218 



PARDALOTID.E. 



o 



Adult UALK— General colour above olive-grey passini/ into a fulvous-hroicn on the lower bacJc, 

 rump, and uj)per tail-coverts, the outer scapulars also being washed withj'ulvous-brown; upper tviny- 

 coverfs black; spiirious winy black, its inner edge white; 2)rima7\i/-coverts black tipped with scarlet; 

 quills blackish-brown narrowli/ edged with white at the tip and which extends around the apical ^Jortimi 

 of the outer web of the innermost secondaries, the basal portio7i margined with chestnut-brown, which 

 is more conspicuous in some specimens than others, the second to sicth primary white at the basal 

 portion of the outer web increasing in extent along the tveb, but decreasing in width towards the outer- 

 most primary, which has the entire outer tveb almost iinperceptiblj/ edged with white, when the wing 

 is closed a very distinct white jmtch is formed at the base of these primaries; tail feathers black with a 

 s])ot of white at the tip of the inner web, which is larger on the outermost one on either side; crown 

 of the head black the feathers on the oociput and nape distinctly streaked with white, more broadly at 

 the tip; lores blackish; a broad streak extends from the nostril on to the sides of the nape, the anterior 

 portion being rich yellow, and that above and behind the eye white: ear-coverts black, streaked with 

 white; cheeks white; centre of throat and fore neck yellow; centre of breast and abdomen ivhite; sides 

 of body and under tail-coverts very ])ale fulvous-broton, the sides of the breast separated from the white 

 centre by an ill-defined line of pale olive-yellow; bill black; legs and feet fleshy-brown; iris rich 

 brown. Total length in the flesh Jf-2 inches, wing 2-6, tail 1-35, bill 0-27, tarsus 0-75. 

 Adult female— »S'»Ki7(/;' in jihanngi: to the male. 



Distribution — New South Wales, \'ictoria, South Australia, Central Australia, Western 

 Australia. 



|\'ER the southern portions of the Australian 

 continent the present species is freely distributed, 

 being found in New South Wales, Victoria, South, 

 Central, and Western Australia. In the collection of 

 the Australian Museum are specimens obtained by 

 Mr. George Masters at Mongup, Salt River, and 

 King George's Sound, Western Australia; also from 

 various collectors around Adelaide, Port Augusta, and 

 other parts of South Australia. From Central and 

 Western New South Wales are specimens procured 

 by the late Mr. K. H. Bennett on the Lachlan River, 

 and by Dr. E. P. Ramsay and myself on the Bell River, 

 Wellington, and the Alacquarie River, Dubbo. I ha\ e 

 also received for examination from the South Australian 

 Museum, Adelaide, specimens obtained at the Gawler 

 Ranges, and by Dr. A. M. Morgan, at Laura and 

 Donald's Plain, South Australia, and an adult male 

 from Mildura, Victoria. Mr. Edwin Ashby has also kindly lent me specimens procured by him 

 at Perth and Callion, Western Australia, and from Nackara, Sandy Point, and Mount Barker, 

 South Australia. It haunts alike stunted vegetation and the lofty Eucalypti, among the leaves 

 of which it obtains its food consisting principally of insects. It is a tame and fearless species, 

 and I have stood only a few feet away listening to the sharp snap of its bill while feasting upon 

 the eggs of one of the wood-feeding moths. 



Writing from Adelaide, South Australia, Dr. A. M. Morgan sends me the following notes: — 

 "Pardalotm ornatus is the commonest species of the genus in this State, and I have met with it in 

 every part visited. They breed from August to December, generally in the hollow limb of a 

 tree, but once at Yardea, in the Gawler Ranges, I found a pair building in an old nest of a Fairy 

 Martin, built on the ceiling of a deserted hut. On i2th August, 1902, I saw a pair forming a 

 nest in a crack between the stones of a house at Yardea, and three days later I saw another pair 



STRIATED DIAMOND-BIRD. 



