THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 
direction. Their notes are four, given with a clear, ringing, bell-like sound 
When two or three sing in concert all other bird notes are overpowered. 
Locally they are called (onomatopoetically) ‘ Jimmy Linthorne ’ (the name 
of a local celebrity) and by others the ‘ Bell Bird.’ I much prefer, as a vernacular 
name, the one suggested by Dr. Morrison, of our party—namely, the ‘ Chimes 
Bird ’—as it is particularly appropriate. I examined the contents of the 
stomach of one bird, they included the remains of a grasshopper and the 
seeds of various plants, which I have not yet had identified. The native 
name is ‘ Geetardo.’ ” 
Gibson recorded it as “ Fairly common on the mulga and on the plains 
(between Kalgoorlie and Eucla) -wherever there is a little brush or timber.” 
Whitlock wTote from the East Murchison: “It always seems to me an 
error to place this species among the Paridee. It runs, never hops, seeks its 
food on the ground, builds an open nest, and lays blue eggs—all un-Titlike 
habits. Around Lake Way it was far from plentiful, and I only got one nest.” 
Carter did not find it on Dirk Hartog Island, and Whitlock confirmed 
this, though both found it fairly common on the mainland close to. 
Mr. Edwin Ashby says : “In South Australia this is essentially an interior 
bird, but when in Geraldton, some 300 to 400 miles north of Perth in Western 
Australia, w r e learned that this bird comes quite close to the coast, although 
I did not actually shoot a specimen.” 
No subspecific forms had been distinguished when I worked up my 
“ Reference List ” in 1912, but I then recognised four, which I named: 
Sphenostoma cristatum cristatum Gould. 
New South Wales. 
Sphenostoma cristatum pallidum Mathews. 
“ Differs from S. c. cristatum in its paler upper-surface. Leigh’s Creek, 
South Australia.” 
South Australia. 
Sphenostoma cristatum occidental Mathews. 
“ Differs from S. c. cristatum in its darker coloration. Day Dawn, West 
Australia.” 
West Australia. 
Sphenostoma cristatum tanami Mathews. 
Differs from S. c. cristatum in its smaller size. Tanami, Northern 
Territory.” 
Northern Territory. 
In my 1913 ‘ List ” the same arrangement was accepted, with the addition 
of Victoria to the range of the first-named, and a note that in the case of the 
third it did not occur in the south-west. 
52 
