PLATE ZXZL^T. 



PACHYCEPHALA OLIVACEA (Vig. and Horn f.) 



OLIVACEOUS THICKHEAD. 



friHIS, the largest species of this form, is found in Tasmania, generally in places covered with dense 

 scrub and underbrush. 



It feeds on insects and berries, obtained, for the most part, on the ground. 



It continually utters a loud whistle, terminating in a kind of smack, something like the crack 

 of a whip. 



The head and ear-coverts are dark brown ; back, wings, and tail, olive-brown ; throat, bluish- 

 grey, each feather tipped with black ; chest, and under surface, buff, tinged with olive ; irides, 

 reddish-brown ; bill, black ; legs, and feet, brown. 



Habitat : Tasmania. 



PACHYCEPHALA SIMPLEX (Qonid). 



PLAIN-COLOURED THICKHEAD. 



nnHE dense thickets and mangrove swamps about the north-western coast of Australia are the 

 home of the species under notice. It was first discovered by Gilbert. 



In disposition it is very shy, and is invariabl\ r found in the most retired spots. The food 

 consists of seeds and insects, the latter of which it procures on the ground, or among the branches of 

 trees, and sometimes even in the air. 



Its note is rather different from those of all the other members of the genus, beino- much 

 softer, more melodious, and never terminating with the sharp whistle which is so characteristic 

 of the others. 



It is a very late breeder, the season of nidification extending from December to February. 

 The nest is constructed of sticks and roots. Three eggs are laid, light olive colour, with blotches and 

 spots of brown. 



All the upper surface, wings and tail, are brownish-olive ; ear-coverts, grey ; throat and chest, 

 yellowish-brown, each feather with a stripe of darker colour down the middle ; abdomen, and under 

 tail-coverts, greyish-white ; irides, light brown ; bill, legs, and feet, black. 



Habitat : North-western coast. 



