302 THE BmDS OF AUSTRALIA 



Inhabits the thickets of a tea-tree growing among the sand- 

 hills. Utters a peculiar harsh and grating song. (Gilbert). 

 Presents a marked contrast to its congener in habits and in song. 

 The genus is strictly Australian. 



Genus Pomatorhinus. Babblers. 



A large genus, extending from the Himalayas to China. 

 Burmah, Malay Peninsula, Java, Sumatra and Borneo, with 

 outliers in New Guinea and Australia. There are four Aus- ' 

 tralian species. Our birds are eight to ten inches long, brown 

 above, of medium size, and mostly white below. Gould's vivid 

 description of the ways of P. temporalis applies in general to 

 the Babblers. It inhabits forest country, mostly inland, is 

 gregarious in its habits, and is exceedingly noisy and garrulous. 

 It is frequently to be seen on the ground, but on the slightest 

 alarm it resorts to the trees. Commencing with the branches 

 nearest the ground, it gradually ascends, in a succession of leaps, 

 to the very top of the trees, whence, with its tail elevated, it 

 peers down, and continually utters its peculiar chattering cry. 

 The troop often ascend the same tree in line, and, if still unsatis- 

 fied with the security, wiU fly off one after another from tree 

 to tree. The nest is a large structure of twigs, covered in at the 

 top, and the entrance is at the side in the form of a long spout. 

 The nest is lined with fine grasses, and several are often built 

 on one tree. The eggs, four, are very characteristic, bufEy-brown 

 or olive-grey, clouded with purple and brown, and streaked with 

 conspicuous hair-like lines of black, and measure about an inch 

 by three-quarters. The birds are mainly insectivorous. 



All the Australian birds have a distinct white eyebrow, and 

 the tail tipped with white. 



A. — Throat and breast white. 



The Babhler, P. frivolus (temporalis). — Australia except "West. No white 

 bar across the wing; lower breast rufescent; forehead paler brown 

 than nape. Length 10 inches. 



The White-browed Babbler, P. superoiUosus.—Ml over Australia. No 

 white bar on the wing; lower breast whitish; forehead like rest 

 of crown. Length 7.5 inches. 



