^'"'■.gw^'] Howe, The Acanthizce or Tit-Warblers. 177 



red markings. Twice I have found this species breeding in 

 comjjany. At Stawell I found three nests joined together ; two 

 contained eggs and the other young. At Parwan Mr. Fred. 

 Godfrey and I found two nests in one, but both were empty. This 

 last -mentioned specimen was exhibited before the Bird Observers' 

 Club. 



Geobasileus reguloides reguloides occurs in South Queensland 

 and New South Wales. The Victorian form, G. r. connectens, is 

 \-ery common near Melbourne. At Ringwood this species prefers 

 the sapling country, where good tussock grass abounds, and it is 

 in these tussocks that the nests are placed. This bird will also 

 choose a cleft in the bark of messmate trees, &c., and is then 

 easily found, but when placed in the tussocks it is generally only 

 found by flushing the sitting bird. The song of this species is 

 totally different from that of its congener, G. chrysorrhous, and is 

 more sustained. The buff rump readily distinguishes it from the 

 yellow-rumped bird. North, after describing birds from New 

 South Wales, remarks that " there is a variation in the depth of 

 colour in examples of G. reguloides obtained from different parts 

 of the continent. Specimens collected by Mr. George Masters 

 at Gayndah. on the Burnett River, Queensland, have only a 

 slight ochraceous tinge to the yellow rump and upper tail coverts, 

 and the breast, flanks, and abdomen are pale yellow. Examples 

 collected by Mr. Edwin Ashby at Upper Sturt, Woodside, and 

 Callington, in the hills south-east of Adelaide, are much darker 

 than the New South Wales specimens, and may be distinguished 

 from typical examples of G. reguloides by the richer and deeper 

 ochraceous-buff rump, upper tail coverts, basal portion and tips 

 of tail feathers, and, in two specimens, the more distinct rufous 

 forehead and deeper ochraceous-buff under surface" ; and adds — 

 " Should it be necessary to distinguish the latter darker race, I 

 would suggest the name G. australis." Farther on Mr. North 

 remarks : — "I particularly wish to point out that I regard this 

 darker-coloured race from South Australia only as a geographical 

 variation of the typical form of G. reguloides. Likewise also all the 

 races described in this catalogue, for which I have proposed 

 names, and which appear in the text of the letter-press only, and 

 not as head-lines to a species. They are, in my opinion, how- 

 ever, far more entitled to full specific recognition than many 

 others that are recognized as such — say, for instance, A . apicalis 

 and A. diemenensis, which are only really geographical variations 

 of .4. pusilla. and not distinct species. . . . Trinomial nomen- 

 clature has not been adopted by Australian ornithologists, 

 although that does not protect Australian ornithological literature 

 from the hair-sphtting of the most ardent sub-species-maker 

 resident elsewhere. Comparatively few British and Continental 

 ornithologists make use of the sub-specific distinction. It is 

 useful, however, and has this advantage : one knows at a glance 

 that the added trinomial refers only to a geographical variation of 

 a typical form ; whereas in binomial nomenclature one may 



