PETROICA FUSCA. 



(Dusky Bobin.) 



Head and all tlie upper surface, reddish brown, tinged with olive; wings and tai], brown; primaries and secondaries, crossed by a narrow line 

 of white at the base ; outer tail feathers, margined and tipped with white ; under surface, pale brown, passing into buffy white on the vent 

 and under tail coverts ; irides, bill, and feet, blackish brown. 



The sexes are alike. The young bird is dark brown above, striated with deep buff; beneath, mottled brown and buify white. 

 Length, 6 inches ; wing, 3i ; tail, 2f ; bill, f ; tarsus, 1. 



This plain colored species is found only in Tasmania, being very numerous about Hobart Town. It frequents thinly timbered 

 country, thickets, or low grounds covered with stunted bush, and may often be seen perched upon posts or stumps of dead trees. It feeds 

 upon insects of various kinds. Its nest is rather large, cup-shaped, and formed of coarse fibrous roots, small twigs, strings of bark, and grass 

 mixed with wool and moss. Eggs, three or four, light greenish blue, freckled and spotted with minute indistinct markings of brown ; size, 10 

 lines by 7i lines. 



DRYMODES SUPEECILIAEIS. 



(Eastern Scruh Hobin.) 



Uppee surface, brown, becoming more of a reddish tinge towards the tail, which is of a still deeper rusty brown tint, the quills being also red; 

 all but the two middle feathers of the tail, tipped with white, the two outermost pairs being black immediately above the white tips ; wings, 

 banded with white and black ; primaries, black, margined with white on the outer webs, and interrupted near their bases by a broader portion 

 of white, which is continued and runs through the broad inner webs, forming a band; tertiaries, black, fringed with buff ; lores and patch 

 above the eye, white ; a streak of black runs diagonally backwards from beneath the eye ; throat and centre of the abdomen, white ; chest 

 and flanks, light brown ; bill, black ; legs and feet, yellowish flesh color. The sexes are similar in color, but the female is a little smaller 

 than the male. 



Length, 8i inches ; wing, 3f ; tail, 4 ; bill, -| ; tarsus. If. 



This species has as yet been obtained only from Cape York. What may be the southern limit of its habitat has yet to be 

 ascertained. It frequents thin open scrubs, in which situations it may be seen hopping about among the sticks and dead leaves much in the 

 manner of the common English Robin. The nest is fixed in a hole in the ground, into which it fits like an egg in a cup ; it is formed of twigs 

 and lined with grass. The eggs are light grey, blotched v»ath brown, particularly at the larger end. Size, 1 inch by 7-lOths. 



DRYMODES BRUNNEOPYGIA. 



(Scrub Bobin) 



-*- 



Head and all the upper surface, brown, becoming rufous on the upper tail coverts ; wings, dark brown, the coverts and primaries edged with 

 dull white ; primaries and secondaries, crossed near the base, on their inner webs, with pure white ; tail, rich brown— all but the two middle 

 feathers, tipped with white ; under surface, greyish brown, passing into buff on the under tail coverts ; irides, bill, and feet, blackish brown. 

 The sexes only differ in the female being much smaller tlian the male. 



Length, 8 inches ; wing, 31 ; tail, 4i ; bill, i ; tarsus, 1^. 



This species is found in South and Western Australia, and may be met with in some plenty in the Great Murray Scrub. It is 

 almost always seen on the ground, seldom taldng wing, but hides itself when disturbed by hopping among the thick bushes. It has a sharp 

 but monotonous note. Its food consists of insects. 



