THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 
Nettium castaneum Mathews, Handl. Birds Austral., p. 35, 1908 ; id., Nov. Zool., 
Vol. XVIII., p. 238, 1912; Orton and Sandland, Emu, Vol. XIII., p. 76, 
1913 (WA.). 
Virago castanea Stejneger, Stand. Nat. Hist. Birds, Vol. IV., p. 145, 1885 (Aus.). 
Virago castanea castanea Mathews, List Birds Austral., p. 91, 1913 (East Austraha). 
Range. New South Wales ; Victoria ; Tasmania ; South Austraha ; South and Mid- 
west Austraha. 
Adult male. Upper-surface, including the lower hind neck, back, scapulars, rump, and 
upper tail-coverts dark brown, the feathers on the upper back and short scapulars 
edged with chestnut, the rump darker and more uniform, upper tail-coverts glossed 
with metaUic green ; lesser and median upper wing-coverts and long innermost 
secondaries ohve-brown like the bastard-wing, primary-coverts and quills, the 
latter darker at the tips, the outer greater coverts broadly tipped with white 
becoming narrower and mchning to buff on the inner ones ; secondaries velvety 
black on the outer webs, ohve-brown on the inner ones, tipped with white and 
with a subterminal hne of buff, two of the inner secondary-quiUs have bright 
metalhc copper on the outer webs which stand out in bold rehef ; tail-feathers 
ohve-brown with shghtly paler edges ; entire head and neck dark metalhc green 
with coppery reflections on the sides of the nape ; lower fore-neck, breast, sides 
of neck, sides of body, and abdomen rich chestnut with black ovate centres to the 
feathers which become larger on the sides of the body ; a white patch on each side 
of the rump, some of the feathers having black tips ; imder tail-coverts black 
glossed with green ; axiUaries pure white ; under wing-coverts blackish, some 
of the inner ones tipped with white, greater under wing-coverts ash-brown hke 
the quiU-hning. BiU black, shghtly mottled with flesh-colour on the under-surface ; 
iris blood-red ; feet slaty black. Total length 410 mm. ; culmen 42, wing 223, 
tail 103, tarsus 41. 
Adult female. Similar to the adult male, but with the white on the flanks and abdomen 
more pronounced. Wing 209, tail 95, tarsus 39. 
Immature. Quite different from the adult by being ohve-brown above with whitish 
edgings to some of the feathers and buff to others : the wing speculum differs in being 
metalhc green and black instead of metalhc copper ; head brown intermixed with 
white, the white becoming more extensive on the sides of the face and sides of the 
neck, and uniform buffy-white on the throat ; fore-neck and breast brown with 
buff margins to the feathers ; sides of the body ohve-brown broadly fringed with 
whitish, giving a very coarse pattern ; middle of abdomen less distinctly marked ; 
under tail-coverts ohve-brown with paler edges ; axiUaries and under wing- 
coverts similar to those of the adult. 
From the material in hand it seems that, from the immature described above, 
the next stage is generaUy much darker above ; the throat becomes streaked and 
the top of the head glossy ; the breast begins to show some of the redness of the 
adult, and the rest of the under-surface becomes darker. 
Nestling (seven days old). Sooty -black above with a longitudinal white hne on each side 
of the back and white streaks on each side of the body ; a pale hne above and below 
the eye, also a blackish hne through the eye ; under-surface whitish with a tinge 
of buff on the cheeks and fore-neck. The nestling of this bird is much darker 
than that of “ gibberifrons rogersi.” 
Nest. “ UsuaUy in a hollow tree, but occasionaUy on the ground in grass or other 
herbage in the vicinity of water ; furnished with a plentiful supply of down. 
Should the nest be on the ground, fine grass is sometimes intermixed with the 
fuscous-coloured down, each particle whitish in the centre, and with light- 
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