THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 
at the base of the forehead have black hair-like tips ; lores chestnut at the base ; 
rictal bristles black ; sides of face blackish with white shaft-lines to the feathers ; 
lower cheeks uniform black ; sides of neck whitish with dark fringes to the feathers 
like the fore-neck ; chin and throat white ; breast buffy-white becoming fawn- 
colour on the abdomen, sides of body, thighs, and under tail-coverts ; axillaries 
and under wing-coverts cinnamon-rufous ; under-surface of flight-quills hair- 
brown, cinnamon-rufous on the inner margins ; lower aspect of tail similar to its 
upper-surface but paler. Bill dark brown, eyes brown, feet slate. Total length 
170 mm. ; culmen 10, wing 66, tail 87, tarsus 25. Figured. Collected at Gerahmin 
Mallee, Victoria, on the 15th of September, 1912, and is Diaphorillis striatus howei. 
(Bottom figure.) 
Adult female. Differs from the adult male in having a reddish patch on the sides of the 
body. Crown of head, hind-neck, sides of neck, back, and scapulars chestnut-brown 
with white shaft-lines to the feathers, which are bordered with black — most 
conspicuous on the fore-part of the head and becoming absent on the lower-back ; 
rump and upper tail-coverts uniform and darker than the back ; lesser upper wing- 
coverts and base of primary-quills chestnut ; bastard-wing, median and greater 
upper wing-coverts dark brown with grey edges and pale shaft-lines to the feathers ; 
flight-quills dark brown with pale outer edges and more or less cinnamon-buff on 
the inner ones ; tail blackish-brown with pale margins and whitish tips to some of 
the feathers ; rictal bristles black ; lores and upper eyelid cinnamon-rufous ; lower 
eyelid white ; ear-coverts white with dark fringes to the feathers ; cheeks black ; 
chin whitish with black hair-like tips to the feathers ; throat, fore-neck, and sides 
of lower neck dark brown with whitish margins to the feathers which gives a streaked, 
appearance ; breast, abdomen, and sides of body fawn-colour, becoming darker and 
inclining to rust-brown on the lower flanks, thighs, and under tail-coverts ; axillaries, 
under wing-coverts and inner margins of quills below cinnamon-rufous, remainder 
of quill fining blackish-brown ; lower aspect of tail similar to its upper-surface. 
Bill dark brown, eyes brown, feet fight slate. Total length 175 mm. ; culmen 10, 
wing 65, tail 89, tarsus 25. Figured. Collected at Gerahmin, Mallee, Victoria, on 
the 9th of September, 1912. (Left figure.) 
Immature. Very similar to the adult. 
Nest. “ Partially domed, composed of bark fibre and the dried blades or spines of porcupine 
grass, placed on a foundation of pieces of bark. Placed close to the ground in or 
under the shelter of a spinefex tussock. Outside measurements 4| inches by £- 
deep.” (North.) 
Eggs. “ Clutch two, rather swollen ovals in shape, ground-colour white, well marked with 
spots of reddish-brown and scattered markings of pale lilac, particularly about 
the larger end. Surface of shell fine and slightly glossy. The clutch measures 
22 mm. by 16.” (H. L. White.)* 
Breeding season. After rain, early in the year. 
Gould only wrote a few lines as follows : “ The only specimen I procured 
of this little bird in a recent state was shot while I w r as traversing the Lower 
Namoi ; it appeared to give preference to a loose sandy soil studded with 
high rank grass, which, growing in tufts, left the interspaces quite bare ; 
through the natural labyrinth thus formed, the Striated Wren ran with 
* In future the nest and eggs will be described by Mr. H. L. White. 
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