INSESSORES. 001 



It makes a very warm nest of soft grasses, the down of 

 flowers and feathers, in the hollow part of a dead branch, 

 generally so far down that it is almost impossible to reach it, 

 and it is, therefore, very difficult to find. I discovered one 

 by seeing the old birds beating away a Wattle-bird that tried 

 to perch near their hole ; the nest, in this instance, was 

 fortunately within arm's length ; it contained three eggs of a 

 pale salmon-colour, thickly blotched all over with reddish 

 brown, eleven lines long by eight and a half lines broad : this 

 occurred during the first week in October. 



The stomach is large and tolerably muscular. 



The male has the crown of the head, all the upper surface, 

 and wings dark brown ; rump and upper tail- coverts tinged 

 with rufous ; primaries brown, all but the first crossed by a 

 broad band of rufous, to which succeeds a second broad band 

 of dark brown ; two centre tail-feathers brown, indistinctly 

 barred with a darker hue ; the remainder pale rufous, crossed 

 by a broad band of blackish brown, and tipped with pale 

 brown ; line over the eye, lores, ear-coverts, throat, and under 

 surface of the shoulder rust-brown ; chest crossed by an 

 indistinct band of rufous brown, each feather with a stripe of 

 bufly white, bounded on each side with a line of black down 

 the centre ; the remainder of the under surface deep rust- 

 red, with a faint line of buffy white down the centre of each 

 feather, the white line being lost on the flanks and vent; 

 under tail-coverts light rufous, with a double spot of blackish 

 brown at intervals along the stem ; irides dark reddish brown ; 

 bill and feet blackish brown. 



The female is rather less in size ; is of the same colour as 

 the male, but much lighter, without the bounding line of 

 black on each side of the buff" stripes on the breast, and 

 having only an indication of the double spots on the under 

 tail-coverts. 



Total length 6 inches ; bill | ; wing 3^ ; tail 2f ; tarsi I. 



