PACHYCEPHALA. 65 



the same colour, one in the centre, and the other round the smaller 

 end. Length (A) 0-96 x 0-71 inch ; (B) 0-95 x 0-7 inch. 



This is the first occasion that either Dr. Ramsay, Dr. Hurst, 

 or I had seen one similarly marked ; it is figured in the 

 P.L.S., N.S.W., 2nd ser. Vol. i., pi. xix., fig. 3. 



This species lays three eggs for a sitting, and breeds during 

 September and the three following months. 



Hah. Rockingham Bay, Port Denison, Wide Bay District, 

 Richmond and Clarence Rivers Districts, New South Wales, 

 Victoria and South Australia. {Ramsay.) 



1 PACHYCEPHALA OOCIDENTALIS, Ramsay. 



Western Thickhead. 

 Ramsay, P.L.S., N.S.W., Vol. ii., p. 212. 



Mr. Gould figured this species as P. gutturalis of Latham in 

 his folio edition of the Birds of Australia, see Vol. ii., pi. 64, 

 but Dr. Ramsay separates the Western form under the name of 

 P. occidentalis. It may therefore be presumed that when Mr. 

 Gould described the eggs of P. gutturalis, they were in reality 

 those of P. occidentalis. The following is taken from Mr. Gould's 

 Handbook to the Birds of Australia, Vol. i., p. 208 : — 



" Gilbert mentions that this species is sparingly distributed 

 throughout the Swan River colony, but is more abundant in the 

 best watered districts, such as Perth and Freemantle.'' 



" I did not succeed in finding the nest of this species, but was 

 informed that it breeds in September and October, and lays three 

 eggs, ten and a-half lines long by eight lines broad, with a ground 

 colour of brownish-bufi", sparingly streaked and spotted with 

 reddish-brown and bluish-grey, the latter colour appearing as if 

 beneath the surface of the shell." 



Sab. Western Australia. (^Ramsay.) 



