WHITE-THROATED THICHKEAD. 
have black tails with the basal grey portion less than half the length and in 
some cases almost as indistinct as in typical birds. The type of youngi from 
Lai Lai has the basal half grey and agrees with these specimens. 
A series from Bellbird Bore, Lingerande, and the Kow Plains, in the 
Victorian Mallee, have the males with grey tails showing a black bar across 
the terminal hah, this black bar being only about one-third the length of 
the tail and varying even to less. In this feature they agree fairly well with 
typical specimens of Ramsay’s oGcidentalis, but have a smaller bill. Females 
from the Mallee are, however, very distinct from the normal Victorian race 
in having a decided rufous under-surface and under wing-coverts, which is 
quite absent in the latter. Here again they agree with the western named 
race, but have a smaller bill, less pure grey back and less speckling on the 
throat. For these I propose the name 
Pachycephala pectoralis bettingtoni subsp. nov., 
the type being from Bellbird Bore, Victorian Mallee. 
Quite close to the normal Victorian race is the Tasmanian 
Pachycephala pectoralis glaucura Gould, 
which is easily distinguished when south Tasmanian males are contrasted by 
their larger size, smaller bill, and uniform grey tail. The female has also a very 
small bill and pale dusky breast and whitish abdomen. Some birds, however, 
from the north show an indistinct trace of a black band, but I have no series 
to prove whether there are two races in Tasmania or not. 
The South Australian birds have been called 
Pachycephala pectoralis fuliginosa Vigors and Horsfield, 
but this name I would restrict to the Eyre’s Peninsula birds as I find the 
type came from near Port Lincoln. Males from that locality have a broad 
black band and dark grey bases, but I have not a series of females for 
comparison. 
An interesting item in connection with this species is the fact that a series 
of birds collected at Myponga by Captain S. A. White show the females to be 
very deeply coloured on the under-surface, much more so than the deepest of the 
West Australian forms. This is so decided that it seems imperative to name 
this race, and this is more desirable as it confirms Ashby’s race of the Crimson 
Rosella, which he differentiated from the Eleurieu Peninsula, P. e. fleurieuensis, 
also on account of its deep coloration. The difficulty of dealing with the races 
of such a species as this without long series is seen when a series of Victorian 
Mallee specimens are compared with ordinary Victorian birds, or when 
Stirling Range, West Australia, skins are laid along those from Wilson’s Inlet, 
South-west Australia. Though the males differ but slightly, the females 
show remarkable variation. 
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