Jhe £mu 



Official Organ of the Royal Australasian Ornithologists' Union. 



" BiHs of a fczitbcr.' 



Vol. XVII.] isx APRIL, 1918. [Part 4. 



Grey^throated Thickhead (Pachycephala peninsulae, 



Hartert). 



By a. J. Campbell, C.M.B.O.U. 

 To accompany the plate in this issue, I cannot do better than 

 reiterate, in part, what was stated regarding this species by Mr. 

 H. G. Barnard and myself in connection with " The Birds of 

 Rockingham Bay " {ante, p. 22). 



We found this Thickhead fairly plentiful in the coastal scrubs, 

 and obtained examples of both sexes for museum purposes, 

 together with the nest and eggs. In quest of food this bird 

 resembles all the Pachycephala, and was often observed feeding 

 in company of other smaller birds. One nest inspected contained 

 fledgelings, rufous-coloured, like those of P. gutturalis. The bird 

 ranges up to Cape York, a similar bird appearing in New 

 Guinea. (See Dr. Macgillivray's remarks, Emu, vol. xiii., p. 167.) 



This species is listed under two names on the Union's " Check- 

 list " (p. 65) — No. 421, Eopsaltria inornata, Ramsay ; No. 427, 

 Pachycephala peninsiilcs, Hartert. But, in view of our field 

 evidence, we venture to recommend the adoption of the latter 

 name, or, if a difference of genera be established, then Mathews's 

 Mattingleya {griseiceps) inornata, with the vernacular Grey- 

 throated Whistler or Thickhead. 



Dimensions in mm. — Length, 145-150 ; wing, 76-78 ; tail, 64-70 ; 



tarsus, 17-19 ; culmen, 10. 



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