THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 
bristles black ; breast ash-grey ; middle of abdomen white ; sides of the body and 
under tail-coverts fawn colour ; axillaries white faintly tinged with fawn colour ; 
under wing-coverts blackish, some of the feathers tipped with white ; bend of wing 
below and inner webs of primaries white ; under-surface of flight-quills and lower 
aspect of tail blackish-brown broadly tipped with white on the latter. Eyes 
brown ; feet brownish-black ; bill black. Total length 173 mm. ; culmen 14, wing 90, 
tail 75, tarsus 25. Figured. Collected on the Gregory River, Gulf of Carpentaria, 
Queensland, on the 20th of July, 1910. 
Adult female , Similar to the adult male. 
Adult male. General colour of the upper-surface dark ochreous-brown including the 
crown of the head, sides of the face, hind-neck, entire back, scapulars, upper tail- 
coverts and innermost secondaries ; lesser upper wing-coverts sooty-black slightly 
fringed with dark ochreous-brown ; bastard-wing, median, greater, and primary- 
coverts black ; flight-quills also black with a broad band of white on the basal 
portion, also fringed with the same colour at the tips, along the margin of the inner 
and a portion of the outer web towards the tips of the primaries ; middle tail- 
feathers similar to the back becoming somewhat darker on the lateral ones, with 
obsolete bars to the feathers, the white at the tips is more extended on the outer 
feathers ; lores white which is extended in a line over the eye and along the sides 
of the crown ; feathers in front of the eye and rictal bristles black ; a few white 
feathers at the gape of the bill ; chin and throat white ; breast ash-grey ; middle 
of abdomen white ; flanks and under tail-coverts fawn colour ; axillaries white ; 
under wing-coverts dark brown, the greater series tipped with white ; flight-quills 
below dark brown broadly margined with white ; lower aspect of tail pale hair- 
brown tipped with white, much more extensively on the outer feathers. Eyes 
brown. Bill and feet black. Wing 87 mm. ; tail 69. Figured. Collected at 
Derby, North-west Australia, on the 16th of September, 1886. 
Adult female. Similar to the adult male. 
Birds from Derby are lighter on the back and have the sides of the body covered 
with dark fawn colour. The breast-band is lighter grey. 
Immature. Crown of head, nape, back, lesser upper wing-coverts, scapulars, and upper 
tail-coverts umber-brown rather paler on the sides of the crown, rump, and upper 
tail-coverts, the feathers fluffy and disintegrated ; greater upper wing-coverts 
white becoming smoky at the tips ; outer edge of wing white ; bastard-wing, 
primary-coverts, and flight-quills black, base of quills and the outer edges of some 
of the secondaries, white near the tips, innermost secondaries brown similar to 
the apical portion of the primaries, inner edges of quills white ; tail-feathers black 
broadly tipped with white ; ear-coverts umber-brown ; a few black feathers from 
behind the eye along the sides of the crown and extending down the hinder margin 
of the ear-coverts, a few undeveloped white feathers on the sides of the throat ; 
rictal bristles black ; under-surface chocolate-brown paler on the throat and under 
tail-coverts, more especially on the latter which is inclining to isabelline like the 
axillaries ; thighs cream-white ; outer edge of wing below whitish ; under wing- 
coverts blackish-brown ; base of quills below white ; under-surface of flight-quills 
and lower aspect of tail pale brown, the latter broadly tipped with white. Eyes 
brown ; feet and tarsus leaden-grey ; bill brown, corners of mouth white. Collected 
on Parry’s Creek, North-west Australia, on the 29th of October, 1908. 
Nest. Cup-shaped. Neatly constructed of very fine rootlets and fine tendrils. Strips 
of paper bark are fixed on the outside and there is no fining. Dimensions outside 
2 inches deep by 3 wide ; inside 1 inch deep by 2 wide. (From an average of six 
collected at Wyndham, North-west Australia.) 
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