POArATOSTOMUS. .'iGl 



Pomatostomus rubeculus. 



KUFOUS-lSKEASTEl) CHATTKKEK. 



Pomatorhinus ruhecubt.s, Gould, Prnc. Zool. Soc, 1839, p. 144; vl, Eds. Austr., fol., Vol. IV., pi. 

 21 (1848); Sharpe, Cat. Bds. Brit. Mus., Vol. VII., p. 421 (1883); id., Hand-l. Eds., Vol. 

 IV., p. 14 (1903). 



Pomatostoiaus 7-Hbecnluti, Gould, Handbk. Bd.s. Austr., Vol. I., p. 481 (1805). 



Adult m.\le — Ceiitre of croivu mid hind-iifck dark (/rfi/iahbroivn, gradually passing into 

 hlackish-brown on the lower back and rnmp : ivings rich- broicn, the iimer ivebs of the primaries pale 

 rufous with brotvn tips; upper tail-coverts black : tail feathers black, tipped ivith white more largely 

 on the outermost featliers ; a broad band, extending from tlie nostril ocer the eye anil oji to the sides 

 of the nape dull tvhite witJi a slight creamy tinge; lores and feathers below the eye blackish; ear- 

 coverts dark brown; sides of the neck brotvn,, ivith an ashy shade: cheeks and throat white, passing 

 into dull rnsty-rufotis on the fore-neck and breast, and rufoHs-hrotvu on tlie abdomen : imder tail- 

 coverts blackish. Total length 9 inches, wing .^, tail ]^_, bill 1, tarsus I'o. 



Aour.T FE5IALE. — Similar in plamage to the male. 



Distribution. — North-western Australia, Northern Territory of South Australia, Central 

 Australia. 



/~|(j^lIE type of this species was described by Gould from a specimen obtained by the late 

 J- Mr. B. Bynoe durini; the stay of H.M.S. "Beagle" on the north-western coast of 

 Australia. I have a series of skins now before me, comprising specimens collected by the late 

 Mr. T. H. Bowyer-Bower at Derby, North-western Australia; by Mr. Alexander Morton at 

 Port Darwin and Port Essington, in the Northern Territory of South Australia; an unlocalized 

 specimen obtained during Mr. J. McD. Stuart's transcontinental e.xpedltion in 1862; and 

 another procured in Central i^ustralia. In only one specimen, from Derby, does the centre 

 of the crown of the head and the hind-neck show no trace of the ashy-grey or greyish-brown 

 wash, like that of Pomatostomus temporalis, but it is apparent to a certain extent in all the 

 specimens from Port Darwin and Port Essington; also in Gould's figure of this species." 

 Moreover, examples from Port Darwin and Port Essington are slightly larger, the lower throat 

 is white with a rufous wash, and the fore-neck and breast are much paler than in examples 

 from North-western Australia, and in one specimen the upper back is entirely ashy-brown. 



In the " Catalogue of Birds in the British Museum," Dr. Sharpe I gives the wing-measurement 

 of this species as 37 inches. The specimens in the Australian Museum Collection vary in wing- 

 measurement from 4 to 4-25 inches. The smaller measurement is that of an adult male from 

 Derby, and agrees with that given by Gould of the type. As a rule the wing-measurement of 

 adult specimens of the Australian species of this genus will be found to be slightly under the 

 measurement of the tail. As with P. tcmpoyaUs, some specimens have a more or less distinct 

 creamy wash on the sides of the crown: in others it is almost pure white. 



Mr. Tom Carter writes me from Point Cloates, North-western Australia: — "I have only 

 met with Pomatostomus ruhcculus on the Minilya River, about ninety miles south from here, when 

 I discovered a number of their nests about twenty to thirty feet from the ground in a large 

 white gum tree." 



'\\v. G. A. Keartland also sends me the following note: — '' Pomatostomus rubeculus is found 

 throughout Central and North-western Australia. It is a very sociable species, being generally 

 met with in flocks from six to twelve. When moving from tree to tree, one bird would start 



* Bds. Austr., fol., Vol. iv.. pi. 21 (1848). 



t Cat. Bds. Brit. Mus., Vol. iv., p. 421 (1883). 



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