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Show 440 MR. H. ADAMS ON SHELLS FROM EASTERN PERU. [Nov. 22, I am positive the bird kept in the same place ; and yet its mimicking voices were heard in different places." In a former note from M r . T. MacGillivray, that gentleman remarks, " They were both noisy enough, mimicking Sericornis citreogularis and several other brush-birds, besides having a note peculiarly their own. Both were males." This is a great source of regret, as neither did the late M r . Gilbert, nor M r . G. Masters during his recent trip to Western Australia, procure the other sex of A. clamosa; so we are still in the dark as to the females of either species. But now that we have an Atrichia inhabiting a district so near Sydney I hope we shall not long remain in ignorance upon this point. The same wonderful power of ventriloquism noted above shows itself also in Atrichia clamosa. Mr. Masters informs me that he was greatly perplexed in searching for this species in Western Australia, where it inhabits dense masses of vegetation consisting of tall reedy grass and thick-growing low bushy shrubs. A whole morning was spent without a single glimpse of the bird, although its note was frequently heard within a few feet of where he was standing, first seeming to come from one side, then from another, then sounding loud and clear a few feet in front. Upon another occasion, while passing a thicket of reeds, grass, and scrub, M r . Masters observed one run in and disappear in a moment, without giving him a chance of bringing his gun to bear on it. As it was useless, even if possible, to follow it, he lay down at a short distance from the edge and determined to wait until the bird reappeared ; after a considerable time he was rewarded by seeing its head poke out; and after looking round to see if the coast was clear, the bird came out and commenced to scratch in the sand, giving him an opportunity which was not lost. Ventriloquism is not confined to the Atrichiar. I have myself been sorely at a loss to find Oreoica gutturalis. I have also observed ventriloquism in the Cincloramphi, as well as in Ptenoedus rufescens. 9. List of Land and Freshwater Shells collected by Mr. E. Bartlett on the Upper Amazons, and on the River Ucayali, Eastern Peru, with Descriptions of New Species. By HENRY ADAMS, F.L.S. (Plate XXXVIII.) Fam. AMPULLARIID^E. 1. POMUS YATESI, Reeve. 2. POMUS NOBILIS, Reeve. 3. POMUS AMAZONICUS, Reeve. |
