INSECTIVOROUS BIRDS 



RUFOUS-BREASTED THICKHEAD, 



Pacliycepliala riifiveiitris, Lath 



Fak-i-sef a-ld ru/'l'ven'tris. 

 Pachys, thick ; Tcephah, head ; rufus, red ; venter, abdomen. 



Pachycephala pectoralis, Gould, "Birds of Australia," fol., vol. 

 ii., pi. 67. 



Geographical Distribution.— Areas 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9. 



Key to the Species. — Male— ThroaX white ; under surface orange- 

 brown ; ashy-grey above ; bill at nostrils equal in height and 

 breadth. 



Female — Throat and cheeks white with dark brown streaks ; 

 under parts light fawn, distinctly streaked on breast ; lores and 

 ear coverts ashy-brown. 



In the naming of this bird brain power was not considered. 

 The noticeable breadth of the cranium provided the original 

 idea. In habits it is very much the same as the previous 

 species, though it spends much of its time away from creeks, 

 and breeds, as a rule, in the saplings of dry places. In 

 this respect it differs from P. giitturalis. The note of the 

 bird is terminated by a smack as if made with a whip. In 

 this particular it is similar but much inferior to the 

 " Whip-bird " (Psophodes). Although a winter resident it is 

 nomadic, passing from place to place with its young, which 

 do not mature for at least two years. 



A similar species, occupying the fringes of the Mallee 

 country, is Gilbert's Thickhead, P. gilberti, Gld. It has 

 a rusty -red throat and sandy-buff under wing coverts. A 

 further plain-coloured species is found in the moist and 

 heavily timbered lands of the colony — i.e , P. olivacea, Y. 

 and H. It has a whitish throat, freckled with brownish, 

 dull fawn below and olive on the upper surface. 



