Vol. XVII 

 1917 



] Howe, Observations on the Genus Hylacola. qi 



nest. The striping on the throat, breast, and flanks is very con- 

 spicuous, and the former, as well as being striped, is rufous 

 brown. This colour is only just noticeable in the mature female, 

 and is absent in the mature male. The white speculum in the 

 wing is as large as that of the mature male, which in the mature 

 female is just discernible, and the white edging of the primaries 

 is much more pronounced than in either of the adults. 



H. c. brevicauda (Short-tailed Ground-Wren). 



This form is shorter than cauta or halmaturina, and the tail is 

 shorter also, and much shorter than that of whitlocki. When 

 comparing the primaries with the latter, those of brevicauda are 

 much darker, but the white edging is not nearly so conspicuous, 

 the brown spot in front of the eye is larger and darker, and the 

 white patch on the forehead is only about half that of whitlocki. 

 Since 1907 I have spent a few weeks of nearly every year in the 

 North- West Mallee scrubs of Victoria, and on each occasion have 

 come across this bird. It is fairly well distributed, and is nowhere 

 more common than at Underbool, midway between Ouyen and 

 Murray ville. In the early part of the day its beautiful little song 

 is heard wherever there is short mallee or turpentine or other 

 good cover. About mid-day the birds become quiet, and are 

 rarely heard until evening comes, and then they sing again until 

 darkness fairly sets in. 



This form is very fond of frequenting the scrubs bordering a 

 road or track, particularly when " traversed " by the surveyors. 

 On the cut-lines through the Mallee the birds are generally met 

 with, and it is under the dead branches of the fallen mallee trees 

 they love to place the nest. A slight hollow is first scratched out 

 by the birds, and the dome-shaped nest, made of bark and hned 

 with grasses and feathers, placed in it, the opening in the side 

 being slightly higher than the ground. The female sits very 

 close, and the nest is usually found by flushing the bird. Nests 

 are often built into the bark and debris that accumulates at the 

 foot of the mallee bushes. Twice I found the birds nesting in 

 the porcupine {Triodia), and on another occasion a nest was 

 found at Ouyen backed up against a fallen dead pine, and without 

 any cover whatever ; it was only found by flushing the bird. 



The breeding season for the Hylacola in the Mallee is fairly early, 

 commencing in August ; but more nests are found in early 

 September, and probably two broods are reared. The eggs are 

 three in number, nearly oval in shape ; texture of shell fine, 

 surface glossy ; colour olive-grey, with very dark indistinct spots 

 underlying the surface of the shell, mostly about the larger end, 

 where they form an indistinct zone. These eggs are like miniature 

 eggs of the Pilot-Bird {Pycnoptilus). Messrs. A. J. Campbell 

 and A. J. North describe eggs taken by Mr. W. White on Kangaroo 

 Island as those of Hylacola cauta, and which are now referable to 

 those of H. c. halmaturina. The clutch in my collection was 

 taken by me at Pine Plains, North-Western Victoria, on 20th 

 September, 1907. They measure in inches — {a) .84 x .61, (6) 



