THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 
superciliary streak ; sides of face pale grey ; the feathers in front of the eye dark 
in colour and bristly in texture ; breast and abdomen yellowish-white ; thighs 
dusky ; under-surface of quills hair-brown ; lower aspect of tail soot-black with pale 
tips to the feathers. Eyes white, feet black. Total length 102 mm. ; culmen 10, wing 
88, tail 38, tarsus 20. Figured. Collected at Glen Ferdinand in Central Australia 
on the 19th of July, 1914, and is the type of Geobasileus chrysorrhoa ferdinandi 
(bottom left-hand fig.). 
Adult female similar to the adult male. 
Adult female. Fore-part of head black with white tips to the feathers, becoming paler 
on the hinder-portion where the feathers are margined with grey ; back and wings 
olive-brown ; bastard-wing, primary-coverts, and flight-quills blackish-brown, 
paler on the outer and inner margins of the last ; rump and upper tail-coverts 
yellow ; base of tail also yellow becoming blackish on the terminal portion, with 
white or smoke-brown at the tips of the feathers ; base of fore-head and a line over 
the eye white ; sides of face dusky grey ; a dark spot in front of the eye where 
the feathers have black hair-like tips ; throat, breast, abdomen and sides of body 
pale buff with white bases to the feathers ; axillaries and under wing-coverts similar ; 
under tail-coverts white with dark shaft fines ; under-surface of flight-quills hair- 
brown with pale edgings ; lower aspect of tail blackish with pale tips to the feathers. 
Eyes pale brown ; bill and feet black. Total length 120 mm. ; culmen 9, wing 94, 
tail 44, tarsus 23. Figured. Collected at Wilson’s Inlet, South West Australia, 
on the 26th of May, 1910, and is the type of Acanthiza chrysorrhoa multi. 
Immature take on the adult plumage practically from the nest. 
Nest. Pear-shaped with side entrance (sometimes with open cup-shaped nest on top). 
Composed of dried grass woven with the leaves, and fined with fur, feathers, etc., 
and suspended from the end of a thin bough. Dimensions 8 inches long by 4 wide 
(Tasmania). 
Eggs. Clutch three or four. White ; sometimes speckled on the larger end with pale 
red. 18-19 mm. by 13. 
Breeding-season. July to December and even to May. 
On account of its commonness Gould gave little account of the habits of 
this bird writing : “ This well-known species inhabits Tasmania, Western and 
Southern Australia, and New South Wales, in all of which countries it is a 
permanent resident. It is generally met with in small companies of from six 
to ten in number, and is so tame that it may be very closely approached before 
it will rise, and then it merely flits off to a short distance and alights again ; 
during these short flights the yellow of the rump shows very conspicuously.” 
The species had been previously described by Quoy and Gaimard, who 
however wrote very little about its habits. 
Mr. Thos. P. Austin has written me from Cobbora, New South Wales : 
“ This well-known little Acanthiza is by no means a common bird in this district, 
met with sparingly in pairs or small flocks in the open forests, but more frequently 
about dwellings. It has little fear of man, when disturbed it takes a very 
short flight, conspicuously displaying the yellow feathers on the rump. In the 
district of Geelong, Victoria, it is one of the most familiar birds, frequenting 
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