2 CHISHOLM, Xotcs on Two Xciv Birds. Pi^^fX" 



Notes on Two New Birds" 



I'.y .\. 11. CillSllOI.M, K.A.O.L"., State Secretary, (Jueensland. 



1. Adventures among Atrichornis 



As y\\-. S. W. Jackson iX.S.W. ) and myself are, 

 |)resuinably. the only members of the R.A.O.U. who have 

 had held acquaintance with Atrichornis nifcsccns jacic- 

 soni and Pachycephala oliz'acca niacplicrsonianus, it may be 

 worth while to reinforce the collector's notesf on these 

 fine .Iiirds. The ,seciirin,<i n{ two new and good sub-species of 

 birds on one trijj is in itself a noteworthy thing, but it rises to 

 the imjM'essivc when the discoveries are birds of the remarkable 

 nature of the Rufous Scrul)-r.ird, and. in a lesser degree, the 

 Olive Whistler of the Mac])herson Range. 



D1SC()\ i: K\' Ol' TIIK SCRL'll-l'.lRlJ. 



My first ac(|uaintance with .liricJiomis, and. incidentall\ . the 

 first record of the species for yueensland,^ date back to the 

 closing days of 1918. A dozen or so members of tlie lirisbane 

 Field Naturalists' Club were spending a week in the Macpherson 

 Range tlien, and as two of us wandered along a jungle track 

 towards the border, we were brought to a halt by a strange 

 bird-voice — just one ringing note, repeated at short intervals. 

 Essentially melodious, the voice was almost human in its im- 

 perious quality, recalling W. 11. Hudson's .lescription of his 

 iiird-girl in the '"(ireen Mansions" of South America. "AXhat'-i 

 that?" said my com])anion. I did not know, but was sufficiently 

 niterested to determine to find out. Presently the notes changed 

 to a brisk "Chit-chit-chit-chit." and. after a brief interval, the 

 voice came from another f|uarter in a polyglot chatter. Through- 

 out the whole ])erformance the melodist kept to the thickest 

 tangle on the ground. It was a long and difficult job to trace 

 it, and only after much snake-like manceuvring and squeaking 

 and twittering did I manage to catch a glim]:)se of the tantalising 

 creature — a reddish-brown, stocky bird, marked with white on 

 the throat, which shot along under debris with surprising 

 rapidity, barely jiausing now and then to peer out at its visitors. 



I scribbled a rough description of the colour and call of the 

 bird on the spot, adding to it on meeting another ( r) member of 

 the species when returning from the l)ordcr ridge a few days 

 later. But even then I was "scratching" at the identitv of the 

 unexpected find, and it was not until we were back in Brisbane 



*These notes were in hand before the publication of Mr. Jackson's 

 paper (Emu, vol. xx.. April. 1921). — Eds. 

 tEmu, vol. 19, pp. 258-272. 

 :|:Ibid, Vol. 19, p. 212. 



