SYSTEMATIC REVISION OF THE AUSTRALIAN THORNBILLS 105 
Subspecific Characters. — Much darker in colouration than both other 
forms. Dorsal surface dark olive; white subterminal band of forehead 
feathers tinged brownish ; wings fuscous ; upper tail-coverts dark olive- 
buff ; tail blackish brown to black, and lighter tips much restricted ; chin 
and throat greyish with distinct blackish brown margins as in hedleyi ; 
remainder of ventral surface buffy olive to olive, lighter on median portion ; 
axillaries and under w'ing-coverts buffy olive ; inner margins of quills greyish. 
As evidence of the confusion associated with the genus, 
originally this form was compared with the type of Acanthiza 
reguloides australis (North) and accorded specific rank. 
Subsequently Mathews listed it as a race of Geobasileus 
hedleyi , which in the first place was described as a race of 
Acanthiza iredalei. 
While similar in size to hedleyi, this is the darkest race of 
the species. Its restricted range is probably unique in 
Australia. 
ACANTHIZA UROPYGIALIS Gould. 
This species is distributed throughout the interior where 
the annual rainfall does not exceed 15 inches. Two forms can 
be distinguished and the ranges of these correspond with the 
difference in habitat between the area immediately west of 
the coastal highlands and the arid inland. 
Acanthiza uropygialis uropygialis Gould. 
Acanthiza uropygialis Gould, Synop. Birds of Aust., 1838, pi. 60; New 
South Wales. 
Acanthiza uropygialis ruthergleni Mathews, Nov. Zook, xviii, 1912 
p. 350; Rutherglen, Victoria. 
Range. — South-central Queensland, south through inland New South 
Wales to northern Victoria and adjoining part of South Australia. 
Specimens Examined. — Twenty-eight from the following localities : New 
South Wales: Mogil Mogil, Cobbora, Grenfell, Byrock, Bourke, Moolah, 
Coonamble, Yandembah. Victoria: Junction Murray and Darling Rivers, 
Rutherglen, Linga, Kow Plains, Ouyen, Grampians, Nhill. South Australia: 
Renmark, Murray River, Swan Reach. 
Measurements. — Twenty-five adult specimens of both sexes: wing, 50-54 
(516) ; tail, 36-41 (38 9); exposed oilmen, 8-9 (8 3) ; tarsus, 16-17 5 
(16 6). 
Male. — Dorsal surface olive brown tinged drab, except crown which is 
suffused russet; forehead blackish brown, each feather with curved sub- 
terminal band of white; lores, above and below eyes, and ear-coverts dull 
white, each feather narrowly margined brown; wings fuscous, margins of 
upper coverts and quills lighter, to whitish on primaries ; upper tail-coverts 
and basal half of tail tawny ; distal portion of tail black, tipped drab except 
for white spot at tip of inner margin of all but central feathers ; chin, throat, 
