THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 
Immature. “ Young birds resemble the adults, but bave the superciliary stripe and 
chin dull ochraceous-brown ; the throat is uniform in colour with the olive-brown 
breast, with a slight dusky wash on the lower portion ” (North). 
N est. Domed, with side entrance. Composed, of moss grass, rootlets etc. and heavily lined 
with feathers. Outside measurements 7 to 8 inches high by 4 wide. 
Eggs. Clutch, three. Whitish blotched with purple, especially at the larger end. 
18-19 mm. by 14. 
Breeding- season. August to January. 
Gould considered this species an Acanthiza, writing : “In size it approaches 
the smaller species of & 'ericornis ; but in its structure and the character of its 
plumage it is closely allied to the members of the genus in which I have placed 
it,” recording that he had received it from Ronald C. Gunn, Esq., and had 
no notes as to its habits. 
Nothing more was heard about this species until Legge proposed a new 
genus, Acanthornis , for it. It was later regarded with interest when the 
Australian Ornithologists Union held their session in Tasmania and met with 
it in the flesh. 
Mr. A. G. Campbell has written me : “ The main characteristics of this 
unique species are worthy of review. Though often seen on the ground among 
fallen scrub like the S ericornis, it seems equally at home in the tops of the 
musk (Aster argophyllus) and hazel ( Pomaderris ) trees, and like an Acanthiza 
it frequently fastens for a moment or two on the side of a tree-trunk to survey 
an intruder. It has a merry song quite unlike any of its bush mates, and when 
seen in the Tasmanian bush is easily identified by the prominent white wing 
markings and white throat. The nest is a round, bulky structure very like 
that of a 8 ericornis, plentifully built of green moss, shreds of bark and fern 
down, placed five or six feet high, sometimes in the large fork of a tree hidden 
in a gully, sometimes in the bushy top of a wild currant (Coprosma) bush, 
but more often in the cluster of dead fronds hanging from a tree-fern. The 
eggs, though large, are distinctly of the Acanthiza type (white ground with 
reddish spots), and help materially to place the owner in the peculiar position 
it occupies as a connecting link between two well-known genera.” 
Captain S. A. White has sent : “This is a very shy bird and keeps very closely 
to the undergrowth, where it moves about with great rapidity, silently searching 
the tree ferns and decaying logs for insect life.” 
Mr. J. W. Mellor has sent me the following note : “ This bird was considered 
to be extinct, as no specimens had been got for such a long time since Gould’s 
description, but during the third Congress of the Aust. O.U. at Hobart in 
November 1903, the bird was rediscovered by Messrs. A. J. and A. G. Campbell 
and myself ; we got several specimens and a nest and clutch of eggs was also 
