RUFOUS-BREASTED THICKHEAD. 
rictal bristles black but not strongly developed ; chin and throat pure white ; a 
somewhat broad band of black across the fore-neck which becomes narrower on 
the sides of the neck and skirts the white on the sides of the throat to the lores ; 
breast, abdomen, sides of the body, and under tail-coverts dark fawn colour with a 
slight tinge of yellow on the lower flanks ; axillaries and under wing-coverts also 
fawn colour but much paler ; under-surface of flight-quills hair-brown with paler 
inner edges ; lower aspect of tail dark brown rather paler at the tip. Bill black ; 
eyes reddish-brown ; feet and tarsus brown. Total length 173 mm. ; culmen 11, 
wing 91, tail 64, tarsus 22. Figured. Collected on Melville Island, Northern 
Territory, on the 1st of February, 1912. 
Adult female. General colour of the upper-surface pale slate-grey including the top of 
the head, wings, and back ; the middle of the feathers on the crown are darker and 
take the form of shaft-lines ; bastard-wing, primary-coverts, greater upper wing- 
coverts, and flight-quills dark brown with pale edges to the outer webs and white 
margins to the inner webs of the flight-quills ; tail blackish-brown, rather paler on 
the edges of both the outer and inner webs ; rictal bristles black but only sparsely 
developed ; lores bufly- white ; eye-ring whitish ; ear-coverts duskv-brown ; chin 
white with black hair-like tips to the feathers ; throat dull white with dark shaft- 
lines to the feathers inclining to bufly-white on the cheeks ; breast, abdomen, 
sides of the body, and thighs dark fawn colour with dark shaft-lines to the feathers 
on the breast ; under tail-coverts, axillaries, and under wing-coverts cinnamon-buff ; 
under-surface of flight-quills pale hair-brown, paler on the inner edges. Bill black, 
lower mandible brown, eyes red ; feet leaden-blue. Total length 168 mm. ; culmen 
12, wing 90, tail 66, tarsus 21. Figured. Collected on Melville Island, on the 6th 
of January, 1912. 
Adult male. General colour of the upper-surface ash-grey including the top of the head, 
back, scapulars, upper tail-coverts, and lesser upper wing-coverts ; median and 
greater upper wing-coverts paler than the back with dark centres and black shaft- 
streaks to the feathers ; bastard-wing, primary-coverts, and flight-quills dark 
hair- brown with grey margins on the outer webs and white edgings to the inner webs 
of the primary and secondary-quills chiefly on the basal portion ; tail blackish 
becoming paler on the outer feathers, fringed with grey or buffy-white at the tips ; 
rictal bristles black sparsely developed, some of the feathers on the chin have black 
hair-like tips ; lores and ear-coverts rather darker than the back ; chin and throat 
pure white ; a semicircular black band on the fore-neck ; breast, abdomen, sides 
of body, under tail-coverts and under wing-coverts fawn colour inclining to white 
on the middle of the abdomen ; under-surface of flight-quills hair-brown with buffy- 
white inner edges ; lower aspect of tail similar edged with buffy-white at the tip. 
Bill black, eyes crimson ; feet slate ; wing 90. Figured. Collected at Normanton, 
Gulf of Carpentaria, Queensland, on the 2nd of June, 1914. |U 
Adult female. General colour of the upper-surface ash-grey including the top of the 
head, back, scapulars, upper tail-coverts and lesser upper wing-coverts ; median 
and greater upper wing-coverts blackish-brown fringed with pale grey like the 
bastard-wing, primary-coverts and flight- quills, the last margined with white, or 
buffy-white on the basal portion of the inner webs ; tail-feathers also blackish- 
brown, fringed with grey on the outer webs and tips and white on the inner ones, 
on the middle feathers may be somewhat indistinctly seen obsolete bars ; rictal 
bristles black but only feebly developed ; lores whitish at the base with black bristly 
tips to the feathers ; sides of face rust-brown ; chin and throat white with hair-like 
tips to the feathers on the former and dark shaft-lines to those of the latter ; adjoining 
the white of the throat is a slightly indicated band of grey with dark central lines 
to the feathers ; breast, abdomen, sides of body, thighs, and under tail-coverts 
fawn colour ; middle of abdomen and vent silky-white ; axillaries and under wing- 
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