THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 
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lower flanks and thighs covered with down which is dusky-brown in colour ; wings 
ochreous-brown or blackish-brown with buffy white tips or whitish edgings to the 
feathers and downy tips to some of them ; central tail-feathers dark brown with a 
good deal of white on the lateral feathers ; moustachial streak white which extends 
on to the sides of the neck ; throat, breast and sides of body grey with dark edgings 
to the feathers and a wash of ochreous-buff on the last ; abdomen white ; thighs 
dusky-brown with down still adhering ; under tail-coverts cream colour ; under- 
surface of tail for the most part white. Eyes bluish, bill brown, feet slate. 
Collected at Lingerandye, Victoria, on the 16th of September, 1913. 
Nestling male. Crown of head and back bronze-brown with dark edgings to the feathers 
which are narrow on the head and wide on the upper back ; lower back rust-brown ; 
rump, and upper tail-coverts, tail, thighs and under tail-coverts covered with down 
which is dusky-brown ; wings dark brown the feathers tipped and edged with buffy 
white and more or less down still adhering to the tips of the primaries ; tail dark brown 
with white tips to the outer feathers ; sides of face dark brown with pale shaft-lines 
to the feathers ; a buffy white supraloral streak which extends over the eye and along 
the sides of the crown, the dusky down is still adhering to these parts, hind-neck, 
sides of neck, and sides of face ; cheeks and a line extending on to the sides of the 
neck white ; chin, throat, and breast dusky-grey with dark margins to the feathers ; 
sides of the body similar ; middle of abdomen white ; eyes bluish, bill bluish-black, 
feet slaty-blue. Collected on Sinders Hill, South Australia, on the 16th of August, 
1914. 
N estling female. Mantle and back chestnut with black tips to some of the feathers ; the 
approaching wing-feathers blackish tipped with white ; crown of head, sides of face, 
hind-neck, a portion of the wings, rump, and tail covered with down which is smoke- 
brown in colour ; chin and throat black with white sheaths to the feathers ; breast, 
sides of the body and thighs white, or buffy white with black tips to the feathers ; 
middle of abdomen buffy white. Eyes hazel : bill purple-horn, feet and legs blue- 
grey. Collected on Broome Hill, South-west Australia, on the 21st of October, 1908. 
N est. A hollow in the soil, loosely lined with twigs, strips of bark and dead leaves, sheltered 
by a dead bush. Measurement inside about 3 inches. (W. D. Campbell.) 
Eggs. Clutch, two. Whitish, spotted all over, more at the larger end, with brown and 
lavender. 30-32 mm. by 21. 
Breeding-season. August to December. 
Gould, who described this beautiful bird, wrote : “ The habits and economy 
of the present bird closely resemble those of the Spotted Ground-Thrush ; 
but the more level plains, particularly those that are studded with clumps 
of dwarf trees and scrubs, would appear to be the situations for which it 
is more peculiarly adapted, at least such was the character of the country 
in the Belts of the Murray where I discovered it. On the other hand, it 
is stated in the notes accompanying specimens received from Swan River, 
that c it is rarely seen in any but the most barren and rocky places. The 
white gum forests, here and there studded with small patches of scrub, are 
its favourite haunts. It is only found in the interior ; the part nearest to 
the coast, where it has been observed, being Bank’s Hu Its, on the York 
Road, about fifty-three miles from Fremantle.’ Its disposition is naturally 
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