358 TIMELIID/E. 



CB-eaaVLS :E=Ol!v^.A.rrOSTOI;vd:'Ur3, Cahanis. 

 Pomatostomus temporalis. 



GKEY-("KOWNEli CHATTEKEK. \ 



roinalorliinuti temporalis, Vig. k Horsf., Trans. Linn. Soc, Vol. XV., p. 330 (1826); Gould, Bds. 

 Austr., fol, Vol. IV., pi. 20 (1848); Sharpe, Cat. Bds. Brit Mus., Vol. VII., p. 418 (1883); 

 id., Hand-1. Bds., Vol. IV., p. 14 (1903). 

 Pumntostomus temporalis, Goidd, Handbk. Bds. Austr., Vol. I., p. 479 (180.")). 



Adult 5I.\le — Centre of crown pale greyish hrorvn, yradiiaUy becominr/ darker oil lli'- hind-neck 

 and passi7ig into dark brown on tin' lon:er back and mm/) ; lesser ivingcorer/s like the hack, median 

 and greater coverts dark brown; quills dark brown, the inner webs of the primaries rufous with 

 blackish-brown tips, the latter increasing in size towards the outermost feather which has the inner 

 web palerufnus only at the base; upper tail-coverts blackish-brown ; tail feathers blackish brown lipped 

 with white, the outer tcebs of the outermost feathers almost black, and having large white tips ; a 

 broad stripe extending from the base of the nostril over the eye on to tlie sides of the nape white, 

 the fore part slightly tinged with buff'; lores blackish; ear-coverts ashy-brown, bordered above and 

 belo?v with a blackish streak; sides of tlie neck ashy-hrorvn ; cheeks, throat, and fore-iieck white; breast 

 dull rufous, whitislt in the centre ; flanks, abdomen, and thighs brouni; under tail-coverts broivn, 

 with dark brown centres; bill blackish-brown, pale ^fleshy-grey along the basal portion of the lower 

 mandible; legs and feet olive-black; iris straw-yellow. Total lengtli. in the jlesli 11 inches, wing 

 Jf-7, tail 5, bill I'l, tarsus IJ^ 



Adult female — Similar in plumage to the m.ale, but slightly smaller. 



Bistribution.—Queenaland, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia. 



/"f.^HK genus Pomatostomus was formed by Dr. Cabanis,* in 1850, for the reception of the 

 J. .\ustralian species until then included by various authors in the genus Pomtitorhinus. 



As he there points out in his type, /'. temporalis, the species inhabiting .Australia have the 

 wings of a different form, the third and fourth primaries being proportionately longer, and the 

 tail rounded, the feathers of which are broader and tipped with white. The well-known 

 Babblers comprising the genus Pomatorhinits have an extensive range, with their stronghold in 

 India, all of them having uniform-coloured tails, and most of them with conspicuously coloured 

 bills varying from yellow and orange to coral-red and crimson. However seemingly trivial 

 are the characters upon which the genus Pomatostomus was founded, there is a very marked and 

 wide divergence in the mode of nidification and the eggs of the different species of this closely 

 allied genus. Their large and conspicuous dome-shaped nests, externally formed of thin sticks 

 and twigs, are usually built in trees, sometimes in bushes, but never on the ground: and their 

 eggs, generally of a shade of brown, buff, or grey, are typically marbled or veined with a fine 

 network of blackish or dark brown hair-lines, and are usually easily distinguishable from those 

 belonging to any other Australian bird. The different species of Pomatorhinus form either cup 

 or saucer-shaped, globular, or dome-shaped nests, constructed principally of leaves, rootlets, 

 and grasses, and are built on or near the ground, in low scrub, under banks and rocks, among 

 the tangled roots of trees, and occasionally in creepers, or between a piece of projecting bark 

 and the trunk of a tree some little height from the ground. .Ml species of this genus lay pure 

 white eggs, some of them very glossy, and are in marked contrast to those belonging to the 

 Australian genus Pomatostomus. 



The present species, Pomatostomus temporalis, ranges over the greater portion of Eastern and 

 South-eastern Australia. It is remarkable that in Queensland and Southern Victoria it is also 

 found close to the coast, as well as inland, but in New South Wales, although abundantly 



* Mus. Hein., Theil, i , p. 83 (1850). 



