184 
THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA 
notes. In pairs or family parties, inhabiting dwarf scrub-lands and 
spinifex. The male is extremely shy and keeps to the cover of bushes 
or spinifex. Similar in habits to the other species of Wrens. Food- 
insects and their larvae. 
nest. A dome-shaped structure with a side entrance near the top, 
composed of very fine dried grasses matted together with spiders' 
webs, cocoons, and wool; lined with fine grasses, cocoons, and wool. 
Usually placed in a low bush or in a tuft of spinifex. 
eggs. Three or four, white, marked all over, but particularly at the 
larger end, with small dots and splashes of pale reddish-brown, where 
sometimes a zone is formed. Breeding-season: June to September. 
6. Blue-and-white Wren Malurus cyanotus Gould-6A. Female 
cy -a-not'-us—Gk, cyanos, blue; Gk, noton , back. 
DisTR 1 bu ti °n. The interior of southern Queensland, New South 
Wales, and Victoria, to the coastal districts of Western Australia. 
notes. Also called White-winged Wren. In pairs or family parties 
showing a preference for spinifex, salt-bush, blue-bush, and open rolv- 
poly country. Except that the fully coloured male is shy, it is similar in 
habits to the other species of Wrens. Food: insects and their larvse. 
nest. A dome-shaped structure with a side entrance near the ton 
composed of dried grasses, and lined with feathers or wool. Usually 
placed m a low bush or in a tuft of tall grass, close to the ground. 
f.ggs. Three or four, white, finely freckled with purplish or reddish 
brown markings; some eggs have a well-defined zone at the larger end 
Breeding-season: September to January 6 
7. White-backed Wren Malurus leuconotus Gould 
leuc-o-not'-us— Gk, leucos, white; Gk, noton f back. 
distribution. Interior of South Australia. 
NOTES. Nothing is definitely known of the habits or economy of this 
species, few specimens only being in existence. The female is similar to 
the female Blue-and-white Wren. 
nest. A dome-shaped oblong structure of fine grass, ornamented 
and mixed with cobweb and wool, and lined inside with cotton from 
l i e f “J™ 5 ^“on-bush”, or the silky down from the seed-pods of an 
Asclepiad . I laced in a small tuft of coarse grass near the ground at 
other times among the lower branches and grass at the base of a 
cotton-bush. b 01 a 
eggs. Three or four, white, with a faint pinkish or reddish tintre 
minutely freckled and spotted with dull red, particularly at the lareer 
end where often a zone is formed. 7 g 
8 ^Fenufle^ ' Vren ^ Ia ^ urus lamberti Vigors and Horsfield-8A 
London!” A B ' Lambm < 176M842 )’ **retary, Linnean Society, 
