EPTHIANURA AURIFRONS, Oouid.
Orange-fronted Epthianura.
Epthiamra awifr™, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part V. p. 148; and in Syn. Birds of Australia, Part IV.
As long since as the year 1837 I had the pleasure of characterizing this species at one of the scientific
meetings o f the Zoological Society o f London, from a specimen which had been presented to the Society's
collection by Lieut. Breton, R.N., a gentleman much attached to zoological science, as exemplified by his
numerous donations to that Society, and in his “ Excursions in New South Wales, Western Australia and
Van Diemen’s Land.”
The Orange-fronted Epthianura must be regarded as a bird of the greatest rarity, for the specimen above
mentioned is the only one that has ever come under my notice, and in all probability it is quite unique ;
hence this is another of the birds to which I would wish to direct the attention of residents in New
South Wales, particularly those who have an opportunity o f visiting the locality in which it was seen by
Lieut. Breton, who, when speaking of Gammon Plains, New South Wales, in the work above mentioned,
says “ we shot also some Platypi, and a small bird like a Mule Canary (a species o f Samcola) ; this last is
exceedingly rare in the colony, and I am not aware that any other persoh possesses a specimen; there were
only three together, and the natives said they had never seen any before.”
In the lengthened wing, largely developed tertiaries, and in the square form o f the tail, it offers a greater
alliance to Epthianura than to any other genus, and there I have provisionally placed it ; future research,
however, and a knowledge of its habits and nidification, will determine the justice of this opinion, or the
propriety of separating it into a distinct genus.
Head, upper tail-coverts, sides of the neck, breast and all the under surface fine golden orange, which is
richest on the forehead and centre of the abdomen; back olive; wings brown, margined with olive; tail
brownish black, each feather except the two middle ones having an oval spot of white on the inner web at
the tip ; chin and centre of the throat black; bill black; feet brown.
The figure is of the natural size.