PLATE XLIII. 



GENUS PACHYCEPHALA (Swainson). 



THE habits of the different members of this genus differ considerably, some frequenting the large trees, 

 and others remaining almost entirely on the ground. They all inhabit Australia, or the islands to the 

 immediate northward. 



PACHYCEPHALA GUTTURALLS (Vi g . and Horsf.) 



'WHITE-THROATED THICKHEAD. 



MOST parts of all the southern colonies of Australia are inhabited by this species, which is usually seen 

 in pairs, principally among the Eucalyptus and Acacia trees, on the branches of which it obtains large 

 quantities of the insects on which it lives. 



Its powers of flight are not great, and are seldom used except to pass from tree to tree. 



One peculiarity about its note, which is a single one several times repeated and ending with a 

 higher one, is that it is nearly always heard before a thunder storm, a circumstance which has procured for 

 it the name of "Thunder Bird." In September or October a cup-shaped nest is constructed, in which either 

 three or four eggs are laid, dark buff in colour, with irregular marks of chesnut-brown and grey distributed 

 over the surface. Their length is ten and a half lines and their breadth eio-ht lines. 



The sexes differ considerablv in colouring. 



The male has the head, lores, ear-coverts, and crescent-shaped mark across the breast, deep black ; 

 throat white ; back of the neck, a line down the side of the neck, and all the under surface, yellow ; back 

 and wings, greenish-olive, the primaries margined with black ; tail, grey at the base, and dark brown at 

 the tip ; irides, dark brown ; bill, black ; legs and feet, brownish-grey. 



The female has the upper surface and tail, greyish-brown ; primaries and secondaries, brown, 

 margined with grey ; throat, pale brown, spotted with white ; under surface, buff. 



Habitats: New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, and Western Australia. 



PACHYCEPHALA GLAUCURA (Goidd). 



GREY-TAILED THICKHEAD. 



rn he immense forests of Eucalypti which cover a great portion of Tasmania and the adjacent islands, 

 constitute the home of this bird, which is seen in pairs, continually flitting among the leaves and 

 branches of high trees, and sometimes descending to the ground. 



