I'ACHVCKPHALA. 431 



Al)ur,T MALK. — (I'^'urral coUnir (iliui-f ,iiill ,/rry, h.-i-inniny „( n char>'r ijn^ij oh tli,' rnniji ami upper 

 tail-an-erls, the lonr/''r f>'a/hefs (j/ //i'- /,(//•'/■ ce.ntri'J. irilli hhtrk im. /!,rir apica/ /lortiaa : n/i/ier tviiiq- 

 Corerts yreij ivilh hlackiali centres, laryi-r and more disliiicf on lite ,/,;-atrr series ; quills hl,wkisl,-hrini>u, 

 llie priinaries externaUy edged, and the secondaries niiinjiiieil, on tloir outer webs ivilh liylil grey ; 

 tail/e,il/iershfackish-hro>i:n, their bnsei narrouly edged u-ith lighl-grei, .• forehead, crown of the head, 

 lores, feathers hejoiv the eye, ear-coverts, posterior portion of sides of Iiead, and a cresceutic collar on 

 the lower throat. Joining the latter, Jet black; followed by another cresc.entic band of reddish-chestnut, 

 broader on the fore-neck and narrowing at the sides of the htnd-neck ; chin, cheeks and upper throat, 

 breast, abdomen and under iviu.g and u,uder tail-rorrrts pare white; "bill black; le /s and feet 

 greyish-black ; iris , lark brou-nish-red'' (Whitlock). 7'otal length ?:'> inches, unnq -'rU, tail S ..', bill 

 O'S, tarsu.s I'l. 



Adult femalk. — General colour above, inclu.ding the forehead, crown of the head and hind-neck, 

 brou-u. slightly tinged with olive, which is more distinct on the back ; upper wing -coverts like the back, 

 but the greater series are ej-ternally margin, d in.th dn.ll ashy-?vhile on the apical portion of their outer 

 n-ebs : (juills a darker brown, the primaries u.arrowhj edged and the secondaries margined nith dull 

 ashy-white on their outer webs; tail-feathers brou:u, the central pair having a distinct ashi/ wash on 

 both nv.bs, the remainiler indistinctly utargined ou their outer webs u-ith the saute hue ; lores dull 

 brownish-white ; all the under surface very faint creauiy-tvhite, the f, re-neck slightly darker and the 

 throat paler, all the feathers having a narrouj blackish shaft-streak, which are almost obsolete on the 

 lower part of the abdomen; under tail-coverts dull white. Total length 7-3 inches, wing .3-6, tail 3, 

 bill OS, tarsus I'OJ. 



Distrihiilion. — North-western Australia. 



/^'IPy (JULD descrilied the present species in the " Proceedin,t,'s of the Zoological Society of 

 V— X London," in 1839, from a single specimen obtained on the coast of North-western 

 Australia. In referring to Pachyccphala hvwides m his " Handbook- to the Birds of Australia," he 

 remarks :— " The single specimen of this species which has come under my notice was procured 

 on the north-west coast of Australia, and is probably uniijue. It is a most robust and powerful 

 bird, and may hereafter be made the type of a new genus ; l)ut until the female has been 

 discovered, and more examples obtained, I retain it among the PiuhvcephaLr. 



" That it feeds on insects of a large size there can be little doubt, its whole structure 

 indicating that it subsists upon this kind of food." 



When Ur. H. Gadow prepared the eighth " Catalogue of Birds in the British Museum," 

 published in 1883, there was no specimen of this bird in that institution, and he had to transcribe 

 Gould's first description. Without exception the present species is the rarest member of the 

 Sub-family Pachvcephai.in.it in Australia, the preceding descriptions being taken from an adult 

 pair in the .-Vustralian Museum, presented by Mr. H. L. White, and procured at Condon, on the 

 coast of North-western .\ustralia, on the 26th November, 190S; nests and eggs were also fjund 

 during the same month. One egg of a set of two taken on the 30th November, 1908, was 

 accompanied by the following note : — " Taken at Condon from an open cup-shaped nest 

 constructed of rootlets, and built in a tall and fairly big mangrove, growing in a thicket about 

 a mile up the estuary. The nest contained two incubated eggs, one of which I broke in blowing. 

 This locality is under water at high tide." The egg referred to is oval in form, somewhat 

 compressed towards the smaller end, the shell being close-grained, smooth and lustrous. It is 

 of a dull yellowish-olive ground colour, slightly tinged with grey, and is finely freckled and 

 minutely spotted with faint umber-brown and wood-brown, with which are intermingled a few 

 underlying freckles and spots of dull inky-grey ; the markings are almost entirely confined to the 

 thicker end of the shell. Length i'02 x 073 inches. 



