THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 
to the feathers ; sides of the face similar to the crown ; throat pale grey with some- 
what darker obsolete markings to the feathers ; breast, npper-abdomen, and sides 
of body ochreous-yellow ; lower-abdomen, thighs, vent and under tail-coverts 
pale yellow ; axillaries and under wing-coverts and inner margins of quills below 
cream-white, remainder of the under-surface of flight-quills dark hair-brown ; lower 
aspect of tail pale yellowish-green with white shafts to the feathers. Feet grey, 
bill black. Collected at Normanton, Gulf of Carpentaria, North Queensland, on 
the 1st of April, 1914. 
Immature. General colour above olive-green with lead-grey bases to the feathers and a 
greyish tinge on the apical portion including the head, back, and upper wing-coverts, 
with more or less rust colour or rufous on the sides of the face, nape, scapulars, greater 
upper wing-coverts and innermost secondaries, the feathers on the fore-part of the 
head have minute dark shaft-lines ; inner webs of bastard-wing, primary-coverts, 
and flight- quills dark hair-brown whitish on the margins of the last and hoary-grey 
on the outer webs ; rump and upper tail-coverts and outer edges of tail-feathers, 
some of the long upper tail-coverts rust colour, inner webs of tail-feathers somewhat 
darker with pale edges ; rictal bristles black like the tips of the feathers on the chin ; 
base of lores whitish ; short feathers on the eyelids cream- white ; throat whitish, 
the feathers obscurely marked with pale grey ; fore-neck and breast ochreous-grey 
with one or two rufous feathers ; sides of breast rufous ; abdomen, flanks, and 
under tail-coverts yellow with a few rufous feathers intermixed ; thighs grey ; 
axillaries and under wing-coverts white with dark shaft-streaks to the latter ; under- 
surface of flight-quills greyish-brown with whitish edges ; lower aspect of tail pale 
grey with a tinge of yellow and white shafts to the feathers. Eyes reddish-brown, 
feet and legs pale brown ; lower mandible pale brown, upper brown. Collected 
on Melville Island, Northern Territory, on the 25th of April, 1912. 
Nest. Cup-shaped, composed of rootlets held together with cobweb and lined with finer 
rootlets. Outside measurements 4J by 3 inches deep. Inside 2J by 1|. 
Eggs. Clutch, two to three. Ground-colour stone or buff, spotted, more at the longer 
end, where a zone is formed, with dark brown or umber. 23 mm. by 17. 
Breeding-season. November and December. 
Masters described as a distinct species a female from Cape York which he 
defined as being a much larger and more robust species, the bill also being 
very much larger. To this he applied the name Pachycephala robusta, 
comparing it with P. melanura, of which he recorded six males and three 
females from Cape Grenville, and also noted he met with it at Cape York, 
but apparently collected no specimens. 
When I compared my Melville Island specimens I noted that they differed 
from the northern Territory (west) form in being smaller in the wing and the 
bill thinner, but were separable from the Derby melanura in their larger size. 
I also characterised the Northern Territory (west) form as differing from the 
Derby melanura in the “ much heavier bill ; darker green on the back ; more 
orange-coloured nuchal band ; darker primaries and much larger size.” 
Independently Zietz distinguished the Melville Island form as P. g. longi- 
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