BIRDS OF TASMANIA. 37 



Town. Colonel Legge, in the introduction to his " Systematic 

 List.of Tasmanian Birds" (P.E.S. Tas., 1900-1), stated that the 

 re-discovery of this species was very probable, evidently forgetting 

 that in November, 1892, he read a note before the Tasmanian 

 Eoyal Society entitled " A Note on a Tasmanian Acanthiza." In 

 this note he says {inter alia) : — " Last December, when visiting an 

 out-of-the-way settlement on the Elephant Hill, near St. Mary's, 

 situated about 1,500 feet above sea level, I met with a solitary bird 

 hopping about the scrub and bushes on the edge of a clearing, 

 and, being attracted by its peculiar note, I procured it, having 

 by chance my gun with me. It proved to be a small Acanthiza, 

 very similar to the common ' Brown-tail ' or Tasmanian Acan- 

 thiza, but differing in having the forehead pale rufescent-grey 

 instead of rufous and the throat and fore-neck with the markings 

 much less pronounced than in the last-named species — in fact, 

 the colouration of that part is almost uniform, the centres of the 

 feathers also being slightly darker than the rest of the web. At 

 the base of the outer webs of the primaries there is a narrow 

 rufous band, similar to that shown in Gould's figure, which, how- 

 ever, has the markings of the throat more pronounced than in my 

 specimen. Owing to the absence of throat markings, I was 

 inclined to look on the bird as an immature male of the common 

 Brown-tail, particularly as the month was that in which so many 

 young birds are procurable, but the actions and the note of this 

 individual were so totally different from that of the Tasmanian 

 Acanthiza that no doubt is left in my mind as to its distinctness. 

 The common species is gregarious, nearly always being found in- 

 small parties, which flit about with great zest and activity, utter- 

 ing in unison their peculiar little note, which may be syllabilized 

 'Zit, zit, zit, whoorl,' the latter being somewhat guttural. The 

 note of my new species resembles ' Tit, tit, too, woo,'' the latter 

 syllables being soft and melodious. . . . There can be little 

 doubt that this bird is, in reality, the Acanthiza ewingi of Gould, 

 which should, therefore, be reinstated in the Tasmanian avifauna." 

 A resume of the dates of the discovery and re-discovery of 

 Swing's Tit runs thus: — 

 1848 — First figured and described by Gould. 

 1854—" List of Birds of Tasmania," by Eev. T. J. Ewing, P.E.S. 



Tas., August, 1854. 

 1865 — Omitted by Gould from his " Handbook." 

 1879 — Specimen received at Australian Museum from George 



Town. 

 1892— Specimen shot by Colonel Legge near St. Mary's. 

 1902— Specimen shot by Mr. A. G. Campbell on King Island. 

 Examples received by Austrahan Museum from Waratah. 



1903 Several specimens shot on the slopes of Mount Wellington, 



and the species finally re-identified and reinstated as a valid 

 species. 



