ASHY-FRONTED FLY-ROBIN. 
brown ; feet and legs flesh-yellow ; bill black. Total length 170 mm. ; culmen 16, 
wing 102, tail 67, tarsus 32. Figured. Collected at Evelyn, near Cairns, North 
Queensland, on the 9th of November, 1909. 
Adult female . Similar to the adult male. 
Nest. Cup-shaped. Composed of twigs, rootlets and moss and lined with fibre. 4| inches 
wide by 3 or 4 deep. Inside 2| inches by one. 
Eggs. Clutch, one or two. Ground-colour greenish or buffy-white, coloured, more on 
the larger end, with heavy blotches of umber and underlying ones of lavender. 
27-24 mm. by 19-20. 
Breeding-season. September to January. 
This beautiful Robin was discovered by Ramsay, who doubtfully referred it 
to Poecilodryas, and a few years later when Sharpe compiled the Catalogue 
of the Birds in the British Museum it was at once made the monotype of a new 
genus. It is one of the curious New Guinea forms persisting in the North 
Queensland “ island ” about Cardwell, and when its nearest ally was discovered 
in New Guinea it was bandied about before it was recognised by actual 
comparison. 
Campbell and Barnard wrote : “ This unique ‘ Robin 5 is one of the 
peculiarities of the densely timbered ranges, and was observed nowhere else. 
It is shy, and frequents the dark gullies. Although early, several nests with 
their single eggs were observed. The nests were made of green moss and lined 
with dark rootlets, etc., and usually placed low down in the ‘ lawyer ’ palm 
{Calamus) or similar situations. The call of this Robin is plaintive, and not 
unlike that of the Eopsaltria .” 
There seems to be little known regarding its life-history, and there is very 
little scientific history, the few lines above constituting most that is known. 
I added a subspecies as H. c. athertoni, writing : “ Differs from H. c. cinereifrons 
in having a white throat and in being lighter on the under-surface : Atherton, 
North Queensland.” 
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