Order PASSEEES.] 



rPAM. SYLVIID^. 



SPHEN(EACUS FULVUS. 



(FULVOUS UTICK.) 



Sphenoeacus fulvus^ Gray, Ibis, 1862, p. 221. 

 MegaUirus fitlvus^ Gray, Hand-1. of B. i. p. 206 (1869). 



Ad. 



vix 



pectore etiam minus distincte maculato : cauda minus acuminat^^ scapis plumarum haud nudis, sed ad 

 apicem ipsum plumiferis. 



Adult. Upper parts dark fulvous^ each feather centred with black ; forehead and crown slightly stained 

 with rufous ; line over the eyes, throat, fore neck, breast, and upper part of abdomen fulvous white, 

 obscurely spotted on the breast with brown ; sides of the body, flanks, thighs, and lower part of abdo- 

 men bright fulvous; primaries and secondaries blackish brown, margined on their outer webs, and the 

 three innermost secondaries broadly margined all round, with bright fulvous ; tail-feathers fulvous, with 

 a dark shaft-line, and lighter on the edges. Total length 7*5 inches ; wing, from flexure, 2*5 ; tail 4 ; 

 bill, along the ridge *4, along the edge of lower mandible '6; tarsus '75 ; middle toe and claw "7; hind 

 toe and claw '6. 



Young. An example in the Canterbury Museum, so immature that the tail-feathers are only two inches long, 

 has more fulvous in the plumage and no indication whatever of a superciliary streak. 



This species, which appears to be confined to the South Island, bears a general resemblance to 

 Sphenoeacus punctatus ; but, on comparing them, the following characteristic differences are 

 manifest: — The present bird is larger and has the whole of the plumage lighter; the upper parts 

 have the central marks much narrower, and on the hind neck and rump they are entirely absent ; 

 the white superciliary streak is less distinctly defined, the spots on the under surface are less 

 conspicuous, and the tail-feathers, which are much paler than in S, punctatus, differ likewise in 

 their structure, the webs being closely set, instead of having loose disunited barbs. 





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