Vol. XVII 

 1917 



] Howe, Observations on the Genus Hylacola. 8q 



high-class grazing, but in the vicinity is a belt of poor scrubby 

 land, and it is in this latter that Mr. Austin finds some very 

 interesting variations in what are usually looked upon as more 

 coastal forms. So marked is the variation that in two cases 

 [Eopsaltria australis anstini and Geohasileus regiiloides cobbora) 

 Mr. Mathews makes sub-species. Other species examined by 

 me — ^viz., Collyriocichla harmonica, Ptilotis fusca, and Hylacola 

 pyrrhopygia — present much paler coloration than the coastal 

 birds, the Hylacola being quite remarkable in its variation." 



In the parcel of Hylacola skins lent me by Mr. White, he includes 

 a mature male and an immature pair, male and female, collected 

 by Mr. Austin at Cobbora on 7th October, 1916. The mature 

 bird is certainly much paler above and below. The eyebrow is 

 much whiter, the black centre of the throat and breast feathers 

 is not so dark, and is more linear ; the chestnut under tail coverts 

 are broadly tipped with white, and the tips to the outer tail 

 feathers are whiter and broader. The bird is also much larger 

 than specimens collected near Sydney. Probably Mr. White will 

 have something to say about this bird later. 



H. p. belcher i (Geelong Ground- Wren). 



Two skins collected by Mr. H. A. Purnell and myself at 

 Anglesea, on the coast, south of Geelong, Victoria, on 4th April, 

 1915, belong to this form. In comparing them with skins 

 collected near Sydney, they are readily distinguished by the 

 darker upper surface, the more scaled appearance of the forehead 

 and crown, the darker striping on the throat and breast, and the 

 whiter abdomen. The eyebrow, too, is longer and whiter. 

 During April, 1915,* and October of the same year Mr. H. A. 

 Purnell and I located these birds in three or four spots. They 

 were equally at home in the dense tea-tree scrubs bordering the 

 creeks and coast and the heath and sapling country of the flats 

 and ranges. In habits and song they reminded me greatly of 

 H. c. brcvicauda, of the North- Western Mallee scrubs. This bird 

 flies well, but when it runs its speed is astonishing, and it was a 

 difficult and long job to get specimens in the open heathy country. 

 The song is beautiful and well sustained, and that of the male 

 has more volume and is slightly higher pitched. On our second 

 trip, the object of which was to collect the so far undescribed 

 nest and eggs, the wet season had brought up a great growth of 

 tall grass, and this, added to the dense undergrowth, accounted 

 for our failure, for the birds were fairly plentiful, their rich song 

 being heard on every hand, and, although we spent a full day, 

 not a bird was sighted. . 



Hylacola cauta. 



Hylacola cauta cauta (Rufous- rumped Ground- Wren). 



Adult Male. — General colour above brown, the back washed 

 with rufescent olive, which is more pronounced on the rump ; 



* Emu, vol. XV., part i, page 41. 



