i 
Order PSOPHIIFOBMES Family PSOPHIIDM. 
No. 225. 
MATHEWSIA RUBICUNDA ARGENTEA. 
WEST AUSTRALIAN CRANE. 
(Plate 176.)* 
Mathewsia bubicunda abgentea Mathews, Nov. Zool., Vol. XVIII., p. 227, 1912; 
Derby, North-west Australia. 
Orus australianus Keartland, Trans. Roy. Soc. South Austr., Vol. XXII., p. 188, 1898. 
Antigone australasiana Ingram, Ibis 1909, p. 616 ; Mathews, Emu, Vol. X., p. 104, 
1910. 
Mathewsia rvbicunda argentea Mathews, Nov. Zool., Vol. XVIII., p. 227, 1912 ; id.. 
Austral Av. Rec., Vol. I., p. 55, 1912 ; id., List Birds Austr., p. 77, 1913, 
Distribution. North-west Australia ; Northern Territory. 
Adult male. General colour above and below silvery-grey, with pale edgings to the 
feathers of the upper-parts ; bastard-wing, primary-coverts and quills dark brown ; 
lower-throat covered with hair-hke feathers ; bill and crown of head olive-green ; 
papillae on the sides of the face and the back of the neck red ; iris yellow ; tarsi 
and feet brown. Total length 1,220 mm. ; culmen 163, wing 680, tail 210, 
tarsus 290. 
Adult female. Similar to the adult male ; culmen 150, wing 555. 
Young, still retaining a portion of the downy plumage. Differs from the adult by having 
the head covered with pale rufous feathers, becoming paler and inclining to buff 
on the upper hind-neck, the grey ear-coverts only slightly indicated. 
Immature. Differs from the adult in being darker and the feathers of the mantle edged 
with brown. 
Nest. None made. 
Eggs. Clutch, two ; surface minutely pitted ; ground-colour creamy-white, sparingly 
covered with spots of brown and lavender ; axis 84-91 mm., diameter 60 to 62. 
Mr. J. P. Rogers, who collected the type of this subspecies, says : “ On the 
11th August, 1908, I watched two birds feeding. They were up to their knees 
in water and were probing in the mud for their food. On an average their 
heads remained under water seven seconds, but on one occasion twenty 
seconds. 
“ A pair are always to be met with in the bdlabongs near Parry’s Creek, 
Wyndham, North-west Australia. When not feeding in the billabongs they 
♦ The Plate is lettered Mathewsia rvbicunda . 
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