pvi!ui:oL,EMus. 307 



irregular-shaped markings of umber or pale purplish-brown on the thicker end. A set of two, 

 taken on the 6th October, i8S6, by Dr. Holden, at Circular Head, measures: — Length (A) 

 0-85 X 0-65 inches; (B) 0-84 x 0-67 inches. A set of three, taken on the 31st August, 1899, by- 

 Mr. K. X. Atkmson, at Waratah, measures: — Length (A) 0-92 x o'66 inches; (B) 0-93 x 0-65 

 inches; (C) 0-9 x 0-65 inches. A set of three, taken in the same locality, on the i2th October 

 1899, measures: — (A) 0-93 x 07 inches; (B) 0-93 x 07 inches; (C) 0-92 x 07 inches. 



July, and the five following months, constitute the usual breeding season of this species. 



Pyrrholeemus brunneus. 



RED-THKOAT. 

 Pyrrhohiinnx hrnuueus, Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc, 1840, p. 173; id., Bds. Austr., fol., Vol. III., pi. 

 68 (18-t8); vl, Handbk. Bds. Austr., Vol. I., p. 384 (186.5). 



Sericornis brunnea, Sliarpe, Cat. Bds. Brit. Mus., Vol. VII., p. 302 (1883); id., Haad-1. Bds., Vol. 

 IV,, p. -220 (1903). 



Adult m.\le — General colour ahoce broivn; the lower back, rump, aitd upper tail-coverts brown 

 washed ivilh olive; upper ^ving-coverts brown, the greater series with paler brown margins; quills 

 brown, the primaries narroivly edged externally with brownish-white; tail feathers blackish-broivn, 

 with paler broivn margins, the four outermost feathers on either side being largely lipped tvith white; 

 forehead blackish-broivn, with broad dull whitish margins to all the feathers; lores, and a narrow 

 indistinct eyebrow dull white, the feathers at the base of the upper mandible having a rufous wash; 

 sides of the face and neck ashy-grey ; ear-coverts brown; chin and centre of the throat rufous ; fore-neck 

 and chest ashy-grey; centre of the breast and abdomen dull white; thighs brown; sides of the breast, 

 abdomen, and under tail-coverts sandy-buf: ''hill black, the lower mandible horn colour except at the 

 tip; legs and feet black ; iris light brown" {Mov-^n). Total length io inches, wing •2-2, tail lo, 

 hill 04., tarsus OS. 



Adult female — Similar in plumage to the male, but having the chin ivhite and the centre of 

 the throat ashy-grey instead 0/ rufous. 



Distribution. — New South Wales, \'ictoria, South Australia, Central Australia, Western 

 Australia, Xorth-western Australia. 



AT^HE Red-Throat, a name which is applicable to the male only, is widely distributed over 

 -L the dry inland portions of Southern Australia. Gould, who described the type, states 

 that he found it "tolerably abundant in the belts of the Murray, about fifty miles to the north- 

 ward of Lake Alexandrina, in South Australia." There are specimens from Port Augusta 

 in the Australian Museum collection, also unlocalised e.xamples from other parts of South 

 Australia. Mr. James Ramsay found its nest and eggs at Tyndarie, in Western New South 

 Wales, in September, 1880; and in the same State the late Mr. K. H. Bennett, in October, 

 1883, procured birds, nests, and eggs, in the and scrubs of the Mossgiel District, and again in 

 September, 1885, at Mount Manara. It was met with by members of the Horn Scientific 

 E.xpedition in Central Australia in 1894; and at Illamurta, Mr. C. E. Cowle has on many 

 occasions found its nest and eggs. Gilbert procured specimens in Western Australia, so like- 

 wise did the members of the Calvert E.xploring Expedition, but the skins were abandoned with 

 the remainder of the first collection, near Johanna Springs. In August, 1901, Mr. Edwin 

 Ashby obtained specimens and saw numerous examples at Callion, about eighty-five miles 

 north of Coolgardie, Western Australia, and three hundred miles from the coast. Mr. W. D. 



