RUFOUS BRISTLE BIRD. 
upper wing-coverts ; flight-quills, lower back, upper tail-coverts and tail rufous- 
brown ; inner webs of flight-quills dark brown somewhat paler on the margins ; 
lores, fore-part of eye-ring and moustachial streak greyish- white, the feathers in 
front of the eye and base of forehead stiffened and bristly ; rictal bristles sparsely 
developed ; chin greyish-white with black hair-like tips to the feathers ; throat, 
fore-neck, and upper-breast greyish-white with dark centres to the feathers, which 
gives a scalloped appearance ; middle of lower-breast and abdomen uniform greyish- 
white ; sides of body bronze-brown ; thighs and under tail-coverts rust-brown 
like the axiflaries and under wing-coverts ; under-surface of flight-quills hair- 
brown with a rufous tinge on the margins ; lower aspect of tail similar to its upper- 
surface. Eyes brown, feet and bill dark brown. Total length 270 mm. ; culmen 
19, wing 94, tail 122, tarsus 37. Figured. Collected at Lome, Victoria, on the 
28th October, 1909. (bottom figure.) 
Adult female. Similar to the adult male. 
Immature. Resemble the adult in general appearance. 
Nest. Oval shaped, with side entrance. Composed of rootlets, dried grass, etc., loosely 
put together and lined with finer rootlets. 7 inches deep by 4 inches wide. 
Eggs. “ Clutch two, and vary considerably in size, shape, and general disposition of the 
markings. A typical pair are long ovals, ground colour of a dirty or dull pinkish- 
white, well marked all over, closely set together, with specks and spots of umber, 
rusty-brown, and purplish-grey, becoming more confluent at the larger end, where 
a cap or zone is (often) formed. In some specimens lilac and pale slaty markings 
are very numerous. Surface of shell smooth and rather glossy. 27 mm. by 22.” 
(H. L. White.) 
Breeding-season. September to December. 
Although Mr. Kendall Broadbent collected this fine distinct species in 
December, 1858, it was not described until nine years after-wards, when 
Professor McCoy, the director of the National Museum, Melbourne, who was 
then taking a little interest in birds, recognised it as a distinct form and 
named it after the collector. 
Campbell has recorded one of the earliest field notes, which is worth re- 
quoting, as it is by H. E. Hill, an ornithologist who was unfortunately cut 
off before the promise of his early observations were fulfilled. “ When we 
first reached the St. George Valley (near Lome) where we fixed our camp, 
we noticed the great number of ‘ cartwheel ’ (the notes are described as 
resembling the noise produced by the grating of a cartwheel on an ungreased 
axle) birds that were calling on all sides. The whole time we were out they 
seemed very plentiful, and whereas on previous trips we had never been able 
to even get a sight of the bird, on this trip we not only saw a number, but were 
fortunate enough to secure two — a male and a female — both in fine condi- 
tion. It turns out to be the Rufous Bristle Bird ( Sphenurci broadbenti McCoy). 
We found afterwards that fires had been through a great many of the 
gullies about the ranges during the previous twelve months, and that the 
undergrowth had been in many cases completely destroyed, so that the 
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