ORANGE-FRONTED CHAT. 
Adult male. Crown of head, breast, abdomen and sides of body orange colour ; ear- 
coverts, sides of neck, thighs, and under tail-coverts yellow ; under wing-coverts 
similar but paler ; throat, cheeks, and feathers in front of the eye black ; back, 
wings, and tail dark brown, or blackish with yellow or white fringes to the feathers ; 
upper tail-coverts uniform orange-yellow ; under-surface of flight- quills dark brown 
with pale edges ; lower aspect of tail dark brown with buffy-white tips to the feathers 
and white margins to the outermost one on each side. Bill black, eyes Indian red, 
feet and legs deep lead-grey. Total length 102 mm. ; culmen 10, wing 65, tail 35, 
tarsus 19. Figured. Collected at Lake Way, mid-West Australia, on the 19th 
of August, 1909, and is the type of E. a. flavescens. 
Adult female. Head, back, and wings earth-brown with dark brown bases to the feathers ; 
upper tail-coverts dull yellow, tail blackish-brown with buffy-white tips and margins 
to the feathers ; sides of face and sides of neck fawn colour like the upper-breast ; 
lower-breast, abdomen, sides of body, thighs, and under tail-coverts dull yellow ; 
under wing-coverts fawn-buff ; under-surface of flight-quills and lower aspect of tail 
dark hair-brown. Bill black, eyes Indian red, feet and legs lead-grey. Total 
length 115 mm. ; culmen 10, wing 64, tail 41, tarsus 18. Collected at Lake Way, 
mid-West Australia, on the 19th of August, 1909. 
Adult female. Crown of head, back, scapulars, and lesser upper wing-coverts dull fawn- 
brown; middle portion of the feathers of the median and greater upper wing-coverts 
hair-brown ; bastard-wing, primary-coverts, and flight-quills dark hair-brown 
fringed with citron-yellow, with pale inner margins to the last ; rump, upper tail- 
coverts and base of tail yellow like the abdomen, sides of the body, and under tail- 
coverts ; apical portion of the tail blackish, the feathers fringed with white, or 
greyish-white ; sides of the face and breast similar to the top of the head but paler 
and brighter ; throat and fore-part of cheeks dull white ; under wing-coverts 
whitish-buff ; under-surface of flight-quills pale hair-brown ; lower aspect of tail 
similar with white, or yellowish- white margins to the feathers. Wing 63 mm. ; 
tarsus 19. Figured. Collected at Lake Frome, South Australia, in September 
1909, and is the type of Acanihiza ( Geobasileus ) flaviventris Ashby. 
Immature. Resemble somewhat the adult female. 
Nest. A compact cup-shaped one, composed of grasses and rootlets and lined with finer 
moss, placed on the top of a salt-bush. Outside measurements 3f inches by 2 
deep. Inside 2 \ inches by If. 
\ \ 
Eggs. Clutch, three. White, dotted all over, but more at the larger end, with purplish- 
red dots. 17-18 mm. by 13-14. 
Breeding-season. September to February. 
Gould described this bird from the interior of New South Wales and later 
wrote : “ Skins of this species, which were very rare when I first described 
it, are now common, being sent in abundance from Victoria ; that it also 
inhabits South Australia we know from the circumstance of Mr. White inform- 
ing me that, in an ornithological trip made by him to the north of Adelaide, 
he saw this bird in great numbers from Port Augusta to the 27th degree of 
latitude ; he states that it lives chiefly on caterpillars, builds in low scrubs, 
and that the eggs, which are four or five in number, are white or pinkish-white 
spotted with rust-red.” 
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