THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 
bill veimilion. Total length 124 mm. ; cuhnen 9, wing 56, tail 45, tarsus 18. 
Figured. Collected in Denmark Forest, South-west Australia, on the 20th of May, 
1910. 
Adult female. Similar to the adult male. 
Immature. Entire upper-parts greenish-olive, very closely barred with narrow bars of 
brownish-black, the bars being narrowest on the head and neck, becoraing broader 
over the back and mantle ; tail similarly coloured and marked like the upper-parts; 
middle tail-feathers with a rather broad margin of crimson on the basal two-thirds 
of the outer web ; lower rump and upper tail-coverts bright crimson ; a few crimson 
feathers under and behind the ej’es ; throat, breast, flanks and abdomen greyish- 
olive with narrow bars of dark brown ; feathers of the middle of the belly black 
barred with white and with a large spot of pure white at the extremity with 
a narrow fringe of black; under tail-coverts bufiish-white with bars of black; 
under wing-coverts greyish-brown. Bill crimson, eyes blue, orbits light blue, feet 
and legs ynllow-flesh. Collected at Alba,ny, South-wnst Australia, on the 11th of 
February, 1905. 
Immature. Top of the head and hind-neck uniform dark olive ; back, mantle, rump, 
secondaries and wing-coverts greenish-olive, very closely and narrowly barred with 
blackish-brown ; upper tail-coverts bright crimson ; central tail-feathers greyish- 
olive, barred towards the extremity with blackish-brown and margmed on the outer 
web with dull crimson; remainder of tail greyish-olive, barred across both webs with 
blackish-brown ; primaries greyish-brown margined with olive and barred on the 
outer webs with blackish-brown ; tlmoat greyish-oUve ; neck y^eUowish-ohve with 
indistinct bars of dark brown ; remahrder of under-parts brownish-olive with 
concentric bars of blackish-brown; lores blackish ; under wing-coverts greyish- 
brown. Bill dark pui-ple, eyes hazel, orbits bluish, feet puiplish-flesh, soles 
yellow. Collected at Albany^ South-wnst Austraha, on the 6th of January, 1910. 
Eggs. Four to five eggs form the clutch, sometimes six. A clutch of six eggs taken at 
Wilson’s Inlet, South-wnstein Australia, on the 25th of November, 1915, is of a 
pure white colour. Swollen ovals in shape. Surface of shell fine and smooth, and 
devoid of gloss. 15-17 by 12-13 mm. 
Nest. A bottle-shaped structm'e, placed on its side, and composed of chied grasses, and 
lined with a little soft material. Dimensions over all, about 10 inches long by 18 
inches or more in circimiference at the widest part. Placed in a variety of situations; 
sometimes in a low' dense bush, or thickly foliaged tree, or in a clump of Mistletoe 
{Loranthus). 
Breeding-months. August to December, or later during certain conditions. 
Though this species was not first described by Gould Ms notes are the 
earliest, apparently sent him by Gilbert: thus “ This species is abundant in 
many partes of the colony of Stvan River. Like its near aUy the Zonoegintlm 
bellus, it inhabits open grassy glades studded with tliickets, particularly in 
moist sw'ampy districts and along the borders of lakes and rivers. Its food 
consists of small grass-seeds procm’ed amongst the herbage. Gilbert states 
that ‘ it is a solitary species and is generally fomid in the most retired spots in 
the tliickets, where its mournful, slowiy drawn-out note only serves to add to 
the lonehness of the place. Its powers of flight, although sometimes rapid, 
would seem to be feeble, as they are merely employed to remove it from tree 
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