SPOTTED SCRUB-WREN. 
black ; inner webs of flight-quills dark hair-brown ; outer webs of prim ary- quills 
drab-grey ; a slight indication of a blackish subterminal band on some of the tail- 
feathers, chiefly on the inner webs ; the short feathers at the base of the forehead 
white with blackish tips ; throat, greyish white with dark shaft-lines to the feathers ; 
breast and abdomen, greyish-white with pale rust-brown margins to the feathers ; 
sides of body, thighs, vent, and under tail-coverts uniform rust-brown ; axillaries, 
under wing-coverts, and inner margins of flight-quills brownish-grey ; remainder 
of quills below and lower aspect of tail dark hair-brown. Bill brown, eyes dull 
white, feet blackish-brown. Collected on Middle River, Kangaroo Island, South 
Australia, on the 5th of December, 1911. 
Nest. Domed, with side entrance. Composed of bark, leaves, grass, etc., and lined with 
feathers. Outside measurements, 6 inches deep by 4 wide. 
Eggs. Clutch, three. Whitish, with a zone at the larger end of purplish-brown and 
lavender spots, 19 mm. by 14. 
Breeding-season. September to December or January. 
Of great interest in connection with the recognition of subspecies are the 
remarks made by Gould regarding this species : “ The present bird, to which 
I have assigned the specific term of maculatus , has always been a source of 
perplexity to me, from the circumstance of its varying considerably in its 
markings ; after mature consideration, however, I am induced to regard the 
specimens from Southern and Western Australia and the north coast as referable 
to one and the same species, each however possessing trivial differences by 
which it may be known from whence it was received. Specimens from the 
Houtman’s Abrolhos are of a rather smaller size, of a much greyer tint on the 
back, and have much darker-coloured legs. I believe that the bright yellow 
wash on the under-surface of some individuals is characteristic of newly moulted 
birds ; in this species not only is the throat spotted with black, but the spotting 
extends over the chest and some distance down the flanks ; it has at all times 
the tail tipped with white, a character which serves at once to distinguish it 
from S. osculans and S. frontalis. Scrubby places and ravines covered! with 
dense herbage, whether in sterile or humid situations, are its favourite resort. 
It has the same shy disposition and retiring habits as the other members of the 
genus, depending for safety rather upon its creeping, mouse-like habits than 
upon its powers of flight, which are indeed seldom resorted to. Its note is a 
harsh, grating kind of twitter, often repeated.” 
As a distinct species Gould described Sericornis osculans, writing : “ Inhabits 
South Australia, where it frequents underwood, scrubby places, and the bottoms 
of dry watercourses : it is naturally shy and retiring in its habits, and evades 
pursuit by creeping beneath the herbage and making its exit on the other side. 
It is nearly allied to the S. frontalis and S. humilis, but differs from the former 
in having at all times numerous longitudinal blotches of black on the throat, 
and from the latter in these spots being much more distinct. I have seen 
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