1-74 Howi-:, The Acanthizce or Tit -Warblers. \ th ("n 



is one of tlie most common forms of bird-life in the Mallee scni])s. 

 It associates in small flocks of six or eight. It nests in dead spouts 

 and hollows of the mallee, making the t3q)ical dome-shaped nest, 

 and laying three, and sometimes four, eggs for a sitting. One set 

 of four fresh eggs I took from a hollow in a small dead mallee were 

 of the usual colour seen in typical eggs of A . piisilla, Init were 

 smaller and more dumpy in shape. In September, 1913, I found 

 a nest, by seeing the birds fly to the spot, amongst some folds of 

 a chaff bag hanging over a rafter in the stables of Mr. W. Ribbons, 

 at Mulcra, in the far north-western corner of the State. Apart 

 from all other distinctions, this form is easily separated from the 

 Red-rumped Tit-Warbler by its white irides, which in A. p. 

 hamiltoni are of a beautiful ruby. Five other sub-species of this 

 bird occur across Southern Austraha and Central Australia, ex- 

 tending to the coasts of Western Australia. Mr. Sandland secured 

 me a set of eggs taken at Moora, on the Moore River. Regarding 

 Acanthiza inornata inornata, Mr. A. J. North, when comparing 

 skins collected by Mr. George Masters at King George's Sountl 

 and the Swan River, noticed the differences occurring from those 

 collected in the neighbourhood of Perth, where Gould's type was 

 collected. He named them A. mastersi. North adds :—" The 

 darker upper and under surface will always serve to distinguish 

 it from its near ally, A. inornata. The rump and upper tail 

 coverts of this species are olive-brown." 



In the Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia, 

 vol. xiv., p. 112 (1900), Mr. A. Zietz describes a Tit-Warbler under 

 the name of Acanthiza tenuirostris . The types were obtained at 

 Leigh's Creek, between Lakes Torrens and Frome, about 374 

 miles north of Adelaide, South Australia. Mr. Zietz, writing to 

 Mr. North, says : — " My Acanthiza tenuirostris may possibly be, 

 after all, a diminutive form of A. reguloides, from which it is 

 distinguished by its smaller size, the absence of the buff colouring 

 on the rump, and it also lacks the pale buff bases to all the tail 

 feathers, as described by Gould in his ' Handbook to the Birds 

 of Australia.'" Mr. North (page 282), says : — "It is unquestion- 

 ably a good and distinct species, not a small form of G. regttloides. 

 nor has it any othei near ally. It may be distinguished from all 

 other species of Acanthiza by its almost imiform coloured tail, 

 prononcedly light upper tail coverts, and its small, slender bill, 

 which is comparatively narrow at the base, with a tendency to 

 recurvature." Dr. Morgan, writing to Mr. North, says: — "This 

 is a salt-bush bird, and is exceedingly shy." The nest is built in 

 positions similar to those of the Acanthizce, and not like that of 

 G. reguloides. I have reason to believe that this form will 

 ultimately be found inhabiting the big salt-bush plains of north- 

 west Victoria. Mr. M'Lennan described a bird to me, and was 

 certain that a new Tit was in company with a Calamanthns. 

 Mathews lists this species as follows :— 



Acanthiza iredalei iredalei. Lake Way, Western Australia. 

 ,, ,, morgani, Leigh's Creek, interior of South 



Australia. 



