Genus— HYLACOLA. 
Hylacola Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc. (Lond.), 1842, p. 135, 
Feb. 1843. Type (by original designation) ... Acanthiza pyrrhopygia 
Vigors and Horsfield. 
Small birds with flat heads, long bills, short rounded tails and long slender 
legs and small feet. 
The bill is long and thin, a little longer than the head, the culmen keeled, 
sides laterally compressed, the tip sharp and decurved, posteriorly notched ; 
the nostrils linear and operculate, placed in short deep groove ; the lower 
mandible expanding a little basally, the interramal space nearly half the length 
of the bill and fully feathered ; two bristles proj ect over the nasal groove and 
three strong rictal bristles are evident. 
The wings are short and rounded, the first primary is short, about half 
the length of the third, which is a little longer than the second ; from the 
third to the eighth the primaries are subequal and longest ; the secondaries 
are a little shorter but as long as the second primary. 
The tail is long and strongly rounded, about equal to the length of the wing. 
The legs are long and thin ; the tarsus about twice the length of the culmen, 
scutate in front but sometimes the scutes are obscure and the tarsus appears 
almost as if booted, bilaminate posteriorly. The toes are thin and delicate ; 
the mid-toe without claw is longer than the inner and outer with the claws ; 
these are subequal and the claws are long and delicately curved ; the hind-toe 
is about half the length of the middle toe, but the claw is longer than the middle 
claw. 
There is very little difference between this genus in detail and Calamanthus, 
and there can be little hesitancy in accepting their very close alliance. Were 
subgenera used this would probably be the utmost value, yet because these 
genera were proposed by Gould they have been recognised as such for seventy 
years. 
It is interesting to note that field naturalists have determined from field 
observations the affinity of these two and also suggest their relationship to 
Sericornis. 
VOL. IX. 
225 
