BROWN SHRIKE-THRUSH. 
Distribution. North-west Australia from Roebuck Bay through Northern Territory to 
the Leichhardt River in Western Queensland. 
Adult male. Crown of head, nape, and sides of face ash-grey with a trace of dark shaft- 
lines to the feathers on the crown ; entire back, wings, and tail drab-grey ; inner 
webs of flight-quills darker than the back and margined with white, or buffy-white 
on the basal portion ; tail also somewhat darker than the back ; lores and base 
of forehead whitish, many of the feathers bristly in texture with black tips ; rictal- 
bristles black with white bases ; chin and throat grey streaked with whitish ; breast, 
abdomen, sides of body and thighs pale grey, more or less tinged with fawn-colour 
like the axillaries, under wing-coverts and inner margins of quills below ; remainder 
of quill-lining hair-brown ; lower aspect of tail pale brown with glossy reflections. 
Eyes reddish-brown ; feet and legs brown, bill dark brown. Total length 270 mm. ; 
culmen 22, wing 128, tail 108, tarsus 38. Figured. Collected on Parry’s Creek, 
North-west Australia, on the 29th of August, 1908, and is the type of C. b. parryi. 
Adult female. General colour of the upper-surface pale drab-grey, including the top of 
the head, sides of neck, hind-neck, back, wings, and tail ; there are slight traces of 
dark shafts to the feathers on the head ; outer edge of wing and outer margins of 
greater upper wing-coverts and flight-quills pale fawn-colour, inner margins of the 
last buffy-white, the remaining portion of the inner webs are rather darker than 
the back ; tail also darker than the back with pale buff tips to the feathers ; a 
supraloral line which extends over the eye on to the sides of the crown and eyelids 
fawn-colour ; sides of face similar ; rictal-bristles black ; some of the feathers in 
front of the eye and on the chin and throat have black hair-like tips ; chin and 
throat buffy-white with grey shaft-streaks to the feathers ; breast and sides of 
body pale fawn-colour, with the grey shaft-streaks almost obsolete ; thighs and 
under tail-coverts uniform pale fawn-colour ; axillaries, under wing-coverts, and 
inner edges of flight-quills below deep fawn-colour, remainder of quill-lining glossy 
hair-brown ; lower aspect of tail similar with white shafts to the feathers. Eyes 
reddish-brown, feet and legs leaden-blue, bill pale grey ; culmen, tip pale brown. 
Total length 255 mm. ; culmen 20, wing 117, tail 105, tarsus 31. Figured. Collected 
on Parry’s Creek, North-west Australia, on the 13th of August, 1908. 
Immature. “ Young birds have the sides of the head and all the under-surface deeply 
tinged with fawn-colour ; the primaries, secondaries and upper wing-coverts exter- 
nally edged with rufous ; the under wing-coverts a deep orange-buff ; and the 
breast more broadly streaked with dark brown than in the adult female.” (North.) 
Eggs. Usually from three to four for a setting, and vary considerably in size and shape. 
Some are short and very rounded ovals, others are swollen, pointed, and elongate 
ovals. A typical clutch of three is swollen oval in shape, ground-colour white, spotted 
and blotched with light to very dark olive-brown, and pale to dark slate markings ; 
becoming confluent at the larger end. Surface of shell rather fine, smooth and 
glossy. Another clutch containing four eggs and of quite a different type are rather 
elongate ovals in shape, and much more numerously spotted all over. Ground- 
colour white, speckled and spotted all over, but more so at the larger end, with 
light to dark olive-brown and pale slate. The four eggs are very uniformly marked. 
Surface of shell rather fine, smooth and glossy. They measure 30 mm. by 21. 
Nest. An open cup-shaped structure, composed of strips of bark and leaves, and lined 
with leaves, and placed in the top of an old dead stump, or in a cleft in a wall of 
sandstone. Nest measures 6 to 8 inches across over all, by 4 to 5 inches in depth ; 
egg cavity 3J inches across by 2\ inches deep. 
Breeding season. September to November or December. 
* 
291 
