1^8 AsHBY, Description of a New Acanthiza. [ jj'"j"n 



ear coverts, and cheek, including forehead and crown, uniformly 

 buff-drab ; chin and upper throat buffish-white. Upper and 

 lower back. — Centre of feathers buffish-drab, in many a mere 

 broadened line ; outer and larger portion of feathers rufous- 

 buff. Lower throat, neck, and chest buff; lower breast, abdomen, 

 and thighs creamy-yellow ; under tail coverts yellow ; under 

 portion of wings grey-drab. Bill and feet brown. 



Measurements of dried formalin specimens, — Total length, 

 III mm. ; culmen, 9 mm. ; tail, 40 mm. ; tarsus, 18 mm.. ; wing, 

 65 mm. 



Remarks. — Acanthiza flavivmtris differs from A. cJirysorrhoa 

 in the typical white spots on the forehead, face, and ear coverts 

 being entirely absent ; in the general buff colouration, yellow 

 abdomen and under tail coverts. A specimen of ^. cJirysorrhoa 

 in the Adelaide Museum, obtained in the M'Donnell Ranges, 

 while having the somewhat faded appearance usual to desert 

 forms, does not materially differ from the normal type, and is 

 considerably smaller than the species under review. The 

 specimen now described was kindly given me by Mr. Francis E. 

 Starr, of Adelaide, who had received it in September last, with 

 other specimens in a like bad state of preservation, from Lake 

 Frome, in the interior of South Australia. I suggest the name of 

 A. flaviventris, as being descriptive of the yellow abdomen ; and 

 the vernacular name of Plain-fronted Tit, as being descriptive of 

 the absence of the freckled markings on the forehead that are so 

 characteristic of this genus. 



Notes on the Great^billed Heron (Ardea sumatrana). 



{Compiled from the Log of the " Lassie " and Mr. Henry 

 Nielson's Field Book.) 



By E. M. Cornwall, Mackay, Q. 



Mr. Nielson first observed the Great-billed Heron {Ardea 

 sumatrana) on 5th April, 1908, when, with Messrs. G. White 

 and E. M. Cornwall, he was in a boat drifting with the tide up 

 Slade Point Creek, a tidal gutter bordered with a dense fringe 

 of mangroves, and running into the sea a few miles to the north 

 of Mackay, O. At low tide the creek runs nearly dry, and the 

 muddy flats offer food to the Heron's taste. It is a shy bird at 

 all times, and haunts quiet reaches of the many creeks and 

 gutters which intersect the immense belts of mangroves along 

 our coast. When disturbed it flies with a lazy, slow, and rather 

 ungainly undulating motion, shunning observation by disappear- 

 ing into more secluded spots. It was just 12 months later, 

 on 8th April, 1909, that Mr. Nielson was able to make a deter- 

 mined effort to discover the much- desired nest and eggs of this 

 rare and interesting bird. On that day, accompanied by 



