36 



PACHYCEPHALINiE. 



Falcunculus frontatus. 



CRESTED SHEIKE-TIT. 

 Lanius frontatus, Lath., Ind. Orn. Suppl. p. xviii. (1801). 

 Falcunculus frontatus, Gould, Bds. Aust. fol. Vol. II., pi. 79 (1S48); id., Handbk. Bds. Austr., 



Vol. I., p. 228 (1865); Gadow, Cat. Bds. Brit. Mus., Vol. VIII., p. 173 (1883); Sharpe, 



Hand-1. Bds., Vol. IV., p. 302 (1903). 



Adult male — General colour above greenish-olive, slightly brighter on the loiver back, rump and 

 upper tail-coverts ; lesser and median wiitg-coverts grey, indistinctly ynargined with greenish-olive ; 

 greater wing-coverts and quills blackish-brown, broadly margined on tJieir outer ivebs ivith grey, the 

 outer webs of the innermost secondaries entirely grey ; central tail feathers grey, the remainder 

 hlackish-hroivii, externally margined with grey and narrowly tipped ivith white, excej)t the outermost 

 feather on either side ivhich is light grey with the outer web and a broad tip zvhite; forehead, a narrow 

 line of feathers in front of the eye, crown of the head and nape deep black, bordered below by a broad 

 white stripe ivhich evtends above the eye along the sides nfthe head and meets on the nape, and followed 

 by a broad black band commencing beloiv and beldnd tlie eye and extending beyond the ear-coverts ; 

 a large spot behind the nostril, and a broad malar stt'ipe, white; chin, throat, and fore-neck deep black; 

 remainder of the under surface bright yellow slightly tinged with olive, which is more distinct on the 

 sides of the chest; under tail-coverts bright yelloiv; bill black; legs and feet leaden-grey; iris rich brown. 

 Total length in the flesh 7-5 inches, wing 3'7, tail 3-2, bill 0-65, tarsus 0'S5. 



Adult female — Similar in plumage to the adult male but liaving the chin grey, and the throat 

 and fore-neck greenish-olive instead of black; legs and feet pale leaden-grey. 



Distribution — Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia. 



/"I^HE Crested Shril^e-Tit is freely distributed over 

 -L the ,L(reater portion of New South W'ales, its 

 ran,t;e extending in a nortlierly direction into (Queens- 

 land, and south to Victoria and South Australia. It is 

 a resident species and is particularly plentiful in the tall 

 Eucalypti and sapling scrubs of the coastal districts, 

 and nowhere is it more abundantly distributed than in 

 the neighbourhood of Sydney. Usually it is met with 

 in pairs, and although chiefly resorting to tall timber 

 it is by no means a shy species, and may be seen, the 

 male with crest erect, fearlessly searching for insects 

 among low trees only a few feet away from an onlooker. 

 On the highlands of the Milson's Point Railway Line, 

 much of its food is obtained from the old moss-grown 

 fruit trees in abandoned orchards. Stomachs of the birds 

 I have examined contained only the remains of insects 

 and their larv;f. 



It usually utters a plaintive note several times in 



succession, varied by the male, more particularly during 



the spring, with some low but decidedly musical notes, There is but little variation in colour 



in specimens obtained in different parts of the continent, but some have the white stripes on the 



sides of the head and cheeks much broader than others. An adult male in the Australian 



CRESTED .SHRIKE-TIT. 



