142 



Campbell, Annotations. [^j^t "jai 



Annotations. 



By a. J. Campbell, Col. Mem. B.O.U. 

 New Pardalote from North-Western Australia. — In a select 

 parcel of bird-skins exhibited at the Melbourne annual session of 

 the A.O.U. by Mr. H. L. White, of Scone, N.S.W., was a Pardalote 

 resembling P. rnhricatus, but much lighter coloured than any known 

 species of the genus. The bird was collected by Mr. F. Lawson 

 Whitlock in the region of the Coongan and De Grey Rivers. 



If the pale-coloured plumage is a type of the species of that 

 locality, I venture to name the bird Pardalofus pallida, or the Pale 

 Red-browed Pardalote. 



Description (Female). — Forehead crossed by a narrow band of 

 buff ; crown and back of head black, each feather having a spot of 

 white near the extremity ; back of neck, back, mantle, and wing 

 coverts light brownish-grey, each feather with a central (darker) 

 stripe ; rump buff coloin-ed ; wings brown or dark grey, margined 

 with white ; small portion of the base of the primaries and the 

 outer margins " of the secondaries yellow or deep chrome ; before 

 the eye, spot of orange chrome ; above and behind the eye, stripe 

 of buff ; upper tail coverts greenish or citron yellow ; tail blackish- 

 brown, the extreme tips of the feathers being white ; under surface, 

 including tail coverts, dull white, except the chest, which is bright 

 yellow. Dimensions in inches. — Length, 4.0 ; bill, 0.25 ; wing, 

 2.5 ; tail, 1.2 ; tarsus, 0.8. 



The following are collector's field notes respecting the nidifica- 

 tion of the species : — 



"This was the common Pardalote of the district. On the 

 Coongan, wherever there were gum-trees, there its monotonous 

 notes were sure to be heard. On the De Grey it was less common, 

 and I heard little of it between the latter river and the coast. 

 On the upper Coongan the main river was more favoured than 

 the tributaries, but the nests were always in the banks of side 

 creeks or even in little rivulets of no more than i foot or 

 18 inches deep. Where the soil was loamy there these rivulets 

 had been scoured out by the heavy rains, and I could usually 

 locate the tunnel without much difficulty. A little experience, 

 too, soon enabled me to distinguish an old tunnel from a new one, 

 and also to ascertain, by means of a slender stick, the probability 

 of the nest containing eggs or being unfinished. The tunnels 

 varied from 20 inches to 2 feet in depth, and a chamber was 

 excavated at the end to contain the nest. The latter was very 

 substantial — the foundation of strips of cajaput bark and the cup 

 neatly lined with fine grasses. The eggs were usually three in 

 number, but not infrequently only two. As incubation is nearing the 

 end the female sits closely, and I have several times started to 

 dig out the nest before she flew out of the tunnel. 



"The eggs are pure white, large (for so small a bird), and 

 without much gloss. As a rule they are rather broad ovals." 



[A clutch of three eggs in Mr. White's collection, taken by 



