Vol. VIII 



1909 



1 Mattingley, Thermometer-Bird or Mallee-Fowl. I2I 



under the grateful shade of some bush, where the ground is 

 cooler, and there they scratch a hole and lie in it until the worst of 

 the heat is over. They can go without water for a considerable 

 time, but when it is conveniently near they drink frequently and 

 freely. The most noticeable difference in the plumage of the 

 sexes is the whiter marking on the throat of the male, where it 

 is more brown in the female. General dorsal appearance 

 leaden-grey, washed with rufous-brown and barred with white. 

 Forehead, crown, and nape are provided with a sub-crest, 

 varying in its colour from a leaden-grey to a sooty-black. In 

 the female the crest is not so pronounced as in the male and is 

 darker in colour, whilst the head of the female is not so coarse as 

 that of the m.ale, being slight-^r in build. The eye of both sexes 

 has a black pupil and a light hazel iris. The feathers of the 

 neck and hind-neck are leaden-grey, tipped with a lighter grey, 

 giving a flecked appearance. A line of black bristles, forming 

 the ear coverts, starts beneath the eyes and extends over the 

 auricular region. Chin and throat rufous, lower throat feathers 

 rufous edged with black. Fore-neck and chest black, each 

 feather striated with a median line of greyish-white along the 

 vane, especially on the fore-neck, whilst the feathers of the chest, 

 being black from the vane inwards and whitish-grey from the 

 vane outwards, give an appearance of a distinctive black patch 

 or stripe on the chest. General appearance of ventral surface 

 greyish-white, stained rufous. Side of hind-neck and chest 

 leaden-grey. Sides and flanks barred with black. Under tail 

 coverts rufous-white. Tail long, rounded, and drooping, and 

 containing sixteen feathers, which are greyish-black, tipped 

 broadly with greyish-white, which is usually stained lightly 

 with rufous and often flecked with greyish-black. Humeral 

 feathers leaden-grey. Lesser wing coverts light leaden-grey 

 broadly tipped with greyish-white, on which also is a broad 

 blotch of black, further blotched and margined with rufous. 

 Median wing coverts are the same as the lesser, only the black 

 blotch has more distinctive rufous markings, whilst the white 

 markings extending down the vane have a V-shaped appearance. 

 Primaries rufous-grey, the outer web having darker markings. 

 General appearance under shoulder is a dark rufous. On the 

 lower portion of the hind-neck contiguous to the back is" an 

 indistinct bright rufous collar. Feathers of the upper back have 

 a leaden-grey appearance, barred with white and black and 

 margined with rufous. Back is a rufous-grey, margined with 

 lighter grey. Upper tail coverts rufous-grey, irregularly banded 

 with black. The four central tail feathers same colour as 

 upper tail coverts. Some of the specimens examined have a 

 larger rufous bar across the feathers of the dorsal surface, and 

 less black, and therefore have a more pronounced rufous appear- 

 ance. 



