VESTS A.VP EGGS OF AVSTRAEIAN BIRDS. 



321 



(Gould) in a remarkable i-ufescent state of plumage. The whole of the 

 head, fore and hind neck, clicst, sides and centre of abdomen, were of a 

 rich nisi-rcd, the intei-scapular region, ninip, wings, coverts and 

 secondaries, waslied with the same colour." The specimen was loaned 

 to me by Mr. (now Dr.) D'Ombrain. Since, I have seen one or two 

 precisely similai- birds in the Lilydalo district, Victoria, where, 

 fortunately, I was also enabled to trace a clutch of throe from 

 the nest. The date was the 7th November, 1886, and the exact 

 locality, scrub adjacent to the Olinda Creek; where I foiuid the 

 happy family, fully fledged, swelling out their nest, with their hand- 

 some yellow-breasted parent in attendance. There was an extra 

 solicitous tone in his sweet voice, especially when I commenced to 

 handle and examine the youngsters. On such clear evidence then I am 

 content to expiuige Parhiircphla rufogularis from my list believing it 

 to bo the youthful 1'. ijutturaUs. 



However in justice to Dr. Ramsay, I find he states in " Notes and 

 References " to his " Tabular List," that, " P. gUherti is a good species, 

 but P. rnfngulariii is vei-y doubtful. Specimens in the Briti.sh Museum 

 do not appear to belong to either species, although supposed to be 

 P. rufogularis (Gould)." 



260. — P.\cnvcEPHALA occFDENTALis, Rimsay. 

 WESTERN THICKHEAD. 



Figure —Gon\A : Birds of .\ustralia, fol., vol. ii., pi. 64. 



Reference. — Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., vol. viii., p. 193. 



Pretnous Descriptions of Eggs. — Gould: Birds of Australia {1848); also 

 Handbook, vol. i., p. 208 (1865); Campbell: Proc. Roy. Soc, 

 Victoria, vol. iii.,p. 2, pi. i, fig. 4 (1890) : also Geelong Naturalist 

 (1896.) 



Geographical Distrihu tion. — Western Australia. 



Nest. — Tlie usual cup-shaped form, firmly woven of grass and the 

 soft leaves of plants, apparently plucked when green, and Uned inside 

 with fine grass. Dimensions over all, about 3i inches by 2^ inches in 

 depth ; egg cavity, 2} inches across by H inches deep. 



Egg-i. — Clutch, two, probably three occasionally ; oval in shape, 

 sometimes elliptical ; textiu'e of shell fine, with a trace of gloss upon the 

 surface ; colour, light yellowish-white, of a darker shade about the iippcr 

 quarter, where are spots of umber and dull-grey, the latter appearing 

 as if beneath the surface of the shell. Some examples have the groimd- 

 colour more yellowish, as in those of the Wliite-throated Thickhead 

 (P. guttural is), with a great number of markings distributed over the 

 surface. Dimensions in inches of a clutch : (1) '98 x -63, (2) -97 x -63 ; 

 odd examples (long) TOl x -66 ; (short) -76 x -64. 



Observations. — In Western Australia, in the acacia scrubs protected 

 21 



