^°1-92Y'] HOWE, The Gcuus CUmoctcns. 37 



C. c. neositta from West Australia. I consider skins from Cen- 

 tral Australia and Western Australia cannot be separated from 

 the dominant form. Mr. Edwin Ashby* collected two birds at 

 Pungonda, South Australia, and Mr. J. W. Mellor secured speci- 

 mens in the Hundred of P)Ookpurnong, v^outh Australia. These 

 he named C. c. parsoni.-\ I'un,s,n)nda and I>ook])urnong are near 

 the Victorian border, and the bird is identical with that of 

 North-west Victoria. C. e. parsoni being a larger and more 

 robust bird, is easily separated from C. e. supercU'iosa. The 

 superciliary stripe is snowy- white in C. e. parsoni, and so are the 

 white shaft-lines of the breast and abdomen feathers, which 

 are bordered by black. C. e. superciliosa is a more dingy-brown 

 on throat and abdomen, and the shaft-lines of breast and 

 abdomen are bordered by brown. Altogether the southern bird 

 has a much finer appearance. The females of the \\'hite-browed 

 Tree-creeper show a trace of the red radiated markings that 

 adorn the breast of the females of the Red-browed bird. Mr. 

 Mathews lists C. superciliosa as a sub-species of C. crythrops. 

 Possibly he is correct, but, in the field, the birds are very dis- 

 tinct, and I prefer keeping them apart. Dr. Chenery found a 

 nest containing a fresh egg on August 4th, 1900, and another 

 single egg incubating on the 12th at Mount Gunson, South 

 Australia. On :\Iarch 1st, 1895, Mr. C. E. Cowle, in Central 

 Australia, found a nest containing a single egg. Probably 

 August to December or January would be the general breeding 

 months, and no doubt two broods are reared. Interesting field- 

 notes regarding its nidification appear in TJic Emu, vol. ix., p. 

 208, and vol. x.. pj). 93-96. 



Climacteris picumna. The Brown Tree-creeper. — Range. — 

 Queensland, Xtw South Wales, X'ictoria, and South Australia. 

 Type locality, South Queensland. Frequents the more open 

 parts, particularly box trees plains. The nesting site is a hollow 

 lined with grasses, feathers and fur, fairly close to the ground. 

 Eggs. — A fine set of four from Pine Plains, Xorth-w'est Vic- 

 toria measure, in inches: (a) .74 x .5, (b) .72 x .49, (c) .71 x 

 .5, (d) .69 X .5. They are close-grained, smooth and lustrous, 

 and of a reddish-white ground colour, almost obscured with 

 markings of different shades of red and purplish-red. The spots 

 are larger and more numerous on the thicker end, and with 

 underlying spots of dull violet-grey forming confluent patches. 

 .\nother set measure: (1) .66 x .5, (2) .68 x .51, (3) .64 x .5. 



The loud "pink-pink-pink" familiar on the box plains at 

 Parwan, thirty miles west of Melbourne, is pleasing to the ear. 

 On an autumn evening there is a touch of sadness in the cry. 

 Broadbent records this species from the Cardwell scrubs of 

 Northern Queensland ; but this is probably an error, and the 

 bird would be referable to C. uiclauura, the under parts being 



* "The Emu " Vol. XVII.. p. 219. 



t South Australian Ornithologist, p. 5. 1919. 



