THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 
Cyaruilcyon pyrrhopygius pyrrhopygius Mathews, List Birds Austr., p. 149, 1913. 
Cyanalcyon pyrrhopygius obscurus Mathews, ib. 
Cyanalcyon pyrrhopygius utingi Mathews, ib. 
Distribution. Queensland ; New South Wales ; Victoria ; South Australia ; Northern 
Territory ; North-west Australia ; Mid- West Australia. 
Adult male. Head brown streaked with white and tinged with bluish-green : a supraloral 
streak, which is continued over the eye on to the sides of the crown and extended 
round the nape, white with black hair-like tips to the feathers ; lower eyelid white ; 
lores and hinder face, including the ear-coverts, black continued in a narrow line 
round the back of the nape which is followed by a broader collar of white ; mantle, 
wings, and tail dull blue ; some of the greater upper wing-coverts slightly tipped 
with whitish ; primary- and secondary-quills brown on the inner-webs which are 
edged with white, the secondaries edged with whitish at the tips ; scapulars inclining 
to green with silky-white bases to some of the feathers, which gives a more or less 
streaked appearance ; back, rump, and upper tail-coverts chestnut ; tail-feathers 
margined with white on the inner-webs ; the outermost pair much paler and edged 
with white on both webs ; throat, breast, abdomen, under tail-coverts, and under wing- 
coverts white ; axillaries dull blackish ; under-surface of quills whitish pale brown 
on the apical portion ; lower aspect of tail pale brown with paler edgings to the 
feathers. Eyes black ; feet dark grey ; bill black, base of lower mandible whitish. 
Total length 210 mm. ; culmen 37, wing 100, tail 72, tarsus 15. Figured. 
Collected at Cape York, North Queensland, on the 16th of August, 1912. 
Adult male. Head dark brown, the feathers, which are much elongated, fringed with white, 
giving a streaked appearance and tinged with bluish-green ; supraloral streak 
white, which is continued over the eye along the sides of the crown and meets on the 
nape where it forms a concealed white patch, many of the feathers, especially 
above the eye, have black hair-like shafts ; lores, eyelids, hinder face, and ear- 
coverts black, which is continued round the back of the neck where it forms a 
collar, this is joined by a whitish collar tinged with chestnut, most especially in 
the middle of the hind neck, and minute blackish tips to the feathers ; mantle, 
wings, and tail wedgwood-blue becoming somewhat greenish on the scapulars ; some 
of the upper wing-coverts tipped with whitish, as are also the secondaries ; inner- 
webs of primary- and secondary-quills brown edged with white ; back, rump, and 
upper tail-coverts bright chestnut ; outer tail-feathers edged with white on the 
inner-webs, the outermost pair fringed with white on both webs ; throat and 
entire under-surface white, including the under wing-coverts, with very slight 
dark edgings to the feathers on the breast and sides of the neck ; axillaries and a 
patch on the sides of the body blackish ; under-surface of the quills whitish at the 
base and pale brown at the tips ; lower aspect of tail pale brown with dark shaft lines 
and whitish margins to the feathers. Figured. Collected at Derby, North-west 
Australia, on the 21st of May, 1886. 
Adult female. Similar but duller in colour. 
Immature. Resemble the adult female in general appearance. The streaks on the head 
not so defined, each feather having a whitish tip. Feathers on the back and 
scapulars edged with rufous. 
Nest. A tunnel sometimes in a bank, at others in a white ants’ nest or other handy place. 
Eggs. Clutch, four or five. White and roundish. 26 mm. by 21-22. 
Breeding-season. September or October to December or Jamiarj^ 
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