol. VII., p. 30.5 (188.3); id., Hand-1. 

 Bds., Vol. IV., p. 221 (1903). 



Adult m.^le — General colour above dull olive-green ; upper iving-coverts like the back, the outer 

 and greater series tvitli dusky centres and narroiv yellotvish-ivhite margins at the tips; quills dark 

 hrown, the primaries narroivly edged externally with dull yellorvish-olive which gradually passes 

 into olive-broivn on the innermost secondaries ; upper tail-coverts olive-broivn ivith a rufescent shade; 

 tail brown, the two central feathers and the outer webs of the remainder rufescent olive-broivn ; head 

 olive-broton with a rufescent wash on the frontal feathers; sides of the head pale hvffy-brown ; chin 

 and throat dull while tinged ivith buff: remainder of the under surface drill n-hite rvaslied ivith olive- 

 green, zvhich is more pronounceil on the abdomen and lower sides of the body ; under tail-coverts pale 

 b'lffy-broivn tinged ivith olive; bill black; legs and feet Jleshybroivn : iris broivn. Total length 

 in thejtesh 4'S inches, wing 3 2, tail 1'8, bill 0'52, tarsus 0-7. 



Adult female — Similar in plumage to the male. 



Distribution. — Queensland, Xevv South Wales, Eastern Victoria. 



|i\N favourable situations, the present species is distributed throughout the coastal scrubs and 

 -L contiguous mountain ranges of Eastern Australia. Its large bill, and almost uniform 

 coloured plumage, will readily serve to distinguish it from any species of the genus. It is 

 represented in nearly every collection made by the Australian Museum collectors in the coastal 

 districts of Queensland and New South Wales. In the latter State it is common in the brushes 

 of the Tweed, Richmond, Clarence, and Bellinger Rivers. This species inhabits chiefly the 

 same lu.xuriant subtropical growth as its congener, the Yellow-throated Scrub-Wren. On 

 the northern side of the Hawkesbury River, I have usually observed it haunting the trees on 

 the sides of creeks; but in the Illawarra District I once observed it in a tea-tree scrub on the 

 beach. Like the Cat-bird, and other brush loving species, it is not found south of the Hawkes- 

 bury River until a similar \egetation flourishes about National Park, Waterfall, and Otford. 

 South its range extends throughout the Illawarra District of New South Wales, into Eastern 

 Victoria. Mr. Edwin Ashby has kindly forwarded me for e.xamination an e.vample obtained by 

 him in Victoria, in July, i886, in a fern gully at Boolarra, South Gippsland. 



The food of the Large-billed Scrub-Wren consists entirely of small insects of various kinds 

 and their larva. 



Relative to this species in the Bloomfield River District, Xorth-eastern Queensland, Mr. 

 Frank Hislop writes me: — "The Large-billed Scrub- Wren is generally met with in the scrubby 

 flats about the foot-hills, and is seldom seen at any height on the mountain ranges. It is 

 one of the first birds to breed on the Bloomfield River, usually starting to build early in July. 

 The nest is a dome-shaped structure, outwardly constructed of fibre and pieces of Lawyer-vine 

 leaves, and lined inside with feathers. It is usually built in a Lawyer-vine, or among a tangled 

 mass of creepers, close to the ground." 



The nest is oval in form, with a rounded entrance in the side. Outwardly it is chiefly 

 constructed of skeletons of various leaves and dried portions of leaves of the Lawyer-vine, the 

 wall of the nest also being formed of the latter material, which is lined inside with fibre, and 

 again at the bottom with feathers. An average nest measures e.\ternally seven inches and a 

 half iri height by four inches and a half in width, and across the entrance one inch. It is 

 generally placed between several leafy stems of a Lawyer-vine or among dense vegetation. 



