THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 
The first was the Dirk Hartog Island form which was called 
Stipiturus malachurus hartogi Carter 
who considered at first the differences he noted to be specific, but later 
admitted the series tended to allow subspecific variation only. 
I later named, also from Carter’s collecting, 
Stipiturus malachurus media 
from south-east of Broome Hill, a distinctly paler and smaller bird than the 
previously named S. westernensis, but owing to the extreme localisation of 
this group, it is probable that later my S. rothschildi will be allowed as a 
separate subspecies also. 
When Parsons described the Kangaroo Island form as 
Stipiturus malachurus halmaturina 
he stated: “Whereas the mainland forms have warm colours on the upper 
surface of chestnut -brown crowns, brown and black backs, the Kangaroo 
Island forms have a ‘ washed-out ’ appearance, with light brown crowns, 
light grey and very dark grey backs.” 
Then Ashby collected specimens at Mount Compass, South Australia, 
and wrote a comparative account, which may be here quoted, as of quite 
independent origin. “ The specimen I collected in Tasmania easily was first 
for the depth and brilliancy of rufous coloration of the upper plumage, 
and, incidentally, smaller in size than any of the others. Next came those I 
collected near Cranbourne in Victoria ; the whole coloration is decidely 
rufous, the male slightly more so than the female, and the forehead of male 
almost entirely rufous, the blackish mid-streak being almost absent. Then 
come the Mount Compass birds of the South Australian series, showing a 
considerably wider distinction between them and the Victorian than there 
is between the Victorian and Tasmanian races. In the males from Mount 
Compass, the nape and upper neck is distinctly edged with grey, the rufous 
coloration being practically confined to the forehead, and the black mid- 
streak being much more in evidence than in the Victorian and Tasmanian 
specimens ; but in the female this distinction is still more marked — the 
whole of the upper portion of the head and neck is grey streaked with black, 
and in this respect being very similar to the Kangaroo Island bird ; but 
whereas in the Mount Compass birds, the feathers of the wings and back are 
edged with pale rufous, in the Kangaroo Island skins the coloration is 
practically absent. A consideration of the under-surfaces shows that the 
Tasmanian and Victorian birds are considerably deeper in rufous coloration 
than is the case with either of the South Australian forms. I think it best 
to recognise the Mount Compass birds as an intermediate variety between 
the Victorian and Kangaroo Island species, with closer affinity with the latter 
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