180 WHITLOCK, Notes from Xnllarbor Plain. KtfaT 



turned to the spot, and commenced a search for a nest, as a 

 second bird had joined in the song. After a time I found a 

 nest more like a Shrike-Thrush's than the neat but flimsy struc- 

 ture of a Thickhead. I imitated the notes of the singers, and 

 brought them both to view. I could not recognise them. Hoping 

 eventually to get eggs from the nest discovered, I did not disturb 

 them further. About a mile further on I came across another 

 bird like the specimen I had secured. It had no mate, so I shot 

 it also. These birds were subsequently submitted to Mr. A. J. 

 Campbell, who pronounces them to be immature examples of the 

 Red-throated Whistler (P. riifogularis), a species I have not met 

 with before. I made several visits to the nest I had found, and 

 saw the owners at close quarters several times. The male had 

 certainly no red throat. No eggs being laid, I took down the 

 nest, which was in a small, dense clump of mistletoe of a very 

 slender species. The nest had contained young. It was not like 

 the ordinary type of Thickhead's nest. I did not disturb the 

 parent birds in the hope they would nest again, but up to the time 

 of leaving Naretha they had not done so. The identification of 

 Thickheads is complicated by their often breeding before they 

 have assumed fully adult plumage. I must assume, therefore, 

 that this accounts for the absence of the red throat in the male 

 under observation. 



About a mile further on from the donga where I first observed 

 the Rufous-throated Thickhead, I heard the song of another 

 bird unfamiliar to me. I followed up the sound until I located 

 the songster in a small tree. His mate was in a neighbouring tree. 

 I watched for some time in the hopes they were nesting, but 

 could see no evidence of this in their behaviour. I decided to 

 shoot them both as I was so puzzled by their appearance and 

 the unfamiliar notes. They were evidently a mated pair. I se- 

 cured them, and on getting back to camp skinned and dissected 

 both with extra care. The breeding organs of the male were 

 in an advanced state, those of the female less so. With regard 

 to plumage, the sexes are easily distinguishable ; both are striped 

 on the under i)arts, and have throats greyish white. The male 

 has no trace of a black pectoral collar. The upper parts are 

 ashy grey, without signs of immaturity in the shape of brown 

 margins to the flight feathers. These two birds were also sub- 

 mitted to Mr. A. J. Campbell. He identifies them as the Rufous- 

 breasted Whistler {Pachyccphala rufivcutris) , the male in imma- 

 ture dress. 



I am well acquainted with the latter species, and have found 

 its nest and eggs in various localities further north. I am 

 familiar, too, with its song, and had the male been singing like 

 a male of P. rufivcntris I think I should have at once recog- 

 nised the songster. Immature males of the White-bellied Whist- 

 ler {P. lanioides) sing in just the same manner as fully adult 

 birds; the same applies'to the Western Whistler (P. occidoi- 

 talis), which nests near my house. The inference is that imma- 



