LOVELY WREN. 
Adult male. Fore-part of head and sides of face, including the eye, turquoise-blue, becoming 
darker blue on the hinder-crown and nape ; a band across the hind-neck, rump, 
and upper tail-coverts velvety-black like the lores, throat, fore-neck, and breast ; 
interscapular region lavender-blue with whitish bases to the feathers ; scapulars 
and axillaries bright chestnut ; upper wing-coverts and outer aspect of flight-quills 
dark earth-brown, some of the innermost secondaries edged with white at the tips, 
inner-webs of quills hair-brown ; tail dark blue with dark obsolete cross-bars, 
some of the feathers margined and tinged with white ; abdomen, flanks, and under 
tail-coverts white with dark centres to the feathers of the last ; thighs whitish, 
varied with dark bases to some of the feathers ; under wing-coverts white ; under- 
surface of flight-quills hair-brown, slightly paler on the margins ; lower aspect 
of tail similar to its upper-surface. Bill black, eyes dark umber, feet greyish- 
black. Total length 135 mm. ; culmen 9, wing 51, tail 60, tarsus 22. Figured. 
Collected at Napier Broome Bay, North-west Australia, on the 13th of March, 
1910, and is the type of Malurus amabilis rogersi. 
Adult female. General colour of the upper-surface lavender-blue, including the top of 
the head, sides of face, sides of neck, hind-neck, entire back, scapulars, and upper 
tail-coverts ; wings hair-brown ; tail dark blue tipped with white and some of 
the feathers have white margins ; rictal-bristles black with white bases ; base 
of fore-head paler than the crown of the head ; lores and short feathers encircling 
the eye bright chestnut ; throat, breast, abdomen, and under tail-coverts white 
with dark bases to the feathers ; under wing-coverts pale buff ; under-surface 
of flight-quills hair-brown ; lower aspect of tail similar to its upper-surface. Bill 
light brown ; eyes dark umber, feet dark horn. Total length 137 mm. ; culmen 10, 
wing 50, tail 65, tarsus 21. Figured. Collected at Napier Broome Bay, North- 
west Australia, on the 30th of June, 1910. 
Immature males. Very similar to the above, but with bills black. 
Nest. “ Dome-shaped and similar to other members of the genus. Built of acacia leaves 
on the outside and grass on the inside, lined with rootlets, and above the egg- 
chamber lined with kangaroo fur.” (White.) 
Eggs. “ Clutch, three. Ground-colour delicate pinkish-white, marked all over and 
particularly at the larger end with small spots and minute specks of dull reddish- 
brown. 16 mm. by 13.” ( ib .) 
Breeding-season. September to October. 
Inasmuch as Gould had the pleasure of discovering and describing nearly 
all the species of Malurus sensu lato, it is only just that his opinions should be 
recorded, even when proved later to be slightly erroneous, as in this case : 
“ The officers of Her Majesty’s Surveying Ship ‘ Rattlesnake 5 so well 
employed their time in collecting the natural productions of the Cape York 
district that they added very considerably to our knowledge of the fauna of 
that part of the continent. A single and somewhat imperfect specimen of this 
bird, bearing the words 4 Cape York, 1849,’ was transmitted by the late 
Captain Owen Stanley to the Zoological Society of London ; and it is from 
this specimen that my description was taken. It is nearly allied to the 
Malurus elegans, but differs from the bird in its longer bill, in the deeper and 
more uniform blue of the cheeks and crown, in the darker colouring of the 
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