26 BIRDS OF TASMANIA. 



narrowly tipped witli white ; the outermost one in addition has the 

 external web white ; throat greyish ; rest of under surface grey, with 

 the centre of the abdomen whitish; bill, legs, and feet black. 

 Dimensions in mm. : — Length, 15*2; bill, 11.5; wing, 83; tail, 61; 

 tarsus, 23.5. 



Female. — Similar to male. 



Young. — Feathers on upper surface brown, broadly streaked 

 with white ; under surface mottled. 



Nest. — Somewhat large and loosely built; composed of fine 

 shredded bark, with which are mixed fragments of grass, spider's 

 web, and fine rootlets; lined inside with horse-hair or fur; some- 

 times nothing special beyond the soft bark used to finish off inside 

 is added. In the hollow of a stump or in a niche in the bark of a 

 large tree are the favourite sites. 



Eggs. — Clutch three usually; oval in shape; texture of shell 

 fine ; surface glossy ; colour olive-green ; some eggs are destitute 

 of markings, others have the apex fawn colour, others again are 

 pale brownish, darker on the apex, and with a few markings of 

 fawn colour scattered over the surface. Dimensions in mm. of a 

 clutch:— (1) 21 X 15, (2) 20 x 16, (3) 22 x 15. 



Breeding Season. — x\ugust to December. 



Geographical Distributiou. — Tasmania, King Island, and Fur- 

 neaux Group. 



Ohservations. — The Dusky or Stump Eobin is a quiet, unemo- 

 tional kind of bird, frequenting lightly timbered forest land and 

 cleared tracts. 



It is j)ractically voiceless, and pursues its daily round as though 

 with some load on its shoulders. On freshly scrubbed and burnt 

 areas where the young grass is beginning to show it may often 

 be seen in numbers in company with the Flame-breasted and Sear- 

 let-breasted species eagerly hunting for tiny snails and other 

 ground food. Unlike the two other species mentioned, it does 

 not seek the society of man and eat the crumbs from his table. 

 One but rarely sees a Dusky Eobin perched on the limb of a tree, 

 logs and dead stumps being practically its only vantage grounds. 



*GOULD'S BLUE WKEN 



(Malurus gouldi, Sharpe). 



Male. — "Crown of the head, stripe from the corner of the 

 mouth beloM^ the ears, and a broad crescent on the upper part of 

 the back metallic ultramarine blue ; back of the neck, shoulders, 

 back, and rump deep velvety black; throat and chest deep blue- 

 black; under surface greyish-white, becoming brown on the fianks; 

 tail feathers deep blue with lighter tips ; bill black ; legs and feet 

 brown" (Gould). Dimensions in mm.: — Length, 133; bill, 9; 

 wing, 55; tail, 67; tarsus, 25. 



