RUFOUS GRASS-WREN. 
axiUaries, under wing-coverts and inner margins of quills below cinnamon-rufous ; 
remainder of quill-lining dark brown ; lower aspect of tail similar to its upper-surface. 
Bill very dark horn, eyes hazel, feet and legs grey-brown. Total length 170 mm. ; 
culmen 10, wing 63, tail 85, tarsus 25. Figured. Collected at Bore Well, East 
Murchison, West Australia, on the 7th of September, 1909, and is the type of 
Amytornis striatus oweni. (Top figure.) 
Adult female. Differs from the adult male in having a reddish patch on the sides of the 
body. General colour of the upper-surface including the crown of the head, back, 
upper tail-coverts, scapulars, and wings bright chestnut ; the feathers on the top of 
the head, hind-neck, sides of neck, and upper-back have white shaft-lines which are 
bordered with black, which disappears on the middle and lower back ; lesser upper 
wing-coverts, inner greater-coverts, margins of innermost secondaries, primary- 
coverts and base of primaries, chestnut with white shaft-lines to some of the feathers ; 
bastard-wing, median, and greater-coverts dark brown with white shaft-lines and 
pale edges to some of the feathers ; flight-quills hair-brown with rufous or grey 
edges on the outer webs and rufous towards the base of the inner ones ; tail 
blackish-brown with pale margins and obsolete cross-bars to the feathers ; rictal 
bristles black ; lores and upper eyelid cinnamon ; the short feathers on the sides 
of face white fringed on the margins with black ; a short line on the fore-cheeks 
also black ; chin and throat white ; breast, abdomen, flanks and under tail-coverts 
pale fawn colour with blackish bases to the feathers ; a patch of pale chestnut on 
the sides of the body ; under wing-coverts cinnamon-rufous like the inner margins 
of the flight-quills below ; lower aspect of tail similar to its upper-surface. Bill 
very dark horn, base paler ; eyes hazel, feet and legs grey-brown. Total length 
150 mm. ; culmen 10, wing 58, tarsus 24. Figured. Collected at Bore Well, East 
Murchison, on the 12th of September, 1909. (Right-hand figure.) 
immature. “ Much duller in colour than adults, snuff-brown rather than ferriginous- 
brown.” (Whitlock.) 
Eggs. Clutch, three eggs, oval in shape, surface of shell fine, smooth and slightly glossy ; 
ground-colour white, with the very faintest tinge of pinkish-buff, finely spotted and 
speckled all over, but particularly at the larger end, where a well marked zone is 
formed, with pale reddish-brown, umber, and dull slate, the latter appearing as if 
beneath the surface of the shell. The clutch measures 19-22 mm. by 15-16. 
Nest. Is of the domed type and globular in shape, outwardly constructed of dried spinifex 
( Triodia ) stems and fine grasses. The interior is neatly lined with buff-coloured 
vegetable down, but the cavity containing the eggs is small in comparison with the 
bulk of the nest. It was difficult to tell the top from the bottom of the nest when it 
was removed from the growth of spinifex (oweni). 
Eggs. Clutch of two eggs, stout ovals in shape, shell smooth and without gloss ; colour 
white, marked all over, but particularly at the larger end, with small irregular 
shaped brownish-red dots and splashes. Clutch measures 22-23 mm. by 16. 
Nest. Cup-shaped, composed of dried spinifex leaves, and lined with kangaroo fur, the 
walls of the nest being thin and much interwoven with growing spinifex. Inside 
measurements, 2\ inches wide by 1| inches deep. Situation, a natural cavity in a 
clump of spinifex growing on the side of a small gully. Size of clump, 3 feet in 
diameter by 30 inches in height ( whitei ). 
Whitlock, recording the Birds on the Pilbarra Goldfield, wrote : “ Very 
rare and local in the extreme. I only met with it in two localities, in a 
particularly ferruginous range of hills, and I am not sure that in the second 
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