116 THE USEFUL BIRDS 



WHITE-BROWED SCRUB-WREN 



(White-fronted Sericornis), 



Sericoriiis frontalis, Vig, and Hors. 



Ser-i-kor'nis Jron-ta'lis. 

 Serikos, silken ; ornis, bird ; jrons {frontis), front ; alis, pertaining to. 



Sericornis frontalis, Gould, " Birds of Australia," fol., vol. iii.. 



pi. 49. 



Geographical Distribution. — Areas 3, 4, 6, 7. 



Key to the Species. — General appearance sombre ; plumage silky ; 

 throat white, with black spots or edgings to feathers ; tail square, 

 with no distinct subterminal band ; no white tips to tail feathers; 

 wing coverts black, tipped white ; a white spot over lores : under 

 tail coverts pale yellowish ; tarsus plain. 



Of the eleven species of Scrub -Wrens (Sericorni) the one 

 under review is the most typical. 



Notes on the Warblers can hardly be complete without a 

 few remarks on a sturdy little bird that is better known to 

 cryptogamic botanists than to other collectors who are not 

 devoted to ornithology. It is only when one is hunting 

 quietly in that particular kind of timber which yields mosses 

 and lichens abundantly that one is likely to ^become ac- 

 quainted with the White-browed Scrub-Wren. 



The call and notes of the bird are sharp, clear, and decisive, 

 and the activity it displays leads it quickly from place to 

 place, principally under cover, but occasionally to one or 

 other bush track, when all is quiet. 



The place of habitation for its callow young is lodged 

 among the coarse grass or overhanging twining plants on 

 creek banks. The moist spots are sought for, preference 

 being given to them at all times. During the September of 

 1896 I found a nest made of seaweed placed in a dead branch 

 almost enveloped in the same material. 



