Dr. Brehrn gives a long chapter purporting to be upon

A. sordidus, but the description would appear to refer to a

different bird to mine, as it mentions the bird as being “reddish

grey on the body and with dark bluish-black wings and tail,”

and states that “ the hen is smaller than the cock, and presents

a spotted appearance on the back, the feathers on that part

having a dirty white streak upon their shafts.” The colour

of the “surface of the body,” whatever part of the bird that

may be, is given as being “ a mixture of white and brown.”

It will be noticed that in one line the bird is described as being

“reddish grey on the body” and in another the “surface of the

body” is stated to be “a mixture of white and brown.” I

suppose a mixture of white and brown would produce something

of a “ reddish grey,” but the description does not fit my birds,

which are of an almost uniform slate colour, darkening to

nearly black on the wings and tail. The first primary is

entirely dark, but the outer web of the second, third, and

fourth is white, as also are the tips of the tail feathers, except

the two in the centre. I absolute^ fail to distinguish between

the sexes either in the matter of size or colour, and when I

have exhibited a “ pair,” which has been frequently, I have

simply caught out two at random, and sent them to a show

with no other preparation than perhaps washing their primaries

and tail feathers with a shaving brush.


Their call is an exact imitation of the distant cry of an

Oyster-catcher on a beach, and their song, though very quiet,

is quite a pretty attempt at minstrelsy.


Since the foregoing article was written, two pairs each

of A. supe 7 'ciliosus and A. personatus have been imported. I

have procured one pair of each, and the others have gone to

the Zoological Gardens. I have of course not had them long

enough to write much of them as cage birds, but I have thought

that a short description of them might not be without interest.


Unlike the Dusky Wood Swallow, the sexes of the White¬

eyebrowed and of the Masked are easily distinguished. The

cock of the Masked Wood-Swallow is grey above and greyish-

white underneath, the throat and face to just above the eyes

being covered with a dense black mask. The grey becomes

darker on the wings and tail, but there is no other black on

the bird than the well-defined black mask which gives it its

name. The wing feathers, except the first two primaries are

very lightly edged at their tips with light grey, which appears

as a fine lacing when the bird is at rest. The tail-feathers are

tipped with the same grey.



