EPHTIUANUHA. 34:7 



Ephthianura tricolor. 



CRIMSON-BREASTED NUN. 



Ephthianura tricolor, Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc, 1840, p. 159; id., Bds. Austr., fol., Vol. HI., pi. 66 

 (1848); id., Handbk, Bds. Austr., Vol. I., p. 380 (1865); Sharpe, Cat. Bds. Brit. Mus., 

 Vol. VII., p. 351 (1883); id., Hand-1. Bds., Vol. IV., p. 148 (1903). 



Adult male — General colour above ashy-brorcn, (he nape and hack duf^ky hlackish-hromn ; upper 

 wing-coverts like the hack, the median and greater series with paler edges and margined with white 

 around the tips; primaries hroicn, narrowly edged externally with hrownish-white, (he seco7idaries 

 dark brown with ivhitish margins and dps; rvuip and upper (ail-cover(s crimson; tail feathers dark 

 brown with a slight blackish wash, all hut (he central pair with a spot of ichite at (he end of (he inner 

 web; crown of the head crimson; lores, feathers around the eye and the ear-coverts blackish-broivn : 

 chin and throat luhite; remainder of the under surface bright crimson, the bases of the feathers grey 

 and their central portion white; abdomen and under tail-coverts white ; vent white, the tips of the 

 feathers scarle(; bill hlackish-broivn ; legs and fee( blackish-brown; iris yellowish- white. To(al length 

 in thefiesli JfO inches, wing 2 75, tail 1:5, bill 5, tarsus 0-75. 



Adult female — Duller in colour than the male. General colour above broiun; the wiiigs and 

 tail not quite so dark as in the male; rump and upper (ail-cover(s dull crimson: hpad and ear- 

 coverts ochreous-brown ; all the under surface whitish, slightly washed with ocltreous brown on the 

 lower throat and sides of (lie body, and crimson on tlie breast. 



Distrihu(ion.— Quee-ns\&nA. New South Wales, \'ictoria. South Australia, Central Australia, 

 Western Australia, North-western Australia. 



^T^HIS is a strictly migratory species, arriving in the inland portions of New South Wales 

 -L during the month of October, and departing again after the breeding season is over, 

 usually at the end of January or early in February. Captain Sturt, who met with it in 

 North-western New South Wales, states it evidently migrates from the north-west, and that 

 about February and the beginning of :\Iarch it collects in large flocks, preparatory to making 

 the return journey. 



Mr. J. A. Thorpe and I found it fairly plentiful between the Namoi and Gwydir Rivers, 

 during November, 1897, frequenting alike lightly-timbered scrub, open forest country, and 

 the clumps of low bushes dotted about the plains. They were breeding at the time of our 

 visit, and the females were frequently flushed from their nests in the long grass or low bushes 

 as we drove over the plains. The brilliantly-pluniaged males, however, were exceedingly 

 shy and wary, and seldom allowed of a near approach. When disturbed on the outskirts 

 of the scrub, they often sought refuge on the lower branches of some lofty Eucalypti 

 in the vicinity. In the southern and western portions of the State I found them far more 

 sociable and easy to procure. Unlike its congeners, Ephthiamtva alhifrons and E. aurifrons, 

 the present species is entirely independent of water, even on the hottest day. Its appear- 

 ance, however, is greatly regulated by the season. During the protracted drought of 1897, 

 they were observed for the first time in thirty years on Wambangalang and Buckiinguy 

 Stations, on the Bogan and Narran Ki\ers, New South Wales, where in both instances they 

 remained to breed. 



The food of this species consists entirely of small insects and their larvae. On Vandembah 

 Station, the late Mr. K. H. Bennett kept some of these birds in an aviary, feeding them on 

 caterpillars and small shreds of meat, but in an unhappy moment he introduced into their cage 

 a pair of Dacelo gigas, who quickly terminated the existence of the smaller birds. 



There is but little difference in the wing-measurements of adult males. Some adult females 

 may be found with dull crimson feathers on the forehead, crown of the head, or ear-coverts. 



