lHli:iiNV\. 21 'J 



Gotild wrote as follows m reference tu tliis species, in his '■ Handbook lo the Birds of 

 Australia": — " As the nest and ef,'t!s of this species liave not yet been discovered, they form 

 some of the desiderata to which I would call the attention of the risin;^ ornitholo'^ists of Australia, 

 and I can assure them that the study of the e},'t,'s will -greatly assist them in assigning the birds 

 to which they belong to their proper genus." It will be observed that (lould was right in 

 adopting a different generic term for this bird, as the eggs materially differ from those of the 

 typical Porzaiur. 



Semi-adult birds resemble the adults, but the feathers on the forehead and crown of the 

 head are olive-brown, with much darker brown centres, and the patch of feathers between the 

 gape and the eye is smaller and brownish-black'. Wing 3-25 inches. 



Both in the Northern Territory and in ( jueensland the breeding season is in the early 

 months of the year, January to the end of .\pril. 



<3erL-a.S TI^IBOISr"!^:^^, Du /Ins. 



Tribonyx mortieri. 



NATIXE HEX. 



7'>-ilmiu/r in„rt;,ri, Du Bus, Bull. AcHd. Roy. Bruxelles, Tom. VIT., p. 214, pi. II. (1840); Gould, 

 IM.s. Austr., fol. Vol. VI, pi. 71 (1S4^) : /,/,, Haudbk. Bds. Au.str., Vol. If., p. 34l' (186.5); 

 .Sharpe, Cat. Bds. Brit. .Mus., Vol. XXiil., p. 164 (1894) ; il., Hand-1. Bds., Vol. I., p. 

 106 (1899). 



.Vnri.'r MAI.T,. — (i'Hij'al culom- i/fjurr ilnll jmalsli-iiri ij intslwil iritli olirr hroivn, lean distiiicllij 

 oil l/ii' /liiii/ lu-ck, bill iiioTi' jirijiioniLc.ii on llin. buck, scapulurs, rump and upper liiil-cori'rls ; ripper 

 iriiii/ riifi'r/s Hk'' the liinil- iifck, the median iSeries ivith a narrotr ivliile streak upon, the apical portion 

 and irhicli irideus out into a sai^ittate-xhaped mark'uiy at the tip: qnilh dark broini, inan/iu'd 

 external 1 1/ iiHth dull olire-broicii, and passiny into mhity-bro/vn ou the outer primaries ; the inuernwat 

 secondaries like the hack ; tail-feathers hroivnisli-black at the base, black at the tips ; forehead, crown 

 ami sides oj the head ami uapi' oHre-broirn ; tlie uniter surface slaty-yrey, paler ou the throat and 

 inner sides of ihiyhs ,' ou either side of the loiver breast a larye patch of ivhite, the lower jlanks and 

 entire sides of lliiylis tcashed u-itJt olive-broiva ; centre of the abdoiiini dusky, piassiuy into black on 

 the ■under tail-coverts ; " bill yreenisli-yellon; passiny into a clearer yellow at the tip ; leys and feet 

 y reyish -I end colour ; iris i/fllo>r ' ( Holden ). J^ilal Icuyfh ill the flesh 10 inches, iciiiy S\', tail f^, bill 

 in, tardus •<'•;. 



AuULT FEM.\LK. — Similar in plumay to tlie male, hut smaller. 



Distribution. — Tasmania. 



/TFV OULI) remarks that " this bird is rather abundantly dispersed over the southern parts of 

 V^_jr .Australia and Tasmania," and the late Dr. K. 13. Sharpe enumerates two unlocalised 

 specimens in the " Catalogue of Birds in the British Museum,"! purported to have been obtained 

 from .Australia, and, probably also following Dr. E. P. Ramsay in his " Tabular List of .Australian 

 Birds," has included X'ictoria and South .Australia in its habitat. 1 have never seen or heard of 

 a properly authenticated specimen being obtained from anywhere but Tasmania, not even on 

 the larger intervening islands of Bass Strait, where one would naturally e.xpect it would be 

 found, if it occurred at all in the southern parts of .Australia. 



It frequents marshes, swamps dotted with low bushes, coarse grass tussocks, clumps of 

 rushes and the reedy and rush-covered margins of rivers and lakes. 



• Gould, Handbk. Bds. Austr., Vol, II., p. 344 (1865). t Cat. Bds. Brit ]\Ius., Vol. XXIIL, p. 165 (1894) 



