THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 
uniform rich fawn-colour ; under-surface of flight -quills dark brown with buff 
margins ; lower aspect of tail greyish-brown, with white shafts to the feathers which 
are slightly tinged with fawn-colour on the inner edges. Bill dark horn; eyes 
dark brown ; feet dark grey. Total length 195 mm. ; culmen 21, wing 110, tail 81, 
tarsus 31. Figured. Collected at Cairns, North Queensland, in July, 1908. 
A dull female. Similar to the adult male. 
Immature. “ May readily be distinguished by the streak of pale rufous feathers above the 
lores and above and below the eye ; the outer webs of the quills are externally 
edged with pale olive-rufous, and only the feathers on the upper-parts of the fore- 
neck have greyish shaft-streaks.” (North.) 
Nest. A comparatively large open cup-shaped structure, placed in dense mass of foliage 
from 6 to 25 ft. from the ground; chiefly composed of dead leaves, bark, portions of 
thin vines and climbing plants, and lined with fine roots. External diameter of 
nest 5 to 6 inches, depth (inside) 2 to 2\ inches. 
Eggs. Two to three for a sitting, two usually. They vary considerably in size, shape 
and general markings. In shape they vary from ovals, to swollen, pointed, elongate, 
and rather rounded ovals. A specimen of the rounded oval form measures 24 mm. 
by 19, while a long and elongate example measures 27 mm. by 20. In ground- 
colour they vary from white to pale pinkish- white, and creamy-white. The general 
markings vary very much, and in one form they cover the egg uniformly all over 
with minute markings very closely set together, while in another form they are 
very boldly blotched and spotted. Another clutch, very lengthened ovals in shape, 
has a ground-colour of a creamy- wliite, well spotted and blotched with markings of 
pale to dark olive-brown, and dull slate. This clutch measures 27 mm. by 20. 
Another clutch possesses rather a white ground-colour, and beautifully blotched 
with light to rich reddish-brown, and scattered markings of pale slate and grey. 
The breeding season is during October to December. 
This extraordinary development of the Colluricincloid form was described 
by Ramsay from specimens collected by that excellent ornithologist Bowyer- 
Bower, who fell a victim to his enthusiasm at a very early age. Ramsay 
named the species in honour of the collector and I followed up this by 
distinguishing the form generically with the collector’s hyphenated first name. 
Little has been written about this species on account of its rarity, though 
De Vis renamed the species three years after it was originally distinguished. 
The succeeding year De Vis rectified his error, but Sharpe overlooked the 
omission and included the two names as distinct species in different genera 
in his “Handlist.” This gave Hartert the opportunity of pointing out the 
mistake, but he became confused as to the genera and stated this was a true 
Pinarolestes . Of course it is not, as Pinarolestes belongs to an entirely different 
Fijian group with little affinity as had been years before pointed out by 
Ramsay .- 
Broadbent’s notes recorded in 1910 state : “ First shot this new bird 
( sibila ) in the black scrubs over Seaview Range, south of the Herbert River 
in 1883. This is a true mountain bird, not found in any of the low river 
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