THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 
is not Acanthiza ewingii a subspecies of Acanthiza jpusilla ? Mr. Harrison of 
Hobart who is perhaps the person who is most familiar with this bird says, that 
unless you know the nest, the skins themselves cannot be separated with any 
confidence from Acanthiza jpusilla diemenensis. Mr. Harrison says that this 
species exclusively frequents the deep fern gullies high up the mountains, while 
diemenensis is everywhere on the lower and more open forest and on the plains.” 
This result eliminates rufifrons as a subspecies of ewingii but would give 
it priority over archibaldi as the subspecific name of the King Island form. 
The differences cited by Campbell are individual, probably due both to sex and 
age. It seems extraordinary that after all these years so little is known as 
to variation in connection with this species yet there seems to be much which is 
variable according to locality. 
Accepting Sydney, New South Wales, as the type locality of White’s 
Motacilla jpusilla the typical subspecies would be 
Acanthiza jpusilla jpusilla (White) 
of which M alurus maculatus Vieillot is an absolute synonym. The limits of 
its range are undetermined either to the north or to the south but working 
southward we have 
Acanthiza jpusilla macularia (Quoy & Gaimard) 
of which the type locality is Western Port, Victoria. Here again the limits of 
the range of the subspecies are unknown. This race is distinguished by the 
characters already quoted from Milligan’s account but I would lay no stress 
on the erectile nature of the head-feathers. I will next discuss 
Acanthiza jpusilla diemenensis Gould 
and will quote A. G. Campbell’s conclusions : “ Besides a larger bill and shorter 
tarsus, this species is in colour of mantle more brown than olive, when com- 
pared with Acanthiza jpusilla [presumably from Victoria, thence Acanthiza 
jpusilla macularia], and the female is always the lighter of the sexes. Differences, 
however, occur in birds from different parts of Tasmania, viz. : — 
Hobart Total length 
4-3 : 
Bill *4 : 
Wing 2T8 : 
Tail 1*8 : 
Tarsus *75 
Bagdad 
3*95 
*4 
2T 
1*7 
•75 
Launceston 
3*9 
*35 
2*0 
1-5 
•75 
Acanthiza ewingii 
Hobart 
4*0 
*32 
2T5 
1-8 
•84 
Launceston 
4*0 
•3 
1*98 
1*8 
•82 
King Island 
4*1 
•3 
2T 
1*85 
•8 
Acanthiza pusilla 
Victoria 
4*1 
*3 
21 
1-75 
•8 
Acanthiza magnirostris 
King Island 4*2 
*5 
2-03 
1-6 
•75 
428 
