Ordbb BASSERES.] [Fam. SYLVIIDvE. 



SPHENCEACUS FULVUS. 



(FULVOUS UTICK.) 



Sphenceacus fulvus, Gray, Ibis, 1862, p. 221. 

 Megalurus fulvus, Gray, Hand-1. of B. i. p. 206 (1869). 



Ad. similis S. punctato, sed paullo major : ubique lsetius fulvescens, plumis vix ita distincte medialiter linearis : 

 pectore etiam minus distincte maculato : cauda minus acuminata, 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 j 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, 25 ; 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 8. punctatus, differ likewise in 

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



