from Western Australia. 189 



the nest, of which this was the larger. Upper surface grey 

 with conspicuous black shaft-Hues ; a faint wash of pale red 

 upon the scapulars and upper surface of tail; freckling of 

 adult faintly represented ; upper tail-coverts brown, white- 

 tipped, and with the barbules free ; wings much like those of 

 the adult, but without rufous, which is represented by a pale 

 flush of pink. Whole under surface brownish grey, all the 

 feathers below the chest being without barbules; throat- and 

 chest-feathers with distinct shaft-streaks ; breast with faint 

 shaft-streaks ; abdomen faintly rayed, edges of feathers grey ; 

 under tail-coverts with dark centres and grey tips ; iris 

 yellow. Total length 10 inches, wing 49, tarsus 0*85, mid- 

 toe without claw I'lo. 



In the British Museum Catalogue I find that Mr. Hartert 

 gives no description of the male in the absence of an authen- 

 ticated skin, nor do I know of any. It so happens that, 

 while on a visit to Europe, Mr. Dudley Le Souef asked Mr. 

 Hartert to identify a certain skin for him, which proved to be 

 P. phalaenoides. Being the skin of a male from Cardwell, 

 Queensland, I may note its leading characters as follows : — 



Description of an adult male. — There is much rufous 

 freckling and vermiculation, but no decidedly uniform rufous 

 tint. The whole upper surface is mainly grey, each feather 

 being narrowly streaked with black on the shaft-line. The 

 rufous freckling is fine and heavy. There is a large amount 

 of white freckling on the wings, particularly towards the 

 scapulars. The feathers of the under surface are covered 

 with rufous vermiculations, above and below which are white 

 patches that are much larger ; these do not appear on the 

 throat otherwise than as fine marks ; the brown shaft-lines 

 are conspicuous. In other respects the skin corresponds 

 with that of the female described in the Catalogue. Total 

 length 15'5 inches, wing 8-5, tail 7'\, bill from angle of 

 mouth 2'25, tarsus 095, mid-toe without claw 1'3. 



The fledgling when placed upon a bough instinctively 

 assumed the pose of the parent, although it was never before 

 out of the nest. After a certain amount of handling, this 

 posture, obtained by inheritance alone, was no longer 

 retained, the biixVs pose becoming limp. The experience of 



