LARGE-BILLED SCRUB- WREN. 
coloration and mode of prying about in the branches of the trees and bushes 
and I have often mistaken the bird for that genus ; it goes about in small 
companies of three or four like some of the Tits.” 
Mr. Edwin Ashby wrote : “I collected a specimen in the deep tree fern 
gullies near Boolara, Gippsland, in July, 1886. I also found it nesting in the 
Blackall Range, Queensland.” 
Mr. A. G. Campbell also wrote me : “A bird which I have examined, shot 
from a flock of eight or ten at Loch, South Gippsland, Oct., 1897, is undoubtedly 
referable to this species. In its true home, the coastal scrubs of Queensland 
and New South Wales, this species is found to be a bird of some daring in that 
it frequently usurps another bird’s nest in which to rear its own offspring. 
The curious bulky moss-made nests of Sericornis lathami hanging among the 
pendent lawyer cane ( Calamus ) or other vines is most often coveted, and the 
rightful owners driven away just as they have completed their nest. It is 
even a matter of indifference if any eggs have been laid therein as this bird 
lays in addition and presumably hatches the lot. Mr. H. R. Elvery on 
the Richmond River told me he once took eight eggs out of a nest of which two 
belonged to Sericornis lathami, the original owner of the nest, and six of this 
species but these consisted of two distinct clutches of three each so that it 
appeared to be a case of the biter itself being bitten by another of the same 
species. Besides seizing newly-made nests of the larger species, this species 
frequently refurnishes and uses old nests which hang in the scrubs for several 
years, a common sight along most of the creeks and watercourses.” 
Up to the time I prepared my “ Reference List ” this species had not been 
critically examined, but I then easily noted three subspecies which I named 
as follows : 
Sericornis magnirostris magnirostris (Gould). 
New South Wales. \ 
Sericornis magnirostris viridior Mathews. 
“ Differs from S. m. magnirostris in being greenish above and almost uniformly 
green below, but especially greenish on the throat. Cairns, Queensland.” 
North Queensland. 
Sericornis magnirostris howei Mathews. 
“ Differs from S. m. magnirostris in its browner upper-surface, while the throat 
is buffish and the abdomen and flanks darker than in the typical form. 
(Gippsland) Victoria.” 
Victoria. 
Nothing was added until just recently when I received birds from the 
Bunya Mounts, South Queensland, which I named : 
Sericornis magnirostris bunya. 
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