WHITE-BROWED TREECREEPER, 
had generally been anticipated, but in the present case he appears to have 
selected a good example overlooked for nearly sixty years. 
When this parcel was received he reported upon it and noted two species 
new to him and described them as new to science. The first was Pomatorhinus 
pileatus, which is the same bird as Hartlaub a few years previously had des¬ 
cribed as P. ruficeps; the second he called Climacteris affinis, describing it as : 
“ Like Cl. erythrops, but with slight pale non-rufous supercilia, which are not 
conspicuously noticeable ; throat dull whitish, passing to greyish on breast, 
and a small central ferruginous spot at base of throat; ear-coverts pale, 
streaked. Specimen doubtless of the female sex.” 
The type locality of these two new r species is probably the same, that is, 
the north-west of Victoria or south-west of New South Wales. I have selected 
Broken Hill, New South Wales, as the type locality of P. ruficeps Hartlaub, 
and this seems to be a very likely place for these to have been collected. I 
therefore designate as type locality of P. pileatus Blyth, Broken Hill, New 
South Wales, and I also select Broken Hill, New South Wales, as the type 
locality of Climacteris affinis Blyth. 
Thirty years after Blyth had distinguished this species, North named 
Cl. superciliosa from llara Creek, Central Australia, and quite recently the 
form inhabiting the South Australian and Victorian Mallee (i.e., C. affinis 
Blyth) has been distinguished as a distinct subsp., Cl. erythrops parsonsi, by 
Mellor. 
Captain S. A. White wrote : “ We met with this bird for the first time 
on this trip and at first glance took it for C. erythrops. The only place we 
saw these birds was at the south end of Lake Gairdner amongst a dry, 
scattered, myall scrub, one of the dryest and most miserable pieces of country 
we saw on our trip. We felt sure these birds were nesting, but although we 
searched thoroughly we found no nest. We only saw' four birds in many 
miles of country round the shores of the Lake. Their call is much louder 
than that of C. rufa, and they do not take to the ground like that species. 
They were under observation for a long time while we tried to discover their 
nesting locality, and they showed no desire to take to the ground, but hopped 
along fallen trees in the Climacteris jerky fashion. Of course the country they 
inhabit would not produce much insect life on the bare ground, while in the 
Mallee country there is much debris.” 
Capt. White also wrote: “ Seems to be spread all over the interior, and 
it is strange that it was not described before the Horn Expedition, for we 
found them numerous west of Port Augusta (as above). The bird seems to 
prefer Mulga (Acacia anura) to any other timber. Strange to say it was not 
met with in the north-east, where C. waitei took its place.’ 
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