go Howe, Observations on the Genus Hylacola. [,st Oct. 



upper tail coverts rich chestnut ; wings brown, with a faint rufescent 

 olive tinge to the outer webs of the secondaries and the inner 

 series of the greater wing coverts ; tips and margins of the median 

 and greater coverts white ; basal portion of the outer webs of the 

 outer primaries white, which is followed by a blackish wash 

 towards the centre of the feathers, and then by a narrow edge of 

 ashv-white on their apical half, except at the tips ; primary coverts 

 blackish, and only partially concealing the white bases to the 

 outer webs of the primaries, which form a conspicuous white spot 

 towards the centre of the wing ; tail feathers blackish-brown, 

 the central pair and outer webs of the remainder washed with 

 reddish-brown ; tips of the four central feathers ashy-brown, the 

 remainder being largely tipped with white ; a spot in front of 

 the eye blackish-brown ; a line extending from the nostril over the 

 eye white, bordered on the forehead by a narrow line of black ; 

 ear coverts brown, with white shaft lines ; sides of the neck brown ; 

 under surface of the body white, each feather conspicuously 

 streaked with blackish-brown down the centre, except on 

 the centre of the abdomen ; under tail coverts chestnut ; 

 thighs brown ; bill blackish-brown ; legs and feet fleshy-brown. 

 Total length, 5.5 inches ; wing, 2.2 ; tail, 2.3 ; bill, 0.5 ; 

 tarsus, 0.85. 



Adult Female. — Similar in plumage to the male, but the under 

 surface is pale buff and less distinctly streaked, the dark brown 

 centres being narrower, shorter, and not extending so near the 

 tips of the feathers ; centre of the abdomen pale buff. 



H. c. halmaturina (Kangaroo Island Ground-Wren). 



When compared with H. c. caiita, the most striking difference 

 is the darker streaking in the feathers of the throat and breast of 

 H. c. halmaturina. The feathers of the flanks, too, are of a dark 

 olive-brown in halmaturina and greyish in cauta, and the white 

 tips of the tail feathers are larger and whiter in halmaturina, and 

 the upper and under tail coverts are brighter. 



All ornithologists who have met this bird in the field are agreed 

 as to its timidity, and Capt. S. A. White, of South Australia 

 {Emu, vol. xii., p. 269), says : — " These shy little birds were fairly 

 plentiful, and specimens were often seen darting over the open 

 ground between the bushes, uttering a chattering call." Mr. 

 A. G. Campbell {Emu, vol. v., p. 142) says : — " The male bird 

 is a pretty songster, and always attracts notice by his strong- 

 throated warbling. The female is less brightly marked, and the 

 young is distinguished by a light fawn-coloured throat and chest, 

 though it has the dark-centred feathers of the older birds." This 

 is the reverse of the young oi H. p. pyrrhopygia ; they lack the dark 

 striping. 



Dr. W. Macgillivray has kindly forwarded for examination a 

 skin of an immature male, collected by Mr. F. P. Godfrey on 

 Kangaroo Island between 14th and 24th October, 1905. Con- 

 sidering that the Hylacola breeds in August, September, to 

 December, this bird was apparently only a few weeks from the 



I 



