| 184. Stipiturus malachurus | [Vol. II. ] Pl. 31. |
Genus Dasyornis, Vig. & Horsf.
A group of birds adapted for situations covered with an almost impenetrable vegetation, reed-beds, &c. The two species figured are all that are at present known; of these one is from the eastern and the other from the western parts of Australia.
| 185. Dasyornis Australis, Vig. & Horsf. | [Vol. II. ] Pl. 32. |
| 186. Dasyornis longirostris, Gould | [Vol. II. ] Pl. 33. |
Prior to my visit to Australia, I described a bird in the ‘Proceedings of the Zoological Society,’ Part V. p. 150, as D.? brunneus, but as I have not since met with the bird in any collection from Australia I presume it is not a native of that country.
Genus Atrichia, Gould.
Rictus totally devoid of bristles; bill as long as the head, compressed laterally; the upper mandible distinctly notched at the tip; gonys ascending from the rictus and then following the line of the bill; culmen ascending high in front; nostrils moderately large, covered with an operculum, and placed in a groove near the base of the bill; wings short, round, concave, the first three primaries graduated, the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh equal; tail lengthened, rounded, the stems rigid, the webs loose and decomposed; tarsi and feet robust, the hind-toe armed with a strong nail; outer and inner toes equal in length.
The only species of this genus yet discovered is as singular in its structure as it is shy and retiring in its habits; the total absence of vibrissæ in a bird apparently closely allied to Dasyornis, in which they are so much developed, renders it one of the anomalies of the Australian fauna.
| 187. Atrichia clamosa, Gould | [Vol. II. ] Pl. 34. |
Subfamily ——?