THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 
similar to its upper surface but rather paler. Eyes brown ; bill dark brown above, 
light brown below, feet brown. Collected at Inkerman, North Queensland, on 
the 19th of October, 1907. 
Nest. Dome-shaped, placed in the grass, with side entrance near the top. Composed 
of dried grass, and lined with finer material. 4| inches high by 4 wide. 
Eggs- — Clutch, three or four. White, with reddish-brown spots on the larger end. 15 mm. 
by 12. 
Breeding-season. August to February. 
Latham’s Orange-rumped Fly(catcher) was thus described: “The head 
and neck in this species are pretty full of feathers, and black; back and 
rump orange colour or reddish ; all the underparts of the body are white, 
marked with several longish streaks of black on the breast ; wings and tail 
brown ; the feathers of the last have the webs much separated and distinct 
from each other, as in the Soft-tailed Flycatcher ; legs pale brown. Inhabits 
New South Wales ; and is an active species, frequently carrying the tail 
erect, and expanding the same at the moment it springs from a branch on 
its prey.” As the scientific name, Latham selected Muscicapa melanocephala. 
The above refers to the plumage of a young bird and was probably unknown 
to him when Lewin gave a good painting of it in full plumage, calling it the 
Scarlet-backed Warbler, Sylvia dorsalis. 
Apparently Vigors and Horsfield neglected to refer in this instance to 
Lewin’ s work, as they introduced as a new species “ M alurus brownii .” 
This species is very nearly allied to M. melanocephalus in the general 
disposition of the colours. It differs, however, in the black being more 
intense, and covering the whole of the underparts, the tail being darker, and 
the size of the bird much smaller. The bill also is black, which is of a pale 
yellowish colour in the preceding species. It is marked by Mr. Brown, to 
whom the Society is indebted for the specimen, as having been obtained at the 
Bay of Inlets, near the inner entrance of Thirsty Sound, September, 1802. 
It was soon recognised that these all referred to plumage changes of 
the same species, but before that event occurred another complication ensued. 
Thus Gould described a new species from Port Essington, Northern Territory, 
under the name of M alurus cruentatus, and then figured it in the folio edition 
as M alurus brownii, correcting his error in his “ Handbook.” 
Gould’s notes read : “ The Black-headed Superb Warbler, which probably 
inhabits all the south-eastern portion of Australia, is a local species, not 
being generally diffused over the face of the country, like several other members 
of the group, but confined to grassy ravines and gullies, particularly those 
that lead down from the mountain ranges. I obtained several pairs of adult 
birds in very fine plumage in the valleys under the Liverpool Range, all of 
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