PACHYCEPHALA GLAUCURA, Goud. 
Grey-tailed Pachycephala. 
Pachycephala glaucura, Gould, in Proc. of Zool, Soc., March 25, 1845. 
Pe-dil-me-dung, Aborigines of the lowland districts of Western Australia. 
Auruoven the present bird is very nearly allied to P. gutturalis, it may be readily distinguished from 
that species by its larger size, by its shorter and more robust bill, by the uniform grey colouring of its tail, 
and by the lighter and more washy tint of yellow of the under surface. Van Diemen’s Land and the islands 
in Bass’s Straits are the only countries in which it has yet been discovered, where it takes the place of 
P. gutturalis, which latter species appears to be exclusively confined to the Australian continent. 
The P. glaucura frequents the vast forests of Zxcadypti that cover the greater part of Van Diemen’s Land ; 
and although it is rather thinly dispersed, it is to be met with in every variety of situation, the crowns of the 
hills and the deep and most secluded gullies being alike visited by it. It frequently descends to the ground 
in search of insects ; but the leafy branches of the trees, particularly those of a low growth, are the situations 
to which it gives the preference. 
The adult male, like most other birds of attractive plumage, is of a shy disposition; hence there is much 
more difficulty in obtaining a glimpse of it in the woods than of the sombre-coloured and comparatively 
tame female, or eyen of the young males of the year, which during this period wear a similar kind of livery 
to that of the latter. 
The actions of this species are somewhat peculiar, and unlike those of most other insectivorous birds; it 
pries about the leafy branches of the trees, and leaps from twig to twig in the most agile manner possible, 
making all the while a most scrutinizing search for insects, particularly coleoptera. When the male ex- 
poses himself, as he occasionally does, on some bare twig, the rich yellow of his plamage, offering a strong 
contrast to the green of the sirrounding foliage, renders him a conspicuous and doubtless highly attractive 
object to his sombre-coloured wate, who generally accompanies him, Males in colour like those represented 
on the accompanying Plate seldom associate together, their recluse disposition leading them not only to 
avoid cach other’s society, but also that of all other birds. It sometimes resorts to the gardens and 
shrubberies of the settlers, but much Jess frequently than might be supposed when we consider that the 
neighbouring forests are its natural place of abode. 
The voice of the Grey-tailed Pachycephata is a loud whistling call of a single note several times repeated, 
by which the presence of the male is often detected when it would otherwise be passed by unnoticed. 
I was unsuccessful in my search for its nest; and the eggs are still a desideratam to my cabinet. [shot the 
young in yarious stages of plumage, and found them to differ so much that a more than ordinarily minute 
description is necessary, in order that those who may not have an opportunity of seeing the bird in its native 
country may not be misled respecting it. Soon after leaving the nest the ground-colour of the entire 
plumage is grey, washed or stained, as it were, both on the upper and under surface with rusty or chestnut- 
red; this gradually gives place to a uniform olive-brown above and pale brown beneath, which being 
precisely the colouring of the adult females, the young birds in this stage and the old females are not to be 
distinguished from each other. 
The adult male has the crown of the head, lores, space beneath the eye and a broad crescent-shaped 
mark from the latter across the breast deep black ; throat within the black white; back of the neck, a 
narrow line down each side of the chest behind the black crescent, and the undersurface yellow; back and 
wing-coyerts yellowish olive ; wings dark slate-colour margined with grey; tail entirely grey; under tail- 
coverts white, or very slightly washed with yellow; irides reddish brown ; bill black ; feet dark brown, 
The Plate represents two males and a female, of the natural size, on one of the common Acacias of Van 
Diemen’s Land. 
