THE BIEDS OF AUSTRALIA. 
conspicuous ashy shade, and the white shaft-lines obsolete ; quills brown, the 
primaries externally mottled with dull rufous, crossed with blackish bars, the 
secondaries more conspicuously freckled and barred with rufous externally, the 
pattern being rufous with irregular dusky bars and spots, the inner secondaries 
being entirely rufous, vermiculated with blackish -brown, and having a black sub- 
terminal bar before a pale rufescent tip ; tail-feathers dusky-brown, with zig-zag 
bars of rufous, the centre feathers with black and fulvous bars ; eyebrow, lores, 
and sides of face dull ashy-brown, the ear-coverts with narrow shaft-lines of 
white ; the throat uniform pale vinous, whiter on the chin ; lower throat and 
remainder of under-surface vinous buff, varied with wavy bars of black, with white 
shaft-lines or centres to the feathers, the white often dividing the wavy black bar in 
the middle ; the black bars more distinct and broader on the abdomen, sides of body 
and flanks ; under tail-coverts like the abdomen and broadly barred with black ; 
under wing-coverts pale ashy, as also the axillaries and quill-lining. Total length about 
189 mm. ; culmen, 18 ; wing, 96 ; tail, 41 ; tarsus, 25. 
Adult female. Differs from the male in having the back blotched with broad black spots or 
bars, the latter mostly reaching one side of the white shaft-streak, thus causing the 
latter to stand out in bolder relief ; the sides of the crown blackish, forming a broad 
band on each side, shghtly mottled with rufous ; along the centre of the crown a 
distinct line of white, corresponding to the whitish superciliary streak over each eye, 
the feathers being white, edged with black ; throat ashy- whitish ; remainder of under 
surface pale ochraceous-buff, regularly barred with wavy lines of black, with white 
shaft-lines, generally dividing the latter, the waved bars much broader on the sides 
of the body and especially on the flanks ; under tail-coverts also broadly barred with 
black ; under wing-coverts and axillaries, as well as quill-lining, ashy-grey ; Bill bluish ; 
eyes dark red ; feet orange. Total length, 197 mm. ; culmen, 16 ; wing, 100 ; tail, 
45 ; tarsus, 18. The absence of vinous colour and grey on the upper-surface, as well 
as the coarser black markings, distinguish the female from the male. 
Younger male birds closely resemble the females, but are everywhere more 
coarsely barred below, and mottled above with bars of black on the back and wings. 
Sometimes in very old birds the cross bars of the chest and breast are reduced 
to a very small wavy line, and a vinous colour pervades the under-surface. 
The adult females are much more coarsely blotched with black spots, more 
thickly barred below and with more distinct white shaft-streaks. 
Nestling. Chestnut-red above, with black bars on the back and wings ; two chestnut patches 
on the head divided by a white line from the middle of the crown to the hind-neck, 
each of these patches is margined on the inner side with black ; a black line from the 
base of the bill to the middle of the crown ; a white line on each side of this black streak 
from the base of the bill over and behind the eye ; a black line immediately above 
the eye and a second immediately below it ; under-surface of the body whitish. 
Nest. A hollow in the ground, under the shelter of a tuft of grass or rushes, lined with 
a few dead grass stems and leaves. 
Eggs. “ Seven to eleven, roundish in form, sharply compressed at one end ; texture, some- 
what coarse and strong ; surface glossy ; colour sometimes of a uniform dull white, 
occasionally showing a perceptible bluish tone, but more frequently more or less finely 
freckled with olive or light brown. The markings when fresh may be removed by 
moisture. Dimensions in inches of a clutch of typically marked eggs from New 
South Wales 1.14 to 1.24 by .89 to .93 ” (Campbell). 
Breeding season. October to February (Ramsay). 
Incuhation-'period. (In captivity) twenty days (Seth-Smith). 
After examining one hundred and fifty-two skins of Synoicus from all parts of 
Australia, I have not succeeded in finding any definite characters by which 
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