THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 
PiezorhyncJms alecto wardelli Mathews, ib., p. 191. 
Piezorhynchus wardelli McLennan, Emu, Vol. XVI., p. 223, 1917 (N.Q.) ; Campbell and 
Barnard, ib., Vol. XVII., p. 24, 1917 (N.Q.). 
Distribution. Tropical North Australia, from Point Torment in the west to Cardwell 
in the east. 
Adult male. General colour above glossy steel-blue-black on the top of the head, back, 
wings and tail , inner webs of flight-quills blackish-brown ; a trace of obsolete 
cross-bars on the tail ; rictal bristles black ; base of fore-head and lores velvety-black ; 
throat, breast, sides of the body, and upper-abdomen like the upper-surface ; lower- 
abdomen, flanks, under tail-coverts, axillaries and under wing-coverts dull black ; 
under-surface of flight-quills blackish-brown ; lower aspect of tail black. Eyes and 
feet black ; bill whity-blue, palate orange. Total length 168 mm. ; culmen 13, 
wing 88, tail 74, tarsus 20. Figured. Collected at Utingu, Cape York, North 
Queensland, on the 5th of August, 1912, and is the type of Monarcha alecto 
cam'pbelli. 
Adult female. Crown of head, nape, hind-neck, sides of neck, and ear-coverts glossy 
blue-black with steel reflections ; back, wings, and tail chestnut ; bastard-wing, 
tips of primary-coverts, and first primary-quill blackish ; inner webs of flight- 
quills blackish broadly margined with chestnut ; rictal bristles black ; base of 
fore-head, lores, and fore-part of face velvety-black ; throat, breast, sides of the 
body, and middle of abdomen white like the axillaries and under wing-coverts ; 
flanks and under tail-coverts tinged with buff ; under-surface of quills dark brown 
with pale chestnut edgings ; lower aspect of tail chestnut. Eyes black, feet blue- 
black, bill blue, palate orange. Wing 84. Figured. Collected at the same place 
as the male on the 6th of September, 1912. 
Immature. Somewhat similar to the adult female. 
Nest. Cup-shaped. Composed of strips of bark, bound up with spider’s web. On the 
outside, decorated with pieces of bark and lichen. Lined with fine rootlets. Outside 
dimensions 3| to 3| inches by 2| deep. Inside 2 \ by If. 
Eggs. Clutch, two (to three). Bluish or greenish-white. Spotted with brownish and 
lavender spots ; more on the larger end ; sometimes forming a zone. 19-21 mm. 
by 14-15. 
Breeding-season. October to January or February. 
This is another of Gilbert’s fine additions to the Australian Avifauna, and of it 
Gould wrote : “ This Flycatcher is by no means scarce at Port Essington, but, 
from the extreme shyness of its disposition and the situations it inhabits, 
it is seldom seen ; specimens, in fact, are not procured without considerable 
trouble and difficulty. 
Gilbert’s notes read : “ Inhabits the densest mangroves and thickets, and 
is usually seen creeping about close to the ground among the fallen trees in the 
swamps, at which time it utters a note so closely resembling the croak of a frog 
that it might easily be mistaken for the voice of that animal ; this peculiar note 
would seem to be only emitted while the bird is feeding on the ground ; for 
when it occasionally mounts to the higher branches of the trees it utters rather 
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