THICK-BILLED TIT. 
with greyish-white tips to the feathers. Bill and feet black, eyes dark red. Total 
length 90 mm. ; culmen 7, wing 52, tail 39, tarsus 19. Figured. Collected 10 miles 
west of Moorilyanna Well, Central Australia, on the 28th of July, 1914, and is the 
type of Milligania robustirostris moorilyanna. 
Adult male similar to the adult female. 
Immature. Very similar to the adult, but browner above. 
Nest. “ Globular in form, with side entrance, and lightly constructed of grasses held 
together with spiders’ web, the outside decorated with spiders’ cocoons ; lined 
with hair-like material.” (Mattingley). 
Nest. “ A well-built oval structure, composed of fine green grasses, with entrance near the 
top, tied together and lined with spiders’ webs and cocoons. Placed in the slender 
branches of a small bush.” (H. L. White.) 
Eggs. “ Clutch, three. White, with a very faint tinge of pink. Very finely speckled with 
minute markings of reddish-brown and forming a well defined zone at the larger 
end. The eggs are oval in shape and the surface is slightly glossy and smooth. 
17 mm. by 12.” ( ib .) 
Breeding-season. July to October. 
I quote the field notes of Whitlock : “ This was one of my old Lake Austin 
friends where I discovered the species in 1903. It is an inconspicuous species, 
and may easily be mistaken for the more common A. uropygialis , with which 
it often consorts. It was its harsher call notes that attracted my attention 
to the first pair I procured. I was not long in picking it out again at Wiluna, 
though I had not heard the notes for fully six years. It has a low-pitched, 
twittering song, which is not unpleasing, but can only be heard when the bird 
is at close quarters. In addition, there are certain loud and clear joyous notes, 
very similar to those of A. uropygialis. The harsh ‘ Thrip-thrip ’ seems to be 
a call note or alarm note, and is uttered by the male, and responded to by the 
female, when building operations are in progress. According to my observations, 
the female does all the building, the male hanging around the nesting sitb and 
keeping an eye on things in general. The favourite situation for the nest is a 
medium sized or even small narrow-leaved mulga bush, growing in company 
with two or three similar bushes, but often quite isolated. Where the mulga 
is large and growing in thickets it is useless to look for the nest, although the 
bird itself may be found breeding there. . . . Compared with A. uropygialis, and 
other species found in the South-West of this State, I consider A. robustirostris 
a silent bird. It is especially quiet and wary when the young are hatched. I 
have often stood by a nest containing young, and waited in vain for the parents 
to show themselves. An easy way to find the nest is to stand within sight of 
the male, when he is fussing about, uttering the harsh call note, and watch 
for the female. Presently she may be observed flying from bush to bush, until 
she disappears into the topmost twigs of some solitary mulga. Ten chances 
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