P E T ill dm ; A § IDF E ]RP II Lit O S A | Gould.
PETROICA SUPERCILIOSA, Gould.
White-eyebrowed Robin.
Petroica superciliosa, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part XIV. p. 106.
F or our knowledge of this new species o f Petroica we are indebted to the researches o f Mr. Gilbert, who
while in company with Dr. Leichardt, during his adventurous expedition from Moreton Bay to Port
Essington, discovered it in the neighbourhood o f the Burdekin Lakes towards the Gulf o f Carpentaria.
The following remarks in Mr. Gilbert’s Journal comprise all that is at present known respecting i t :—
“ May 14th. In a ramble with my gun I shot a new bird, the actions of which assimilate to those o f the
Petroicce and the Edpsaltrias ; like tbe former it carries its tail very erect, but is more retiring in its habits
than those birds ; on the other hand, its notes resemble those of the latter. It inhabits the dense junglelike
vegetation growing beneath the shade of the fig-trees on the banks of the Burdekin. I succeeded in
procuring two specimens.”
Superciliary stripe, throat, abdomen, under surface o f the shoulder, and the bases o f the primaries and
secondaries white: lores, ear-coverts, wing-coverts, and the primaries and secondaries for some distance
beyond the white deep black; all the upper surface, wings and tail sooty brown; all but the two central
tail-feathers largely tipped with white ; bill and feet black ; irides reddish brown.
The Plate represents the two sexes of the natural size.