YELLOW-RUMPED TIT. 
we met with, these dainty little birds on several occasions. They were moving 
about in quite large parties, although it must have been close to their nesting 
time. They are lively birds, and hopped over the ground and through the low 
bushes with great agility, uttering a sharp little note, and at times a pleasing 
little warble.” 
Miss Cheney’s note reads : “ Very common all over the country (Victoria). 
Nests were found in every possible place — old buckets, straw stacks, pigsties, 
etc. In an orchard we found two nests, one above the other, forming a complete 
whole. In the upper nest were four eggs : in the lower, three. Two sets of 
birds sat on these for a few days ; but an inquisitive small child, reaching in to 
see whether the eggs were hatched, broke two in the upper and one in the lower 
nest. The birds then deserted their homes.” 
It may be pointed out that Ramsay recorded Geobasileus chrysorrhous from 
Northern Queensland, writing : “I met with this species about 50 miles inland 
from Cardwell. There were also several Acanthizce twittering in the scrub 
close by but I had no opportunity of determining the species.” 
Also that S. W. Jackson described the nest and eggs of squamata, female 
identified, and remarked that “ nest and eggs closely resemble those of Acanthiza 
reguloides ” and giving measurements agreeing with those of this species. 
However squamata is now referred to chrysorrhous which lays a much larger 
egg so that apparently another mistake has been made. Probably Jackson found 
the nest of one of the Acanthizas mentioned above by Ramsay and credited it 
to squamata in error. 
No subspecies of this form were recognised until I prepared my “ Reference 
List ” in 1912 when I admitted six races, five of them being indicated as new. 
As a matter of fact three forms referable to this species had been previously 
named as distinct species, Acanthiza squamata De Vis in 1890 from Herberton, 
North Queensland, Acanthiza pallida Milligan from Yalgoo, Murchison, \West 
Australia in 1903 and Acanthiza leighi Grant from Lithgow, New South Wales 
in 1909. 
No indication of relationship with chrysorrhoa was given by De Vis while 
Milligan explicitly wrote : “ The new species is closely allied to Acanthiza 
chrysorrhoa (Gould) [sic] and bears in my opinion affinity in the same degree 
to that species as A. tenuirostris (Zietz) does to A. reguloides (Vig. and Hors.). 
It is, in fact, a pallid and miniature form of A. chrysorrhoa. I do not declare 
it to be the Western form of the latter species, as our coastal form in temperate 
districts much resembles the Eastern one, but rather regard it as the northern 
and interior one.” 
Grant named his species through contrasting the Lithgow bright coloured 
birds with dull ones from a distant locality whereas the type locality was New 
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