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Title: The Birds of Australia, Vol. 2 of 7
Author: Gould, John Mead
Language: English
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THE
BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.
BY
JOHN GOULD, F.R.S.,
F.L.S., F.Z.S., M.E.S., F.ETHN.S., F.R.GEOG.S., M. RAY S., HON. MEMB. OF
THE ROYAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF TURIN, OF THE ROY. ZOOL. SOC. OF
IRELAND, OF THE PENZANCE NAT. HIST. SOC., OF THE WORCESTER NAT. HIST.
SOC., OF THE NORTHUMBERLAND, DURHAM AND NEWCASTLE NAT. HIST. SOC., OF
THE NAT. HIST. SOC. OF DARMSTADT AND OF THE TASMANIAN SOCIETY OF VAN
DIEMEN’S LAND, ETC.
IN SEVEN VOLUMES.
VOL. II.
LONDON:
PRINTED BY RICHARD AND JOHN E. TAYLOR, RED LION COURT, FLEET STREET.
PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR, 20, BROAD STREET, GOLDEN SQUARE.
1848.
LIST OF PLATES.
VOLUME II.
Ægotheles Novæ-Hollandiæ Owlet Nightjar 1
—— leucogaster, _Gould_ White-bellied Owlet Nightjar 2
Podargus humeralis, _Vig. & Horsf._ Tawny-shouldered Podargus 3
—— Cuvieri, _Vig. & Horsf._ Cuvier’s Podargus 4
—— Phalænoïdes, _Gould_ Moth-plumaged Podargus 5
—— plumiferus, _Gould_ Plumed Podargus 6
Eurostopodus albogularis White-throated Goat-sucker 7
—— guttatus Spotted Goat-sucker 8
Caprimulgus macrurus, _Horsf._ Large-tailed Goat-sucker 9
Acanthylis caudacuta Australian Spine-tailed Swallow 10
Cypselus Australis, _Gould_ Australian Swift 11
Atticora leucosternon, _Gould_ White-breasted Swallow 12
Hirundo neoxena, _Gould_ Welcome Swallow 13
Collocalia arborea Tree Martin 14
—— Ariel, _Gould_ Fairy Martin 15
Merops ornatus, _Lath._ Australian Bee-eater 16
Eurystomus Australis, _Swains._ Australian Roller 17
Dacelo gigantea Great Brown Kingfisher 18
—— Leachii, _Vig. & Horsf._ Leach’s Kingfisher 19
—— cervina, _Gould_ Fawn-breasted Kingfisher 20
Halcyon sanctus, _Vig. & Horsf._ Sacred Halcyon 21
—— pyrrhopygia, _Gould_ Red-backed Halcyon 22
—— sordidus, _Gould_ Sordid Halcyon 23
—— MacLeayii, _Jard. & Selb._ MacLeay’s Halcyon 24
Alcyone azurea Azure Kingfisher 25
—— pusilla Little Kingfisher 26
Artamus sordidus Wood Swallow 27
—— minor, _Vieill._ Little Wood Swallow 28
—— cinereus, _Vieill._ Grey-breasted Wood Swallow 29
—— albiventris, _Gould_ White-vented Wood Swallow 30
—— personatus, _Gould_ Masked Wood Swallow 31
—— superciliosus, _Gould_ White-eyebrowed Wood Swallow 32
—— leucopygialis, _Gould_ White-rumped Wood Swallow 33
Dicæum hirundinaceum Swallow Dicæum 34
Pardalotus punctatus Spotted Pardalote 35
—— rubricatus, _Gould_ Red-lored Pardalote 36
—— quadragintus, _Gould_ Forty-spotted Pardalote 37
—— striatus Striated Pardalote 38
—— affinis, _Gould_ Allied Pardalote 39
—— melanocephalus, _Gould_ Black-headed Pardalote 40
—— uropygialis, _Gould_ Yellow-rumped Pardalote 41
Strepera graculina Great Crow-Shrike 42
—— fuliginosa, _Gould_ Sooty Crow-Shrike 43
—— arguta, _Gould_ Hill Crow-Shrike 44
—— Anaphonensis Grey Crow-Shrike 45
Gymnorhina Tibicen Piping Crow-Shrike 46
—— leuconota, _Gould_ White-backed Crow-Shrike 47
—— organicum, _Gould_ Tasmanian Crow-Shrike 48
Cracticus nigrogularis, _Gould_ Black-throated Crow-Shrike 49
—— picatus, _Gould_ Pied Crow-Shrike 50
—— argenteus, _Gould_ Silvery-backed Butcher-Bird 51
—— destructor Butcher-Bird 52
Cracticus Quoyii Quoy’s Crow-Shrike 53
Grallina Australis Pied Grallina 54
Graucalus melanops Black-faced Graucalus 55
—— mentalis, _Vig. & Horsf._ Varied Graucalus 56
—— hypoleucus, _Gould_ White-bellied Graucalus 57
—— Swainsonii, _Gould_ Swainson’s Graucalus 58
Pteropodocys Phasianella, _Gould_ Ground Graucalus 59
Campephaga Jardinii, _Gould_ Jardine’s Campephaga 60
—— Karu Northern Campephaga 61
—— leucomela, _Vig. & Horsf._ Black and White Campephaga 62
—— humeralis, _Gould_ White-shouldered Campephaga 63
Pachycephala gutturalis Guttural Pachycephala 64
—— glaucura, _Gould_ Grey-tailed Pachycephala 65
—— melanura, _Gould_ Black-tailed Pachycephala 66
—— pectoralis Banded Thick-head 67
—— falcata, _Gould_ Lunated Pachycephala 68
—— Lanoïdes, _Gould_ Shrike-like Pachycephala 69
—— rufogularis, _Gould_ Red-throated Pachycephala 70
—— Gilbertii, _Gould_ Gilbert’s Pachycephala 71
—— simplex, _Gould_ Plain-coloured Pachycephala 72
—— olivacea, _Vig. & Horsf._ Olivaceous Pachycephala 73
Colluricincla harmonica Harmonious Colluricincla 74
—— rufiventris, _Gould_ Buff-bellied Colluricincla 75
—— brunnea, _Gould_ Brown Colluricincla 76
—— Selbii, _Jard._ Selby’s Colluricincla 77
—— parvula, _Gould_ Little Colluricincla 78
Falcunculus frontatus Frontal Shrike-Tit 79
—— leucogaster, _Gould_ White-bellied Shrike-Tit 80
Oreoïca gutturalis Crested Oreoïca 81
Dicrurus bracteatus, _Gould_ Spangled Drongo 82
Rhipidura albiscapa, _Gould_ White-shafted Fantail 83
—— rufifrons Rufous-fronted Fantail 84
—— isura, _Gould_ Northern Fantail 85
—— Motacilloïdes, _Vig. & Horsf._ Black Fantailed Flycatcher 86
Seïsura inquieta Restless Flycatcher 87
Piezorhynchus nitidus, _Gould_ Blue Shining Flycatcher 88
Myïagra plumbea, _Vig. & Horsf._ Plumbeous Flycatcher 89
—— concinna, _Gould_ Pretty Flycatcher 90
—— nitida, _Gould_ Shining Flycatcher 91
—— latirostris, _Gould_ Broad-billed Flycatcher 92
Micrœca macroptera Great-winged Micrœca 93
—— flavigaster, _Gould_ Yellow-bellied Micrœca 94
Monarcha carinata Carinated Flycatcher 95
—— trivirgata Black-fronted Flycatcher 96
Gerygone albogularis, _Gould_ White-throated Gerygone 97
—— fuscus, _Gould_ Fuscous Gerygone 98
—— culicivorus, _Gould_ Western Gerygone 99
—— magnirostris, _Gould_ Great-billed Gerygone 100
—— lævigaster, _Gould_ Buff-breasted Gerygone 101
—— chloronotus, _Gould_ Green-backed Gerygone 102
Smicrornis brevirostris, _Gould_ Short-billed Smicrornis 103
—— flavescens, _Gould_ Yellow-tinted Smicrornis 104
[Illustration:
ÆGOTHELES NOVÆ-HOLLANDIÆ: _Vig. et Horsf._
_J. & E. Gould del._ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]
ÆGOTHELES NOVÆ-HOLLANDIÆ, _Vig. and Horsf._
Owlet Nightjar.
_Crested Goat-sucker_, Phill. Bot. Bay, pl. in p. 270.
_Caprimulgus Novæ-Hollandiæ_, Lath. Ind. Orn., vol. ii. p. 588.—Less.
Traité d’Orn., p. 265.—Ib. Man., t. i. p. 412.—Vieill. Nouv.
Dict. d’Hist. Nat., t. x. p. 234.
—— _cristatus_, Shaw in White’s Voy., pl. in p. 241.
_New Holland Goat-sucker_, Lath. Gen. Syn. Supp., vol. ii. p.
261.—Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. x. p. 170.—Lath. Gen. Hist.,
vol. vii. p. 341.
_Bristled Goat-sucker_, Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. vii. p. 342.
_Caprimulgus vittatus_, Ib. Ind. Orn. Supp., p. lviii.
_Banded Goat-sucker_, Ib. Gen. Syn. Supp., vol. ii. p. 262, pl.
136.—Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. x. p. 152, pl. 17.—Lath. Gen.
Hist., vol. vii. p. 342, pl. cxv.
_Ægotheles Novæ-Hollandiæ_, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv.
p. 197.—De la Fresn. in Guerin, Mag. de Zool. 1838, p. 21,
pl. 82.
—— _lunulatus_, Jard. and Selby, Ill. Orn., vol. iii. pl. 149.
—— _Australis_, Swains. Class. of Birds, vol. ii. p. 338.
—— _cristatus_, G. R. Gray, List of Gen. of Birds, p. 7.
_Little Mawepawk_, Colonists of Van Diemen’s Land. _Teringing_,
Aborigines of the coast of New South Wales.
This very interesting little Nightjar is subject to great variation in
the colour and markings of its plumage, a circumstance which has tended
to produce much confusion, and greatly to increase the list of synonyms.
It possesses a great range of habitat, being found in every part of Van
Diemen’s Land, and throughout the southern portion of Australia, from
Swan River on the western coast to Moreton Bay on the eastern; time, and
the continued exploration of that vast country, can alone determine how
far it may be found to the northward: it is a stationary species,
inhabiting alike the densest brushes near the coast, and the more
thinly-wooded districts of the interior.
While rambling in the Australian forests I had the good fortune to meet
with more than an ordinary number of specimens of this curious bird. I
also procured its eggs, and considerable information respecting its
habits and actions, which differ most remarkably from those of the true
_Caprimulgidæ_, and on the other hand assimilate so closely to the
smaller Owls, particularly those comprised in the genus _Athene_, as to
form as perfect an analogical representative of that group of birds as
can possibly be imagined, for which reason the English name of Owlet
Nightjar has been assigned to it.
During the day it resorts to the hollow branches or spouts as they are
called, and the holes of the gum-trees, sallying forth as night
approaches in quest of insects, particularly the smaller _Coleoptera_,
upon which it chiefly subsists. Its flight is straight, and not
characterized by the sudden turns and descents of _Caprimulgus_. On
driving it from its haunts I have sometimes observed it to fly direct to
a similar hole in another tree, but more frequently to alight on a
neighbouring branch, perching across and never parallel to it. When
assailed in its retreat it emits a loud hissing noise, and has the same
stooping motion of the head observable in the Owls; it also resembles
that tribe of birds in its erect carriage, the manner in which it sets
out the feathers round the ears and neck, and in the power it possesses
of turning the head in every direction, even over the back, a habit it
is constantly practising. A pair I had for some time in captivity were
frequently leaping to the top of the cage, and had a singular mode of
running or shuffling backwards to one corner of it.
While traversing the woods, the usual mode of ascertaining its presence
is by tapping with a stone or a tomahawk at the base of the hollow
trees, when the little inmate, as represented in the upper figure of our
Plate, will almost invariably ascend to the outlet and peep over to
ascertain the cause of disturbance. If the tree be lofty or its hole
inaccessible, it will frequently retire again to its hiding-place, and
there remain until the annoyance be repeated, when it flies off to a
place of greater security. In these holes, without forming any nest, it
deposits its eggs, which are four or five in number, perfectly white,
nearly round, and about one inch and a line in length and eleven lines
in breadth. At least two broods are reared by each pair of birds during
the year. I have known the young to be taken in Van Diemen’s Land in
October, and in New South Wales I have procured eggs in January.
Specimens from Van Diemen’s Land, Swan River, South Australia, and New
South Wales, all present considerable difference in the colour and
markings of the plumage, but none of sufficient importance to justify
their separation into distinct species: in some the nuchal band and the
circular mark on the head are very conspicuous, while in others scarcely
a trace of these markings is observable; these variations do not depend
upon habitat, but are constantly found in specimens from the same
localities.
Little or no difference is apparent in the size or plumage of the sexes.
Adults have the patches above the eyes, a semilunar mark at the back of
the head, a band round the neck, and all the under surface grey, finely
sprinkled with black, and tinged with buff; ear-coverts reddish buff,
the remainder of the head blackish brown; all the upper surface and
wings dark brown, sprinkled with grey in the form of irregular bars;
primaries brown, sprinkled on their outer webs with lighter brown and
grey; tail dark, regularly barred with numerous narrow lines of grey
sprinkled with black: irides hazel; feet flesh colour.
In immature birds the lunulate markings are much richer in colour and
more distinct than in the adults, in many of which they are nearly
obliterated, and the irides are nearly black.
The figures are of the natural size.
[Illustration:
ÆGOTHELES LEUCOGASTER: _Gould_.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]
ÆGOTHELES LEUCOGASTER, _Gould_.
White-bellied Owlet Nightjar.
_Ægotheles leucogaster_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., June 25, 1844.
This is altogether a larger and more powerful bird than the _Ægotheles
Novæ-Hollandiæ_; besides which, the white colouring of the lower part of
the belly will at all times serve to distinguish it from that species.
It is rather abundant on the Cobourg Peninsula, where it inhabits the
forests in the immediate vicinity of Port Essington; how far its range
may extend is at present unknown, but it is probable that the bird is
distributed over the whole of the northern portion of the continent, and
that it there forms the representative of the _Æ. Novæ-Hollandiæ_, which
up to the present time has only been found on the southern.
Mr. Gilbert states that it is abundant in most parts of the settlement
at Port Essington, “where it is frequently seen flying about at
twilight, and occasionally during the day. On the approach of an
intruder it flies very heavily from tree to tree, and on alighting
invariably turns round on the branch to watch his approach, moving the
head all the time after the manner of the Hawk tribe.”
The sexes when fully adult will not I expect be found to differ in
plumage. I attribute the redness of some of my specimens to the age of
the individuals; but whether the red varieties or the grey are the most
mature birds, I have not had sufficient opportunities of ascertaining.
It feeds on insects of all kinds, and as the bird is strictly nocturnal
in its habits, they are, as a matter of course, procured at night.
Head black; the crown, a lunar-shaped mark at the back of the head, and
a collar surrounding the back of the neck freckled with grey; back
freckled black and white; wings brown, crossed by numerous bands of
lighter brown freckled with dark brown; primaries margined externally
with buff, interrupted with blotchings of dark brown; tail dark brown,
crossed by numerous broad irregular bands of reddish buff freckled with
dark brown; ear-coverts straw-white; chin, abdomen and under
tail-coverts white; breast and sides of the neck white, crossed by
numerous freckled bars of black; irides dark brown; upper mandible dark
olive-brown, lower mandible white with a black tip; legs very pale
yellow; claws black.
The figures are of the natural size.
[Illustration:
PODARGUS HUMERALIS: _Vig. & Horsf._
_J. & E. Gould del._ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]
PODARGUS HUMERALIS, _Vig. and Horsf._
Tawny-shouldered Podargus.
_Caprimulgus gracilis?_ Lath. Ind. Orn. Supp., p. 58.
_Gracile Goatsucker?_ Ib. Gen. Syn. Supp., vol. ii. p. 263.—Steph.
Cont. of Shaw’s Zool., vol. x. p. 145.—Lath. Gen. Hist.,
vol. vii. p. 344.
_Podargus? gracilis?_ Steph. Cont. of Shaw’s Zool., vol. xiii. p. 93.
_Podargus Australis?_ Ib., vol. xiii. p. 92.
_Podargus cinereus?_ Cuv. Règn. Anim., pl. 4. fig. 1.—Vieill. Nouv.
Dict. d’Hist. Nat., tom. xxvii. p. 151. pl. G. 37. fig.
3.—Vieill. Ency. Méth., p. 547.
_Cold-River Goatsucker_, Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. vii. p. 369.
_Podargus Humeralis_, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p.
198.—Jard. and Selb. Ill. Orn., vol. ii. pl. 88.—Swains.
Class. of Birds, vol. ii. p. 338.
So great a similarity reigns throughout the _Podargi_ inhabiting
Australia, that it is most difficult to distinguish them; and after a
minute examination of a great number of specimens it appears to me that
there are five species, only two of which are inhabitants of New South
Wales, and to these, in my opinion, the various names of the older
authors are referrible. But as it must ever remain a matter of
uncertainty as to which these names have been applied, I have preferred
to retain for the present bird that proposed by Messrs. Vigors and
Horsfield.
The Tawny-shouldered Podargus may be distinguished by the greater
breadth of its markings, by the decided admixture of tawny in its
colouring, by the feathers of the head having a small round spot of
white at the tip, and by the more boldly-marked tips of the coverts. It
is plentifully dispersed over New South Wales, where it is not
restricted to any peculiar character of country, but inhabits alike the
thick brushes near the coast, the hilly districts, and the thinly-wooded
plains of the interior. I found it breeding on the low swampy islands
studding the mouth of the Hunter, and on the Apple-tree (_Angophora_)
flats of Yarrundi, near the Liverpool Range. In their habits and mode of
life the _Podargi_ differ very considerably from the true Nightjars, and
also in many particulars from _Ægotheles_.
Like the rest of the genus, the Tawny-shouldered Podargus is strictly
nocturnal, sleeping throughout the day on the dead branch of a tree, in
an upright position across, and never parallel to, the branch, and which
it so nearly resembles as scarcely to be distinguishable from it. I have
occasionally seen it beneath the thick foliage of the _Casuarinæ_, and I
have been informed that it sometimes shelters itself in the hollow
trunks of the _Eucalypti_, but I could never detect one in such a
situation; I mostly found them in pairs, perched near each other on the
branches of the gums, in situations not at all sheltered from the beams
of the midday sun. So lethargic are its slumbers, that it is almost
impossible to arouse it, and I have frequently shot one without
disturbing its mate sitting close by; it may also be knocked off with
sticks or stones, and sometimes is even taken with the hand: when
aroused, it flies lazily off with heavy flapping wings to a neighbouring
tree, and again resumes its slumbers until the approach of evening, when
it becomes as animated and active as it had been previously dull and
stupid. The food consists of insects of various kinds; but in what way
they are obtained is uncertain, though the contents of the stomach of
one I dissected induce me to believe that it does not usually capture
its prey while on the wing, or subsist upon nocturnal insects alone, but
that it is in the habit of creeping among the branches in search of such
as are in a state of repose; and an examination of the tail will, I
think, serve to strengthen this supposition, since it in some degree
resembles the form and structure of that organ in many of the climbing
birds. The power it possesses of shifting the position of the outer toe
backwards, as circumstances may require, is a very singular feature, and
may also tend to assist them in their progress among the branches. A
bird I shot at Yarrundi, in the middle of the night, had the stomach
filled with fresh-captured mantis and locusts (_Phasmidæ_ and _Cicadæ_),
which never move at night, and the latter of which are generally resting
against the upright boles of the trees. In other specimens I found the
remains of small _Coleoptera_, intermingled with the fibres of the roots
of what appeared to be a parasitic plant, such as would be found in
decayed and hollow trees. The whole contour of the bird shows that it is
not formed for extensive flight or for performing those rapid evolutions
that are necessary for the capture of its prey in the air, the wing
being short and concave in comparison with those of the true aërial
Nightjars, and particularly with the Australian form to which I have
given the name of _Eurostopodus_.
Of its mode of nidification I can speak with confidence, having seen
many pairs breeding during my rambles in the woods. It makes a
slightly-constructed flat nest of sticks carelessly interwoven together,
and placed at the fork of a horizontal branch of sufficient size to
ensure its safety; the tree most frequently chosen is an _Eucalyptus_,
but I have occasionally seen the nest on an Apple-tree (_Angophora_) or
a Swamp-Oak (_Casuarina_). In every instance one of the birds was
sitting on the eggs and the other perched on a neighbouring bough, both
invariably asleep; that the male participates in the duty of incubation
I ascertained by having accidentally shot a bird on the nest without
being aware it was so occupied, which on dissection proved to be a male.
The eggs are generally two in number, of a beautiful immaculate white,
and of a long oval form, one inch and ten lines in length by one inch
and three lines in diameter.
The sexes so closely resemble each other both in size and plumage, that
a separate description is unnecessary. Like the other species of the
genus, it is subject to considerable variation in its colouring; the
young, which assume the adult livery at an early age, being somewhat
darker in all their markings.
The night-call of this species is a loud hoarse noise, consisting of two
distinct sounds, which cannot be correctly described.
The stomach is thick and muscular, and is lined with a thick hair-like
substance like that of the Common Cuckoo.
All the upper surface brown, speckled with greyish white and darker
brown, the feathers of the crown having a blackish brown stripe down the
centre terminating in a minute spot of white; wings similar to the upper
surface, but lighter and with bolder black and buff spots, the coverts
having an irregular spot of white and tawny on the outer web near the
tip, which, as they lie over each other, form indistinct bands across
the wing; primaries brownish black, with light-coloured shafts, and with
a series of whitish spots on the outer webs, between which they are
margined with tawny; their inner webs irregularly barred with the same;
tail tawny brown, sprinkled with lighter brown, and crossed with a
series of irregular bands of blackish brown, sprinkled with dusky white,
each feather having a spot of brownish black near the extremity, and
tipped with white; face and all the under surface greyish white, crossed
by numerous narrow and irregular bars of tawny, and with a stripe of
brown down the centre of each feather, the latter colour being most
conspicuous and forming a kind of semilunar mark down each side of the
chest; bill light brown, tinged with purple; inside of the mouth pale
yellow; tongue long, transparent, and of the same colour with the inside
of the mouth; irides brownish orange; feet light brownish olive.
In some the rich tawny colour predominates, while others are more grey.
The bird is represented of the natural size, asleep, in the position it
is usually seen during the day.
[Illustration:
PODARGUS CUVIERI: _Vig. and Horsf._
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]
PODARGUS CUVIERI, _Vig. and Horsf._
Cuvier’s Podargus.
_Podargus Cuvieri_, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p. 200.
_More-pork_ of the Colonists.
This species is readily distinguished from the _Podargus humeralis_ by
the bill being much less robust and of a more adpressed form, while the
culmen is sharp and elevated; the bird itself is also of a smaller size
and altogether more slender than its near ally. Van Diemen’s Land, if
not its exclusive habitat, is certainly its great stronghold, it being
there very numerous, as evidenced by the frequency with which I
encountered it during my rambles in the woods; and its distribution over
the island is so general, that to particularize localities in which it
may be found is quite unnecessary, it being equally abundant near the
coast as well as in the interior. I observed it both among the thick
branches of the _Casuarinæ_ and on the dead limbs of the _Eucalypti_; it
appeared however to evince a greater partiality for the latter, which it
closely resembles in colour, and from the position in which it rests,
looks so like a part of the branch itself as frequently to elude
detection; it is generally seen in pairs sitting near each other, and
frequently on the same branch. Like the other members of the genus, this
bird feeds almost exclusively on insects, of which Coleoptera form a
great part: it is strictly nocturnal in its habits, and although not so
active as the true _Caprimulgi_, displays considerable alertness in the
capture of its food, presenting a striking contrast to its inertness in
the daytime, when it is so drowsy that it can scarcely be aroused from
its slumbers; that portion of its existence being passed in a sitting
posture across a dead branch, perfectly motionless and with the bill
pointing upwards: it never flies by day unless roused from the branch on
which it is sitting, and this is not easily effected, as neither the
discharge of a gun nor any other noise will cause it to take wing. It is
frequently captured and kept in captivity, where it excites attention
more from the sluggishness of its nature and the singular position it
assumes than from any other cause: raw meat forms a suitable substitute
for its natural food. In captivity it will pass the entire day in sleep
on the back of a chair or any other piece of furniture on which it can
perch. Like the owl, it is considered by some a bird of ill omen,
principally from the extraordinary sound of its hoarse, unearthly cry,
which resembles the words _more-pork_; it not only approaches the
immediate vicinity of the houses, but emits this sound while perched in
their verandahs and on the buildings themselves; and it is often to be
seen perched on the tombstones of the churchyard.
It builds a somewhat neatly-formed flat nest, about seven inches in
diameter, in the fork of an horizontal branch; the exterior formed of
small sticks, and the interior of the fibrous portions of various
plants; the eggs are white, and nearly of a true oval in form, being one
inch and nine lines long by one inch and three lines broad.
Considerable variation occurs in the colouring of individuals, the
prevailing tint being a dull ashy grey, while others are of a rich
chestnut hue; but whether this be indicative of immaturity, or
characteristic of the fully adult plumage, I have not been able to
satisfy myself. The figures represent both these styles of colouring.
Lores brown, each feather tipped with mealy white, forming a line before
and above the eye; feathers of the forehead mealy white, blending into
the dull ashy grey of the head and back, all the feathers of which have
a stripe of blackish brown down the centre, terminating in a small spot
of white, and are moreover minutely freckled with greyish white and dark
brown; wing-coverts chestnut, each tipped with an oval spot of white
bounded posteriorly with black, forming a line across the wing;
remainder of the wing brown, mottled with greyish white, arranged,
particularly on the primaries, in the form of irregular bars;
scapularies washed with buff and with a broad stripe of blackish brown
down the centre; under surface brownish grey, minutely freckled with
white, and with a narrow line of blackish brown down the centre; sides
of the neck washed with chestnut; tail grey, minutely freckled with
greyish white and black, assuming the form of broad irregular bands,
each feather with a small spot of white at the tip; irides varying from
yellow to reddish yellow and hazel; feet olive-brown.
Other examples have the general tint rich chestnut-brown, with all the
markings larger and more decided.
The figures are of the natural size.
[Illustration:
PODARGUS PHALÆNOÏDES: _Gould_.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]
PODARGUS PHALÆNOÏDES, _Gould_.
Moth-plumaged Podargus.
_Podargus Phalænoïdes_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part VII. p.
142.
_Nÿ-ane?_ and _In-ner-jïn-ert_, Aborigines of the neighbourhood of
Port Essington.
The present bird, which is from Port Essington, may be readily
distinguished from every other Australian species of _Podargus_ by its
small size, by the beautiful, delicate, and moth-like painting of its
plumage, and by the colouring of the thighs, which are light brown
instead of black; its tail also is rather more lengthened than that of
the common species. Like the members of the genus inhabiting Van
Diemen’s Land and New South Wales, it exhibits considerable variation in
size and colouring; in some a rusty red tint pervades the whole plumage,
while in others no trace of this hue occurs. I am inclined to consider
that age has much to do with this variation in colour: but whether the
red-tinted birds are immature or adult I have had no means of
ascertaining; further observation is necessary to determine this point;
and I consequently hope the subject will not be neglected by those who
may have an opportunity of observing the bird alive: the red-tinted
birds occur less frequently than the others.
I have several specimens from the north-west coast of Australia, and Mr.
Gilbert states that it is abundant in every part of the Cobourg
Peninsula.
Like the rest of the genus it is strictly nocturnal in its habits;
becoming animated at the approach of evening, it sallies forth from the
favourite branch where it has rested during the day in search of
insects, which, I believe, constitute almost exclusively its food; its
whole economy in fact, so far as known, so closely resembles that of the
_Podargus humeralis_, that one description would serve for both.
Forehead, sides of the face and all the under surface brownish grey,
minutely freckled with black; the feathers of the under surface with a
stripe of blackish brown down the centre, these stripes being broadest
and most conspicuous on the sides of the chest; all the upper surface
brown, minutely freckled with grey, each feather with a broad stripe of
black down the centre; shoulders dark brown; coverts freckled with
greyish white and with a spot of white, the centre of which is
fawn-colour at the tip; primaries dark brown, crossed on their outer
webs with an irregular bar of white, the interspaces on the outer
primaries rufous; inner webs of the primaries crossed by irregular bands
of freckled brown and fawn-colour; tail brown, crossed by numerous broad
bands of freckled grey, bounded on either side by irregular blotchings
of black; irides orange or reddish hazel; bill horn-colour.
In the other state, to which I have alluded, the whole of the upper
surface is of a dark rust-red, freckled on the forehead, wing-coverts
and scapularies with white; the bands on the tail less apparent; a
rufous tint pervades the grey of the under surface, and the striæ are
much narrower than in the specimen above described.
The Plate represents a male and a female, in the differently tinted
plumage, of the natural size.
[Illustration:
PODARGUS PLUMIFERUS: _Gould_.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]
PODARGUS PLUMIFERUS, _Gould_.
Plumed Podargus.
_Podargus plumiferus_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part XIII. p.
104.
The only information I have to communicate respecting this beautiful
Podargus, is, that it is a native of the brushes of the Clarence and
neighbouring rivers in New South Wales, and that several examples have
come under my notice, of which one is deposited in the Museum at Dublin,
another in the Museum at Manchester, and two are contained in my own
collection; of the latter, one was sent to me by Mr. Strange of Sydney,
and the other was purchased with other Australian birds in London. It is
readily distinguished from all the other Australian members of the genus
by the more lengthened form of tail, and by the remarkable and
conspicuous tufts of feathers which spring from immediately above the
nostrils: considerable variation is found to exist in the colouring of
the various specimens, some being much redder than the others, and
having the markings on the under surface much less distinct and of a
more chestnut tint.
Nothing whatever is known of its habits and economy, points which must
remain for future discovery and research to make known.
Tuft of feathers covering the nostrils alternately banded with blackish
brown and white; all the upper surface mottled brown, black, and
brownish white, the latter predominating over each eye, where it forms a
conspicuous patch; the markings are of a larger but similar kind on the
wings, and on the primaries and secondaries assume the form of bars;
tail similar but paler, and with the barred form of the markings still
more distinct; centre of the throat and chest brownish white, minutely
freckled with brown; sides of the neck and breast, and all the under
surface similar, but with a dark line of brown down the centre, and two
large nearly square-shaped spots of brownish white near the tip of each
feather; bill and feet horn-colour.
The figures are of the natural size.
[Illustration:
EUROSTOPODUS ALBOGULARIS.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter, del^t_ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]
EUROSTOPODUS ALBOGULARIS.
White-throated Goat-sucker.
_Caprimulgus albogularis_, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv.
p. 194, note.
—— _mystacalis_, Temm. Pl. Col. 410.
During my visit to Australia I had opportunities of observing a number
of this species; it is still, however, a rare bird in all our
collections, and how far it may range over the Australian continent is
not known; the south-eastern are the only portions in which it has yet
been discovered; and although all the specimens I have seen in
collections were procured at Moreton Bay, I have killed three or four of
an evening on the cleared lands on the Upper Hunter, which shows that it
is far from being a scarce bird in that part of New South Wales. In all
probability it is only a summer visitant in the colony, as it was at
this season only that I observed it. In the daytime it sleeps on the
ground on some dry knoll or open part of the forest, and as twilight
approaches sallies forth to the open glades and small plains or cleared
lands in search of insects; its flight, which is much more powerful than
that of any other Goatsucker I have seen, enabling it to pass through
the air with great rapidity, and to mount up and dart down almost at
right angles whenever an insect comes within the range of its eye, which
is so large and full that its powers of vision must be very great. Most
of those I shot were gorged with insects, principally coleoptera and
locusts, some of which were entire and so large as to excite surprise
how they could be swallowed; in several instances they were so perfect,
that I preserved them as specimens for my entomological collection.
Of its nidification I have no information to furnish; it doubtless,
however, breeds on the ground, and judging from analogy its eggs will be
found to be either one or two in number, and in form and colour
partaking of the character of those of _Caprimulgus_, and not of those
of _Podargus_ and _Ægotheles_.
Contrary to what might have been expected, I found that although the
sexes are nearly alike in colour, the females always exceed the males in
size and in the brilliance of the tints; the males, on the other hand,
have the two white spots on the third and fourth primaries more
conspicuous than in the female.
All the upper surface very minutely freckled grey and brown; the
feathers on the crown of the head and at the occiput with a large patch
of black down the centre; behind the ear-coverts a patch of dark brown
sprinkled with brownish buff; from the angle of the mouth passing round
the back of the neck an indistinct collar of intermingled buff, chestnut
and black; scapularies variegated with dark brown on their outer webs
and margined with bright fulvous; wing dark brown variegated with
fulvous and grey; secondaries dark brown, with a regular series of
bright fulvous spots along each web; primaries blackish brown, the two
first without any spot, the remainder spotted like the secondaries, the
third having a spot of white on its inner and outer web about the centre
of the feather, the fourth with a large white spot on its outer web; two
centre and outer webs of the remaining tail-feathers dark brown, marbled
with irregular bars of grey; the inner webs of the lateral feathers dark
brown, crossed with irregular bands of light buff; throat blackish
brown, spotted with bright buff; on each side of the throat a large oval
spot of white; breast dark brown, spotted above with dull buff, and
broadly freckled with dull buff and grey; abdomen and under tail-coverts
bright fulvous, crossed with bars of dark brown; irides dark brown; feet
mealy reddish brown.
The Plate represents a female of the natural size.
[Illustration:
EUROSTOPODUS GUTTATUS.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter, del^t_ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]
EUROSTOPODUS GUTTATUS.
Spotted Goat-sucker.
_Caprimulgus guttatus_, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p.
192.
_Käl-ga_, Aborigines of the lowland districts of Western Australia.
_Goatsucker_, of the Colonists.
As the similitude of its form would lead us to suspect, this species
closely resembles the preceding, both in its habits and in the whole of
its economy; unlike that species, however, whose range of habitat would
appear to be very limited, the present bird is universally, but thinly,
distributed over the whole of the southern portion of Australia. I
killed it in South Australia and in New South Wales; the collection
formed by Mr. Gilbert at Swan River also contained specimens which
presented no difference whatever, either in size or markings.
I more than once flushed this bird in open day, when, after mounting
rapidly in the air, it performed a few zigzag evolutions and pitched
again to the earth at a distant spot. That it breeds on the ground there
can be no doubt, as I found a newly-hatched young one on the precise
spot from which I had flushed the adult; the little helpless creature,
which much resembled a small mass of down or wool, was of a reddish
brown colour, not very dissimilar from the surface of the ground where
it had been hatched: my utmost endeavours to find the broken shell were
entirely unavailing; I am consequently unable to describe the egg, or to
furnish any further information respecting the nidification of this
singular form.
The sexes are so nearly alike in colour and size that they are not to be
distinguished except by dissection; the young, on the contrary, is
clothed in a more buffy brown dress until it has attained the size of
the adult.
Forehead and centre of the head brownish black, each feather spotted and
margined with bright buff; over each eye the feathers are pearly white
very finely pencilled with brownish black; lores and sides of the face
brown spotted with buff; collar at the back of the head reddish
chestnut; back grey freckled with black; scapularies light grey freckled
with brownish black, largely tipped with bright buff, with an irregular
diagonal patch of black; wing-coverts grey, spotted and freckled with
brown, each feather largely tipped with bright buff; primaries and
secondaries brownish black, marked on both webs with buff, the buff on
the outer webs being in the form of round spots, on the inner webs
irregular bars; on the inner web of the first primary is a large spot of
pure white, on the second primaries a similar but larger spot, and a
small one on the outer web; the third and fourth crossed by a large
irregular patch of white; middle tail-feathers light grey, marbled and
finely freckled with dark brown; lateral feathers light grey barred with
blackish brown and bright buff, and freckled with dark brown, the buff
on the outer web of the outside feather forming a regular row of spots;
on each side of the throat an oblique line of white; chest dark brown,
each feather broadly barred and spotted with light buff; abdomen bright
buff, finely and irregularly barred with black; under tail-coverts
sandy; bill black; irides very dark brown; feet mealy reddish brown.
The Plate represents an adult male and a young bird of the natural size.
[Illustration:
CAPRIMULGUS MACRURUS: _Horsf._
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]
CAPRIMULGUS MACRURUS, _Horsf._
Large-tailed Goatsucker.
_Caprimulgus macrurus_, Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xiii. p. 142.
This, the only true _Caprimulgus_ known to inhabit Australia, is I
believe identical with the _C. macrurus_ of Dr. Horsfield, whose
specimens were procured in Java, while those I possess were obtained at
Port Essington, where the bird is moderately plentiful; hence it would
appear that it has an unusually wide range of habitat. It inhabits the
open parts of the forest and is strictly nocturnal; it mostly rests on
the ground on the shady side of a large tree close to the roots, and if
disturbed several times in succession takes to the branch of one of the
largest trees. I have never seen the eggs of this species, but I possess
a young bird apparently only a few days old, which Mr. Gilbert found
lying under a shrubby tree, without any nest or even a blade of grass
near it; the little creature was so similar in colour to that of the
ground upon which it was lying, that it was with difficulty detected,
and Mr. Gilbert was only induced to search for it from the very peculiar
manner in which the old bird rose, the reluctance it evinced to leave
the spot, and its hovering over the place it had risen from, instead of
flying off to the distance of nearly a hundred yards, as it usually
does.
The sexes are distinguished from each other by the greater extent of the
white mark on the primaries and outer tail-feathers; in other parts of
the plumage and in size there is no difference.
Its food consists of moths, flies and coleopterous insects, which are
taken during flight.
Head brownish grey, very minutely freckled with black; the feathers down
the middle of the head and occiput with a large broad stripe of black
down the centre; lores, space surrounding the eyes and ear-coverts
reddish brown; on each side of the neck a broad stripe of rich buff
barred with black; a narrow line of white passes below the angle of the
mouth; chin brown; across the throat a band of white bounded below by
black, the extremities of the white feathers being of that hue; centre
of the back dark brown, freckled with black and buff; shoulders blackish
brown; wing-coverts freckled grey, buff and black, each with a large
spot of buff at the tip; primaries and secondaries blackish brown, the
former crossed at their base, and the latter throughout their entire
length, with reddish buff; the second and third primaries crossed near
their base with a broad band of white, stained with buff on the outer
margin; the first primary with a spot of white only on the margin of the
inner web; the first three primaries freckled at their tips, and the
remainder for the entire length of their inner webs with brownish grey;
scapularies freckled grey and brown, with a large patch of deep dull
black on their outer webs, margined externally with buff; rump freckled
with dark brown and grey, and with an interrupted line of darker brown
down the centre of each feather; two centre tail-feathers minutely and
coarsely freckled with very dark brown; the next on each side very dark
brown, crossed by irregular bands of freckled brownish grey and black;
the next on each side similar, but the bands narrower and less
conspicuous; the two outer ones on each side very dark brown for three
parts of the length, the apical portion being white, stained with
freckled buff and black on the outer webs; the basal or dark portion
crossed by narrow indistinct and irregular bars of deep buff; breast
freckled buff, grey and brown, some of the feathers in the centre of the
breast largely tipped with buff; abdomen and under tail-coverts deep
buff, crossed by narrow regular bands of dark brown; irides blackish
brown; bill black; feet and claws reddish brown.
The Plate represents a male and a female of the natural size.
[Illustration:
ACANTHYLIS CAUDACUTA.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter, del^t_ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]
ACANTHYLIS CAUDACUTA.
Australian Spine-tailed Swallow.
_Hirundo caudacuta_, Lath. Ind. Orn. Supp., p. 57. sp. 1.—Lath. Gen.
Hist., vol. vii. p. 307.—Vieill. 2nde Edit. du Nouv. Dict.
d’Hist. Nat., tom. xiv. p. 535; and Ency. Méth. Orn., Part
II. p. 531.
_Needle-tailed Swallow?_ Lath. Gen. Syn. Supp., vol. ii. p.
307.—Steph. Cont. Shaw’s Gen. Zool., vol. x. p. 133.
_Pin-tailed Swallow_, Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. vii. p. 308.
_Chætura Australis_, Steph. Cont. Shaw’s Gen. Zool., vol. xiii. p. 76.
_Hirundo pacifica_, Lath. Ind. Orn. Supp., p. 58.—Vieill. 2nde Edit.
du Nouv. Dict. d’Hist. Nat., tom. xiv. p. 511; and Ency.
Méth. Orn., Part II. p. 529.
_New Holland Swallow?_ Lath. Gen. Syn. Supp., vol. ii. p. 259.—Steph.
Cont. Shaw’s Gen. Zool., vol. x. p. 132.—Lath. Gen. Hist.,
vol. vii. p. 308.
_Chætura macroptera_, Swains. Zool. Ill. 2nd Ser., pl. 42.—Gould,
Birds of Australia, Part II. cancelled.
This noble species, the largest of the _Hirundinidæ_ yet discovered, is
a summer visitant of the eastern portions of Australia, proceeding as
far south as Van Diemen’s Land; but its visits to this island are not so
regular as to New South Wales, and its stay in these southern latitudes
is never protracted. The months of January and February are those in
which it has been most frequently observed in Van Diemen’s Land, where
it simultaneously appears in large flocks, which after spending a few
days disappear as suddenly as they arrived. I am not aware of its having
been observed in Western Australia, neither has it occurred in any of
the collections formed at Port Essington.
The keel or breast-bone of this species is more than ordinarily deep,
and the pectoral muscles more developed than in any other bird of its
weight with which I am acquainted. Its whole form is especially and
beautifully adapted for aërial progression, and as its lengthened wings
would lead us to imagine, its power of flight, both for rapidity and
extension, is truly amazing; hence it readily passes from one part of
the country to another, and if so disposed may be engaged in hawking for
flies on the continent of Australia at one moment, and in half an hour
be similarly employed in Van Diemen’s Land.
So exclusively is this bird a tenant of the air, that I never in any
instance saw it perch, and but rarely sufficiently near the earth to
admit of a successful shot; it is only late in the evening and during
lowery weather that such an object can be accomplished. With the
exception of the Crane, it is certainly the most lofty as well as the
most vigorous flier of the Australian birds. I have frequently observed
in the middle of the hottest days, while lying prostrate on the ground
with my eyes directed upwards, the cloudless blue sky peopled at an
immense elevation by hundreds of these birds, performing extensive
curves and sweeping flights, doubtless attracted thither by the insects
that soar aloft during serene weather; hence, as I have before stated,
few birds are more difficult to obtain, particularly on the continent of
Australia, where long droughts are so prevalent; on the contrary, the
flocks that visit the more humid climate of Van Diemen’s Land, where
they necessarily seek their food near the earth, are often greatly
diminished by the gun during their stay.
I regret that I could ascertain no particulars whatever respecting the
nidification of this fine bird, but we may naturally conclude that both
rocks and holes in the larger trees are selected as sites for the
purpose, as well as for a roosting-place during the night. Before
retiring to roost, which it does immediately after the sun has gone
down, the Spine-tailed Swallow may frequently be seen, either singly or
in pairs, sweeping up the gullies or flying with immense rapidity just
above the tops of the trees, their never-tiring wings enabling them to
perform their evolutions in the capture of insects, and of sustaining
themselves in the air during the entire day, without cessation.
The sexes offer no perceptible difference in their outward appearance;
but the female, as is the case with the other members of the family, is
a trifle smaller than her mate.
Crown of the head, back of the neck, and ear-coverts deep shining green
strongly tinged with brown; a small space immediately before the eye
deep velvety black; band across the forehead, throat, inner webs of the
secondaries nearest the back, a patch on the lower part of the flanks
and the under tail-coverts white; wings and tail deep shining green,
with purple reflexions; centre of the back greyish brown, becoming
darker towards the rump; chest and abdomen dark clove-brown; bill black;
feet brown.
The figures are those of the male and female of the natural size.
[Illustration:
CYPSELUS AUSTRALIS: _Gould_.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter, del^t_ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]
CYPSELUS AUSTRALIS, _Gould_.
Australian Swift.
_Cypselus Australis_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part VII. p. 141.
As I had never seen or heard of a true Swift in Australia, I was no less
surprised than gratified when I discovered this species to be tolerably
numerous on the Upper Hunter, during my first visit to that district in
1838. Those I then observed were flying high in the air and performing
immense sweeps and circles, while engaged in the capture of insects. I
succeeded in killing six or eight individuals, among which were adult
examples of both sexes, but I was unable to obtain any particulars as to
their habits and economy. It would be highly interesting to know whether
this bird, like the other members of the family, returns annually to
spend the months of summer in Australia. I think it likely that this may
be the case, and that it may have been frequently confounded with the
_Acanthylis caudacuta_, as I have more than once seen the two species
united in flocks, hawking together in the cloudless skies, like the
Martins and Swallows of our own island. By the discovery of this bird
another beautiful instance of representation is brought under our
notice; evincing most clearly that the Australian Swift, Swallow and
Martin are representatives of the Swift, Swallow and Martin of Europe,
each performing in their respective hemispheres similar offices in the
great scheme of nature.
Throat and rump white; upper and under surface of the body brown; the
back tinged with a bronzy metallic lustre; each feather of the under
surface margined with white; wings and tail dark brown; irides, bill and
feet black.
The figures are those of a male and a female of the natural size.
[Illustration:
ATTICORA LEUCOSTERNON: _Gould_.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter, del^t_ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]
ATTICORA LEUCOSTERNON, _Gould_.
White-breasted Swallow.
_Hirundo leucosternus_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part VIII. p.
172.
_Boö-de-boö-de_ of the Aborigines of the mountain districts of
Western Australia.
_Black and White Swallow_ of the Colonists.
For the present I have placed this new and elegant Swallow with the
members of the genus _Atticora_; the type of which is the _Hirundo
fasciata_ of authors, a bird inhabiting South America, from which
country I have seen two species, while South Africa presents us with a
third; the present, therefore, may be considered as the representative
of the genus in Australia, thus further evidencing that beautiful law of
representation alluded to in the page on _Cypselus Australis_ respecting
the Swift, Swallow and Martin.
I have never myself seen this bird; the specimen from which my original
description was taken was presented to me in 1839 by Mr. Charles Coxen,
who had killed it some years before, and who informed me that it was one
of a pair that he observed flying over a small lake in the neighbourhood
of the Lower Namoi; its companion was not procured.
The second example was killed at Swan River, where Mr. Gilbert in his
notes from Western Australia says, “I only observed this bird in the
interior, and as far as I can learn, it has not been seen to the
westward of York: I am told it is merely a summer visitor. It is a very
wandering species, never very numerous, and is generally seen in small
flocks of from ten to twenty in number, flying about, sometimes in
company with the other Swallows, for about ten minutes, and then flying
right away; I noticed this singular habit every time I had an
opportunity of observing the species. It usually flies very high, a
circumstance which renders it difficult to procure specimens.
“Its flight more nearly resembles that of the Swift than that of the
Swallow; its cry also, at times, very much resembles that of the former.
“Its food principally consists of minute black flies.
“This bird chooses for its nest the deserted hole of either the Dalgyte
(_Perameles lagotis_) or the Boodee (a species of _Bettongia_), in the
side of which it burrows for about seven or nine inches in a horizontal
direction, making no nest, but merely laying its eggs on the bare sand.”
Crown of the head light brown, surrounded by a ring of white; lores
black; a broad band commencing at the eye, and passing round the back of
the neck, brown; centre of the back, throat, chest and under surface of
the shoulder white; wings and tail brownish black; rump, upper
tail-coverts, abdomen and under tail-coverts black; irides dark reddish
brown; bill blackish brown; legs and feet greenish grey.
The figures are of the natural size.
[Illustration:
HIRUNDO NEOXENA: _Gould_.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter, del^t_ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]
HIRUNDO NEOXENA, _Gould_.
Welcome Swallow.
_Hirundo Javanica_, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p. 191.
_New Holland Swallow_, Griffith’s Edit. Cuv. Anim. King., Aves, vol.
vii. p. 96; and _H. pacifica_, Ibid., pl. not numbered.
_Kun̈-na-meet_, Aborigines of the lowland districts of Western
Australia.
_Ber-rin̈-nin_, Aborigines of New South Wales.
Like many other Australian birds, this species has been considered to be
identical with another or others described by the older writers. Messrs.
Vigors and Horsfield, in their “List of Australian Birds,” published in
the fifteenth volume of the Linnean Transactions, state that they “have
been led into a more detailed description of this species, in order to
point out the differences of its characters from those of our European
species _Hir. rustica_, with which it has been generally confounded;”
but while they have very clearly pointed out the distinctive characters
of the two species, they have, in my opinion, departed from their usual
accuracy in considering it to be identical with the bird figured by
Sparmann in the “Museum Carlsonianum” under the name of _Hirundo
Javanica_, which is there represented with a square tail, and which, if
drawn correctly, is not only specifically but generically distinct. I
have also compared specimens of the Australian Swallow with the
_Hirondelle Orientale_ of M. Temminck’s “Planches Coloriées,” with which
species it was likewise considered to be identical by Messrs. Vigors and
Horsfield, but from which also I conceive it to be distinct. On the
contrary, the Swallow figured in Griffith’s edition of Cuvier’s “Animal
Kingdom” is certainly the Australian bird; but as the specific term
there given had been previously employed by Sparmann, as mentioned
above, the necessity of a new name for the present species has been
forced upon me; and that of _neoxena_ has suggested itself as
appropriate, from the circumstance of its appearance throughout the
whole of the southern portions of Australia being hailed as a welcome
indication of the approach of spring, and its arrival there associated
with precisely the same ideas as those popularly entertained respecting
our own pretty Swallow in Europe. The two species are in fact beautiful
representatives of each other, and assimilate not only in their
migratory movements, but also most closely in their whole habits,
actions and economy. It arrives in Van Diemen’s Land about the middle or
end of September, and after rearing at least two broods departs again
northwards in March; but it is evident that the migratory movement of
the Swallow, and doubtless that of all other birds, is regulated
entirely by the temperature and the more or less abundant supply of food
necessary for its existence; for I found that in New South Wales, and
every country in Australia within the same latitude, it arrived much
earlier and departed considerably later than in Van Diemen’s Land; and
Mr. Caley, who resided in New South Wales for several years, and whose
valuable notes on the birds of that part of the country have been so
often quoted, states that “the earliest period of the year that I
noticed the appearance of _Swallows_ was on the 12th of July 1803, when
I saw two; but I remarked several towards the end of the same month in
the following year (1804). The latest period I observed them was on the
30th of May 1806, when a number of them were twittering and flying high
in the air. When I missed them at Paramatta, I have sometimes met with
them among the north rocks, a romantic spot about two miles to the
northward of the former place.” A few stragglers remain in New South
Wales during the whole of the winter, but their numbers cannot be for a
moment compared with those to be observed in the summer, and which
during the colder months have wended their way to a warmer and more
congenial climate, where insect life is sufficiently abundant for the
support of so great a multitude. I have never been able to trace this
bird very far to the north; it certainly does not visit Java, nor I
believe New Guinea, neither have I yet seen it from Port Essington or
any part of the north coast, although it is probable that its range does
extend thus far.
The natural breeding-places of this bird are the deep clefts of rocks
and dark caverns, but since the colonization of Australia it has in a
remarkable degree imitated its European prototype, by selecting for the
site of its nest, the smoky chimneys, the chambers of mills and
out-houses, or the corner of a shady verandah; the nest is also
similarly constructed, being open at the top, formed of mud or clay,
intermingled with grass or straw to bind it firmly together, and lined
first with a layer of fine grasses and then with feathers. The shape of
the nest depends upon the situation in which it is built, but it
generally assumes a rounded form in front. The eggs are usually four in
number, of a lengthened form; the ground colour pinky white, with
numerous fine spots of purplish brown, the interspaces with specks of
light greyish brown, assuming in some instances the form of a zone at
the larger end; they are from eight to nine lines long by six lines
broad. At Swan River the breeding-season is in September and October.
The food consists of small flies and other insects.
Forehead, chin, throat and chest rust-red; head, back of the neck, back,
scapularies, wing-coverts, rump and upper tail-coverts deep steel-blue;
wings and tail blackish brown, all but the two centre feathers of the
latter with an oblique mark of white on the inner web; under surface
very pale brown; under tail-coverts pale brown passing into an irregular
crescent-shaped mark near the extremity and tipped with white; irides
dark brown; bill and legs black.
The figures are those of a male and female of the natural size.
[Illustration:
CHELIDON ARBOREA: _Gould_.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter, del^t_ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]
COLLOCALIA ARBOREA.
Tree Martin.
_Dun-rumped Swallow_, Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. vii. p. 309.
_Hirundo pyrrhonota_, Lath. MSS.—Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol.
xv. p. 190.
_Hirundo nigricans_, Vieill. Ency. Méth., Part II. p. 525?
_Gäb-by-kal̈-lan-goö-rong_, Aborigines of the lowlands of Western
Australia.
_Martin_ of the Colonists.
The specific term of _pyrrhonota_ having been given to a bird of this
group by Vieillot, prior to the publication of the List of Australian
Birds by Messrs. Vigors and Horsfield in the Linnean Transactions, as
quoted above, I have been necessitated to furnish this species with a
new appellation, and have selected that of _arborea_ as indicative of
its habits; for in every part of Australia that I have visited, it
invariably selects the holes of trees for the purpose of nidification.
It is strictly a summer visitant to Van Diemen’s Land and all the
southern portions of Australia, arriving in August and retiring
northwards as autumn approaches.
The Tree Martin is a familiar species, frequenting the streets of the
towns in company with the Swallow. I observed it to be particularly
numerous in the streets of Hobart Town, where it arrives early in
September; the more southern and colder situation of the island
rendering all migratory birds later in their arrival there.
It breeds during the month of October in the holes of trees, making no
nest, but laying its eggs on the soft dust generally found in such
places: the eggs are from three to five in number, of a pinky white
faintly freckled at the larger end with fine spots of light reddish
brown; they are eight lines long by six lines broad.
Its food consists of insects of various kinds, particularly a species of
small black fly.
Considerable difference exists both in size and in the depth of
colouring of specimens killed in New South Wales, Swan River and Van
Diemen’s Land; but as there exists no distinctive character of marking,
I am induced to regard them as mere local varieties rather than as
distinct species. The Van Diemen’s race are larger in all their
admeasurements, and have the fulvous tint of the under surface and the
band across the forehead much deeper than in those killed in New South
Wales; individuals from the latter locality again exceed in size those
from Western Australia.
Specimens from Van Diemen’s Land have the forehead crossed by a fulvous
band; head, back of the neck, back and scapularies glossy bluish black;
wings and tail brown; rump and upper tail-coverts light fulvous; throat,
sides of the neck and flanks light fulvous, with a narrow stripe of dark
brown in the centre of each feather; centre of the abdomen nearly white;
irides, bill and feet blackish brown.
The figures in the opposite Plate, which are of the natural size, were
taken from two of the varieties mentioned above; the upper one from a
specimen killed in New South Wales, the other two from birds taken in
Van Diemen’s Land.
[Illustration:
CHELIDON ARIEL: _Gould_.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter, del^t_ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]
COLLOCALIA ARIEL, _Gould_.
Fairy Martin.
_Collocalia Ariel_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., October 11, 1842.
Until my arrival in the colony of New South Wales I had no idea of the
existence of this new and beautiful Martin, nor in fact until I was
awakened by its twittering notes at the bed-room window of the inn at
Maitland, did I discover that I was surrounded by hundreds of this
species, which were breeding under the verandahs and corners of the
windows, precisely after the manner of the Common Martin of Europe.
Several of their bottle-shaped nests were built round the house, and
from these I obtained as many eggs as I desired.
It is numerously dispersed over all the southern portions of Australia,
and like every other member of the genus it is strictly migratory,
making the southern latitudes its summer residence. It usually arrives
in the month of August and departs again in February or March; during
this interval it rears two or three broods. The Fairy Martin, unlike the
favourite Swallow of the Australians, although enjoying a most extensive
range, appears to have an antipathy to the country near the sea, for
neither in New South Wales nor at Swan River have I ever heard of its
approaching the coast-line nearer than twenty miles; hence while I never
observed it at Sydney, the town of Maitland on the Hunter is annually
visited by it in great numbers. In Western Australia it is common
between Northam and York, while the towns of Perth and Fremantle on the
coast, are, like Sydney, unfavoured with its presence. I observed it
throughout the district of the Upper Hunter, as well as in every part of
the interior, breeding in various localities, wherever suitable
situations presented themselves, sometimes in the holes of low decayed
trees; while not unfrequently clusters of nests were attached to the
perpendicular banks of rivers, the sides of rocks, &c., always, however,
in the vicinity of water. The nest, which is bottle-shaped with a long
neck, is composed of mud or clay, and like that of our Common Martin, is
only constructed in the morning and evening, unless the day be wet or
lowery. In the construction of the nests they appear to work in small
companies, six or seven assisting in the formation of each nest, one
remaining within and receiving the mud brought by the others in their
mouths: in shape they are nearly round, but vary in size from four to
six or seven inches in diameter; the spouts being eight, nine or ten
inches in length. When built on the sides of rocks or in the hollows of
trees they are placed without any regular order, in clusters of thirty
or forty together, some with their spouts inclining downwards, others at
right angles, &c.; they are lined with feathers and fine grasses. The
eggs, which are four or five in number, are sometimes white, at others
spotted and blotched with red; eleven-sixteenths of an inch long by half
an inch broad.
Its flight closely resembles that of the Common Martin; the stomach is
tolerably muscular and the food consists of small flies.
The sexes cannot be distinguished by their outward appearance.
Crown of the head rust-red; back, scapularies and wing-coverts deep
steel-blue; wings and tail dark brown; rump buffy white; upper
tail-coverts brown; under surface white, tinged with rust-red,
particularly on the sides of the neck and flanks; the feathers of the
throat with a fine line of dark brown down the centre; irides blackish
brown; bill blackish grey; legs and feet olive-grey.
The figures are of the natural size.
[Illustration:
MEROPS ORNATUS: _Lath._
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]
MEROPS ORNATUS, _Lath_.
Australian Bee-eater.
_Merops ornatus_, Lath. Ind. Orn., Supp. p. xxxv.
_Mountain Bee-eater_, Lewin, Birds of New Holl., pl. 18.
_Variegated Bee-eater_, Lath. Gen. Syn., Supp., vol. ii. p. 155, pl.
128.—Ib. Gen. Hist., vol. iv. p. 130, pl. lxix.—Shaw, Gen.
Zool., vol. viii. p. 158.
_Merops melanurus_, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p.
208.—Less. Traité d’Orn., p. 238.
_Dee-weed-gang_, Aborigines of New South Wales.
_Bëe-roo-bëe-roo-long_, Aborigines of the lowland, and
_Ber̈-rin-ber̈-rin_, Aborigines of the mountain districts of Western
Australia.
_Bee-eater_ of the Colonists.
There can, I think, be little doubt of the present being the only
species of Bee-eater inhabiting Australia, since no other came under my
notice during my expedition; nor have I seen examples differing from
those here figured in any of the numerous collections I have had
opportunities of examining, consequently the specific term of _ornatus_
long since applied to it by Dr. Latham must be the one adopted, that of
_melanurus_ given by Messrs. Vigors and Horsfield sinking into a
synonym.
This bird has so many attractions that it will doubtless be always
regarded as a general favourite with the Australians; the extreme beauty
of its plumage, the elegance of its form and the graceful manner of its
flight all combining to render it especially worthy of their notice;
besides which, many pleasing associations are connected with it, for,
like the Swallow and the Cuckoo of Europe, its arrival is a certain
harbinger of the return of spring, which in the southern hemisphere is,
as is well known, at the opposite period of the year to that of the
northern; hence the Australian Bee-eater, which is strictly migratory,
arrives in New South Wales and all parts of the same latitude in August,
and departs northwards in March, the intervening period being employed
in the duties of incubation and of rearing its progeny. During the
summer months it is universally spread over the whole southern portion
of the continent from east to west; and it will be interesting to
ornithologists generally, as it was to myself, to know that at Port
Essington on the northern coast it is also strictly migratory, being
abundantly dispersed over that part of the country when it is absent
from the southern. “On my arrival at Port Essington in July,” says Mr.
Gilbert, “this bird was extremely abundant in every variety of
situation. It is a migratory bird in this part of Australia; a few pairs
perhaps remaining to breed, as is evident from the natives being well
acquainted with their mode of incubating, and also from my having in one
instance seen a pair of old birds with their young, which could not long
have left the nest as they were still being fed by their parents. With
the exception of these I did not observe this species in any part of the
Peninsula or the adjacent islands, from the latter part of August to the
time of my leaving in the following March.”
I have never seen this bird either in collections from New Guinea or
from any other of the Indian islands; hence we may naturally conclude
that the extreme northern parts of Australia form the boundary of its
range in that direction, as New South Wales and the same degree of
latitude do on the southern. In South Australia and at Swan River it is
equally numerous as in New South Wales, generally giving preference to
the inland districts rather than to those near the coast; hence it is
rarely to be met with in the neighbourhood of Perth, while in the York
district it is very common. In New South Wales I found it especially
abundant on the Upper Hunter, and all other parts towards the interior,
as far as I had an opportunity of exploring. Its favourite resorts
during the day are the open, arid and thinly-timbered forests; and in
the evening the banks and sides of rivers, where numbers may frequently
be seen in company. It almost invariably selects a dead or leafless
branch whereon to perch, and from which it darts forth to capture the
passing insect, much after the manner of many other of the Fissirostral
birds, particularly the Kingfishers, to which it also assimilates in the
upright position it assumes while perched. Its flight somewhat resembles
that of the _Artami_, and although it is capable of being sustained for
some time, the bird more frequently performs short excursions, and
returns to the branch it had left.
I have had frequent opportunities of observing both the eggs and young,
which are deposited and reared in holes, made in the sandy banks of
rivers or any similar situation in the forest favourable for the
purpose. The entrance is about the size of a mouse-hole, and is
continued for a yard in depth, at the end of which is an excavation of
sufficient size for the reception of the parent, and the deposition on
the bare sand of four or five beautiful white eggs, which are ten lines
long by eight or nine lines broad.
The stomach is tolerably muscular, and the food consists of various
insects, principally coleoptera and neuroptera.
The sexes are alike in plumage, and may be thus described:—
Forehead, line over the eye, back and wing-coverts brownish-green; crown
of the head and nape orange-brown; wings orange-brown, passing into
green on the extremities of the primaries, and broadly tipped with
black; two or three of the scapularies, lower part of the back, rump and
upper tail-coverts cœrulean blue; tail black, most of the feathers,
particularly the two centre ones, slightly margined with blue; lores,
line beneath and behind the eye and ear-coverts velvety black; beneath
which is a stripe of cœrulean blue; throat rich yellow, passing into
orange on the sides of the neck; beneath this a broad band of deep
black; under surface like the back, becoming green on the lower part of
the abdomen; under tail-coverts light blue; irides light brownish red;
bill black; legs and feet mealy greenish grey.
The young are destitute of the black on the throat, and of the blue line
beneath the eye.
The figures are of the natural size.
[Illustration:
EURYSTOMUS AUSTRALIS: _Swains._
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]
EURYSTOMUS AUSTRALIS, _Swains_.
Australian Roller.
_Eurystomus orientalis_, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p.
202.
_Eurystomus Australis_, Swains. Anim. in Menag., p. 326.—Ib. Class. of
Birds, vol. ii. p. 333.
_Coracias pacifica_, Lath. Ind. Orn. Supp., p. xxvii?
_Pacific Roller_, Lath. Gen. Syn. Supp., vol. ii. p. 371?
_Natay-kin_, Aborigines of New South Wales.
_Dollar Bird_ of the Colonists.
By the older writers this species was considered to be identical with
the _Eurystomus orientalis_, and the merit of first pointing out its
distinguishing characters is due to Mr. Swainson, who observes that it
is “smaller than _E. orientalis_; has the bill less compressed, and
therefore much broader; the colours lighter, but the wings much bluer;
the spurious wings entirely vivid blue, as well as the outer webs of the
quills; while in _orientalis_ these parts are almost black.”
It is a very local species, as I have never seen it from or met with it
in any other part of Australia excepting in New South Wales, and even
there it is migratory, arriving early in the spring; having brought
forth its progeny, it retires northwards on the approach of winter. From
what I saw of it,—and I had opportunities of observing it almost daily
for some length of time,—it seemed to be most active about sun-rise and
sunset, and during cloudy days; in sultry weather it was generally
perched upon some dead branch in a state of quietude. It is a very bold
bird at all times, but particularly so during the breeding-season, when
it comes down with the utmost fury upon any intruder that may venture to
approach the hole in the tree in which its eggs are deposited.
When engaged in the capture of insects it usually perches upon the dead
upright branch of a tree growing beside and overhanging water, where it
sits very erect, soaring all around until a passing insect attracts its
notice, when it suddenly darts off, secures its victim, and returns to
the same branch; at other times it may constantly be seen on the wing,
mostly in pairs, flying just above the tops of the trees, diving and
rising again with rapid turns in the most beautiful manner. During
flight, which, when performed at a considerable elevation, is heavy and
laboured, the white spot in the centre of each wing, then widely
expanded, shows very distinctly, and hence the name of Dollar Bird
bestowed upon it by the colonists.
It is a very noisy bird, particularly in dull weather, when it often
emits its peculiar chattering note during flight.
It is said to take the young Parrots from their holes and kill them, but
this I never witnessed; the stomachs of the many I dissected contained
nothing but the remains of coleoptera.
The breeding-season lasts from September to December; and the eggs,
which are three and sometimes four in number, are deposited in the hole
of a tree without any nest; they are of a beautiful pearly white,
considerably pointed at the smaller end; their medium length is one inch
and five lines, and breadth one inch and two lines.
The sexes are alike in plumage.
Head and neck dark brown, passing into the sea-green of the upper
surface, and deepening into black on the lores; spurious wing, outer
webs of the basal half of the quills, outer webs of the secondaries and
the basal half of the outer webs of the tail-feathers vivid blue; six of
the primaries with a greenish white basal band; extremities of the
primaries black; tail green at the base, black at the tip; throat vivid
blue, with a stripe of lighter blue down the centre of each feather;
under surface of the shoulder and abdomen light green; under surface of
the inner webs of the primaries, and of all but the two centre
tail-feathers deep blue, the former interrupted by the greenish white
band; irides dark brown; eyelash, bill and feet red; inside of the mouth
yellow.
The figures are of the natural size.
[Illustration:
DACELO GIGANTEA: _Leach_.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]
DACELO GIGANTEA, _Leach_.
Great Brown Kingfisher.
_Alcedo gigantea_, Lath. Ind. Orn., vol. i. p. 245.
—— _fusca_, Gmel. edit. of Linn. Syst. Nat., vol. i. p. 454.
_Grand Martin-pêcheur de la Nouvelle Guinée_, Son. Voy., p. 171. pl.
106.—Buff. Hist. des Ois., tom. vii. p. 181.—Pl. Enl. 663.?
_Martin Chasseur_, Temm. Man. d’Orn., 2nd edit. p. lxxxviii.
_Giant Kingfisher_, Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. viii. p. 53.
_Great Brown Kingfisher_, Lath. Gen. Syn., vol. ii. p. 609.—Ibid.
Supp., vol. ii. p. 143.—White’s Journ., pl. in p.
137.—Phill. Voy., pl. in p. 287.—Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. iv.
p. 9.
_Dacelo gigantea_, Leach, Zool. Misc., vol. ii. p. 126. pl. cvi.—Vig.
and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p. 204.—Swains. Class.
of Birds, vol. ii. p. 335.
_Choucalcyon australe_, Less. Traité d’Orn., p. 248.
_Paralcyon gigas_, Gloger.
_Alcedo gigas_, Bodd.
_Dacelo gigas_, G. R. Gray, Gen. of Birds, 2nd edit. p. 14.
_Gogo-bera_, Aborigines of New South Wales.
_Laughing Jackass_ of the Colonists.
The _Dacelo gigantea_ is a bird with which every resident and traveller
in New South Wales is more or less familiar, for independently of its
large size, which in itself would tend to attract attention, its voice
is so extraordinary as to be unlike that of any other living creature.
In its disposition it is by no means shy, and when any new objects are
presented to its notice, such as a party traversing the bush or pitching
their tent in the vicinity of its retreat, it becomes very prying and
inquisitive, often perching on the dead branch of some neighbouring
tree, and watching with the greatest curiosity the kindling of the fire
and the preparation of the meal; its presence, however, owing to the
quietude with which it passes through the forest, and the almost
noiseless manner in which it settles, is seldom detected until it emits
its extraordinary gurgling, laughing note, which generally calls forth
some exclamation according with the temper of the hearer, such as “There
is our old friend the Laughing Jackass,” or an epithet of a less
friendly character: not unfrequently does its life pay the penalty of
its temerity; for if, as is often the case, the traveller’s larder be
ill-provided and his appetite keen, but a few minutes elapse before it
is roasting over the fire it was lately surveying with so much
curiosity. So remarkable are the sounds emitted by the bird that they
have been noted by nearly every writer on New South Wales and its
productions. Mr. Caley states that its “loud noise, somewhat like
laughing, may be heard at a considerable distance, from which
circumstance, and its uncouth appearance, it probably received the
extraordinary appellation given to it by the settlers on their first
arrival in the colony.” Captain Sturt says, “Its cry, which resembles a
chorus of wild spirits, is apt to startle the traveller who may be in
jeopardy, as if laughing and mocking at his misfortune;” and Mr.
Bennett, in his ‘Wanderings,’ says, “Its peculiar gurgling laugh,
commencing in a low and gradually rising to a high and loud tone, is
often heard in all parts of the colony; the deafening noise being poured
forth while the bird remains perched upon a neighbouring tree; it rises
with the dawn, when the woods re-echo with its gurgling laugh; at sunset
it is again heard; and as that glorious orb sinks in the west, a last
‘good night’ is given in its peculiar tones to all within hearing.”
The Great Brown Kingfisher does not inhabit Van Diemen’s Land, nor has
it yet been met with in Western Australia; it may be said to be almost
solely confined to that portion of Australia lying between Spencer’s
Gulf and Moreton Bay, the south-eastern corner, as it were, of the
continent. The plate in the Pl. Enl., quoted above, has been considered
by all previous writers to have reference to this bird, and while I
coincide in this opinion, I think that some mistake must have arisen as
to the locality, and that it never visits New Guinea nor even the
northern coast of Australia, where its place is supplied by the _Dacelo
cervina_ and _D. Leachii_. Unlike most other species, it frequents every
variety of situation; the luxuriant brushes stretching along the coast,
the more thinly-timbered forest, the belts of trees studding the parched
plains and the brushes of the higher ranges being alike favoured with
its presence; over all these localities it is rather thinly dispersed
being nowhere very numerous.
I believe that this bird seldom, if ever, drinks; consequently the most
arid plains are as suitable to its habits as the shrouded river sides
and the flat brushes near the coast.
Its food, which is of a mixed character, consists exclusively of animal
substances; reptiles, insects and crabs, however, appear to be its
favourite diet, upon which it is destined by nature to subsist: it
devours lizards with avidity, and it is not an unfrequent sight to see
it bearing off a snake in its bill to be eaten at leisure; it also preys
on small mammalia. I recollect shooting a Great Brown Kingfisher in
South Australia in order to secure a fine rat I saw hanging from its
bill, and which proved to be a rare species inhabiting the plains of
that part of the country. It breeds during the months of August and
September, and generally selects a hole in a large gum-tree for the
purpose; making no nest, but depositing its beautiful pearl-white eggs,
which are one inch and nine lines long by one inch and five lines broad,
on the decomposed wood at the bottom of the hole. When there are young
ones in it, it defends its breeding-place with great courage and daring,
darting down upon any intruder who may attempt to ascend the tree, and
inflicting severe and dangerous blows with its pointed bill.
The sexes present so little difference in the colouring of their
plumage, that they are scarcely distinguishable from each other; neither
do the young at a month old exhibit any great variation from the adult,
the only difference being that the markings are somewhat darker and the
brown more generally diffused.
It bears confinement remarkably well, and is one of the most amusing
birds for the aviary with which I am acquainted: examples have been
brought alive to England; one lived for several years in the Gardens of
the Zoological Society of London, and at the moment I am writing (April
1843) a fine individual brought from New South Wales by Mr. Yaldwyn, is
now living at his seat at Blackdown in Sussex, where it attracts the
attention of every one by its singular actions and extraordinary notes,
which are poured forth as freely as in its native wilds.
Forehead brown, each feather with a stripe of blackish brown down the
centre; crown of the head, lores, ear-coverts, and a broad band passing
round the occiput blackish brown; space between the crown of the head
and the band encircling the occiput, and the back of the neck buff,
crossed by fine irregular lines of dark brown; back and wings brownish
black; the wing-coverts and rump tipped with verditer green; primaries
white at the base, black for the remainder of their length, and stained
with green on their outer margins immediately behind the white; upper
tail-coverts blackish brown, crossed by several broad irregular bands of
rusty red; tail brownish black, tipped with white, the white increasing
in extent as the feathers recede from the centre; the central feathers
crossed near the tip with rusty red; the lateral feathers with brownish
black, the bands being very narrow near the tip, and gradually
increasing in breadth as they approach the base, where the white
interspaces also become tinged with rusty red; under surface pale buffy
white, crossed by fine irregular freckled markings of dark brown; upper
mandible brownish black; under mandible pale buff; feet olive; irides
dark brown; eyelash olive-brown.
The figures represent a male and two young of the natural size.
[Illustration:
DACELO LEACHII: _Vig. & Horsf._
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]
DACELO LEACHII, _Vig. and Horsf._
Leach’s Kingsfisher.
_Dacelo Leachii_, Lath. MSS. Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv.
p. 205.
Specimens of this fine Kingsfisher are contained in the British Museum,
the Linnean Society, and my own collections, all of which were procured
on the north-east coast of Australia, where it evidently replaces the
_Dacelo gigantea_ of New South Wales and South Australia.
The specimen in the Linnean Society’s museum was presented by Dr. Brown,
who procured it in Keppel Bay on the east coast; and it was subsequently
seen at Shoalwater Bay and Broad Sound on the same coast; my own
specimens were obtained at Cape York, the north-eastern extremity of
Australia.
The habits, actions, food, and indeed the whole of the economy, are so
precisely like those of the _Dacelo gigantea_ that a separate
description of them is entirely unnecessary.
The male has the head and back of the neck striated with brown and
white; sides of the neck and under surface white, crossed with very
narrow irregular markings of brown, these markings becoming much broader
and conspicuous on the under surface of the shoulder; back brownish
black; wing-coverts and rump shining azure-blue; wings deep blue;
primaries white at the base, black on their inner webs and blue on the
outer; tail rich deep blue, all but the two centre feathers irregularly
barred near the extremity and largely tipped with white; upper mandible
brownish black, under mandible pale buff; irides dark brown; feet olive.
The female differs but little from the male in the colouring of the
plumage, except that the tail-feathers, instead of being of a rich blue
barred and tipped with white, are of a light chestnut-brown
conspicuously barred with bluish black.
The Plate represents the two sexes about the natural size.
[Illustration:
DACELO CERVINA: _Gould_.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]
DACELO CERVINA, _Gould_.
Fawn-breasted Kingfisher.
_Dacelo cervina_, Gould, Birds of Australia, Part II. cancelled.
_Lä-rool_, Aborigines of Port Essington.
The northern and north-western portions of Australia constitute the true
habitat of this species; it was observed in tolerable abundance by
Captain Grey during his expedition to the latter part of the country,
and specimens of it have also formed a part of every collection of any
extent made at Port Essington. In disposition it appears to be more shy
and wary than the _Dacelo gigantea_ of New South Wales, of which it is a
representative. Mr. Gilbert, whose observations were made on the Cobourg
Peninsula, states that it “inhabits well-wooded forests, generally in
pairs, is extremely shy and very difficult to procure; it is very fond
of perching on the topmost dead branch of a tree, where it has an
uninterrupted view of every thing passing around, and pours out its loud
discordant tones. Sometimes three or four pairs may be heard at one
time, when the noise is so great that no other sound can be heard.
“The natives tell me that it breeds in the honey-season, which is during
the months of May, June and July.”
The food of this Kingfisher is doubtless similar to that of the _Dacelo
gigantea_. The stomachs of those examined by Mr. Gilbert were tolerably
muscular, and contained the remains of coleopterous and other kinds of
insects.
When fully adult the male differs from his mate in having the
tail-feathers of a deep and splendid blue instead of brown; a feature
which will be readily perceived on reference to the accompanying Plate.
The male has the feathers of the head buffy white, with a central stripe
of dark brown, the latter colour becoming most conspicuous on the
occiput; throat white; cheeks, ear-coverts, back of the neck, chest and
all the under surface sienna-yellow, crossed on the flanks with very
minute irregular zigzag bands of brown; primaries black at the tip,
white at the base; the base of their external webs, the secondaries and
spurious wing rich china blue; greater and lesser wing-coverts, lower
part of the back and upper tail-coverts shining light blue; tail and the
longest of the upper tail-coverts rich deep blue, the former broadly
tipped with white; irides greenish white; upper mandible blackish brown,
the cutting edges greenish white; lower mandible greenish white, the
base dark brown on the sides, and blue on the under surface; tarsi and
feet emerald green; claws black.
The female has the feathers of the head, cheeks, and ear-coverts buffy
white, with a central stripe of dark brown; throat white; back of the
neck, chest and all the under surface sienna-yellow; the chest, flanks
and abdomen crossed by fine zigzag lines of brown; upper part of the
back and scapularies umber-brown; primaries blackish brown at the tip
and white at the base; the basal portion of their external webs, the
secondaries spurious and the wing rich china blue; greater and lesser
wing-coverts and upper tail-coverts light shining blue; tail and the
longest of the upper coverts rich chestnut-brown, which passes into buff
at the tip, the whole transversely marked with eight or nine bands of
rich blue black.
The figures are those of the two sexes of the natural size.
[Illustration:
HALCYON SANCTUS: _Vig. & Horsf._
_J. & E. Gould del_ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]
HALCYON SANCTUS, _Vig. and Horsf._
Sacred Halcyon.
_Sacred Kingsfisher_, Phill. Bot. Bay, pl. in p. 156.—White’s Voy.,
pl. in p. 193.
_Halcyon Sanctus_, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p.
206.—Gould, Syn. of Birds of Aust., Part III.
_Halcyon sacra_, Jard. and Selb. Ill. Orn., vol. ii. pls. 96 and 97.
_Dacelo chlorocephala_, var. β. Less. Traité Orn., p. 246.
_Kingsfisher_ of the Colonists.
_Kün-yeë-nüh_ of the Aborigines, Western Australia.
On reference to the synonyms given above, it will be seen that a
difference of opinion is entertained from the authors of the
“Illustrations in Ornithology” respecting this species being identical
with the _Halcyon collaris_ of Mr. Swainson, a bird which I have not yet
seen from Australia, although it may possibly be found in the northern
part of that continent, since it is common in Java; and I find that Mr.
Swainson, in his recently published “Classification of Birds,” has
arranged them as distinct.
The Sacred Halcyon does not inhabit Van Diemen’s Land, but is very
generally dispersed over the Australian continent. I have specimens from
nearly every locality: those from Port Essington on the north are
precisely identical with those of the south coast; on the other hand,
those inhabiting Western Australia are a trifle larger in all their
measurements, but otherwise present no differences of sufficient
importance to warrant their being considered as distinct.
It is a summer resident in New South Wales and throughout the southern
portion of the continent, retiring northwards after the breeding-season.
It begins to disappear in December, and by the end of January few are to
be seen: solitary individuals may, however, be met with even in the
depth of winter. They return again in spring, commencing in August, and
by the middle of September are plentifully dispersed over all parts of
the country, inhabiting alike the most thickly wooded brushes, the
mangrove-forests which border, in many parts, the armlets of the sea,
and the more open and thinly-timbered plains of the interior, often in
the most dry and arid situations far distant from water; and it would
appear that, as is the case with many of the insectivorous birds of
Australia, a supply of that element is not essential to its existence,
since, from the localities it is often found breeding in, it must
necessarily pass long periods without being able to obtain it.
The brilliant and metallic lustre of its plumage renders it a
conspicuous object in the bush: its loud piercing call, also, often
betrays its presence, particularly during the season of incubation, when
the bird becomes more and more clamorous as the tree in which its eggs
are deposited is approached by the intruder. The note most frequently
uttered is a loud _pee-pee_, continued at times to a great length,
resembling a cry of distress. It sits very upright, generally perching
on a small dead branch for hours together, merely flying down to capture
its prey, and in most instances returning again to the site it has just
left. Its food is of a very mixed character, and varies with the nature
of the localities it inhabits. It greedily devours the manti,
grasshoppers and caterpillars, not refusing lizards and very small
snakes, all of which are swallowed whole, the latter being killed by
beating their heads against a stone or other hard substance, after the
manner of the Common Kingsfisher. Specimens killed in the neighbourhood
of salt-marshes had their stomachs literally crammed with crabs and
other crustaceous animals; while engaged in the capture of which it may
be observed sitting silently on the low mangrove-bushes skirting the
pools which every receding tide leaves either dry or with a surface of
wet mud, upon which crabs are to be found in abundance. I have never
seen it plunge into the water after fish like the true Kingsfishers, and
I believe it never resorts to that mode of obtaining its prey. On the
banks of the Hunter its most favourite food is the larvæ of a species of
ant, which it procures by excavating holes in the nests of this insect
which are constructed around the boles and dead branches of the
_Eucalypti_, and which resemble excrescences of the tree itself.
The season of nidification commences in October and lasts till December,
the hollow spouts of the gum and boles of the apple trees being
generally selected as a receptacle for the eggs, which are four or five
in number, perfectly white, one inch and a line in length, and ten lines
in diameter.
The sexes present no difference either in their size or colouring, and
the young are only distinguished by being of a less brilliant hue, and
by the wing-coverts and feathers of the breast being edged with brown.
Crown of the head, back, and scapularies dull green; wings and tail
green, slightly tinged with blue; ear-coverts, and an obscure circle
bounding the green of the head, greenish black; rump verditer green;
throat white; line from the nostrils over the eye, nuchal band, and all
the under surface buff, becoming deeper on the flanks; bill black, the
basal portion of the under mandible flesh-white; feet flesh-red, tinged
with brown; irides dark brown.
The Plate represents an old and a young bird of the natural size.
[Illustration:
HALCYON PYRRHOPYGIA: _Gould_.
_J. & E. Gould del,^t_ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]
HALCYON PYRRHOPYGIA, _Gould_.
Red-backed Halcyon.
_Halcyon pyrrhopygia_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., September 8,
1840.
This new Halcyon is an inhabitant of the interior, but over what extent
of country it may range is not yet known. The only parts where I
observed it was the myall-brushes (_Acacia pendula_) of the Lower Namoi,
particularly those growing on the edge of the large plain skirting the
Nundawar range of Major Sir Thomas Mitchell. It was usually seen sitting
very upright on the dead branches of the myall- and gum-trees, sometimes
on those growing out on the hot plains, at others on those close by the
river-side. I succeeded in obtaining both old and young birds, which,
judging from the size of the latter, I should suppose had left their
breeding-place about a month before I arrived in the neighbourhood of
the Namoi, in December. I also saw in this district the common or Sacred
Halcyon, but in far less abundance than between the ranges and the
coast. This latter species may be hereafter found to be more exclusively
an inhabitant of the country bordering the sea, while the Red-backed
Halcyon may be exclusively a denizen of the distant interior. The
unusual colouring of the back at once distinguishes it from all the
other members of the genus inhabiting Australia, but in its general
economy and mode of living it presents no observable difference.
Whether it remains during the whole of the year, or is a migratory bird
like the common species, I was not able to learn; for although Mr.
Charles Coxen had previously informed me of the existence of such a
Halcyon on the Namoi, he could give me no further account of it.
Crown of the head dull green, intermingled with white, giving it a
striated appearance: a broad black stripe commences at the base of the
bill, passes through the eye, and encircles the back of the head; upper
part of the back and scapularies green; remainder of the wings bluish
green; lower part of the back, rump, and upper tail-coverts red; tail
green, tinged with blue; throat, a broad collar encircling the back of
the neck, and all the under surface white; bill black, the base of the
lower mandible flesh-white; irides blackish brown; feet dark
olive-brown.
The figure is of the natural size.
[Illustration:
HALCYON SORDIDUS: _Gould_.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]
HALCYON SORDIDUS, _Gould_.
Sordid Halcyon.
_Halcyon sordidus_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part X. p. 72.
I possess two specimens of this species of _Halcyon_, which were killed
by Mr. Bynoe on the north coast of Australia; unfortunately they were
unaccompanied by any information respecting their habits and economy;
they appear to be fully adult, and equal in size the _Halcyon
collaris_,—a species, which, although said to be Australian, I have no
authentic evidence of its ever having been killed therein.
Head, back, scapularies and wing-coverts brownish oil-green; wings
greenish blue, gradually changing into green on the tips of the
tertiaries; collar round the back of the neck and all the under surface
buffy white; tail greenish blue; upper mandible and tip of the lower one
black; base of the latter flesh-white.
The figures are of the natural size.
[Illustration:
HALCYON MACLEAYII: _Jard. & Selb._
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]
HALCYON MACLEAYII, _Jard. & Selb._
MacLeay’s Halcyon.
_Halcyon MacLeayii_, Jard. and Selb. Ill. Orn., vol. iii. pl. 101.
_Halcyon incinctus_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part V. p. 142,
female.
_Bush Kingfisher_, Residents at Port Essington.
There certainly has not yet been discovered a more beautiful Halcyon in
any part of the world than the one figured in the accompanying Plate,
which has been dedicated to Mr. Alexander MacLeay by the authors of the
“Illustrations of Ornithology” as a tribute of respect, in the propriety
of which I entirely concur.
The extreme brilliancy of the plumage of this bird would seem to
indicate that it is an inhabitant of a hotter climate than that of New
South Wales, and the correctness of this inference is borne out by the
fact that the _Halcyon MacLeayii_ has only yet been found on the extreme
northern portion of the continent; it is tolerably abundant at Port
Essington, and it is also spread over every part of the Cobourg
Peninsula suited to its peculiar habits; like the other members of the
genus to which it belongs, it is rarely if ever seen near water, and
evinces so decided a preference for the open forests of the interior of
the country that it has obtained the name of “Bush Kingfisher” from the
residents at Port Essington; it is generally dispersed about in pairs,
and feeds on small reptiles, insects and their larvæ; its general note
is a loud _pee-pee_ uttered with considerable rapidity. It incubates in
November and December, sometimes forming its nest in the hollow trunks
of trees, and at others excavating a hole for itself in the nest of the
tree-ants, which presents so prominent and singular a feature in the
scenery of the country: the nest of the _H. Macleayii_ is easily
discovered, for on the approach of an intruder the birds immediately
commence flying about in a very wild manner, uttering at the same time a
loud piercing cry of alarm; the eggs are three or four in number, of a
pearly white and nearly round in form, being eleven lines long by ten
broad.
So much difference exists in the plumage of the sexes that Mr. Gilbert
states he was for some time induced to regard them as specifically
distinct; an error into which I had myself previously fallen when
describing the female as a new species in the “Proceedings of the
Zoological Society” as quoted above; “but upon closer observation,” adds
Mr. Gilbert, “I soon satisfied myself that the difference of plumage was
merely sexual, the dissection of a large number of specimens fully
proving that those with a ring round the neck are males and those
without it females.”
The male has a line under the eye and ear-coverts deep glossy black;
head, occiput, wings and tail rich deep prussian blue; primaries and
secondaries white at the base, forming a conspicuous spot when the wings
are spread; for the remainder of their length these feathers are black,
margined externally with light prussian blue; immediately before the eye
an oval spot of white; collar surrounding the back of the neck and all
the under surface white, tinged with buff on the lower part of the
flanks; back and upper tail-coverts verditer blue; scapularies verditer
green, both these colours bounded near the white collar with prussian
blue; under surface of the wing white, the tips of the coverts black;
under surface of the tail black; bill black, the basal portion of the
under mandible yellowish white; tarsi black; inner side of the feet and
back of the tarsi ash-grey; irides very dark brown.
The general colours of the female are similar to those of the male, but
she differs from her mate in being entirely destitute of the white
collar at the back of the neck, which part is deep prussian blue, thus
uniting the blue of the occiput and of the back; in the tints being much
less brilliant in the back, being of a dull brownish verditer green, and
in the upper tail-coverts pale verditer green instead of blue; upper
mandible black; lower mandible half-way from the tip and along the whole
of the cutting edges black, the remainder being fleshy white tinged with
blue where it joins the black; legs and feet greenish grey.
The young male resembles the female in colour, but is still less
brilliant; has the back of a purer green; the under surface tinged with
buff; the spot on the lores deep buff; and the collar at the back of a
deep buff, interrupted by some of the feathers of the occiput.
The figures are those of a male and a female of the natural size.
[Illustration:
ALCYONE AZUREA.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]
ALCYONE AZUREA.
Azure Kingsfisher.
_Alcedo azurea_, Lath. Ind. Orn. Supp., p. xxxii.—Lewin, Birds of New
Holl., pl. 1.—Swains. Zool. Ill., pl. 26.
_Alcedo tribrachys_, Shaw, Nat. Misc., pl. 681.—Temm. Man. d’Orn., 2nd
edit., p. lxxxviii.
_Tri-digitated Kingsfisher_, Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. viii. p. 105.
_Azure Kingsfisher_, Lath. Gen. Syn. Supp., vol. ii. Add., p. 372.—Ib.
Gen. Hist., vol. iv. p. 61.
_Ceyx azurea_, Jard. and Selb. Ill. Orn., vol. ii. pl. 55. fig.
1.—Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p. 208.
_Alcyone Australis_, Swains. Class. of Birds, vol. ii. p. 336.
_Ceyx cyanea_, Less. Traité d’Orn., p. 241.—Ib. Man. d’Orn., tom. ii.
p. 96.
_Alcyone azurea_, G. R. Gray, List of Gen. of Birds, 2nd edit. p. 14.
With the exception of Swan River, every colony of Australia, from Port
Essington on the north-west to Van Diemen’s Land in the extreme south,
is inhabited by Azure Kingsfishers; but as they, although closely
allied, constitute at least three species, the present page must
necessarily treat exclusively of the one that inhabits New South Wales
and South Australia, over the whole of which countries it is dispersed,
wherever brooks, ponds and other waters occur suitable to its habits and
mode of life. In size and in the brilliancy of its plumage, the Azure
Kingsfisher is intermediate between the species inhabiting the north
coast and that found in Van Diemen’s Land; although generically distinct
from the Kingsfisher of Europe (_Alcedo Ispida_), it has many characters
in common with that bird. It subsists almost exclusively on small fish
and aquatic insects, which it captures in the water by darting down from
some bare branch overhanging the stream, and to which it generally
returns to kill and devour its prey, which is swallowed entire and head
foremost, after the manner of the little favourite of our own island. It
is a solitary bird, a pair, and frequently only one, being found at the
same spot. During the breeding-season it becomes querulous and active,
and even pugnacious if any intruder of the same species should venture
within the precincts of its abode. The males at this season have great
confidence, and chase each other up and down the stream with arrow-like
quickness, the rich azure-blue of the back glittering in the sun, and
appearing more like a meteor as it darts by the spectator than a bird.
The task of incubation commences in August and terminates in January,
during which period two broods are frequently brought forth. The eggs,
which are of a beautiful pearly or pinkish white and rather round in
form, are deposited at the extremity of a hole, in a perpendicular or
shelving bank bordering the stream, without any nest being made for
their reception; they are from five to seven in number, three quarters
of an inch broad by seven-eighths of an inch long. The young at the
first moult assume the plumage of the adult, which is never afterwards
changed. The hole occupied by the bird is frequently almost filled up
with the bones of small fish, which are discharged from the throat and
piled up round the young in the form of a nest. Immediately on leaving
their holes the young follow the parents from one part of the brook to
another, and are fed by them while resting on some stone or branch near
the water’s edge; they soon, however, become able to obtain their own
food, and may be observed at a very early age plunging into the water to
a considerable depth to capture small fish and insects.
The sexes are precisely similar in the colouring of their plumage,
neither do they differ in size. The young are very clamorous, frequently
uttering their twittering cry as their parents pass and repass the
branch on which they are sitting.
All the upper surface and a patch on each side of the chest fine
ultramarine blue, becoming more vivid on the rump and upper
tail-coverts; on each side of the neck behind the ear-coverts a tuft of
yellowish white feathers; wings black; throat white, slightly washed
with buff; all the under surface, including the under side of the wing,
ferruginous orange, the flanks tinged with bluish lilac, giving them a
rich purple hue; line from the bill to the eye reddish orange; irides
and bill black; feet orange.
The Plate represents the two sexes of the natural size.
[Illustration:
ALCYONE PUSILLA.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]
ALCYONE PUSILLA.
Little Kingfisher.
_Ceyx pusilla_, Temm. Pl. Col., 595. fig. 3.
_Nu-reä-bin-mo_, Aborigines of the Cobourg Peninsula.
This lovely little Kingfisher is a native of the northern shores of
Australia; the specimens in my collection were all procured at Port
Essington where it is a rare bird; and from it always inhabiting the
densest mangroves, is not only seldom seen, but is extremely difficult
to procure; in general habits and manners it very much resembles the
_Alcyone azurea_, but its note is somewhat more shrill and piping, and
its flight more unsteady. Specimens of this species from New Guinea,
which I have had opportunities of examining in the noble collection at
Leyden, present no difference whatever from those found in Australia.
The food of the _Alcyone pusilla_ consists exclusively of fish, which
are taken precisely after the manner of the Common Kingfisher of our own
island.
The sexes are alike in size and colour.
Lores, a tuft behind the ear-coverts and under surface silky white;
forehead, sides of the neck, wing-coverts and the margins of the
secondaries green; primaries brownish black; all the upper surface and a
large patch on each side on the chest brilliant intense blue; tail dull
deep blue; irides dark blackish brown; bill black; legs and feet
greenish grey.
The figures are of the natural size.
[Illustration:
ARTAMUS SORDIDUS.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter, del^t_ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]
ARTAMUS SORDIDUS.
Wood Swallow.
_Turdus sordidus_, Lath. Ind. Orn., Supp., p. xliii.
_Sordid Thrush_, Lath. Gen. Syn., Supp., vol. ii. p. 186.—Shaw, Gen.
Zool., vol. x. p. 238.—Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. v. p. 131.
_Ocypterus albovittatus_, Cuv. Règn. Anim., tom. iv. t. 3. f.
6.—Valenc. Mém. du Mus. d’Hist. Nat., tom. vi. p. 23. t. 8.
f. 2.—Gould, Syn. Birds of Australia, Part I. fig. 3.
_Artamus lineatus_, Vieill. 2nde Edit. du Nouv. Dict. d’Hist. Nat.,
tom. xvii. p. 297.—Ib. Ency. Méth., Part II. p. 758.
_Artamus albovittatus_, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p.
210.
_Leptopteryx albovittata_, Wagl. Syst. Av., sp. 5.
_Be-wö-wen_, Aborigines of the lowland and mountain districts of
Western Australia.
_Worle_, Aborigines of King George’s Sound.
_Wood Swallow_ of the colonists.
This Wood Swallow has been long known to ornithologists, but
unfortunately under so many generic and specific appellations, that it
may be cited as an instance of the manner in which our science has been
burthened with useless names, thereby producing an inextricable
confusion, and which in this instance, by a reference to Latham’s
accurate description, and the slightest care on the part of other
writers, might have been avoided.
No other species of the Australian _Artami_ with which I am acquainted
possesses so wide a range from east to west as the present; the whole of
the southern portion of the continent, as well as the island of Van
Diemen’s Land, being alike favoured with its presence. The extent of its
range northward has not yet been satisfactorily ascertained, beyond the
certainty that it has not hitherto been received in any collection from
the north coast.
It may be regarded as strictly migratory in Van Diemen’s Land, where it
arrives in October, the beginning of the Australian summer, and after
rearing at least two broods departs again northwards in November. On the
continent a scattered few remain throughout the year in all the
localities favourable to its habits, the number being regulated by the
supply of insect food necessary for their subsistence. I may here
observe, that specimens from Swan River, South Australia and New South
Wales present no difference either in size or colouring, while those
from Van Diemen’s Land are invariably larger in all their
admeasurements, and are also of a deeper colour; I regard them, however,
as mere varieties of each other, the greater size of the latter being
doubtless caused by the superabundance of food which this more southern
and humid climate affords.
This Wood Swallow, besides being the commonest species of the genus,
must I think be rendered a general favourite with the Australians, not
only from its singular and pleasing actions, but by its often taking up
its abode and incubating near the houses, particularly such as are
surrounded by paddocks and open pasture-lands skirted by large trees. It
was in such situations as these in Van Diemen’s Land, at the
commencement of spring, that I first had an opportunity of observing
this species; it was then very numerous on all the cleared estates on
the north side of the Derwent, about eight or ten being seen on a single
tree, and half as many crowding one against another on the same dead
branch, but never in such numbers as to deserve the appellation of
flocks: each bird appeared to act independently of the other; each, as
the desire for food prompted it, sallying forth from the branch to
capture a passing insect, or to soar round the tree and return again to
the same spot; on alighting it repeatedly throws up and closes one wing
at a time, and spreads the tail obliquely prior to settling. At other
times a few were seen perched on the fence surrounding the paddock, on
which they frequently descended, like Starlings, in search of coleoptera
and other insects. It is not, however, in this state of comparative
quiescence that this graceful bird is seen to the greatest advantage,
neither is it that kind of existence for which its form is especially
adapted; for although its structure is more equally suited for
terrestrial, arboreal and aërial habits than that of any other species I
have examined, the form of its wing at once points out the air as its
peculiar province: hence it is, that when engaged in pursuit of the
insects which the serene and warm weather has enticed from their
lurking-places among the foliage to sport in higher regions, this
beautiful species in these aërial flights displays its greatest beauty,
while soaring above, in a variety of easy positions, with white-tipped
tail widely spread. Another very extraordinary and singular habit of the
bird is that of clustering like bees on the dead branch of a tree, as
represented in the Plate; this feature was not seen by me, but by my
assistant Mr. Gilbert, during his residence at Swan River, and I have
here given his account in his own words. “The greatest peculiarity in
the habits of this bird is its manner of suspending itself in perfect
clusters, like a swarm of bees; a few birds suspending themselves on the
under side of a dead branch, while others of the flock attach themselves
one to the other, in such numbers that they have been observed nearly of
the size of a bushel measure.”
It was very numerous in the town of Perth until about the middle of
April, when I missed it suddenly, nor did I observe it again until near
the end of May, when I saw it in countless numbers flying in company
with the Common Swallows and Martens over a lake about ten miles north
of the town; so numerous, in fact, were they, that they darkened the
water as they flew over it.
Its voice greatly resembles that of the Common Swallow in character, but
is much more harsh.
The stomach is muscular and capacious, and the food consists of insects
generally.
The season of incubation is from September to December. The situation of
the nest is much varied; I have seen one placed in a thickly foliaged
bough near the ground, while others were in a naked fork, on the side of
the hole of a tree, in a niche formed by a portion of the bark having
been separated from the trunk, &c. The nest is rather shallow, of a
rounded form, about five inches in diameter, and composed of fine twigs
neatly lined with fibrous roots. I observed that the nests found in Van
Diemen’s Land were larger, more compact and more neatly formed than
those on the continent of Australia; and one which was shown me by Mr.
Justice Montague on his picturesque estate at Kangaroo Point, near
Hobart Town, was placed at the extremity of a small leafy branch, as
represented in the Plate.
The eggs are generally four in number; they differ much in the
disposition of their markings; their ground-colour is dull white,
spotted and dashed with dark umber-brown; in some a second series of
greyish spots appear as if beneath the surface of the shell; their
medium length is eleven lines, and breadth eight lines.
Head, neck, and the whole of the body fuliginous grey; wings dark bluish
black, the external edges of the second, third and fourth primaries
white; tail bluish black, all the feathers except the two middle ones
largely tipped with white; irides dark brown; bill blue with a black
tip; feet mealy lead-colour.
The sexes are alike in the colouring of their plumage, and are only to
be distinguished by the female being somewhat smaller in size.
The young have an irregular stripe of dirty white down the centre of
each feather of the upper surface, and are mottled with the same on the
under surface.
The Plate represents a male and female of the natural size.
[Illustration:
ARTAMUS MINOR: _Vieill._
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter, del^t_ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]
ARTAMUS MINOR, _Vieill._
Little Wood Swallow.
_Artamus minor_, Vieill. Nouv. Dict. d’Hist. Nat., tom. xvii. p.
298.—Ib. Ency. Méth., Part II. p. 759.
_Ocypterus fuscatus_, Valenc. Mém. du Mus. d’Hist. Nat., tom. vi. p.
24. t. 9. fig. 1.
_Leptopteryx minor_, Wagl. Syst. Av., sp. 6.
_Ocypterus minor_, Gould, Syn. Birds of Australia, Part I. fig. 1.
In its structure and in the disposition of the markings of its plumage,
this species offers a greater resemblance to the _Artamus sordidus_ than
to any other member of the group; the habits of the two species are also
very similar; if any difference exists, it is that the present bird is
still more aërial, a circumstance indicated by the more feeble form of
the foot, and the equal, if not greater, development of the wing. During
fine weather, and even in the hottest part of the day, it floats about
in the air in the most easy and graceful manner, performing in the
course of its evolutions many beautiful curves and circles, without the
least apparent motion of the wings, whose silvery whiteness as seen from
beneath, together with the snowy tips of its wide-spread tail, offer a
strong contrast to the dark colouring of the other parts of its plumage.
I found it abundant on the Lower Namoi, particularly on the plains
thinly studded with the _Acacia pendula_ and other low trees in the
neighbourhood of Gummel-Gummel, where it had evidently been breeding, as
I observed numerous young ones, whose primaries were not sufficiently
developed to admit of their performing a migration of any distance;
besides which, they were constantly being fed by the parents, who were
hawking about in the air over and around the trees, while the young were
quietly perched on some dead twig, as represented in the accompanying
Plate, where two adults and three young are figured, in the manner in
which they are seen huddled together in a state of nature.
I have not yet heard of this species having been seen within the
prescribed limits of the colony of New South Wales, neither is it a
native of Southern or Western Australia.
I have received two specimens from Port Essington, and I believe the
examples in the Paris Museum were from Timor, which proves that it has a
wide range northwards of the Namoi; and I shall not be surprised if
future research should ascertain it to be very generally distributed
over the interior of the Australian continent, not as a summer visitant
only, but as a permanent resident.
The sexes are alike in plumage, but the young differ considerably, as
shown in the Plate, a reference to which will give a more correct idea
of their appearance and markings than any description.
The whole of the head, back, and abdomen chocolate-brown; wings, rump,
and under tail-coverts bluish black; tail deep bluish black, all the
feathers except the two outer and two middle ones tipped with white;
bill beautiful violet-blue at the base, darker at the tip; irides and
feet nearly black.
The figures are of the natural size.
[Illustration:
ARTAMUS CINEREUS. _Vieill._
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter, del^t_ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]
ARTAMUS CINEREUS, _Vieill._
Grey-breasted Wood Swallow.
_Artamus cinereus_, Vieill. Nouv. Dict. d’Hist. Nat., tom. xvii. p.
297.—Ib. Ency. Méth., Part II. p. 758.—Vig. and Horsf. in
Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p. 211.
_Ocypterus cinereus_, Valanc. Mém. du Mus. d’Hist. Nat., tom. vi. p.
22. t. 9. fig. 1.
_Be-wö-wen_, Aborigines of the lowland and mountain districts of
Western Australia.
_Wood Swallow_ of the colonists of ditto.
This bird exceeds in size all other of the Australian Wood Swallows, and
as far as I am aware (not having seen the species from Madagascar,
figured in the “Planches Enluminées,”) is the largest of the genus. Its
large tail, most of the feathers of which are broadly tipped with white,
as well as the colouring of its plumage, at once point out its close
affinity to the _Artamus sordidus_ and _Artamus minor_. Like them it
possesses a very extensive range of habitat, Mr. Robert Brown having
found it at Broad Sound on the east, and Mr. Gilbert on the west coast;
it is also a native of Timor.
In Western Australia, although a very local, it is by no means an
uncommon species, particularly at Swan River, where it inhabits the
limestone hills near the coast, and the “Clear Hills” of the interior,
assembling in small families, and feeding upon the seeds of the
_Xanthorrhœa_ which proves that insects do not form the sole diet of
this species; with such avidity in fact does it devour the ripe seeds of
this grass-tree, that several birds may frequently be seen crowded
together on the perpendicular seed-stalks of this plant busily engaged
in extracting them; at other times, particularly among the limestone
hills, where there are but few trees, it descends to the broken rocky
ground in search of insects and their larvæ.
It breeds in October and November, making a round compact nest, in some
instances of fibrous roots, lined with fine hair-like grasses, in others
of the stems of grasses and small plants; it is built either in a
scrubby bush or among the grass-like leaves of the _Xanthorrhœa_, and is
deeper and more cup-shaped than those of the other members of the group.
The eggs are subject to considerable variation in colour and in the
character of their markings; they are usually bluish white, spotted and
blotched with lively reddish brown, intermingled with obscure spots and
dashes of purplish grey; all the markings being most numerous towards
the larger end; they are about eleven lines long by eight lines broad.
The sexes are alike in colour, and can only be distinguished from each
other with certainty by dissection. I have remarked that specimens from
Timor rather exceed in size those collected on the Australian continent,
and are somewhat lighter in colour; but these variations are too slight
to be regarded as specific.
Crown of the head, neck, throat and chest grey, passing into sooty grey
on the abdomen; space between the bill and the eye, the forepart of the
cheek, the chin, the upper and under tail-coverts jet-black; two middle
tail-feathers black; the remainder black, largely tipped with white,
with the exception of the outer feather on each side, in which the black
colouring extends on the outer web nearly to the tip; wings deep grey;
primaries bluish grey; under surface of the shoulder white, passing into
grey on the under side of the primaries; irides dark blackish brown;
bill light greyish blue at the base, black at the tip; legs and feet
greenish grey.
The figures are those of a male and a female of the natural size.
[Illustration:
ARTAMUS ALBIVENTRIS: _Gould_.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]
ARTAMUS ALBIVENTRIS, _Gould_.
White-vented Wood Swallow.
_Artamus albiventris_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., March 23, 1847.
Two examples of this species are all that have come under my notice; one
of these was killed on the Darling Downs in New South Wales, and the
other some distance to the northward of that locality, it being one of
the birds procured during Dr. Leichardt’s expedition to Port Essington.
Its nearest ally is the _Artamus cinereus_, a species inhabiting the
opposite side of the continent; but it is somewhat smaller, and may
moreover be distinguished from that bird by the white under
tail-coverts, and the lighter colour of the lower part of the abdomen. I
regret that I have no information to communicate respecting its habits
and economy; they are doubtless very similar to those of its
representative above alluded to.
Lores, space beneath the eye and the chin deep black; head, neck and
upper part of the back brownish grey; lower part of the back and the
wings dark grey, becoming gradually deeper towards the tips of the
feathers; primaries and secondaries narrowly edged with white at the
tip; under surface of the wing white; ear-coverts, chest and abdomen
pale grey, passing into white on the under tail-coverts; upper
tail-coverts and tail black; the apical third of all but the two middle
ones white; irides dark brown; bill yellowish horn-colour, becoming
black at the tip; feet blackish brown.
The figures are of the natural size.
[Illustration:
ARTAMUS PERSONATUS: _Gould_.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter, del^t_ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]
ARTAMUS PERSONATUS, _Gould_.
Masked Wood Swallow.
_Ocypterus personatus_, Gould, in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part VIII. p.
149.
_Jil̈-bung_, Aborigines of the mountain districts of Western
Australia.
I have much pleasure in adding this new and highly interesting species
of _Artamus_ to the Wood Swallows of Australia, a country peculiarly
adapted for this tribe of birds, and of which the fauna comprises a
greater number of species of this group than that of any other. My
knowledge of the range of this species is very limited; a single
specimen was sent me from South Australia, while the fine examples from
which my figures were taken were killed by Mr. Gilbert in the colony of
Swan River. Its richly coloured black face and throat, separated from
the delicate grey of the breast by a narrow line of snowy white, at once
distinguishes it from every other species, while the strong contrast of
these colours renders it a conspicuous object among the trees.
In size and structure it more nearly resembles the _Artamus
superciliosus_ than any other, and the two species form beautiful
analogues of each other, one being in all probability confined to the
eastern portion of the country, and the other to the western.
“I have only met,” says Mr. Gilbert, “with this species in the York and
Zoodyay districts. It is very like _Artamus sordidus_ in its habits, but
is more shy and retired, never being seen but in the most secluded parts
of the bush. It is merely a summer visitant here, generally making its
appearance in the latter part of October, and immediately commencing the
task of incubation. Its voice very much resembles the chirping of the
English Sparrow.
“Its nest is placed in the upright fork of a dead tree, or in the hollow
part of the stump of a grass-tree; it is neither so well nor so neatly
formed as those of the other species of the group, being a frail
structure externally composed of a very few extremely small twigs, above
which is a layer of fine dried grasses. The eggs also differ as
remarkably as the nest, their ground colour being light greenish grey,
dashed and speckled with hair-brown principally at the larger end, and
slightly spotted with grey, appearing as if beneath the surface of the
shell; they are ten and a half lines long by eight and a half lines
broad. I found two nests in a York Gum Forest, about five miles to the
east of the Avon River: each of these contained two eggs, which I
believe is the usual number.
“Its food consists of insects generally and their larvæ.”
The male has the face, ear-coverts and throat jet-black, bounded below
with a narrow line of white; crown of the head sooty black, gradually
passing into the deep grey, which covers the whole of the upper surface,
wings and tail; the latter tipped with white; all the under surface very
delicate grey; thighs dark grey; irides blackish brown; bill blue at the
base, becoming black at the tip; legs and feet mealy bluish grey.
The female differs in having the colouring of the bill and the black
mask on the face much paler.
The figures are those of a male and a female of the natural size.
[Illustration:
ARTAMUS SUPERCILIOSUS: _Gould_.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter, del^t_ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]
ARTAMUS SUPERCILIOSUS, _Gould_.
White Eye-browed Wood Swallow.
_Ocypterus superciliosus_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part IV.
1836, p. 142; and in Syn. Birds of Australia, Part I. fig.
2.
There is no species of _Artamus_ yet discovered to which the present
yields the palm, either for elegance of form or for the beauty and
variety of its plumage; the only known species with which it could be
confounded is the _Artamus rufiventer_, an Indian bird with the breast
similarly marked, but which is entirely destitute of the superciliary
stripe of white, which has suggested the specific name; in this
character and in the rich chestnut colouring of the breast, it differs
from every member of its tribe inhabiting Australia. I am unable to say
what is the extent of its range, but I am induced to believe that it is
confined to Australia, and that in all probability it seldom leaves the
interior of the country; the extreme limits of the colony of New South
Wales, particularly those which border the extensive plains, being the
only parts where it has yet been observed. I first met with it at
Yarrundi on the Dartbrook, a tributary of the Hunter, where it was
thinly dispersed among the trees growing on the stony ridges bordering
the flats.
From this locality to as far as I penetrated northwards on the Namoi, as
well as in the direction of the River Peel, it was distributed in
similar numbers, intermingled with the _Artamus sordidus_, at about the
ratio of one hundred pairs to the square mile, the two species appearing
to live and perform the task of incubation in perfect harmony, both
being frequently observed on the same tree. In their dispositions,
however, and in many of their actions they are somewhat dissimilar; the
bird forming the subject of the present Plate being much more shy and
difficult of approach than the _Artamus sordidus_, which is at all times
very tame; it also gives a preference to the topmost branches of the
highest trees, from which it sallies forth for the capture of insects,
and to which it again returns, in the usual manner of the tribe. In
every part where I have observed it, it is strictly migratory, arriving
in summer, and departing northwards after the breeding-season.
The nest is ever most difficult of detection, being generally placed
either in a fork of the branches or in a niche near the bole of the
tree, whence the bark had been partially stripped. It is a round, very
shallow and frail structure, composed of small twigs and lined with
fibrous roots; those I discovered contained two eggs, but I had not
sufficient opportunities for ascertaining if this number was constant.
Their ground-colour is dull buffy white, spotted with umber-brown,
forming a zone near the larger end; in some these spots are sparingly
sprinkled over the whole surface; they have also the obscure grey
spotting like those of _A. sordidus_; the eggs are rather more than
eleven lines long by eight and a half lines broad.
The male has the lores, space surrounding the eye, and the ear-coverts
deep black; chin greyish black passing into blackish grey on the chest;
crown of the head greyish black; over each eye a pure white stripe
commencing in a point, and gradually becoming wider or spatulate in form
as it proceeds towards the occiput; all the upper surface, wings and
tail fuliginous grey, which is lightest on the rump and tail; all the
tail-feathers tipped with white, except the outer web of the lateral
feather, which is grey; under surface of the wing pure white; all the
under surface rich deep chestnut; irides nearly black; bill light blue
at the base, black at the tip; feet dark lead-colour.
The female has a similar distribution of colouring, but differs from her
mate in the following particulars: lores and a ring surrounding the eye
jet-black; only an indication of the superciliary stripe; throat grey;
tail not so distinctly tipped with white; under surface light
chestnut-red.
The figures are those of a male and a female of the natural size.
[Illustration:
ARTAMUS LEUCOPYGIALIS: _Gould_.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter, del^t_ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]
ARTAMUS LEUCOPYGIALIS, _Gould_.
White-rumped Wood Swallow.
_Artamus leucopygialis_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., February 8,
1842.
On a careful comparison of specimens of the White-rumped _Artami_ from
India and the Indian Archipelago with those killed in Australia, I
cannot but consider that at least two, if not three, species have been
confounded under one name, and that the Australian bird had remained
undescribed until characterized by me at the Meeting of the Zoological
Society above quoted. The present species is most nearly allied to the
_Artamus leucorhynchus_, but is readily distinguished from it by the
blue colour of the bill; and I may here remark, that all the Australian
birds have the bill fine pale blue, and are also considerably smaller in
all their admeasurements than those of the islands to the northwards.
Van Diemen’s Land and Western Australia are the only colonies in which
this bird has not been observed; its range, therefore, over the
continent may be considered as very general: in South Australia and New
South Wales it would appear to be migratory, visiting those parts in
summer for the purpose of breeding. Among other places where I observed
it in considerable abundance was Mosquito, and the other small islands
near the mouth of the Hunter, and on the borders of the rivers Mokai and
Namoi, situated to the northward of Liverpool Plains; in these
last-mentioned localities it was breeding among the large flooded
gum-trees bordering the rivers.
The breeding-season commences in September and continues until January,
during which period at least two broods are reared. In the Christmas
week of 1839, at which time I was on the plains of the interior, in the
direction of the Namoi, the young progeny of the second brood were
perched in pairs or threes together, on a dead twig near their nest, as
represented in the Plate. They were constantly visited and fed by the
adults, who were hawking about for insects in great numbers, some
performing their evolutions above the tops and among the branches of the
trees, while others were sweeping over the open plain with great
rapidity of flight, making in their progress through the air the most
rapid and abrupt turns; at one moment rising to a considerable altitude
and the next descending to within a few feet of the ground, as the
insects of which they were in pursuit arrested their attention. In the
brushes, on the contrary, the flight of this bird is more soaring and of
a much shorter duration, particularly when hawking in the open glades,
which frequently teem with insect life. When flying near the ground the
white mark on the rump shows very conspicuously, and strikingly reminds
one of the House Marten of our own country.
Two nests, taken in November on a small island in Coral Bay, near the
entrance of the harbour at Port Essington, were compactly formed of
dried wiry grass and the fine plants growing on the beach; they were
placed in a fork of a slender mangrove-tree within fifteen feet of the
water, in which they were growing; but like several other Australian
birds, the _Artamus leucopygialis_ often avails itself of the deserted
nests of other species instead of building one of its own. Most of those
I found breeding on the Mokai had possessed themselves of the forsaken
nest of the _Grallina Melanoleuca_, which they had rendered warm and of
the proper size by slightly lining it with grasses, fibrous roots, and
the narrow leaves of the _Eucalypti_. The eggs are generally three in
number, are much lighter in colour, and more minutely spotted than those
of any other species of the genus I have seen; their ground-colour is
flesh-white, finely freckled and spotted with faint markings of reddish
brown and grey, in some instances forming a zone at the larger end:
their medium length is ten lines, and breadth seven lines and a half.
The sexes are only to be distinguished by dissection, and may be
described thus: head, throat and back sooty grey; primaries and tail
brownish black washed with grey; chest, all the under surface and rump
pure white; irides brown; bill light bluish grey at the base, black at
the tip; legs and feet mealy greenish grey.
The Plate represents a male, a female, two young ones and a nest of the
natural size.
[Illustration:
DICÆUM HIRUNDINACEUM.
_J. & E. Gould del et lith._ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]
DICÆUM HIRUNDINACEUM.
Swallow Dicæum.
_Sylvia hirundinacea_, Shaw, Nat. Misc., vol. iv. pl. 114.—Lath. Ind.
Orn. Supp., p. lv.
_Swallow Warbler_, Lath. Gen. Syn. Supp., vol. ii. p. 250.—Shaw, Gen.
Zool., vol. x. p. 613.
_Pipra Desmaretii_, Leach, Zool. Misc., vol. i. p. 94. pl. 41.
_Crimson-throated Honey-sucker_, Lewin, Birds of New Holl., pl. 7.
_Desmaretian Manakin_, Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. x. p. 18.—Lath. Gen.
Hist., vol. vii. p. 240.
_Dicæum atrogaster_, Less. Traité d’Orn., p. 303.
_Moo-ne-jë-tang_, Aborigines of the lowland districts of Western
Australia.
By far the greater number of the colonists of Australia are, I am sure,
totally unacquainted with this beautiful little bird, yet there is
scarcely an estate in either of the colonies in which it may not be
found as a permanent resident or an occasional visitor: a closer
examination of the birds, and other natural objects with which we are
most nearly surrounded, would at all times repay with interest the
trouble of their investigation.
The natural disposition of this species leading it to confine itself
almost exclusively to the topmost branches of the loftiest trees, is
doubtless the cause of its not being more generally observed; its rich
scarlet breast, so strongly contrasting with the other parts of its
plumage, not even attracting notice at the distance from the ground at
which it generally keeps; and, in obtaining specimens, I was more
frequently made aware of its presence by its pretty warbling song than
by its movements among the branches; so small an object, in fact, is
most difficult of detection among the thick foliage of the lofty
_Casuarinæ_, to which trees it is extremely partial, particularly to
those growing on the banks of creeks and rivers. It is also frequently
to be seen among the branches of the beautiful parasite figured in the
accompanying Plate: this charming _Loranthus_ was gathered at Dartbrook,
on the Upper Hunter, where it is very common on the _Casuarinæ_. Whether
the bird is attracted to this misseltoe-like parasite, like many others,
for the purpose of feeding upon its sweet and juicy berries, I could not
fully make out; its chief food is insects, but in all probability it may
partially feed on these fruits also.
The Swallow Dicæum has neither the actions of the Pardalotes nor of the
Honey-eaters; it differs from the former in its quick darting flight,
and from the latter in its less prying, clinging and creeping actions
among the leaves, &c. When perched on a branch it sits more upright, and
is more Swallow-like in its contour than either of the forms alluded to;
the structure of its nest and the mode of its nidification are also very
dissimilar.
Its song is a very animated and long-continued strain, but is uttered so
inwardly, that it is almost necessary to stand beneath the tree upon
which the bird is perched, before its notes can be heard.
It would appear that the range of this species extends to all parts of
the Australian continent, since I have received specimens from every
locality yet explored by Europeans. I found it breeding on the Lower
Namoi, which proves that the interior of the country is inhabited by it
as well as those portions between the ranges and the coast.
Its beautiful purse-like nest, of which the drawing will give a far
better idea than the most minute description, is composed of the white
cotton-like substance found in the seed-vessels of many plants, and
among other trees is sometimes suspended on a small branch of a
_Casuarina_ or an _Acacia pendula_. It was on the latter tree that I
found a nest containing three or four young; a second nest with the eggs
was given to me in Sydney. The ground-colour of the eggs is dull white,
with very minute spots of brown scattered over the surface; they are
nine lines long by five and a half lines broad.
The male has the head, all the upper surface, wings and tail black,
glossed with steel-blue; primaries black; throat, breast, and under
tail-coverts scarlet; flanks dusky; abdomen white, with a broad patch of
black down the centre; irides dark brown; bill blackish brown; feet dark
brown.
The female is dull black above, glossed with steel-blue on the wings and
tail; throat and centre of the abdomen buff; flanks light brown; under
tail-coverts pale scarlet.
The figures are of the natural size, on a branch of the _Loranthus_
above mentioned, which I believe to be an undescribed species.
[Illustration:
PARDALOTUS PUNCTATUS: _Vieill._
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]
PARDALOTUS PUNCTATUS, _Temm._
Spotted Pardalote.
_Pardalotus punctatus_, Temm., Man., Part I. p. lxv.—Id. Pl. Col.,
78.—Vieill. Gal. des Ois., tom. i. pl. 73.—Vig. and Horsf.
in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p. 237.—Gould, Syn. Birds of
Australia, Part II.
_Pipra punctata_, Lath. Ind. Orn., Supp., p. lvi. No. 1.—Shaw, Nat.
Misc., p. 111.—Id. Zool., vol. x. p. 30.
_Speckled Manikin_, Lath. Gen. Syn. Supp., vol. ii. p. 253.—Id. Gen.
Hist., vol. vii. p. 238.
_Wë-dup-wë-dup_, Aborigines of the lowland districts of Western
Australia.
_Diamond Bird_, Colonists of New South Wales.
No species of the genus to which this bird belongs is more widely and
generally distributed than the Spotted Pardalote; it inhabits the whole
of the southern parts of the Australian continent from the western to
the eastern extremities of the country, and is very common in Van
Diemen’s Land. It is nearly always engaged in searching for insects
among the foliage, both of trees of the highest growth and of the lowest
shrubs; it frequents gardens and enclosures as well as the open forest;
and is exceedingly active in its actions, clinging about in every
variety of position both above and beneath the leaves with equal
facility.
With regard to the nidification of this species, it is a singular
circumstance, that in the choice of situation for the reception of its
nest, it differs from every other known member of the genus; for while
they always place their nests in the holes of trees, this species
descends to the ground, and availing itself of any little shelving bank
that occurs in its vicinity, excavates a hole just large enough to admit
of the passage of its body, in a nearly horizontal direction to the
depth of two or three feet, at the end of which a chamber is formed in
which the nest is deposited. The nest itself is a neat and beautifully
built structure, formed of strips of the inner bark of the _Eucalypti_,
and lined with finer strips of the same or similar materials; it is of a
spherical contour, about four inches in diameter, with a small hole in
the side for an entrance. The chamber is generally somewhat higher than
the mouth of the hole, by which means the risk of its being inundated
upon the occurrence of rain is obviated. I have been fortunate enough to
discover many of the nests of this species, but they are most difficult
to detect, and are only to be found by watching for the egress or
ingress of the parent birds from or into its hole or entrance, which is
frequently formed in a part of the bank overhung with herbage, or
beneath the overhanging roots of a tree. How so neat a structure as is
the nest of the Spotted Pardalote, should be constructed at the end of a
hole where no light can possibly enter is beyond our comprehension, and
is one of those wonderful results of instinct so often presented to our
notice in the history of the animal creation, without our being in any
way able to account for them. The present species rears two broods in
the course of the year, the eggs upon each occasion being four or five
in number, rather round in form, of a beautiful polished fleshy white,
seven and a half lines long by six and a half lines broad.
Its voice is a rather harsh piping note of two syllables often repeated.
The male has the crown of the head, wings, and tail black, each feather
having a round spot of white near the tip; a stripe of white commences
at the nostrils and passes over the eye; ear-coverts and sides of the
neck grey; feathers of the back grey at the base, succeeded by a
triangular-shaped spot of fawn-colour, and edged with black; rump rufous
brown; upper tail-coverts crimson; throat, chest, and under tail-coverts
yellow; abdomen and flanks tawny; irides dark brown; bill brownish
black; feet brown.
The female may be distinguished by the less strongly contrasted tints of
her colouring, and by the absence of the bright yellow on the throat.
The figures represent the two sexes of the natural size.
[Illustration:
PARDALOTUS RUBRICATUS: _Gould_.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]
PARDALOTUS RUBRICATUS, _Gould_.
Red-lored Pardalote.
_Pardalotus rubricatus_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part V. p. 149;
and in Syn. Birds of Australia, Part IV.
All the information I have to communicate respecting this new and
beautiful Pardalote, which I have named _rubricatus_, from the red spot
before the eye, is, that I procured a single specimen at Liverpool from
among some other birds, all of which had been brought from the east
coast of Australia: no other example has come under my notice, and it
may probably be the only one in Europe. It belongs to the same section
of the _Pardaloti_ as the _P. punctatus_ and _P. quadragintus_, and like
them is distinguished from the other members of the group by the absence
of the sealing-wax-like tips of the spurious wing-feathers,—a character
which is constant in the _P. uropygialis_, _P. affinis_, _P. striatus_
and _P. melanocephalus_. It is the largest species of the genus yet
discovered, all the members of which are confined to Australia; and is
readily distinguished from its near allies the _P. punctatus_ and _P.
quadragintus_ by the larger size of the spots on the crown, and by its
having less yellow on the throat than the former, and more than the
latter.
As nothing whatever is at present known respecting it, it is one of
those species I would especially recommend to the notice of those
favourably situated for observing it.
Forehead crossed by a narrow band of dirty white; crown and back of the
head deep black, each feather having a spot of white near its extremity;
back of the neck, back, wing-coverts and rump brownish grey; wings dark
brown, margined with pale brown, the spurious wing, a small portion of
the base of the primaries, and the outer margins of the secondaries fine
golden orange; immediately before the eye a spot of bright, fiery
orange; above and behind the eye a stripe of buff; upper tail-coverts
bright olive-green; tail deep blackish brown, the extreme tips of the
feathers being white; throat and abdomen greyish white; chest bright
yellow; upper mandible and legs brown, under mandible greyish white.
The bird is represented in two positions, of the natural size, on a
plant gathered in New South Wales.
[Illustration:
PARDALOTUS QUADRAGINTUS: _Gould_.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]
PARDALOTUS QUADRAGINTUS, _Gould_.
Forty-spotted Pardalote.
_Pardalotus quadragintus_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part V. p.
148; and in Syn. Birds of Australia, Part IV.
_Forty-spot_, Colonists of Van Diemen’s Land.
This species is peculiar to Van Diemen’s Land, where it inhabits the
almost impenetrable forests which cover that island, particularly those
of its southern portion. It is I think less numerous than its congener,
the _Pardalotus affinis_, and appears to confine itself more exclusively
to the highest gum-trees than that species. I found it very abundant in
the gulleys under Mount Wellington, and observed it breeding in a hole
in one of the loftiest trees, at about forty feet from the ground; I
afterwards took a perfectly developed white egg from the body of a
female killed on the 5th of October. The weight of this little bird was
rather more than a quarter of an ounce; the stomach was muscular, and
contained the remains of the larvæ of lepidoptera, which with coleoptera
and other insects constitute its food.
It has a simple piping kind of note of two syllables.
In its actions it much resembles the Tits of Europe, creeping and
clinging among the branches in every direction.
The eggs are white and nearly round in form, being seven lines and a
half long and six broad.
The sexes are so much alike in colour, that a separate description is
unnecessary.
Crown of the head and all the upper surface bright olive-green, each
feather obscurely margined with brown; wings brownish black, all the
feathers except the first and second primaries having a conspicuous spot
of pure white near their extremities; tail blackish grey, the extreme
tips of the feathers being white; cheeks and under tail-coverts
yellowish olive; throat and under surface greyish white, passing into
olive on the flanks; irides dark brown; bill brownish black; feet brown.
The figures are of the natural size.
[Illustration:
PARDALOTUS STRIATUS: _Vig. & Horsf._
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]
PARDALOTUS STRIATUS, _Temm._
Striated Pardalote.
_Pardalotus striatus_, Temm. Man., Part I. p. lxv.—Vig. and Horsf. in
Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p. 237. note.—Gould, Syn. Birds of
Australia, Part II.
_Pipra striata_, Lath. Ind. Orn., p. 558. No. 13.—Gmel. Syst., vol. i.
p. 1003.
_Striped-headed Manakin_, Lath. Gen. Syn., vol. iv. p. 526. pl.
54.—Id., Supp., p. 188.—Shaw, Zool., vol. x. p. 29. pl.
4.—Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. vii. p. 237. pl. 109.?
_Pardalotus ornatus_, Temm. Pl. Col. 394. fig. 1.
_Wë-dup-weë-dup_, Aborigines of the lowland, and
_Wë-dee-wë-due_, Aborigines of the mountain districts of Western
Australia.
This beautiful species, like the _P. punctatus_, enjoys an extensive
range of habitat, being found in all parts of the southern portion of
the Australian continent; it has not as yet been discovered in Van
Diemen’s Land, its place in that island being apparently occupied by the
_P. affinis_. I have carefully examined specimens killed at Swan River
with others from New South Wales, and I cannot find the slightest
difference either in their size or markings. It will be interesting to
know how far this species and the _P. punctatus_ extend their range
northwards, a point which can only be ascertained when the country has
been fully explored. The _P. uropygialis_ is the only species that has
yet been discovered on the north coast. This active little bird is
generally seen seeking insects among the leaves, for which purpose it
frequents trees of every description, but gives a decided preference to
the _Eucalypti_. Its flight is rapid and darting, hence it passes from
tree to tree, or from one part of the forest to another with the
greatest ease. Its voice is a double note several times repeated.
The nest, which is a very neat structure of dried soft grasses and the
bark of the tea-tree, lined with feathers, is usually placed in a hole
of a dead branch, but sometimes in the boll of the tree. It breeds in
September, October and November, and lays three or four fleshy-white
eggs, which are nine lines long by seven lines broad.
The sexes so closely assimilate in colour and markings that they are
only to be distinguished by dissection.
The young assume the adult colouring from the nest, but have the tips of
the spurious wing orange instead of red.
Forehead and crown of the head black, the feathers of the latter having
a stripe of white down the centre; a stripe of deep orange-yellow
commences at the base of the upper mandible and runs above the eye,
where it is joined by a stripe of white which leads to the occiput; back
of the neck and back brownish olive-grey; rump and upper tail-coverts
yellowish brown; wings black, the external edges of the third, fourth,
fifth, sixth and seventh primaries white at their base and tipped with
white; secondaries margined with white and reddish brown; tail black,
each feather tipped with white; sides of the face and neck grey; throat
and upper part of the chest yellow; centre of the abdomen white; flanks
and under tail-coverts brownish buff, the former tinged with yellow;
irides brownish red; bill at the tip and along the culmen dark brown
tinged with blue, the remainder yellowish white; legs and feet greenish
grey.
The Plate represents a male, a female, and three young birds of the
natural size.
[Illustration:
PARDALOTUS AFFINIS: _Gould_.
_J. & E. Gould del._ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]
PARDALOTUS AFFINIS, _Gould_.
Allied Pardalote.
_Pipra striata?_ Gmel. et Auct.
_Striped-headed Manakin_, Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. x. p. 29, pl.
4.—Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. vii. p. 237, pl. cix.
_Pardalotus affinis_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part V. 1837, p.
25.—Syn. Birds of Australia, Part II.
The _Pardalotus affinis_ is distinguished by the yellow tips of its
spurious wings and by the margin of the third primary only being white.
The bird figured by Shaw and Latham, as quoted above, has in all
probability reference to the present species, but not, in my opinion, to
the _Pipra striata_ of Gmelin, whose description does not agree with the
Van Diemen’s Land bird, or with any of those from New South Wales; he
distinctly states that the tips of some of the wing-coverts are yellow,
and that the spurious wing is tipped with white, and, moreover, adds
that it is a native of South America.
The Allied Pardalote is distributed over every part of Van Diemen’s
Land, and may be regarded as the commonest bird of the island: wherever
the gum and wattle exist there also may the bird as certainly be found;
giving no decided preference to trees of a high or low growth, but
inhabiting alike the sapling and those which have attained their
greatest altitude. It displays great activity among the branches,
clinging and creeping about in the most easy and elegant manner,
examining both the upper and under sides of the leaves with the utmost
care in search of insects. It is equally common in all the gardens and
shrubberies, even those in the midst of the towns, forming a familiar
and pleasing object, and enlivening the scenery with its sprightly
actions, and piping, though somewhat monotonous note. Its food consists
of seeds, buds, and insects, in procuring which its most elegant actions
are brought into play.
I am led to believe that it is strictly confined to Van Diemen’s Land
and the islands in Bass’s Straits, having never observed it on the
mainland, or seen specimens in any one of the numerous collections I
have examined from New South Wales.
The season of nidification occupies at least four months, during which
two or more broods are reared. Eggs may be found in September, and on
reference to my journal I find that near George Town, on the 8th of
January, I took from a nest in the hole of a tree five fully-fledged
young. The nest in this instance was of a large size, and of a round
domed form like that of the Wren, with a small hole for an entrance; it
was outwardly composed of grasses and warmly lined with feathers. The
eggs vary from three to five in number, and are of a beautiful white,
nine lines long by seven lines in diameter.
The holes selected for the nest are sometimes high up in the loftiest
trees, at others within a few feet of the ground. The young birds have
the tips of the spurious wing orange instead of yellow; and although the
whole plumage possesses the same character as that of the adults, the
markings are less brilliant and well-defined. The sexes offer no
observable difference in their colouring by which they can be
distinguished.
Forehead and crown of the head black, the latter with a stripe of white
down the centre of each feather; a stripe of yellow commences at the
base of the upper mandible, and runs above the eye, where it is joined
by a stripe of white, which proceeds nearly to the occiput; back of the
neck and back greyish olive-brown; rump and upper tail-coverts
olive-brown; wings black, each of the primaries slightly tipped with
white, and the third externally edged with white; the secondaries edged
with white and rufous, and the tips of the spurious wing yellow; tail
blackish brown, each feather having a transverse mark of white at the
tip; ear-coverts and cheeks grey; throat yellow, passing into lighter
yellow on the flanks; centre of the abdomen white; irides olive-brown;
bill black; feet brown.
The figures are of the natural size.
[Illustration:
PARDALOTUS MELANOCEPHALUS: _Gould_.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]
PARDALOTUS MELANOCEPHALUS, _Gould_.
Black-headed Pardalote.
_Pardalotus melanocephalus_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., part v. p.
149; and in Syn. Birds of Australia, Part IV.
I have received numerous examples of this species from Moreton Bay,
where it probably takes the place of the _P. striatus_, from which it is
distinguished by the black colouring of its head and by its thicker
bill, but to which it is very nearly allied, as well as to the _P.
uropygialis_; it is in fact directly intermediate between the two,
having the black head of the latter without the yellow colouring of the
rump. There is no external difference in the sexes.
Nothing whatever is known of its history.
Crown of the head, lores and ear-coverts black; over each eye a stripe
commencing at the nostrils, the anterior half of which is orange, and
the posterior white; sides of the face and neck white; back of the neck
and back olive-grey; upper tail-coverts brownish buff; tail black, each
feather tipped with white; wings blackish brown, the third, fourth,
fifth, sixth and seventh primaries white; secondaries edged and tipped
with white; one of the wing-coverts broadly margined on the inner web
with white, forming an oblique line across the shoulder; spurious wing
tipped with crimson; line down the centre of the throat, the breast and
middle of the abdomen bright yellow; vent and under tail-coverts buff;
hill black; feet brown.
The figures are of the natural size.
[Illustration:
PARDALOTUS UROPYGIALIS: _Gould_.
_J. & E. Gould del,^t_ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]
PARDALOTUS UROPYGIALIS, _Gould_.
Yellow-rumped Pardalote.
_Pardalotus uropygialis_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part VII.
1839, p. 143.
For this very beautiful Pardalote, and several other interesting birds
from the north-west coast of Australia, I am indebted to the kindness of
Benjamin Bynoe, Esq., Surgeon of Her Majesty’s Surveying Ship the
Beagle; to Captain Wickham and the other officers of which vessel my
thanks are also due for their polite attention to my wishes, and the
promise of communicating to me any novelties they might procure during
their survey of the north-west coast.
The Yellow-rumped Pardalote is easily distinguished from every other
species of the group with which I am acquainted, amounting to seven or
eight in number, by the bright yellow colouring of the rump, by the rich
spot of orange before the eye, by having a shorter wing, and by being
more diminutive in size than any of the others, with the exception of
_Pardalotus punctatus_. It is more closely allied to my _Pardalotus
melanocephalus_ than any other species; but as the latter is without the
yellow on the rump, and has a larger bill, I am induced to regard them
as distinct.
I am unable to give any account of its habits and manners, but in these
respects it doubtless closely assimilates to the other members of its
group.
Crown of the head, stripe before and behind the eye black; lores rich
orange; a mark from above the eye to the occiput, chest and centre of
the abdomen white; throat and cheeks delicate crocus-yellow; rump and
upper tail-coverts sulphur-yellow; back of the neck and back olive-grey;
wings black, the external webs of the second and five following
primaries white at the base; tips of the spurious wing scarlet; tail
black; the three outer feathers tipped with white, the white spreading
largely over the inner web of the outer feathers; bill black; feet lead
colour.
The sexes do not differ in size or in the colour of their plumage.
The figures are of the natural size.
[Illustration:
STREPERA GRACULINA: _Lefs._
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]
STREPERA GRACULINA.
Pied Crow-Shrike.
_Réveilleur de l’Isle de Norfolk?_, Dand., tom. ii. p. 267.
_Corvus graculinus_ (White-vented Crow), White’s Bot. Bay, pl. in p.
251.
_Coracias strepera_, Lath. Ind. Orn., vol. i. p. 173.
_Corvus streperus_, Leach, Zool. Misc., vol. ii. pl. 86.
_Noisy Roller_, Lath. Gen. Syn., Supp., vol. ii. p. 121.
_Le Grand Calibé_, Le Vaill. Ois. de Par., &c., pl. 24.
_Cracticus streperus_, Vieill. Gal. des Ois., pl. 109.—Vig. and Horsf.
in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p. 261.
_Gracula strepera_, Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. vii. p. 462.
_Barita strepera_, Temm. Man., part i. p. li.
_Coronica strepera_, Gould, Syn. Birds of Australia, Part I.
_Strepera_, Less. Traité d’Orn., p. 329.
_Strepera graculina_, G. R. Gray, Gen. of Birds, 2nd Edit., p. 50.
This species was originally described and figured in White’s ‘Voyage to
New South Wales’: it is consequently the oldest and most familiarly
known member of the group to which it belongs. It is very generally
distributed over the colony of New South Wales, inhabiting alike the
brushes near the coast, those of the mountain ranges, and also the
forests of _Eucalypti_ which clothe the plains and more open country. As
a great part of its food consists of seeds, berries and fruits, it is
more arboreal in its habits than some of the other species of its group,
whose structure better adapts them for progression on the ground, and
whose food principally consists of insects and their larvæ. The habitat
of the present bird appears to be confined to the south-eastern portions
of the continent, where, as is the case with all birds whose range is so
limited, it is a stationary species, merely moving from one district to
another according to the season; at one time being more numerous on the
open coast, and at another among the brushes, as each may offer it a
greater variety or more abundant supply of food: the hilly portions of
the country intersected with deep ravines are, however, decidedly its
most congenial localities. Like the other members of the genus it is
mostly seen in small companies, varying from four to six in number,
seldom either singly or in pairs: I am not, however, inclined to
consider them as gregarious birds in the strict sense of the word,
believing as I do that each of these small companies is composed of a
pair and their progeny, which appear to keep together from the birth of
the latter until the natural impulse for pairing prompts them to
separate.
Their flight is very different from that of the Crow, (which they much
resemble in outward appearance) being much less protracted, and never of
an elevated character; its utmost extent is from one part of the forest
to another, or across a gully, in effecting which they sometimes pass
over the tops of the trees, while at others they accomplish the distance
by flitting from tree to tree. It is during flight that the markings of
this bird are displayed to the greatest advantage, the strong contrast
of its colours then rendering it a conspicuous object in the bush: while
on the wing also it frequently causes the woods to ring with its
peculiar noisy cry, by which its presence is often indicated when
otherwise it would not be seen. On the ground it hops over the surface
with the greatest facility.
The nest, which is usually constructed on the branches of low trees,
sometimes even on those of the _Casuarinæ_, is of a large size, round,
open, and cup-shaped, built of sticks and lined with moss and grasses;
the eggs, which I was not so fortunate as to procure, are generally
three or four in number.
The flesh of this species is frequently eaten by the colonists, and is
by some considered a delicacy.
Of all the species of this singular and well-defined genus, the present,
although not the largest in stature, is by far the handsomest, its
markings being more clearly defined and the tints of its plumage more
rich and contrasted than those of any of its congeners, the black being
as deep as jet, and the white pure and unspotted; it differs also from
all its allies yet discovered in having the basal half of the primaries
and the basal half and the tips of the tail-feathers together with those
portions of the shafts pure white.
The plumage of both sexes at all ages is so precisely similar, that by
dissection alone can we distinguish the male from his mate, or the young
from the adult; the female is, however, always a trifle less in all her
admeasurements, and the young birds have the corners of the mouth more
fleshy and of a brighter yellow than the adults.
All the plumage fine bluish black with the exception of the basal half
of the primaries, the basal half and the tips of the tail-feathers,
including those portions of their shafts and the under tail-coverts
which are snow-white; irides beautiful yellow; bill and feet black.
[Illustration:
STREPERA FULIGINOSA: _Gould_.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]
STREPERA FULIGINOSA, _Gould_.
Sooty Crow-Shrike.
_Cracticus fuliginosus_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part IV. p.
106.
_Coronica fuliginosa_, Gould in Syn. Birds of Australia, Part I.
_Black Magpie_, of the Colonists.
The great stronghold of this species is the island of Van Diemen’s Land,
in which it is a permanent resident; but its range extends to the
islands in Bass’s Straits, and a few individuals have been found in
South Australia. Its browner colouring, more arched and gibbose bill,
its smaller size, and the absence of the white colouring of the under
tail-coverts and of the base of the primaries, are characters by which
it may at once be distinguished from all the other members of the group.
The localities it frequents are also of a different description, those
preferred being low swampy grounds in the neighbourhood of the sea and
woods bordering rivers. Like the other species of the genus, it subsists
on insects and grubs of various kinds, to which pulpy seeds and berries
are frequently added.
It is very active on the ground, running over the surface with a motion
between a run and a hop with great rapidity.
It breeds in the low trees, constructing a large, deep and cup-shaped
nest very similar to that of the European Crow, and lays three eggs, of
a pale vinous brown marked all over with large irregular blotches of
brown, one inch and five-eighths long by one inch and a quarter broad.
Its note is much less shrill than that of the _Strepera arguta_.
I have seen this bird in a state of captivity, and it appeared to bear
confinement remarkably well.
The sexes present no visible difference except in size, the female being
smaller than the male; they may be thus described:—
All the plumage sooty black, with the exception of the ends of the
primaries and all but the two middle tail-feathers, which are white;
irides bright yellow; bill and feet black.
The figures are of the natural size.
[Illustration:
STREPERA ARGUTA: _Gould_.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]
STREPERA ARGUTA, Gould.
Hill Crow-Shrike.
_Strepera arguta_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part XIV. p. 19.
The _Strepera arguta_ is abundantly dispersed over Van Diemen’s Land,
but is more numerous in the central parts of the island than in the
districts adjacent to the coast; it also inhabits South Australia, in
which country it is more scarce, and all the specimens I have seen are
rather smaller in size. I have never seen it in any part of New South
Wales that I have visited, neither have specimens occurred in the
numerous collections from the west coast that have come under my notice.
It is the largest, the boldest and the most animated species of the
genus yet discovered. If not strictly gregarious, it is often seen in
small companies of from four to ten, and during the months of winter
even a greater number are to be seen congregated together. The districts
most suited to its habits are open glades in the forest and
thinly-timbered hills: although it readily perches on the trees, its
natural resort is the ground, for which its form is admirably adapted,
and over which it passes with amazing rapidity, either in a succession
of leaps or by running. Fruits being but sparingly diffused over
Australia, insects necessarily constitute almost its sole food, and of
these nearly every order inhabiting the surface of the ground forms part
of its diet. It devours grasshoppers with great avidity, and as these
insects are ever most abundant, the one would appear to be formed for
the sustenance of the other.
Its note is a loud ringing and very peculiar sound, somewhat resembling
the words _clink, clink_, several times repeated, and strongly reminded
me of the distant sound of the strokes on a blacksmith’s anvil; and
hence the term _arguta_ appeared to me to be an appropriate specific
appellation for this new species.
All the nests I found of this species either contained young birds or
were without eggs; I am consequently unable to give their size and
colour. The nest, which is of a large size, is generally placed on a
horizontal branch of a low tree; it is round, deep and cup-shaped,
outwardly formed of sticks and lined with fibrous roots and other fine
materials.
The sexes present no external difference whatever, neither is there much
difference in size; the young are black from the nest, except that the
tertiary feathers are strongly tipped with white, a character never I
believe thrown off in adult age.
All the plumage brownish black, becoming much browner on the tips of the
wing-feathers, and of a grey tint on the abdomen; base of the inner webs
of the primaries and secondaries, the under tail-coverts and the apical
third of the inner webs of the tail-feathers white; irides
orange-yellow; bill and feet black; corner of the mouth yellow.
The Plate represents the bird about four-fifths of the size of life.
[Illustration:
STREPERA ANAPHONENSIS.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]
STREPERA ANAPHONENSIS.
Grey Crow-Shrike.
_Barita Anaphonensis_, Temm. Pl. Col.—Less. Traité d’Orn., p. 345,
Atlas, pl. 47. fig. 1.
_Strepera plumbea_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part XIV. p. 20.
_Dje-läak_, Aborigines of Western Australia.
_Squeaker_, of the Colonists.
Having formerly considered the Grey Crow-Shrikes of New South Wales and
Western Australia as distinct species, I assigned to the Swan River bird
the specific appellation of _plumbea_; subsequent research has, however,
proved them to be identical: I am therefore under the necessity of
adopting the name of _Anaphonensis_, previously applied to the species
by my friend M. Temminck, and of sinking that of _plumbea_ into a
synonym.
No one species of the genus has so wide a range as the present,
extending as it does from New South Wales on the east to Swan River on
the west coast. It is, however, more local in its habitat than any of
them, at least such is the case in New South Wales; for although it is
tolerably abundant at Illawarra, at Camden, and in the park of C.
Throsby, Esq., at Bong-bong, it was not seen in any other district that
I visited. Mr. Gilbert states that he observed it in every part of
Western Australia visited by him; and that he mostly met with it in the
thickly wooded forests, singly or in pairs, feeding on the ground with a
gait and manners very much resembling the Common Crow. Its flight is
easy and long-sustained, and it occasionally mounts to a considerable
height in the air.
Its note is a piercing shriek, very much resembling in sound the native
name.
The stomach is very muscular, and the food consists of coleoptera and
the larvæ of insects of various kinds.
It breeds in the latter part of September and the beginning of October,
forming a nest of dried sticks in the thickest part of the foliage of a
gum- or mahogany-tree and laying three eggs, the ground-colour of which
is either reddish buff or wood-brown, marked over nearly the whole of
the surface with blotches of a darker tint; their medium length is one
inch and nine lines by one inch and two and a half lines broad.
The sexes resemble each other so closely in colour, that it is
impossible to distinguish the one from the other, except by dissection.
All the upper surface leaden grey, becoming much darker on the forehead
and lores; wings black; secondaries margined with grey and tipped with
white; basal half of the inner webs of the primaries white, of the outer
webs grey; the remainder of their length black, slightly tipped with
white; tail black, margined with grey and largely tipped with white; all
the under surface greyish brown; under tail-coverts white; irides
orange; bill and feet black.
The figure represents a male of the natural size.
[Illustration:
GYMNORHINA TIBICEN: _G. R. Gray_.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]
GYMNORHINA TIBICEN.
Piping Crow-Shrike.
_Coracias Tibicen_, Lath. Ind. Orn., Supp., xxvii.—Shaw, Gen. Zool.,
vol. vii. p. 405.
_Barita Tibicen_, Temm. Man., part i. p. li.—Less. Traité d’Orn., p.
345.
_Piping Roller_, Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. iii. p. 86. no. 23.
_Cracticus Tibicen_, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p.
260.—Gould, Syn, Birds of Australia, Part I.
_Gymnorhina Tibicen_, G. R. Gray, List of Gen. of Birds, 2nd edit. p.
50.
_Ca-ruck_, Aborigines of New South Wales.
This species is universally diffused over the colony of New South Wales,
to which part of the Australian continent I believe its habitat to be
confined. It is true that a bird of this genus inhabits the
neighbourhood of Swan River, whose size and style of plumage is very
similar, but which I have little doubt will prove to be distinct. In
fact, from what we see in other instances, it is natural to expect that
there would be a species of this genus on the western as well as on the
eastern side of the country, and that they would, as representatives of
each other, be very nearly allied; I shall therefore consider the
habitat of the present bird to be restricted to New South Wales until I
have further proofs to the contrary.
The _Gymnorhina Tibicen_ is a bold and showy bird, which, when not
harassed and driven away, greatly enlivens and ornaments the lawns and
gardens of the colonists by its presence, and with the slightest
protection from molestation becomes so tame and familiar that it
approaches close to their dwellings, and perches round them and the
stock yards in small families of from six to ten in number. Nor is its
morning carol less amusing and attractive than its pied and strongly
contrasted plumage is pleasing to the eye. To describe the notes of this
bird is beyond the power of my pen, and it is a source of regret to
myself that my readers cannot, as I have done, listen to them in their
native wilds, or that the bird is not introduced into this country in
sufficient numbers for it to become generally known; a more amusing and
easily-kept denizen for the aviary could not be selected. As it dwells
in New South Wales all the year round, breeds upon the trees bordering
the cleared lands, and constructs a nest as large and conspicuous as
that of the Crow of our own island, there can be no difficulty in
procuring as many young ones as might be desired; and I trust,
therefore, that whenever opportunities occur for sending living examples
to England they will not be neglected.
Cleared lands, open flats and plains skirted by belts of trees are its
favourite localities, hence the interior of the country is more
favourable to its habits than the neighbourhood of the coast.
It lives almost entirely on insects, which are generally procured on the
ground, and the number of locusts and grasshoppers it devours is
immense. In captivity it subsists upon animal food of almost every kind,
and that berries and fruits would be equally acceptable I have but
little doubt.
The breeding-season commences in August and lasts until January, during
which period two broods are generally reared by each pair of birds. The
nest is round, deep and open, composed outwardly of sticks, leaves,
wool, &c., and lined with any finer materials that may be at hand. The
eggs are either three or four in number; their colour and size I regret
to say I cannot give, having unfortunately neglected to procure them
while in New South Wales. Of two other and much rarer species I possess
the eggs; and although I might from analogy proceed to describe those of
the present bird from them, I refrain from so doing.
The young assume the plumage of the adult from the nest, and no change
takes place from age or season.
Crown of the head, cheeks, throat, back, all the under surface,
scapularies, secondaries, primaries and tips of the tail-feathers black;
wing-coverts, nape of the neck, upper and under tail-coverts, and base
of the tail-feathers white; bill bluish ash-colour at the base, passing
into black at the tip; irides rich reddish hazel; legs black.
The Plate represents the male and female, with the nest, rather less
than the natural size.
[Illustration:
GYMNORHINA LEUCONOTA: _Gould_.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]
GYMNORHINA LEUCONOTA, _Gould_.
White-backed Crow-Shrike.
_Barita Tibicen_, Quoy et Gaim. Voy. de la Coq., pl. 20.—Less. Traité
d’Orn., p. 345.
_Goor̈e-bat_, Aborigines of the lowland districts of Western
Australia.
This fine species of _Gymnorhina_, which has been confounded by the
French writers with the _G. Tibicen_, inhabits South Australia, and
extends its range as far to the eastward as the colony of New South
Wales. I hear that it is tolerably abundant at Port Philip, and that it
is sometimes seen on the plains near Yass. For my own part I have never
met with it in New South Wales, but observed it to be rather abundant in
South Australia. In the extreme shyness of its disposition it presents a
remarkable contrast to the _G. Tibicen_; it was indeed so wary and so
difficult to approach, that it required the utmost ingenuity to obtain a
sufficient number of specimens necessary for my purpose. Plain and open
hilly parts of the country are the localities it prefers, where it
dwells much on the ground, feeding upon locusts and other insects. In
size it is fully as large as any species of the genus yet discovered; it
runs over the ground with great facility, and the long flights it
frequently takes across the plains from one belt of trees to another,
indicated greater powers of flight than is possessed by its near allies;
in other parts of its economy it so nearly resembles the _G. Tibicen_,
that it would be useless to repeat a description of them here. The same
single note and early carol of small companies perched on some leafless
branch of a _Eucalyptus_ appears characteristic of all the members of
the genus.
It breeds in September and October, constructing a nest of dried sticks
in an upright fork of a gum- or mahogany-tree. The eggs are three in
number, very long in form, and of a dull bluish white, in some instances
tinged with red, marked with large bold blotches or zigzag streakings of
brownish red or light chestnut; the average length of the eggs is one
inch and eight lines, and breadth one inch and one line. Occasionally
eggs are met with which are spotted with black or umber-brown.
The sexes when fully adult present no other outward difference than the
larger size of the female. Immature birds of both sexes have the whole
of the back clouded with grey, and the bill of a less pure ash-colour.
Back of the neck, back, upper and under coverts of the wings, basal
portion of the spurious wing, upper and under tail-coverts, and base of
the tail-feathers white; remainder of the plumage and the shafts of the
white portion of the tail-feathers glossy black; irides light hazel;
bill bluish lilac-purple, passing into black at the tip; legs and feet
blackish grey.
The Plate represents the two sexes rather less than the size of life.
[Illustration:
GYMNORHINA ORGANICUM: _Gould_.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]
GYMNORHINA ORGANICUM, _Gould_.
Tasmanian Crow-Shrike.
_Cracticus hypoleucus_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part IV. p. 106;
and in Syn. Birds of Australia, Part I.
_Organ-Bird_ and _White Magpie_ of the Colonists.
This animated and elegant bird is a native of Van Diemen’s Land, and
appears to be very local in its habitat, for while it is never found
below Austin’s Ferry on the southern bank of the river Derwent, it is
very plentiful on the opposite side and in the interior of the country,
particularly on the salt-pan plains, which would be dreary indeed were
they not enlivened by the presence of this amusing bird, the Miners
(_Myzanthæ_), and the Rose Hill Parrakeet. It is also to be met with in
all the open parts of the country, in small troops of from six to twelve
or more in number; but I did not observe it on the banks of the Tamar,
and it certainly does not inhabit Flinders’ Island. It runs, and
occasionally hops, over the surface with great quickness, but flies
rather slowly, and upon alighting on a branch raises and closes one wing
several times in quick succession, and in a very peculiar manner. When
on the plains it utters a loud ringing call, but when perched on the
dead branches of the trees soon after day-break, it pours forth a
succession of notes of the strangest description that can be imagined,
much resembling the sounds of a hand-organ out of tune, which has
obtained for it the colonial name of the Organ-Bird. It is very easily
tamed; and as it possesses the power of imitation in an extraordinary
degree, it may be readily taught to whistle various tunes as well as to
articulate words; it consequently soon becomes a most amusing as well as
ornamental bird for the aviary or cage. The stomach is very muscular,
and the food consists of insects of various kinds, grubs, caterpillars,
&c., which are procured on the ground.
A nest I found was placed among the topmost branches of a high gum-tree,
was round, cup-shaped, and outwardly constructed of sticks interspersed
with strips of bark, short grasses, and tufts of a species of swamp
grass, to which succeeded an internal lining of coarse grass, which
again was lined with the inner bark of the stringy bark-tree, sheep’s
wool and a few feathers, felted together and forming a dense and warm
receptacle for the eggs; it was about ten inches in diameter, and about
four or five inches in depth.
The eggs were four in number, of a lengthened form with a ground-colour
of greenish ashy grey, spotted and blotched, particularly at the larger
end, with umber-brown and bluish grey, the latter colour appearing as if
beneath the surface of the shell; they were one inch and five lines long
by one inch broad. The young assume the adult livery from the nest, and
appear to keep in company of the parent birds during the first ten
months of their existence.
The male has the crown of the head, cheeks, throat, all the under
surface, scapularies, primaries and tips of the tail jet-black; nape of
the neck, back, upper and under tail-coverts, and base of the
tail-feathers white; bill dark lead-colour at the base, passing into
black at the tip; legs black; irides bright hazel.
The female differs in having the nape of the neck and back grey, and the
primaries and tips of the tail-feathers brownish black.
The Plate represents the two sexes of the natural size.
[Illustration:
CRACTICUS NIGROGULARIS: _Gould_.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]
CRACTICUS NIGROGULARIS, _Gould_.
Black-throated Crow-Shrike.
_Vanga nigrogularis_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part V.; and in
Syn. Birds of Australia, Part I.
_Cracticus varius_, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p. 261.
The Black-throated Crow-Shrike finds a natural asylum in New South
Wales, the only one of the Australian colonies in which it has yet been
found, and where it is by no means rare, although the situations it
affects render it somewhat local; it is a stationary species, breeding
in all parts of the country suitable to its habits and mode of life;
districts of rich land known as apple-tree flats, and low open
undulating hills studded with large trees, are the kind of districts to
which it peculiarly resorts: hence the cow-pastures at Camden, the fine
park-like estate of Charles Throsby, Esq., at Bong-bong, and the entire
district of the Upper Hunter, are among the localities in which it may
always be found.
It is usually seen in pairs, and from its active habits and conspicuous
pied plumage, forms a rather striking object among the trees, the lower
and outspreading branches of which are much more frequented by it than
the higher ones; from these lower branches it often descends to the
ground in search of insects and small lizards, which however form but a
portion of its food, for as its powerful and strongly-hooked bill would
lead us to infer, prey of a more formidable kind is often resorted to;
its sanguinary disposition, in fact, leads it to feed on young birds,
mice, and other small quadrupeds, which it soon kills, tears piecemeal
and devours on the spot; wounded individuals on being handled inflict
severe blows and lacerations on the hands of the captor, unless great
care be taken to avoid them.
The nest, which is rather large and round, is very similar to that of
the European Jay; those I examined were outwardly composed of sticks,
neatly lined with fine fibrous roots, and generally placed on a low
horizontal branch among the thick foliage.
The eggs are dark yellowish brown, spotted and clouded with markings of
a darker hue, and in some instances with a few minute spots of black;
their medium length is one inch and three lines by eleven lines in
breadth.
The breeding-season commences in August, and continues during the four
following months.
The sexes are so precisely alike in colouring, that although on
comparison the female is found to be rather less than the male in all
her admeasurements, they can only be distinguished with certainty by
dissection.
Head, neck and chest black; hinder part of the neck, shoulders, centre
of the wing, rump and under surface white; two middle tail-feathers
entirely black, the remainder black largely tipped with white; bill
lead-colour at the base, black at the tip; legs black; irides brown.
The young during the first autumn are very different from the adult,
particularly in the colouring of the head and chest, which is light
brown instead of black; the bill, as in most youthful birds, is also
very different, the basal portion being dark fleshy brown instead of
lead-colour.
The Plate represents a male and female of the natural size.
[Illustration:
CRACTICUS PICATUS: _Gould_.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]
CRACTICUS PICATUS.
Pied Crow-Shrike.
_Cracticus picatus_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., February 22, 1848.
_Ka-ra-a-ra_, Aborigines of Port Essington.
_Magpie_, of the Colonists.
This is in every respect a miniature representative of the _Cracticus
nigrogularis_ of New South Wales; it must, however, be regarded as a
distinct species; its much more diminutive size will warrant such a
conclusion from every ornithologist who compares them.
It was found at Port Essington by Mr. Gilbert, where it exists in
considerable abundance. He states that it is an extremely shy and wary
bird, inhabiting the most secluded parts of the forest, and is as
frequently seen searching for its food on the ground as among the
topmost branches of the highest trees. In its habits, manners, mode of
flight, and in its loud, discordant, organ-pipe-like voice, it closely
resembles the other members of the genus. It is usually seen in pairs,
or in small families of four or five. Its nest is built of sticks in the
upright fork of a thickly-foliaged tree, at about thirty or forty feet
from the ground.
The stomach is muscular, and the food consists of insects of various
kinds, but principally of coleoptera.
The sexes are not to be distinguished by any markings in the plumage,
but the young are dressed in a brown colouring like those of the other
members of the genus.
Collar at the back of the neck, centre and edge of the wing, rump,
abdomen, under tail-coverts and tips of all but the centre tail-feathers
white, remainder of the plumage deep black; irides dark reddish brown;
bill ash-grey, the tip black; legs and feet dark greenish grey.
The Plate represents the two sexes of the natural size.
[Illustration:
CRACTICUS ARGENTEUS: _Gould_.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]
CRACTICUS ARGENTEUS, _Gould_.
Silvery-backed Butcher-Bird.
_Cracticus argenteus_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part VIII. p.
126.
Examples of this new species were discovered on the north coast of
Australia, both by Captain Grey and B. Bynoe, Esq., to the latter of
whom I am indebted for one of the specimens from which my figures were
taken.
The _Cracticus argenteus_ is directly intermediate in size between
_Cracticus destructor_ and _Cracticus nigrogularis_, and moreover
exhibits a remarkable participation in the colouring of those two
species; having the white throat and chest of the former, and the
parti-coloured wings, conspicuous white rump, and white-tipped tail of
the latter; it differs, however, from both, as well as from all the
other members of the genus, in the light or silvery grey colouring of
the back, and hence the term of _argenteus_ has been applied to it.
No account of its habits has yet been received, but they doubtless
resemble those of the other species of the genus.
Crown of the head, ear-coverts, shoulders, primaries, and all the
tail-feathers for three-fourths of their length from the base, black;
back silvery grey; throat, all the under surface, sides of the neck,
some of the wing-coverts and the margins of several of the secondaries,
rump, and tips of the tail-feathers pure white; bill horn-colour; feet
blackish brown.
The figures are of the natural size.
[Illustration:
CRACTICUS DESTRUCTOR.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]
CRACTICUS DESTRUCTOR.
Butcher-Bird.
_Vanga destructor_, Temm. Man., Part I. p. lix.—Vig. and Horsf. in
Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p. 213.—Gould in Syn. Birds of
Australia, Part I.
_Barita destructor_, Temm. Pl. Col. 273.
_Wäd-do-wäd-ong_, Aborigines of the lowland districts of Western
Australia.
_Butcher-Bird_, of the Colonists of Swan River.
This bird is a permanent resident in New South Wales and South
Australia, where it inhabits the margins of the brushy lands near the
coast, the sides of hills, and the belts of trees which occur in the
more open parts of the country; in fact I scarcely know of any
Australian bird so generally dispersed. Its presence is at all times
betrayed by its extraordinary note, a jumble of discordant sounds
impossible to be described. It is nearly always on the trees, where it
sits motionless on some dead or exposed branch whence it can survey all
around, and particularly the surface of the ground beneath, to which it
makes perpendicular descents to secure any large insect or lizard that
may attract its sharp and penetrating eye; it usually returns to the
same branch to devour what it has captured, but at times will resort to
other trees and impale its victim after the manner of the true Shrikes:
mice, small birds, and large _Phasmiæ_ come within the list of its
ordinary diet. September and the three following months constitute the
period of incubation. The nest, which is large and cup-shaped, is neatly
formed of sticks, and in some instances beautifully lined with the
shoots of the _Casuarina_ and fibrous roots. Considerable difference is
found to exist in the colour of the eggs, the ground colouring of some
being dark yellowish brown, with obscure blotches and marks of a darker
hue, and here and there a few black marks not unlike small blots of ink;
while in others the ground colour is much lighter and the darker
markings are more inclined to red, and to form a zone round the larger
end; the eggs are generally three in number, one inch and three lines
long by eleven lines broad.
Under ordinary circumstances this species is very shy and retiring, but
at times is altogether as bold; as an evidence of which I may mention,
that having caught a young _Eöpsaltria_ and placed it in my pocket, the
cries of the little captive attracted the attention of one of these
birds, which continued to follow me through the woods for more than an
hour, when the little tenant, disliking its close quarters, effected its
escape and flitted away before me: I immediately gave chase; but the
Butcher-bird, who had been following me, pounced down within two yards
of my face and bore off the poor bird to a neighbouring tree, and
although I ran to the rescue, it was of no avail, the prize being borne
away from tree to tree until the tyrant paid the forfeit of his life by
being shot for his temerity.
The sexes are so similar in appearance, that it is impossible to
distinguish one from the other by any other means than dissection.
The male has the crown of the head, ear-coverts and back of the neck
black; a white mark from the base of the bill to the eye; back and rump
dark greyish brown; upper tail-coverts white; wings blackish brown; the
middle secondaries white along their outer edges; tail black, all the
feathers except the two middle ones tipped with white on their inner
webs; under surface greyish white; bill bluish lead-colour at the base,
passing into black at the tip; feet blackish lead-colour; irides very
dark reddish brown.
The female resembles the male, but is more obscure in all her markings;
and the young differ in being clothed in a plumage of mottled tawny and
brown.
The figures represent the two sexes of the natural size.
[Illustration:
CRACTICUS QUOYII.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]
CRACTICUS QUOYII.
Quoy’s Crow-Shrike.
_Barita Quoyi_, Less. Zool. de la Coq., tom. i. p. 639. pl. 24.—Ib.
Traité d’Orn., p. 345.
_Mol-göl-ga_, Aborigines of Port Essington.
We have abundant evidence that New Guinea and the continent of Australia
belong to one and the same group of islands, and that both countries are
adorned with similar forms of botany and zoology. In some instances the
same species are found to inhabit both countries, and of this fact the
present bird is an example. M. Temminck, to whom I showed specimens
killed in Australia, assured me that they were identical with those from
New Guinea. The northern coast is the only portion of Australia in which
this bird has been observed. It is tolerably abundant at Port Essington,
where it inhabits the mangrove swamps generally, even those close to the
settlement.
Mr. Gilbert states that it is one of the most shy and wary birds that
can well be imagined; and that the nature of its usual haunts precludes
in a great measure all chance of getting a sight of it. He has never met
with it in any other situation than the darkest and thickest parts of
the mangroves, where there is a great depth of mud, and where the roots
of the trees are very thickly intertwined; it is among these roots that
it is constantly seen searching for crabs. Its note is short and
monotonous, and very like the name given to it by the aborigines,
_Mol-göl-ga_, the second syllable being prolonged and forming the
highest note; it also utters other sounds, some of them resembling those
of the _Cracticus leuconotus_; at other times it frequently emits a note
very similar to the cry of young birds for food.
The stomach is muscular, and the food consists of crabs, and
occasionally of coleoptera, neuroptera, and the larvæ of insects of
various kinds.
The entire plumage black, each feather of the upper and under surface
broadly margined with deep glossy green; irides dark reddish brown; bill
very light ash-grey, passing into leaden grey at the base, and dark
bluish grey on the culmen near the tip; legs and feet greenish grey.
The bill appears to vary very much in colour; being in some instances
entirely ash-grey, except at the tip, where it is black; while in others
the basal two-thirds is black and the tip grey: whether this difference
is occasioned by age or sex has not yet been ascertained.
The figure represents a male of the natural size.
[Illustration:
GRALLINA AUSTRALIS.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]
GRALLINA AUSTRALIS, _G. R. Gray_.
Pied Grallina.
_Gracula picata_, Lath. Ind. Orn. Supp., p. 29.
_Pied Grakle_, Lath. Gen. Syn. Supp., vol. ii. p. 130.—Ib. Gen. Hist.,
vol. iii. p. 169.
_Tanypus Australis_, Oppel.
_Grallina melanoleuca_, Vieill. Anal. d’une Nouv. Orn., pp. 42 and
68.—Ib. Gal. des Ois., pl. 150.—Ib. 2nde Edit. du Dict.
d’Hist. Nat., tom. xiii. p. 41. pl. F. 32.—Ib. Ency. Méth.
Orn., Part II. p. 693.—Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol.
xv. p. 233.
_Grallina bicolor_, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p. 233.
_Grallina Australis_, G. R. Gray, List of Gen. of Birds, 2nd Edit. p.
33.
_Grallina picata_, Strickl. in Mag. Nat. Hist., vol. ii. p. 335.
_Corvus cyanoleucos_, Lath. Gen. Hist. vol. iii. p. 49?
_Magpie Lark_, Colonists of New South Wales.
_Little Magpie_, Colonists of Swan River.
_Bÿ-yoo-göol-yee-de_, Aborigines of the lowland, and
_Dil̈-a-but_, Aborigines of the mountain districts of Western
Australia.
Future research will, in all probability, establish the fact of this
bird being universally dispersed over the greater portion of Australia;
I have specimens in my collection from New South Wales, Swan River, and
Port Essington, all of which are so closely alike that no character of
sufficient importance to establish a second species can be detected.
Those that came under my observation in New South Wales were never seen
very near the coast, but frequented the rich alluvial flats and sides of
the creeks and rivulets of the interior.
Few of the Australian birds are more attractive than the present, or
more elegant and graceful in its actions, and these, combined with its
tame and familiar disposition, must ever obtain for it the friendship
and protection of the settlers, whose verandahs and house-tops it
constantly visits, running along the latter like the Pied Wagtail of our
own island; in fact, the two birds, except in size, are very similar.
Mr. Gilbert states that in Western Australia he observed it congregated
in large families on the banks and muddy flats of the lakes around
Perth, while in the interior he only met with it in pairs, or at most in
small groups of not more than four or five together; he further
observes, that at Port Essington, on the north coast, it would seem to
be only an occasional visitant, for on his arrival there in July it was
tolerably abundant round the lakes and swamps, but from the setting-in
of the rainy season in November to his leaving that part of the country
in the following March not an individual was to be seen; it is evident
therefore that the bird removes from one locality to another according
to the season and the more or less abundance of its peculiar food. I
believe it feeds solely upon insects of various kinds, particularly
aquatic grubs, grasshoppers, and coleoptera generally.
The flight of the _Grallina_ is very peculiar, and unlike that of any
other Australian bird that has come under my notice; it much resembles
that of the Common Pewit of Europe, and is performed with the same heavy
flapping motion of the wings; still the flight of the two birds differs
materially during their passage through the air, the _Grallina_ passing
noiselessly and generally in a straight line, while the Pewit makes
sudden turns and dips,—a peculiarity in its mode of flight which must
have been noticed by all who have seen the bird on the wing.
Its natural note is a peculiarly shrill whining whistle often repeated.
The nest may be regarded as one of the anomalies of Australia, so unlike
is it to anything usually met with; it is from five to six inches in
breadth and three in depth, and is formed of soft mud, which soon
becoming hard and solid upon exposure to the atmosphere has precisely
the appearance of a massive clay-coloured earthenware vessel; as if to
attract notice, this singular structure is generally placed on some bare
horizontal branch, often on the one most exposed to view, sometimes
overhanging water and at others in the open forest. The colour of the
nest varies with that of the material of which it is formed: sometimes
the clay or mud is sufficiently tenacious to be used without any other
material, but in those situations where no mud or clay is to be obtained
it is constructed of black or brown mould; the bird, appearing to be
aware that this substance will not hold together for want of the
adhesive quality of the clay, mixes with it a great quantity of dried
grass, stalks, &c., and thus forms a firm and hard exterior, the inside
of which is slightly lined with dried grasses and a few feathers. The
eggs differ considerably in colour and in shape, some being extremely
lengthened, while others bear a relative proportion; the ground-colour
of some is a beautiful pearl-white, of others a slight tinge of buff;
their markings again differ considerably in form and in their
disposition, being in some instances wholly confined to the larger end,
in others distributed over the whole of the surface, but always inclined
to form a zone at the larger end; in some these markings are of a deep
chestnut-red, in others light red with large clouded spots of grey
appearing as if beneath the surface of the shell. The eggs are generally
four, but sometimes are only two in number; their medium length is one
inch and three lines, and their breadth nine lines. It breeds in October
and November.
Although the sexes are very similar in size, the female may at all times
be distinguished from the male by her white forehead and throat, a fact
I determined many times by actual dissection, thus showing the fallacy
of the opinion entertained by some naturalists of their being two
distinct species.
The male has a line over the eye, a patch on each side of the neck, a
longitudinal stripe on the wing, tips of the secondaries, rump, upper
tail-coverts, the basal two-thirds and the tips of the tail, under
surface of the shoulder, breast, flanks, abdomen and under tail-coverts
white, the remainder of the plumage black with a deep bluish tinge on
the head, throat, chest and back, and a green tinge on the primaries and
tail; bill yellowish white; irides straw-yellow; feet black.
The female differs in having the forehead, lores and chin white. The
young on leaving the nest have the irides black; in other respects they
resemble their parents, but are of course far less brilliant in colour.
The figures represent the two sexes of the natural size.
[Illustration:
GRAUCALUS MELANOPS.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]
GRAUCALUS MELANOPS.
Black-faced Graucalus.
_Corvus melanops_, Lath. Ind. Orn. Supp., p. xxiv. no. 1.
_Ceblepyris melanops_, Temm. Man., p. lxii.
_Rollier à masque noir_, Le Vaill. Ois. de Parad., pl. 30.
_Black-faced Crow_, Lath. Gen. Syn. Supp., vol. ii. p. 116.—Ib. Gen.
Hist., vol. iii. p. 46.
_Graucalus melanops_, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p.
216.—Gould in Syn. Birds of Australia, Part IV.
_Kai-a-lora_, Aborigines of New South Wales.
_Nu-lär-go_, Aborigines of the lowland, and
_Nü-laarg_, Aborigines of the mountain districts of Western
Australia.
_Blue Pigeon_ of the Colonists.
New South Wales, Van Diemen’s Land, Swan River and Port Essington are
each inhabited by _Graucali_ so nearly allied to the present bird, that
by many persons it would be considered questionable whether they were
not referable to one and the same species; but as this is by no means
certain, I shall confine my remarks to the bird inhabiting New South
Wales, which is one of the largest of the genus yet discovered, and
distinguished from its near allies by the greater depth of the blue-grey
colouring of the upper surface.
The _Graucalus melanops_, then, is a very common bird in New South
Wales, but is far less numerous in winter than in summer, when it is so
generally dispersed over the colony, that to particularize situations in
which it may be found is quite unnecessary; hills of moderate elevation,
flats and plains thinly covered with large trees being alike resorted
to; but I do not recollect encountering it in the midst of the thick
brushes,—situations which, probably, are uncongenial to its habits and
mode of life. On the plains of the interior, such as the Liverpool and
those which stretch away to the northward and eastward of New South
Wales, it is more abundant than within the colony.
Its flight is undulating and powerful, but is seldom exerted for any
other purpose than that of conveying it from one part of the forest to
another, or to sally forth in pursuit of an insect which may pass within
range of its vision while perched upon some dead branch of a high tree,
a habit common to this bird and the other members of the genus. On this
elevated perch it sometimes remains for hours together; but during the
heat of the day seeks shelter from the rays of the sun by shrouding
itself amidst the dense foliage of the trees. Its food consists of
insects and their larvæ, and berries, but the former appear to be
preferred, all kinds being acceptable, from the large Mantis figured in
the accompanying Plate, to others of a minute size. One of the specimens
I procured was shot while in the act of flying off with the insect
figured.
As much diversity occurs in the colouring of the face and throat of this
species before it arrives at maturity, I made a point of minutely
investigating the subject during my stay in New South Wales, and the
following is the result of my observations. When the young, which are
generally two in number, leave the nest, the feathers of the body are
brown, margined with light grey; this colouring is soon exchanged for
one of a uniform grey, except on the lower part of the abdomen and under
tail-coverts, which are white, and a mark of black which surrounds the
eye and spreads over the ears: the throat and forehead in this stage are
lighter than the remainder of the plumage, which is somewhat singular,
as in the next change that takes place those parts become of a
jet-black; and this colour, I believe, is never afterwards thrown off,
but remains a characteristic of the adult state of both sexes, which are
at all times so similar in size and colour as not to be distinguished
from each other.
It breeds in October and the three following months. The nest is often
of a triangular form, in consequence of its being made to fit the angle
of the fork of the horizontal branch in which it is placed; it is
entirely composed of small dead twigs, firmly matted together with a
very fine, white, downy substance like cobwebs and a species of
_Lichen_, giving the nest the same appearance as the branch upon which
it is placed, and rendering it most difficult of detection. In some
instances I have found the nest ornamented with the broad, white,
mouse-eared Lichen; it is extremely shallow in form, its depth and
breadth depending entirely upon that of the fork in which it is built;
the largest I have seen did not exceed six inches in diameter.
The ground-colour of the eggs, which are almost invariably two in
number, varies from wood-brown to asparagus-green, the blotches and
spots, which are very generally dispersed over their surface, varying
from dull chestnut-brown to light yellowish brown; in some instances
they are also sparingly dotted with deep umber-brown; their medium
length is thirteen lines, and breadth ten lines.
Its note, which is seldom uttered, is a peculiar single purring or
jarring sound, repeated several times in succession.
The adults have the forehead, sides of the face, ear-coverts and throat
jet-black; crown of the head, all the upper surface and wing-coverts
delicate grey; primaries black, their outer edges and tips margined with
grey; secondaries grey, with their inner webs black; tail grey at the
base, gradually passing into black near the extremity, and broadly
tipped with white; chest blackish grey, into which the black of the
throat gradually passes; lower part of the abdomen pale grey; under
tail-coverts white; irides, bill and feet black.
The Plate represents an adult male and a young bird of the first year of
the natural size.
[Illustration:
GRAUCALUS MENTALIS: _Vig. & Horsf._
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]
GRAUCALUS MENTALIS, _Vig. and Horsf._
Varied Graucalus.
_Graucalus mentalis_, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p.
217.
_Lanius robustus_, Lath. Ind. Orn. Supp., p. xviii.?—Shaw, Gen. Zool.,
vol. viii. p. 311?
_Robust Shrike_, Lath. Gen. Syn. Supp., vol. ii. p. 74?—Ib. Gen.
Hist., vol. ii. p. 67?
New South Wales, or the south-eastern division of Australia, is the
native habitat of the present species; it is by no means a rare bird in
the Upper Hunter and all similar districts, yet I did not succeed in
finding its nest and eggs; they are therefore desiderata with me.
There is no one member of the family to which it belongs which undergoes
so many changes of plumage as the present species, and it is
consequently very puzzling to the ornithologist. In extreme youth, or
during the first few months after it has left the nest, the throat,
chest and back of the neck is jet-black, while the breast and abdomen
are rayed with obscure arrow-shaped markings of the same colour on a
greyish white ground; from this state individuals in every variety of
change, to the uniform grey throat and head, with black lores and mark
under the eye, are to be met with. Independently of a difference in its
markings, its much smaller size will at all times serve to distinguish
it from _Graucalus melanops_, which inhabits the same districts. Insects
of various orders and caterpillars, which are either captured on the
wing or taken from the branches, form its diet.
In the adult the upper surface and wings are dark slate-grey, passing
into paler grey on the forehead and on the rump and upper tail-coverts;
primaries and secondaries slaty black, narrowly edged with greyish
white; outer webs of the three secondaries nearest the body grey; tail
black, the lateral feathers largely tipped with white; lores deep
velvety black, which colour is continued above and below the eye; throat
and breast grey; insertion of the wing, under surface of the wing,
abdomen and under tail-coverts white; bill black; irides and feet dark
brown.
In the accompanying Plate I have figured the extremes of colouring
assumed by the bird; the darkest-coloured being the young of the year.
[Illustration:
GRAUCALUS HYPOLEUCUS: _Gould_.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]
GRAUCALUS HYPOLEUCUS, _Gould_.
White-bellied Graucalus.
_Graucalus hypoleucus_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., February 8,
1848.
This species inhabits the neighbourhood of Port Essington, where it is a
very familiar bird, constantly flitting about the branches overhanging
the houses of the settlement. In its general habits, manners and note it
closely assimilates to the _Graucalus melanops_. It is abundant in every
part of the Cobourg Peninsula, and is generally seen in small families
of from four to ten or twelve in number.
The whiteness of the under surface serves to distinguish this from all
the other species of the genus yet discovered in Australia.
The stomach is muscular, and the food consists of insects of various
genera, which are generally taken from off the leafy branches of the
highest trees.
The sexes assimilate very closely in colouring, and only differ in the
females and young males having the lores of a dull brown instead of
black.
Lores black; crown of the head and all the upper surface dark grey;
wings and tail black; chin, under surface of the wings, abdomen and
under tail-coverts white; breast pale greyish white; irides brownish
black; bill blackish brown; legs and feet black; insides of the feet and
spaces between the scales of the tarsi mealy grey.
The figures are of the natural size.
[Illustration:
GRAUCALUS SWAINSONII: _Gould_.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]
GRAUCALUS SWAINSONII.
Swainson’s Graucalus.
_Ceblepyris lineatus_, Swains. in Zool. Journ., vol. i. p. 466.
_Graucalus Swainsonii_, Gould in Syn. Birds of Australia, Part IV.
This species of _Graucalus_, which is distinguished from all the other
Australian members of the genus by the beautiful barring of the breast,
was originally described by Mr. Swainson under the appellation of
_lineatus_; but that term having been previously applied to another
species of the group, it became necessary to change it; and in
substituting that of _Swainsonii_, I was desirous of paying a just
tribute to the talents of a gentleman who has laboured most zealously in
the cause of natural science, and whose researches and writings are so
well known to all ornithologists.
Examples of this species occur in almost every collection sent from
Moreton Bay; I regret to add that it is one of the few birds I had no
opportunities of observing in a state of nature, and that nothing is at
present known of its habits and economy. Judging from the specimens I
have examined, I believe that the sexes are alike in plumage.
Lores black; head, all the upper surface, wing-coverts, throat and
breast grey; primaries and secondaries black; the former narrowly, and
the latter broadly margined on their external edges with grey; tail grey
at the base, black for the remainder of its length; abdomen, under
surface of the shoulder, and under tail-coverts white, crossed by
numerous decided narrow bars of black; bill and feet black.
The figures are of the natural size.
[Illustration:
PTEROPODOCYS PHASIANELLUS: _Gould_.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]
PTEROPODOCYS PHASIANELLA.
Ground Graucalus.
_Graucalus Phasianellus_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part VIII. p.
142.
_Ceblepyris maxima_, Rupp. Mon. in Mus. Senckenbergianum, 1839, p. 28.
taf. iii.
_Goo-rä-ling_, Aborigines of York, Western Australia.
The rarity of this species in our collections is sufficient evidence
that it is a bird inhabiting the interior of the country, and that its
native localities have been seldom visited by the explorer; hence it was
a source of no ordinary gratification to me when I first encountered it
on the plains bordering the River Namoi in New South Wales, and
perceived that no very lengthened study of its habits and mode of life
was requisite to ascertain that its structure is as beautifully adapted
for terrestrial progression and for a residence on the ground, as the
structure of the other _Graucali_ fits them to inhabit the branches of
the trees; more beautiful modifications of form in fact can scarcely be
seen than occur among the members of this group, which now comprehends a
considerable number of species; the present bird, however, is the only
terrestrial one that has yet come under my notice, either from Australia
or the great nursery of these birds—India and the Indian islands. The
lengthened form of the tarsi and tail and the narrow form of the bill
are the most striking of the structural differences between
_Pteropodocys_ and _Graucalus_, and are so apparent that they must be
perceptible at a single glance to all who will examine them. Plains and
open glades skirted by belts of high trees are the localities in which I
generally met with this bird either in pairs or small parties of four or
five; in the latter case they were probably the brood of the year, as
they usually consisted of both immature and adult birds.
Its powers of progression on the ground are considerable, and are only
equalled by those of flight; when disturbed it flies across the plain to
the belts of lofty trees, among the branches of which it appears to be
quite as much at ease as upon the ground. During flight the white mark
on the rump is very conspicuous, and may be seen at a considerable
distance.
The food consists of insects and seeds of various kinds.
That its range extends over the whole of the interior of Australia is
more than probable, as I have lately received a specimen from Swan
River, in which part of the country it doubtless inhabits localities
similar to those it frequents on the east coast.
Of its nidification I regret to say nothing is at present known.
The sexes, which exhibit no external differences, may be thus
described:—
Head, neck, chest and back delicate grey, becoming darker on the
ear-coverts; rump and abdomen white, crossed by narrow irregular bars of
black; under tail-coverts white; wings and tail black, the latter having
the tips of the outer and the basal portion of all the feathers white;
bill and feet black, tinged with olive; irides butty white.
The figures are of the natural size.
[Illustration:
CAMPEPHAGA JARDINII.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]
CAMPEPHAGA JARDINII.
Jardine’s Campephaga.
_Graucalus tenuirostris_, Jard. and Selb. Ill. Orn., vol. ii. pl. 114.
_Ceblepyris Jardinii_, Rüpp. Mon. in Orn. Misc. 1839, p. 30.
The only parts of Australia wherein this species has been observed are
Moreton Bay and the Liverpool Range in New South Wales, and the
neighbourhood of Port Essington in the Cobourg Peninsula on the north
coast: it is likely that it ranges over the whole of the intermediate
country, but this can only be determined by future research. The great
difference in the colouring of the sexes, its smaller size and more
attenuated bill, point out most clearly that it is a member of the genus
_Campephaga_, and not of _Graucalus_, to which it was first assigned. It
is far less common in New South Wales than it is at Port Essington,
where Mr. Gilbert collected the following notes respecting it:—
“This bird is extremely shy and retiring in its habits. I have never
seen it flying about the low shrubs like the other species of the genus,
nor at any time near the ground; on the contrary, it always inhabits the
topmost branches of the loftiest and most thickly-foliaged trees growing
in the immediate vicinity of swamps, or the mangroves. Its note too is
altogether different from that of any other species of the genus, being
a harsh, grating, buzzing tone, repeated rather rapidly about a dozen
times in succession, followed by a lengthened interval. It appears to be
a solitary species, as I never saw more than one at a time.”
The stomach is muscular, and the food consists of insects of all kinds,
but principally coleoptera.
The adult male has the lores black; all the upper and under surface,
wing-coverts, edges of the primaries and secondaries, basal
three-fourths of the two central and the tips of the outer tail-feathers
deep blue-grey; primaries, secondaries and the other parts of the tail
black; irides dark brown; bill blackish brown; legs and feet very dark
greenish grey.
The female has the whole of the upper surface, wings and tail brown, the
two latter edged with buff; line over the eye and all the under surface
buff, the feathers of the side of the neck, the breast and the flanks
with an arrow-head-shaped mark of brown in the centre.
The young male is bluish brown above; wings and tail as in the female;
under surface buff, crossed with numerous transverse narrow irregular
bars of black.
The figures represent an adult and a young male of the natural size.
[Illustration:
CAMPEPHAGA KARU.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]
CAMPEPHAGA KARU.
Northern Campephaga.
_Lanius Karu_, Less. Zool. de la Coq., pl. 12.
_Notodela Karu_, Less. Traité d’Orn., p. 374.
Mr. Gilbert, who met with this species at Port Essington on the northern
coast of Australia, states that it is a very shy and timid bird, that it
is generally seen creeping about in pairs among the thickets and clumps
of mangroves, that its note is a somewhat shrill piping call, that its
stomach is tolerably muscular, and that it feeds upon insects of various
kinds: this, I regret to say, is all that is known respecting it.
In referring this species to the _Lanius Karu_ of Lesson, I am rather
influenced by a desire not to add to the number of useless synonyms,
than from any positive conviction of their being identical; for
although, having only M. Lesson’s figure to refer to, I am unable to
detect any difference of sufficient importance to be considered
specific, little doubt exists in my mind that the two birds are really
distinct, and that future research will verify the propriety of this
opinion.
The male has the head, all the upper surface, wings and tail black; the
wing-coverts largely tipped, primaries narrowly edged and tipped,
secondaries broadly margined on their external webs, rump and upper
tail-coverts slightly, the external tail-feather largely, and the next
on each side slightly tipped with white; line from the nostrils over
each eye to the occiput buffy white; under surface pale grey, crossed on
the breast and flanks with narrow irregular bars of slaty black, and
washed with fulvous, gradually increasing in intensity until on the vent
and under tail-coverts it becomes of a deep tawny buff; irides dark
brown; bill black; feet blackish grey externally, bluish grey
internally; light mealy ashy grey between the scales and inside the
feet.
The female differs in being somewhat smaller than the male; in having
the upper surface and tail brown, instead of black; the upper
tail-coverts tipped with buff instead of white, and the barrings of the
under surface broader, darker and more distinct.
The Plate represents the two sexes of the natural size.
[Illustration:
CAMPEPHAGA LEUCOMELA: _Vig. & Horsf._
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]
CAMPEPHAGA LEUCOMELA, _Vig. and Horsf._
Black and White Campephaga.
_Campephaga leucomela_, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p.
215.
This species, which frequents the brushes of the eastern parts of New
South Wales between the river Hunter and Moreton Bay, differs from the
_Campephaga Karu_ in its much greater size, in the rufous colouring of
the lower part of the abdomen and under tail-coverts, in the more
uniform grey colouring of the breast, and in the barring of this part
being much less conspicuous. I have had examples of this species in my
collection for many years, but was not fortunate enough to see it alive
during my visit to Australia. Mr. Strange has also sent me a pair which
he had shot in the scrubs on the banks of the Clarence. Its nest and
eggs, and any information of its habits, are desiderata to me.
The sexes, as in the other species, differ considerably from each other;
they may be thus described:—
The male has the head, back, wings and tail deep glossy black;
wing-coverts largely tipped and the secondaries broadly margined with
white; the two outer tail-feathers tipped with white, the external one
also narrowly margined on the outer web with the same hue; rump and
upper tail-coverts very dark grey; line over the eye snow-white; under
surface greyish white, gradually passing into rufous on the abdomen and
under tail-coverts, and indistinctly rayed with dark grey; bill, feet
and irides black.
The young male is brown where the male is black; has the wings not so
conspicuously marked with white; the under surface washed with rufous
and conspicuously rayed with brown; and the under tail-coverts deep
rufous.
The figures represent an adult male and young male of the natural size.
[Illustration:
CAMPEPHAGA HUMERALIS: _Gould_.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]
CAMPEPHAGA HUMERALIS, _Gould_.
White-shouldered Campephaga.
_Ceblepyris humeralis_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part V. p. 143;
and in Syn. Birds of Australia, Part IV.
_Goö-mul-cül-long_, Aborigines of the mountain districts of Western
Australia.
This bird occurs in considerable numbers throughout the whole of the
southern portion of Australia during the months of summer; it is
strictly migratory, arriving in the month of September, when insects are
most plentiful, and having performed the task of reproduction departs
again northwards in the months of January and February. It is a most
animated, lively and spirited bird, constantly singing a loud and pretty
song while actively engaged in pursuit of insects, which it either
captures on the wing, among the branches or on the ground. It commences
breeding soon after its arrival, constructing a shallow round nest of
small pieces of bark, short dead twigs and grasses interwoven with fine
vegetable fibres, cobwebs, white moss, &c., and sometimes a few grasses
and fine fibrous roots by way of lining; it is usually placed in the
fork of a horizontal dead branch of the apple- and gum-trees, and is not
easily seen from below. During the early part of the breeding-season the
male frequently chases the female from tree to tree, pouring forth his
song all the while. The eggs, which are generally two, but sometimes
three in number, differ very considerably in colour, some being of a
light green blotched all over with wood-brown, while others have a
lighter ground so largely blotched with chestnut-brown as nearly to
cover the entire surface of the shell, and I have seen some of an almost
uniform greyish green; their medium length is nine and a half lines and
breadth seven and a half lines.
The above is a detail of what I myself observed of the bird in New South
Wales. In his Notes from Western Australia, Mr. Gilbert says, “This bird
is a migratory summer visitant to this part of the country, where it
arrives about the beginning of September, after which it is to be met
with in considerable numbers among the mountains of the interior, but is
very rarely seen in the lowland districts.
“Its powers of flight are considerable, and when excited during the
breeding-season the males become very pugnacious, and not only attack
each other in the most desperate manner, but also assault much larger
birds that may approach the nest. Its usual flight is even, steady and
graceful, and while flying from tree to tree it gives utterance to its
sweet and agreeable song, which at times is so like the full, swelling,
shaking note of the Canary, that it might easily be mistaken for the
song of that bird. It is a remarkably shy bird, especially the females,
which are so seldom seen that I was at first inclined to think they were
much less numerous than the other sex, but this I afterwards found was
not the case; their favourite haunts are thickly wooded places and the
most secluded spots. The nest is so diminutive that it is very difficult
to detect it, and so shallow in form that it is quite surprising the
eggs do not roll out when the branch is shaken by the wind. I am told
that they generally build in the Raspberry-Jam-tree, but the nests I
discovered were placed on a horizontal dead branch of a Eucalyptus; they
were formed of grasses and contained two eggs. It breeds in the latter
part of September and the beginning of October.” Mr. Gilbert
subsequently met with the bird at Port Essington, where also it appears
to be migratory, for not a single individual was to be seen from the
early part of November to the month of March; females and young birds
were very abundant on his arrival in July, but he only met with one old
male during his residence in the colony, a period of eight months.
The stomach is muscular, and the food consists of insects of various
kinds and their larvæ.
The sexes differ considerably in colour, as will be seen in the
accompanying Plate and the following description:—
The male has the forehead, crown of the head, back of the neck and upper
part of the back glossy greenish black; shoulders and upper wing-coverts
pure white, forming an oblique line along the wing; the remainder of the
wing dull black, with the secondaries slightly margined and tipped with
white; lower part of the back and rump grey; tail dull black, the two
outer feathers on each side largely tipped with white; throat, chest and
all the under surface white; bill and feet black; irides nearly black.
The female has all the upper surface, wings and tail brown; wing-coverts
and secondaries margined with buff; throat and all the under surface
buffy white, with the sides and front of the breast speckled with brown;
irides very dark brown; upper mandible and tip of the lower dark reddish
brown; basal portion of the latter saffron-yellow; legs and feet dark
greyish black, slightly tinged with lead-colour.
The figures represent the two sexes of the size of life.
[Illustration:
PACHYCEPHALA GUTTURALIS.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]
PACHYCEPHALA GUTTURALIS.
Guttural Pachycephala.
_Turdus gutturalis_, Lath. Ind. Orn. Supp., p. xlii.
_Black-crowned Thrush_, Lewin, Birds of New Holl., pl. 10.
_Guttural Thrush_, Lath. Gen. Syn. Supp., vol. ii. p. 182.—Shaw, Gen.
Zool., vol. x. p. 256.—Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. v. p. 136.
_Pachycephala gutturalis_, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv.
p. 239.—G. R. Gray, List of Gen. of Birds, 2nd edit., p. 45.
_Turdus lunularis_, Shaw.
_Laniarius albicollis_, Vieill.
_Pachycephala fusca_, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p.
240.—Gould in Syn. Birds of Australia, Part III.
—— _fuliginosa_, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p. 241,
female or young.
_Pe-dil̈-me-dung_, Aborigines of Western Australia.
_Thunder Bird_, Colonists of New South Wales.
It would seem that the whole extent of the southern coast of Australia
is inhabited by the present species, for on comparing adult males from
New South Wales, South Australia and Swan River, I find that they do not
differ in any respect; the apical half of the tail is blackish brown in
all, and the colouring of the under surface of the richest yellow. It is
rather abundantly dispersed over the forests of _Eucalypti_ and the
belts of _Acaciæ_, among the flowering branches of which latter tribe of
trees the male displays himself to the greatest advantage, and shows off
his rich yellow breast as if desirous of outvieing the beautiful
blossoms with which he is surrounded.
The stomach is very muscular, and its principal food consists of insects
of various genera, which are sought for and captured both among the
flowers and leaves as well as on the ground.
It is generally met with in pairs, but the males are more shy than the
females. It flies in short and sudden starts, and seldom mounts far
above the tops of the trees.
The voice of the male is a single note seven or eight times repeated,
and terminating with a sharp higher note much resembling the smack of a
whip; that of the female is very different, being a series of running
half-notes, forming a rather plaintive tune.
Mr. Gilbert mentions that it is sparingly dispersed throughout the Swan
River colony, but is more abundant in the best-watered districts, such
as Perth and Fremantle.
I did not succeed in finding the nest of this species, but was informed
that it breeds in September and October, and lays three or four eggs,
ten and a half lines long by eight lines broad, with a ground-colour of
brownish buff, sparingly streaked and spotted with reddish brown and
bluish grey, the latter colour appearing as if beneath the surface of
the shell.
The male has the crown of the head, lores, line beneath the eye,
ear-coverts, and a 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
all the under surface gamboge-yellow; back and upper tail-coverts
yellowish olive; wing-coverts blackish brown, margined with yellowish
olive; primaries and secondaries blackish brown, margined with greyish
olive; basal half of the tail grey, apical half blackish brown tipped
with grey; irides dark brown; bill black; legs and feet blackish grey.
The female has the whole of the upper surface and tail greyish brown;
primaries and secondaries brown, margined with grey; throat pale brown
freckled with white; remainder of the under surface pale brown, passing
into deep buff on the abdomen.
The Plate represents the two sexes of the natural size.
[Illustration:
PACHYCEPHALA GLAUCURA: _Gould_.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]
PACHYCEPHALA GLAUCURA, _Gould_.
Grey-tailed Pachycephala.
_Pachycephala glaucura_, Gould, in Proc. of Zool. Soc., March 25,
1845.
_Pe-dil̈-me-dung_, Aborigines of the lowland districts of Western
Australia.
Although the present bird is very nearly allied to the _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 the 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, and where it takes
the place of the _P. gutturalis_, which latter species appears to be
exclusively confined to the Australian continent.
The _P. glaucura_ frequents the vast forests of _Eucalypti_ that cover
the greater part of Van Diemen’s Land, and although it is rather thinly
dispersed, is to be met with in every variety of situation, the crowns
of the hills and the deep and most secluded gulleys 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 even 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 exposes himself, as he
occasionally does, on some bare twig, the rich yellow of his plumage,
offering a strong contrast to the green of the surrounding foliage,
renders him a conspicuous and doubtless highly attractive object to his
sombre-coloured mate, 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 each
other’s society, but also that of all other birds. It sometimes resorts
to the gardens and shrubberies of the settlers, but much less frequently
than might be supposed, when we consider that the neighbouring forests
are its natural place of abode.
The voice of the Grey-tailed Pachycephala is a loud whistling call of a
single note several times repeated, and 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
desideratum to my cabinet. I shot the young in various 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 under
surface yellow; back and wing-coverts 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.
[Illustration:
PACHYCEPHALA MELANURA: _Gould_.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]
PACHYCEPHALA MELANURA, _Gould_.
Black-tailed Pachycephala.
_Pachycephala melanura_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part X. p. 134.
The _Pachycephala melanura_ is a native of the northern coasts of
Australia, where it was procured by B. Bynoe, Esq., during the surveying
voyage of H.M.S. the Beagle. It may be readily distinguished from the
_P. gutturalis_ and _P. glaucura_ by the jet-black colouring of the
tail, which organ is also shorter and more square than that of any other
species, by its much longer bill, and by the colouring of the back of
the neck and the under surface being richer than that of either of those
above-named. I have not yet seen a female of this fine species, wanting
which I have figured two males in different positions.
It may be thus described:—
Head, crescent commencing behind the eye and crossing the chest and the
tail black; throat pure white; collar round the back and sides of the
neck, and all the under surface very rich gamboge-yellow; upper surface
rich yellowish olive; wings black, the coverts margined with yellowish
olive; the primaries narrowly and the secondaries broadly margined with
yellowish grey; bill and feet black; irides brown.
The figures are of the natural size.
[Illustration:
PACHYCEPHALA PECTORALIS: (_Vig. & Horsf._)
_Drawn from Nature & on Stone by J. & E. Gould._ _Printed by C.
Hullmandel._
]
PACHYCEPHALA PECTORALIS, _Vig. and Horsf._
Banded Thick-head.
_Muscicapa pectoralis_, Lath. Ind. Orn. Suppl., p. li.—Vieill. 2nde
Edit, du Nouv. Dict. d’Hist. Nat., tom. xxi. p. 455, and
Ency. Méth., 2nde Part., p. 830.
_Orange-breasted Thrush_, Lewin, Birds of New Holland, pl. 8.
_Pachycephala pectoralis_, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv.
p. 239.—Gould, Syn. Birds of Australia, Part III.
—— _striata_, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p. 240, female
or young male?
_Lanius macularius_, Quoy et Gaim., Voy. de l’Astrolabe, p. 257. pl.
31. f. 1, young male?
_Rufous-vented Honey-eater_, Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. iv. p. 183.
This very common species ranges over the whole of the southern portion
of the Australian continent, from Swan River on the west to Moreton Bay
on the east; but the extent of its range northwards has not yet been
strictly determined. During the spring and the earlier months of summer
there are few birds that possess a more animated and lively song, which,
moreover, is very different from any bird I recollect having heard,
either in Australia or Europe, being a loud continuous ringing whistle,
frequently terminating in a sharp smack, this latter note being peculiar
to most members of the group. In New South Wales and South Australia it
is abundantly dispersed over all the thinly-timbered forests, keeping
among the leafy branches of the highest trees. I do not myself recollect
having met with it in the brushes, while in Western Australia the thick
scrubs are said to be its favourite places of resort.
Although it does not migrate it makes a slight change in the situations
it frequents, according to the state of the seasons, or the more or less
abundant supply of food, which consists of insects of various kinds,
caterpillars and berries: like the other members of the group, it creeps
and hops about the branches in a gentle and quiet manner.
The sexes, as will be seen in the accompanying illustration, differ very
considerably both in the arrangement of their markings and in the
general colouring of their plumage, and it is not until the second year
that the young males assume the band on the chest and the pure white
throat of the adult. The breeding-season commences in August or
September, and continues during the three following months. The nest is
cup-shaped, and rather a frail structure, being often so slight that the
eggs may be descried through the interstices of the fine twigs and
fibrous roots of which it is composed. In New South Wales I found the
nest is built upon the small horizontal branches of large trees, but at
Swan River it is more frequently constructed in shrubs, particularly the
_Melaleuca_: the eggs are generally three in number, of an olive tint,
with a zone of indistinct spots and blotches at the larger end; they are
eleven lines long by eight lines broad.
The male has the throat white, encircled by a broad band of black, which
commences at the base of the bill, surrounds the eye, passes down the
sides of the neck, and crosses the breast; forehead and crown dark grey,
with a small stripe of black down the centre of each feather; the
remainder of the upper surface dark grey; wings and tail blackish brown,
each feather margined on the outer web with dark grey; sides of the
breast and flanks grey; centre of the breast, abdomen, and under
tail-coverts orange-brown; irides reddish hazel; bill black; legs and
feet olive-black.
The female has the head and all the upper surface brownish grey; wings
and tail dark brown, margined on the exterior webs with brownish grey;
throat dull white, gradually passing into the tawny buff which covers
the whole of the under surface, each feather of the throat and under
surface having a narrow stripe of dark brown down the centre; irides
blackish brown; bill flesh-brown; corner of the mouth yellow; feet
lead-colour.
The Plate represents a male and a female of the natural size.
[Illustration:
PACHYCEPHALA FALCATA: _Gould_.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]
PACHYCEPHALA FALCATA, _Gould_.
Lunated Pachycephala.
_Pachycephala falcata_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part X. p. 134.
We find in this species of _Pachycephala_, which inhabits the northern
parts of Australia, a beautiful representative of the _P. pectoralis_ of
the southern parts of the continent; from which it differs in its much
smaller size, and in the black crescent which bounds the white throat of
the male not extending upwards to the ear-coverts, which with the lores
are grey. All the specimens I possess were killed on the Cobourg
Peninsula, near the settlement at Port Essington, where, as well as on
the adjacent islands, it is a stationary species, and very abundant. It
breeds in September and the two following months, and lays two eggs. Its
habits and manners are precisely similar to those of the other members
of the family.
The adult male has the crown of the head, lores, ear-coverts, back and
upper tail-coverts grey; wings dark brown, all the feathers margined
with grey; throat white, bounded below by a distinct crescent of black;
abdomen, flanks and under tail-coverts orange-brown; tail dark brown,
the basal portion of the webs edged with grey; irides reddish brown;
bill black; feet blackish brown.
The adult female has the crown of the head and all the upper surface
grey; ear-coverts brownish grey; throat buffy white, passing into light
buff or fawn-colour on the chest, flanks, abdomen and under
tail-coverts; the feathers of the throat and chest with a narrow dark
line down the centre; wings and tail as in the male.
The young male is similar in colour to the female, but has the throat
whiter and the markings on the chest much more distinct, and extending
over the abdomen also.
In very young individuals a rich rufous or tawny tint pervades the
greater part of the upper surface.
The figures represent the two sexes of the natural size.
[Illustration:
PACHYCEPHALA LANOÏDES: _Gould_.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]
PACHYCEPHALA LANOÏDES, _Gould_.
Shrike-like Pachycephala.
_Pachycephala Lanoïdes_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part VII. p.
142.
A single specimen only of this bird has come under my notice, and from
the locality in which it was procured, the north-west coast of
Australia, it is probable that it is the only one in Europe. On
reference to the figure on the Plate, it will be seen that it is a most
robust and powerful species, and that it so closely approximates to the
form of the genus _Lanius_, that had it been a native of any other
country than Australia, where the true Shrikes are not found, it might
have been referred to that genus.
That it feeds on insects of a large size there can be but little doubt,
its whole structure indicating that it exists upon this kind of food.
No information whatever has been obtained with respect to its habits and
economy; this blank therefore remains to be filled up by those
naturalists who may hereafter visit the part of the country of which it
is a denizen.
Crown of the head, ear-coverts and chest black, bounded posteriorly by a
narrow band of chestnut; throat, centre of the abdomen and under
tail-coverts white; flanks, back, shoulders and external webs of the
primaries, secondaries and wing-coverts grey; tail, bill and feet black.
The Plate represents the bird in two different positions, of the natural
size.
[Illustration:
PACHYCEPHALA RUFOGULARIS: _Gould_.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]
PACHYCEPHALA RUFOGULARIS, _Gould_.
Red-throated Pachycephala.
_Pachycephala rufogularis_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part VIII.
p. 164.
I have never seen this species of _Pachycephala_ in any other collection
than my own; all the specimens therein contained fell to my own gun
during my explorations in South Australia: I found it anything but
abundant; in fact, although I was constantly seeking it, many days
frequently elapsed without my procuring a specimen. Its stronghold,
probably a part of the vast country of the interior, has yet to be
discovered. From the little I saw of it, I am induced to believe that it
is a very solitary bird, for I always encountered it singly, and mostly
hopping about on the ground in the thinly-timbered forest which
surrounds the city of Adelaide. Its actions were so particularly quiet,
and its plumage so unattractive, that had not my attention been directed
to birds of a sombre hue as well as to those of gay attire, I might have
easily overlooked it. I never heard it utter any note, nor did I observe
anything in its habits and economy worthy of remark. It doubtless
resorted to the ground for coleopterous and other insects, the remains
of which formed the contents of the stomachs of those I procured.
The adult males and females differ considerably in the colouring of
their plumage; the young males resemble the females. The rusty colouring
of the throat and face distinguishes this species from every other
member of the genus.
As South Australia is the only country in which this rare species has
yet been discovered, and as nothing whatever is known of its history, I
would call the attention of future collectors to the subject, with a
view of procuring information respecting it; and when I state that my
specimens were procured within two miles of the city of Adelaide, it
will be admitted that I am not imposing too great a task on my talented
friend Governor Grey, and the other residents at Adelaide.
The male has the crown of the head and all the upper surface deep
brownish grey; wings and tail dark brown, the feathers margined with
greyish brown; lores, chin, throat, under surface of the shoulder and
all the under surface reddish sandy brown, crossed on the breast by a
broad irregular band of greyish brown; irides reddish brown; bill black;
feet blackish brown.
The female differs from the male in having the throat and under surface
greyish white, the chest being crossed by an obscure mark of greyish
brown, and with a line down the centre of each feather.
The Plate represents the two sexes of the natural size.
[Illustration:
PACHYCEPHALA GILBERTII: _Gould_.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]
PACHYCEPHALA GILBERTII, _Gould_.
Gilbert’s Pachycephala.
_Pachycephala Gilbertii_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part XII. p.
107.
Although the practice of naming species after individuals is a means by
which the names of men eminent for their scientific attainments may be
perpetuated to after-ages, I have ever questioned its propriety, and
have rarely resorted to it; but in assigning the name of _Gilbertii_ to
this new and interesting species, I feel that I am only paying a just
compliment to one who has most assiduously assisted me in the laborious
investigations required for the production of the present work, and who
was the discoverer of the birds forming the subject of this paper. The
specimens transmitted to me by Mr. Gilbert are I believe all that have
yet been procured.
Although the _P. Gilbertii_ is nearly allied to the _P. rufogularis_, it
may be readily distinguished by the rufous colouring being confined to
the throat, and not ascending upon the forehead and occupying the space
between the bill and the eyes as in that species; it is also a smaller
bird in all its admeasurements.
Gilbert’s Pachycephala is an inhabitant of the interior of Western
Australia. The following notes, which are all that is known of its
history, accompanied the specimens sent to me:—“This species inhabits
the thick brushes of the interior. It is an early breeder, as is proved
by my finding a nest with three newly-hatched young birds in the middle
of August. The nest was built in the upright fork of a small shrub about
four feet from the ground. It was deep, cup-shaped in form, and
constructed of dried grasses, and except that it was rather more
compactly built, it was very similar to those of the other members of
the genus.”
I trust that the publication of this species will induce Mr. Burgess,
Mr. Drummond and other residents in Western Australia to seek for and
investigate its history. To Mr. Drummond, and his son Mr. Johnson
Drummond, botanical science is indebted for many valuable discoveries,
and that this slight tribute to their labours in that department may
induce them to turn their attention to other branches of natural history
is my earnest wish.
The sexes of the present bird, as will be seen on reference to the
accompanying Plate, exhibit a similar difference in colour as in the _P.
rufogularis_; the females of both species being very sombre and devoid
of any rufous colouring on the throat and breast.
The male has the upper surface dark greyish olive-brown; head dark
slate-grey; breast of a lighter grey; lores black; throat rust-red;
under surface of the shoulder, centre of the abdomen and under
tail-coverts sandy buff; irides light brown; bill and feet black.
The figures represent the two sexes of the natural size.
[Illustration:
PACHYCEPHALA SIMPLEX: _Gould_.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]
PACHYCEPHALA SIMPLEX, _Gould_.
Plain-coloured Pachycephala.
_Pachycephala simplex_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part X. p. 135.
The _Pachycephala simplex_ is a native of the north-western parts of
Australia, but does not appear to be very numerous in any locality yet
explored; Mr. Gilbert, who discovered it in the neighbourhood of Port
Essington, states that it is of a very shy and retiring disposition, and
that it is usually met with in pairs hopping and creeping about among
the underwood or very thickly-foliaged trees, but may be more frequently
seen in thickets situated in the midst of swamps or among the mangroves.
In its mode of feeding and in many of its actions it greatly resembles
the Flycatchers, but does not like them shake or move the tail. Its
voice, which is peculiarly soft and mournful, consists of a single note
four times repeated with rather lengthened intervals; this however
appears to be its call-note only, for at other times it utters a
somewhat pleasing and lengthened song; “but,” says Mr. Gilbert, “I never
heard it emit that sharp terminating note, resembling the smack of a
whip, which concludes the song of all the other species of the genus.”
The stomach is muscular, and the food consists of insects and seeds of
various kinds.
It appears to breed during the months of December, January and February,
for the ovarium of a female killed on the third of the last-mentioned
month contained eggs very fully developed, and from the bare state of
the breast appeared to have been already engaged in the task of
incubation.
All the upper surface brown; under surface brownish white, with a very
faint stripe of brown down the centre of each feather; irides light
brown; bill and feet black.
The Plate represents the two sexes of the natural size.
[Illustration:
PACHYCEPHALA OLIVACEA: _Vig. & Horsf._
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]
PACHYCEPHALA OLIVACEA, _Vig. and Horsf._
Olivaceous Pachycephala.
_Pachycephala olivacea_, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p.
241.—Gould in Syn. Birds of Australia, Part III.
This species, the largest of the genus yet discovered, is a native of
Van Diemen’s Land, where it inhabits forests and thick scrubby
situations, and is very generally dispersed over the island from north
to south; I observed it also on Flinders’ Island in Bass’s Straits, but
no instance has come under my notice of its occurrence on the continent
of Australia. It is rather recluse in its habits, and were it not for
its oft-repeated, loud, sharp, liquid, whistling note, its presence
would not often be detected. I usually met with it in the thickest parts
of the forests, where it appeared to resort to the ground rather than to
the branches, and to frequent gulleys and low swampy situations beneath
the branches of the dwarf _Eucalypti_ and other trees, with which its
olive colouring so closely assimilated, that it was very difficult to
perceive it.
Although I felt assured that the bird was breeding in many parts of the
country, and made repeated attempts to discover its nest, I could never
succeed in so doing; the eggs are therefore among the desiderata of my
cabinet.
But little outward difference is observable in the sexes; the male is
rather the largest and has the head of a sooty greyish brown, while the
head of the female is olive-brown. The young resemble the female, and
assume the adult colouring at an early age.
The stomachs of several specimens dissected were very muscular, and
contained the remains of coleoptera and hemiptera mingled in some
instances with small stones and seeds.
Crown of the head and ear-coverts dark brown; back, wings and tail
chestnut-olive, the chestnut predominating on the back; throat greyish
white, each feather tipped with brown; chest, abdomen and under
tail-coverts reddish brown; bill black; irides reddish brown; feet mealy
reddish brown.
The Plate represents a male and a female of the natural size.
[Illustration:
COLLURICINCLA HARMONICA.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]
COLLURICINCLA HARMONICA.
Harmonious Colluricincla.
_Turdus harmonicus_, Lath. Ind. Orn. Supp. p. xli.
_Harmonic Thrush_, Lath. Gen. Syn. Supp., vol. ii. p. 182.—Shaw, Gen.
Zool., vol. x. p. 217.—Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. v. p. 120.
_Grey-headed Thrush_, Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. v. p. 118.
_Collurincla cinerea_, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p.
214.—Jard. and Selb. Ill. Orn., vol. ii. pi. 71.—Less.
Traité d’Orn., p. 374.—Ib. Man. d’Orn., tom. i. p.
131.—Swains. Class, of Birds, vol. ii. p. 221.—G. R. Gray,
List of Gen. of Birds, 2nd Edit., p. 49.
_Lanius Saturninus_, Nordm.
_Turdus dilutus_, Lath. Ind. Orn. Supp., p. xl?—Bonn, et Vieill. Ency.
Méth. Orn., part ii. p. 660?
_Dilute Thrush_, Lath. Gen. Syn. Supp., vol. ii. p. 182?—Shaw, Gen.
Zool., vol. x. p. 208?—Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. v. p. 120?
_Turdus badius_, Lath. Ind. Orn. Supp., p. xli?—Bonn, et Vieill. Ency.
Méth. Orn., part ii. p. 670?
_Port Jackson Thrush_, Lath. Gen. Syn., vol. ii. p. 183.—White’s Voy.,
pl. in p. 157.—Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. x. p. 198.—Lath. Gen.
Hist., vol. v. p. 121.
_Austral Thrush_, Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. v. p. 124?
As the members of this genus, originally formed on a single species, are
now found to be numerous, but all very nearly allied, it becomes
necessary to describe this, the typical bird, with particular accuracy.
Nearly every colony appears to be inhabited by its own peculiar species;
and accordingly we find that the present bird is an inhabitant of New
South Wales, but extends its range westward as far as South Australia
and eastward to Moreton Bay, and perhaps farther.
The _Colluricincla harmonica_ is one of the oldest known of the
Australian birds, having been described in Latham’s “Index
Ornithologicus,” figured in White’s “Voyage,” and included in the works
of all subsequent writers.
So generally is it dispersed over the countries of which it is a native,
that there are few localities in which it is not to be found; the
brushes near the coast as well as the plains of the interior being
equally frequented by it; it is a very active bird, living much among
the branches, and feeding upon insects of various kinds, caterpillars
and their larvæ.
The term _harmonica_ applied to this species is very appropriate; for
although it does not give utterance to any continued song, it frequently
pours forth a number of powerful swelling notes, louder but less varied
than those of the Song Thrush of Europe; and it is somewhat singular
that these notes are emitted while in the act of feeding, and while
engaged in the search of its insect food.
The site of the nest is very varied; sometimes a hollow in the upright
bole of a small tree is chosen; at others the ledge of a decayed branch,
or a rock, or any similar situation. The nest is a cup-shaped, and
somewhat slight structure, externally composed of the outer and inner
bark of trees and leaves, and lined with fibrous roots; I have
occasionally seen wool intermingled with the outer materials. The eggs,
which are three in number, and one inch and two lines long by ten lines
broad, are of a beautiful pearly white, thinly sprinkled with large
blotches of light chestnut-brown and dull bluish grey, the latter colour
appearing as if beneath the surface of the shell. In one instance I
found a nest of eggs which were brownish white instead of pearly white.
The sexes are very nearly alike, the only difference being that the
female has the bill browner and an indication of a white stripe over the
eye.
Head brownish grey, with an indistinct line of brown down the centre of
each feather; back of the neck, back and shoulders olive-brown; wings
slaty black margined with grey; rump and tail grey, the latter with dark
brown shafts; under surface light brownish grey, fading into pure white
on the vent and under tail-coverts and greyish white on the throat, each
of the throat and breast feathers with a fine line of brown down the
centre; irides dark brown; bill blackish brown; feet dark greenish grey.
The Plate represents a male and a female on a nest, all of the natural
size.
[Illustration:
COLLURICINCLA RUFIVENTRIS: _Gould_.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]
COLLURICINCLA RUFIVENTRIS, _Gould_.
Buff-bellied Colluricincla.
_Colluricincla rufiventris_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part VIII.
p. 164.
_Goö-dee-lung_, Aborigines of Western Australia.
_Thrush_, of the Colonists.
This species is about the size of the _Colluricincla harmonica_, for
which at a first glance it might be mistaken, but from which on
comparison it will be found to differ in the following particulars:—the
whole of the upper surface is pure grey instead of brown; the abdomen
and under tail-coverts are deep buff instead of greyish white; and the
lores are much more distinctly marked with white. It is a native of
Western Australia, where it is to be found in all thickly wooded places,
feeding as much on the ground as among the trees and scrubs. In its
actions, the positions it assumes, and in its general manners, it very
closely resembles the Common Thrush of Europe. Its voice is a very loud,
full and rich swelling note with a few connecting sounds, the whole much
resembling, but not equalling in melody, the call-note of the European
Thrush.
It breeds in the latter part of September and the beginning of October,
and the nest, which is generally placed in the hollow part of a high
tree, is formed of dried strips of gum-tree bark very closely packed and
deep, and is sometimes lined with soft grasses. The eggs, which are two
or three in number, are of a beautiful bluish or pearly white, with
large blotches of reddish olive-brown and dark grey, the latter
appearing as if beneath the surface of the shell; the medium length of
the eggs is one inch and one line by ten lines in breadth.
Mr. Gilbert mentions that upon two occasions he found the eggs of this
bird in old nests of _Pomatorhinus superciliosus_.
The stomach is muscular, and the food consists of insects, principally
of the coleopterous order, and seeds.
Lores greyish white; crown of the head and all the upper surface deep
grey, slightly tinged with olive; primaries and tail dark brown,
margined with brownish grey; throat and under surface darkish grey,
passing into buff on the vent and under tail-coverts; all the feathers
of the under surface have a narrow dark line down the centre; thighs
grey; irides dark reddish brown; bill blackish brown; feet dark greenish
leaden grey.
The figures represent a male and a female of the natural size.
[Illustration:
COLLURICINCLA BRUNNEA: _Gould_.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]
COLLURICINCLA BRUNNEA, _Gould_.
Brown Colluricincla.
_Colluricincla brunnea_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part VIII. p.
164.
_Men-e-loö-roo_, Aborigines of Port Essington.
This bird is abundantly dispersed over the Cobourg Peninsula, and is to
be met with in all the forests in the immediate neighbourhood of Port
Essington, in which distant locality it represents the _Colluricincla
harmonica_ of New South Wales, the _Colluricincla Selbii_ of Van
Diemen’s Land, and the _Colluricincla rufiventris_ of Western Australia.
As might be expected, its habits and manners are very similar to those
of the other species of the genus, consequently the description of those
of _Colluricincla harmonica_ is equally descriptive of those of
_Colluricincla brunnea_.
A nest of this bird found on the 2nd of February was built in the upper
part of a hollow stump, and was outwardly formed of narrow strips of the
bark of the _Melaleuca_ and lined with fine twigs. The eggs are of a
pearly bluish white, spotted and blotched with markings of olive-brown
and grey, the latter colour appearing as if beneath the surface of the
shell; their medium length is one inch and two lines by ten lines in
breadth.
It is a larger and more robust species than either _C. harmonica_ or _C.
rufiventris_, the bill is shorter and much stouter, and the colouring is
of a uniform light brown; even the primaries and tail-feathers are of
the same hue.
All the upper surface pale brown; primaries and tail the same, but
somewhat lighter; all the under surface brownish white, becoming almost
pure white on the vent and under tail-coverts; thighs greyish brown;
bill black; feet blackish brown.
The Plate represents the two sexes of the natural size.
[Illustration:
COLLURICINCLA SELBII: _Jard._
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]
COLLURICINCLA SELBII, _Jard._
Selby’s Colluricincla.
_Colluricincla Selbii_, Jard. in Jard. and Selby’s Ill. Orn., vol. i.
note to text of pl. 71.
—— _rectirostris_, Jard. and Selby’s Ill. Orn., vol. iv. pl. xxxi.
—— _strigata_, Swains. Anim. in Menag. &c., p. 283, female or young
male.
_Whistling Dick_, of the Colonists of Van Diemen’s Land.
The _Colluricincla Selbii_ is a native of, and a permanent resident in,
Van Diemen’s Land and Flinders’ Island, over all parts of which it is
very generally, but nowhere very abundantly, distributed; it appears to
give a decided preference to the thick woods, wherein its presence may
always be detected by its loud, clear, liquid and melodious whistle. It
is distinguished from all the other members of the genus by the greater
length of the bill, and by the female having a broad stripe of rust-red
over the eye. It does not appear to confine itself to any particular
part of the forest, for it may sometimes be observed on the low scrub
near the ground, and at others on the topmost branches of the highest
trees.
It feeds on caterpillars and insects of various kinds, which it often
procures by tearing off the bark from the branches of the trees in the
most dexterous manner with its powerful bill, and while thus employed
frequently pours forth its remarkable note. In disposition it is lively
and animated, confident and fearless, and might doubtless be easily
tamed, when it would become a most interesting bird for the aviary.
The nest, although composed of coarse materials, is a remarkably neat
structure, round, rather deep and cup-shaped, outwardly formed of strips
of the rind of the stringy bark-tree and lined with a few grasses; it is
about five inches in diameter and four in height, the interior being
three inches and a half in breadth by two and a half in depth. The sites
usually selected for the nest are the hollow open stump of a tree, a
cleft in a rock, &c.
The sexes, which differ considerably from each other, may be thus
described:—
The male has the general plumage dark slate-grey, deepening into brown
on the back and wings, much paler on the under surface, and fading into
white on the throat and breast; over the eye a faint stripe of greyish
white; bill black; irides brown; feet light lead-colour.
The female has all the upper surface, wings and tail brown; upper
tail-coverts slate-grey; over the eye a stripe of rust-red; under
surface light grey tinged with brown on the throat and breast, and each
feather with a stripe of dark brown down the centre; bill horn-colour at
the base, black at the tip.
The young is similar to the female, but has the stripes of the under
surface much broader and more conspicuous, the line over the eye of a
deeper red, and the tail grey.
The Plate represents a male, a female, and a young bird of the natural
size.
[Illustration:
COLLURICINCLA PARVULA: _Gould_.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]
COLLURICINCLA PARVULA, _Gould_.
Little Colluricincla.
_Colluricincla parvula_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., May 27, 1845.
This species, to which I have given the name of _parvula_, from the
circumstance of its being the smallest of the genus that has come under
my notice, is a native of Port Essington and the neighbouring parts of
the northern coast of Australia. Mr. Gilbert, to whose notes I must
refer for all that is known about it, states that it is an inhabitant of
the thickets; is an extremely shy bird, and is generally seen on or near
the ground. Its note is a fine thrush-like tone, very clear, loud and
melodious. The stomach is muscular, and the food consists of insects of
various kinds, but principally of coleoptera. The nest and eggs were
brought me by a native; they were taken from the hollow part of a tree
about four feet from the ground; the former, which was too much injured
to be preserved, was formed of small twigs and narrow strips of the bark
of a _Melaleuca_. The eggs were two in number, of a beautiful pearly
flesh-white, regularly spotted all over with dull reddish orange and
umber-brown; like the eggs of the other species of the genus, they are
also sprinkled over with bluish markings, which appear as if beneath the
surface of the shell; their medium length is one inch, and breadth nine
lines.
The sexes are so nearly alike in plumage, that they are not readily
distinguished from each other; but the male is somewhat larger than his
mate.
All the upper surface, wings and tail olive-brown; a faint line over the
eye and the chin white; all the under surface pale buff, the feathers of
the throat and breast with a broad stripe of brown down the centre;
irides dark brownish red; bill blackish grey; tarsi bluish grey.
The figures are of the natural size.
[Illustration:
FALCUNCULUS FRONTATUS: _Vieill._
_J. & E. Gould del et lith._ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]
FALCUNCULUS FRONTATUS, _Vieill._
Frontal Shrike-Tit.
_Lanius frontatus_, Lath. Ind. Orn., p. xviii.—Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol.
vii. p. 312.—Temm. Man., Part I. p. lix.—Ib. Pl. Col., pl.
77.
_Frontal Shrike_, Lath. Gen. Syn. Supp., vol. ii. p. 75, pl. 122.—Ib.
Gen. Hist., vol. ii. p. 72, pl. xx.
_Falcunculus frontatus_, Vieill. Gal. des Ois., tom. i. pl. 138.—Vig.
and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p. 212.—G. R. Gray,
List of Gen. of Birds, p. 36.—Less. Traité d’Orn., p. 372.
_Falcunculus flavigulus_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part V. p.
144; and in Syn. Birds of Australia, Part IV., young?
I had many opportunities of observing this bird, both in New South Wales
and South Australia, over both of which countries it is very generally
although not numerously dispersed. It does not inhabit Western
Australia, neither have I as yet received it from the north coast. It
alike inhabits the thick brushes as well as the trees of the open
plains. Its chief food is insects, which are either obtained among the
foliage or under the bark of the larger branches and trunks of the
trees; in procuring these it displays great dexterity, stripping off the
bark in the most determined manner, for which purpose its powerful bill
is admirably adapted.
It is very animated and sprightly in its actions, and in many of its
habits bears a striking resemblance to the Tits, particularly in the
manner in which it clings to and climbs among the branches in search of
food. While thus employed it frequently erects its crest and assumes
many pert and lively positions: no bird of its size with which I am
acquainted possesses greater strength in its mandibles, or is capable of
inflicting severer wounds, as I experienced on handling one I had
previously winged, and which fastened on my hand in the most ferocious
manner.
As far as I am aware, the _Falcunculus frontatus_ is not distinguished
by any powers of song, merely uttering a few low piping notes.
I could neither succeed in procuring the nest of this species nor obtain
any authentic information respecting its nidification.
The stomachs of the specimens I dissected were filled with the larvæ of
insects and berries.
The male has immediately above the bill a narrow band of white, from
which, down the centre of the head, is a broad stripe of black feathers
forming a crest; sides of the face and head white, divided by a line of
black which passes through the eye to the nape; back, shoulders and
wing-coverts olive; primaries and secondaries blackish brown broadly
margined with grey; tail blackish brown broadly margined with grey,
especially on the two centre feathers; two outer tail-feathers and tips
of the remainder white, the white diminishing on each feather as it
approaches the centre of the tail; throat black; all the under surface
bright yellow; irides reddish brown; bill black; legs and feet bluish
grey.
The sexes may at all times be distinguished from each other by the
smaller size of the female, and by the colouring of the throat being
green instead of black; by the irides being darker and the feet bluish
lead-colour.
The Plate represents a male and a female of the natural size, on a
branch of a shrub-like tree which I gathered in the district of
Illawarra, but of which I have not been able to obtain the name.
[Illustration:
FALCUNCULUS LEUCOGASTER: _Gould_.
_J. & E. Gould del et lith._ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]
FALCUNCULUS LEUCOGASTER, _Gould_.
White-bellied Shrike-Tit.
_Falcunculus leucogaster_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part V. p.
144; and in Syn. Birds of Australia, Part IV.
_Goore-beet-goore-beet_, Aborigines of the lowland districts of
Western Australia.
_Jil-le-ë-lee_, Aborigines of the mountain districts of ditto.
_Djoon-dool-goo-roon_, Aborigines of the Murray in ditto.
This species is an inhabitant of the western portions of Australia,
where it forms a beautiful representative of the _Fal. frontatus_ of the
eastern coast, from which it may be readily distinguished by its white
abdomen; it is very generally dispersed over the colony of Swan River,
although, like its near ally, it is not to be met with in great
abundance. It is usually seen in pairs among the thickly-foliaged trees,
particularly such as grow in quiet secluded places, and is a most active
little bird, running over the trunks and branches of the trees with the
greatest facility, and tearing off the bark in its progress in search of
insects: the habits in fact of the present and Frontal Shrike-Tit are so
closely similar that a separate description is unnecessary. Its flight
is of short duration, and is seldom employed for any other purpose than
that of flitting from branch to branch, or from one tree to another. Its
note is a series of mournful sounds, the last of which is drawn out to a
greater length than the preceding ones.
The stomach is extremely muscular, and its food consists principally of
coleoptera.
The male has immediately above the bill a narrow hand of white, from
which, down the centre of the head, is a broad stripe of black feathers
forming a crest; sides of the face and head white, divided by a line of
black, which passes through the eye to the nape; back, rump, shoulders
and wing-coverts bright yellowish olive; primaries and secondaries
blackish brown, margined with olive-yellow; tail-feathers blackish
brown, margined with olive-yellow, except the two outer, which are grey,
broadly margined with white; all the tail-feathers tipped with white,
the white diminishing on each feather as it approaches the centre of the
tail; throat black; chest, upper part of the breast, and under
tail-coverts bright yellow; abdomen and thighs white; irides wood-brown;
bill dark brown, becoming lighter at the edges of the mandibles; legs
and feet greenish blue.
The female differs from her mate in being somewhat smaller in size, and
in having the throat green instead of black.
The figures are those of a male and female, of the natural size.
[Illustration:
OREOÏCA GUTTURALIS.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]
OREOÏCA GUTTURALIS, _Gould_.
Crested Oreoïca.
_Falcunculus gutturalis_, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p.
212.
_Crested Thrush_, Lewin, Birds of New Holl., pl. 9. fem.
_Oreoïca gutturalis_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part V. p. 151;
and in Syn. Birds of Australia, Part IV.—G. R. Gray, List of
Gen. of Birds, 2nd edit., p. 48.
_Bo-kürn-bo-kürn_, Aborigines of the mountain districts of Western
Australia.
_Bell-bird_, Colonists of Swan River.
This very singular bird possesses an extremely wide range of habitat,
being dispersed over the whole of the southern portion of Australia from
east to west. It has not yet been discovered in Van Diemen’s Land or in
any of the islands in Bass’s Straits, neither has the extent of its
range northwards yet been ascertained. It is, I believe, everywhere a
stationary species, but although its distribution is so general, it is
nowhere very plentiful. From what I observed of it, it appeared to give
a decided preference to the naked sterile crowns of hills and open bare
glades in the forests, and I should say that its presence is indicative
of a poor and bad land. It resorts much to the ground, over the surface
of which it hops with great quickness, often in small companies of from
three to six in number. When flushed it flies but a short distance,
generally to a large horizontal branch of a neighbouring _Eucalyptus_,
along which it passes in a succession of quick hops, similar to those of
the Common Sparrow of Europe. It is very animated in many of its
actions, particularly the male, whose erected crest and white face,
relieved by the beautiful orange-colour of the eye, gives it a very
sprightly appearance. The female, on the other hand, being nearly
uniform in colour, having the eye hazel and the crest less developed, is
by no means so attractive. I regret much that it is not in my power to
convey an idea of the note uttered by this bird, which is singular in
the extreme; besides which it is a perfect ventriloquist, its peculiar,
mournful, piping whistle appearing to be at a considerable distance,
while the bird is perched on a large branch of a neighbouring tree. To
aid my recollections I find the following remarks in my
note-book:—“Note, a very peculiar piping whistle, sounding like
_weet-weet-weet-weet-oo_, the last syllable fully drawn out and very
melodious.” In Western Australia, where the real Bell-bird is never
found, this species has had that appellation given to it,—a term which
must appear ill-applied to those who have heard the note of the true
Bell-bird of the brushes of New South Wales, whose tinkling sound so
nearly resembles that of a distant sheep-bell as occasionally to deceive
the ears of a practised shepherd. My assistant Mr. Gilbert having also
noted down to the best of his power the singular note of this species, I
give it in his own words, but neither his description nor my own can
convey anything like an accurate idea of it; notes of birds, in fact,
are not to be described,—they must be heard to be understood. “The most
singular feature,” says Mr. Gilbert, “connected with this bird is, that
it is a perfect ventriloquist. At first its note commences in so low a
tone that it sounds as if at a considerable distance, and then gradually
increases in volume until it appears over the head of the wondering
hearer, the bird that utters it being all the while on the dead part of
a tree, perhaps not more than three or four yards distant; its
motionless attitude rendering its discovery very difficult. It has two
kinds of song, the most usual of which is a running succession of notes,
or two notes repeated together rather slowly, followed by a repetition
three times rather quickly, the last note resembling the sound of a bell
from its ringing tone; the other song is pretty nearly the same, only
that it concludes with a sudden and peculiar fall of two notes.”
It flies in heavy undulating sweeps, generally so near the ground that
it seems as if it would scarcely take the trouble to rise above the
scrub or small trees that may lie in its course.
In Western Australia its nest is formed of strings of bark, lined with a
few fine dried grasses, and is generally placed in a _Xanthorrea_ or
grass-tree, either in the upper part of the grass or rush above, or in
the fork of the trunk, and is of a deep cup-shaped form. It breeds in
October, and generally lays three eggs, which vary much in colour; the
ground-tint being bluish white, in some instances marked all over with
minute spots of ink-black, in others with long zigzag lines and blotches
of the same hue. In some these markings are confined to the larger end,
where they form a zone; in others they are equally spread all over the
surface, intermingled with the black markings; also blotches of grey
appear as if beneath the surface of the shell, and some eggs have been
found with the ground-colour of the larger end of a beautiful bluish
green.
In its nidification and in many of its actions it offers considerable
resemblance to the members of the genus _Colluricincla_.
It has a thick muscular gizzard, and its food consists of seeds, grain,
coleoptera, and the larvæ of all kinds of insects. In Western Australia
it often resorts to newly ploughed land, as it there finds an abundance
of grubs and caterpillars, its most favourite food.
The sexes present considerable difference in colour.
The male has the face white; feathers on the forepart of the head, along
the centre of the crest, line from the eye bounding the white of the
face, and a large gorget-shaped mark on the breast deep black; sides of
the head and crest grey; all the upper surface and flanks light brown;
wings brown margined with lighter brown; tail dark brown; centre of the
abdomen brownish white; vent and under tail-coverts buff; irides
beautiful orange, surrounded by a narrow black lash; bill black; legs
and feet blackish brown.
The female resembles the male, but differs in having the face and
forehead grey, only a line of black down the centre of the crest, the
chin dull white, in having a mere indication of the black gorget, the
irides hazel, and the feet olive- or dark brown.
The figures are of the natural size.
[Illustration:
DICRURUS BRACTEATUS: _Gould_.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]
DICRURUS BRACTEATUS, _Gould_.
Spangled Drongo.
_Dicrurus Balicassius_, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p.
211.
—— _bracteatus_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part x. p. 132.
Having carefully compared the bird here represented with the other
species of the genus inhabiting Africa, the continent of India and the
Indian islands, I find it to be quite distinct from the whole of them; I
have therefore assigned to it a separate specific title, and selected
that of _bracteatus_ as expressive of its beautifully spangled
appearance. Its range is very extensive, the bird being equally abundant
in all parts of the northern and eastern portions of Australia; it was
found by Captain Grey on the north-west coast, by Mr. Gilbert at Port
Essington, and it has also been observed in the neighbourhood of Moreton
Bay on the east coast. I did not encounter it myself during my rambles
in Australia; we are therefore indebted to Mr. Gilbert’s notes for all
that is known of its history. “This species,” says he, “is one of the
commonest birds of the Cobourg Peninsula, where it is generally seen in
pairs and may be met with in every variety of situation, but more
frequently among the thickets and mangroves than elsewhere. It is at all
times exceedingly active and is strictly insectivorous; its food
consisting entirely of insects of various kinds, but particularly those
belonging to the orders _Coleoptera_ and _Neuroptera_. Its mode of
flight and its voice are both exceedingly variable; its usual note is a
loud, disagreeably harsh, cackling or creaking whistle, so totally
different from that of any other bird, that having been once heard it is
readily recognised.
“I found five nests on the 16th of November, all of which contained
young birds, some of them nearly able to fly, and others apparently but
just emerged from the egg. The whole of these nests were exactly alike
and formed of the same material, the dry wiry climbing stalk of a common
parasitic plant, without any kind of lining; they were exceedingly
difficult to examine from their being placed on the weakest part of the
extremities of the horizontal branches of a thickly-foliaged tree at an
altitude of not less than thirty feet from the ground; they were of a
very shallow form, about five inches and a half in diameter; the eggs
would seem to be three or four in number, as three of the nests
contained three, and the other two four young birds in each.”
The head and the body both above and below are deep black, the feathers
of the head with a crescent, and those of the body, particularly of the
breast, with a spot of deep metallic green at the tip; wings and tail
deep glossy green; under wing-coverts black tipped with white; irides
brownish red; bill and feet blackish brown.
The Plate represents a specimen procured at Port Essington of the
natural size, and I may remark that examples obtained in that locality
are somewhat smaller than those killed on the north-western and eastern
coasts.
[Illustration:
RHIPIDURA ALBISCAPA: _Gould_.
_J. & E. Gould del._ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]
RHIPIDURA ALBISCAPA, _Gould_.
White-shafted Fantail.
_Rhipidura flabellifera_, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p.
247, excl. of Syn.—Swains. Nat. Lib. Orn., vol. x.:
Flycatchers, p. 124, pl. 10; and Class. of Birds, vol. ii.
p. 257.
_Rhipidura albiscapa_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., September 8,
1840.
It would appear that two species of Fantailed Flycatchers have hitherto
been confounded under one specific appellation; for if a comparison be
made, it will be obvious to every one, that the bird here represented is
quite distinct from that described and figured by Latham, in the sixth
volume of his “General History of Birds,” as _Motacilla flabellifera_,
and which he states is a native of New Zealand. It is true, the
Australian birds from different localities present considerable
variations in the depth of their colour, still they never have the
lateral tail-feathers entirely white as in the New Zealand bird:
specimens from Van Diemen’s Land are always much darker than those of
the continent, and have the tail-feathers less marked with white; others
from Western Australia, again, are somewhat lighter in colour, and have
the white markings of the tail more extensive than in those collected in
South Australia or New South Wales. The accompanying illustration
represents the darkest of these varieties, and with the nest and plant
(_Culcitium salicinum_) was drawn in Van Diemen’s Land.
Judging from what facts I could gather respecting the economy of the
White-shafted Fantail, I am induced to regard it as a permanent resident
rather than a migratory species, changing its localities according to
the season of the year; resorting to the more open parts during the
summer months, and retiring in autumn to thick brushes and warm secluded
gullies, where it still finds a supply of food, such as _aphides_ and
other small insects, upon which it almost exclusively subsists.
In Van Diemen’s Land I have seen it in the depth of winter in the
gullies on the sunny sides of Mount Wellington; and it is my opinion,
that instead of migrating they only retire at this season to such
localities as are sheltered from the bleak south-westerly winds which
then so generally prevail, and where insects are still to be found. The
bird is also subject to the same law on the continent of Australia; but
as the temperature of that country is more equable, its effects are not
so apparent; and in support of this opinion I may adduce the remark of
Caley, who says, “The species is very common about Paramatta; and I do
not recollect having missed it at any period of the year.”
It is generally found in pairs, but I have occasionally seen as many as
four or five together. It inhabits alike the topmost branches of the
highest trees, those of a more moderate growth, and the shrouded and
gloomy foliaged dells in the neighbourhood of rivulets: from these
retreats it darts out a short distance to capture insects, and in most
instances returns again to the same branch it had left. While in the air
it assumes a number of lively and beautiful positions, at one moment
mounting almost perpendicularly, constantly spreading out its tail to
the full extent, and frequently tumbling completely over in the descent;
at another it may be seen flitting through the branches, and seeking for
insects among the flowers and leaves, repeatedly uttering a sweet
twittering song.
The Fantail is rather a late breeder, scarcely ever commencing before
October, during which and the three following months it rears two, and
often three broods. Its elegant little nest, closely resembling a
wine-glass in shape, is woven together with exquisite skill, and is
generally composed of the inner bark of a species of _Eucalyptus_,
neatly lined with the down of the tree-fern intermingled with flowering
stalks of moss, and outwardly matted together with the webs of spiders,
which not only serve to envelope the nest, but are also employed to
strengthen its attachment to the branch on which it is constructed. The
situation of the nest is much varied: I have observed it in the midst of
dense brushes, in the more open forest, and placed on a branch
overhanging a mountain rivulet, but at all times within a few feet of
the ground. The eggs are invariably two in number, seven lines long;
their ground colour white, blotched all over, but particularly at the
larger end, with brown slightly tinged with olive: the young from the
nest assume so closely the colour and appearance of the adults, that
they are only to be distinguished by the secondaries and wing-coverts
being margined with brown, a feature lost after the first moult. The
adults are so precisely alike, that actual dissection is necessary to
determine the sexes.
In its disposition this little bird is one of the tamest imaginable,
allowing of a near approach without evincing the slightest timidity, and
will even enter the houses of persons resident in the bush in pursuit of
gnats and other insects. During the breeding-season, however, it
exhibits extreme anxiety at the sight of an intruder in the vicinity of
its nest, the site of which is always betrayed by its becoming more
agitated and active in its movements as he draws near: if approached
unobserved, it may be often seen mounting in the air and singing while
its mate is performing the duty of incubation.
From what I have here stated it will be seen that this species has a
most extensive range over the southern portion of Australia, and in all
probability it will be found in every part of that vast country.
Adult birds from Van Diemen’s Land have the whole of the upper surface,
ear-coverts, and a band across the chest sooty black, slightly tinged
with olive, the tail, crown of the head, and pectoral band being rather
the darkest; stripe over the eye, lunar-shaped mark behind the eye,
throat, tips of the wing-coverts, margins of the secondaries, shafts,
outer webs and tips of all but the two middle tail-feathers white; under
surface buff; eyes black; bill and feet brownish black.
The figures are of the natural size.
[Illustration:
RHIPIDURA RUFIFRONS.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]
RHIPIDURA RUFIFRONS.
Rufous-fronted Fantail.
_Muscicapa rufifrons_, Lath. Ind. Orn. Suppl., p. 1.—Vieill. 2nde
Edit. du Nouv. Diet. d’Hist. Nat., tom. xxi. p. 465.—Bonn.
et Vieill. Ency. Méth. Orn., part ii. p. 809.
_Orange-rumped Flycatcher_, Lewin, Birds of New Holl., pl. 13.
_Rufous-fronted Flycatcher_, Lath. Gen. Syn. Suppl., vol. ii. p.
220.—Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. x. p. 373.—Lath. Gen. Hist.,
vol. vi. p. 213.
_Rhipidura rufifrons_, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p.
248.—Less. Man. d’Orn., tom. i. p. 199.
_Bur-ril_, Aborigines of New South Wales.
The Rufous-fronted Fantail is one of the most beautiful and one of the
oldest known members of the group to which it belongs, having been
originally described by Latham in his “Index Ornithologicus,” and
included in the works of nearly every subsequent writer on Ornithology.
In Mr. Caley’s short but valuable “Notes on the Birds of New South
Wales,” he says, “This bird appears to me to be a rare one, at least I
do not recollect having ever seen any other specimen than the present. I
met with it on the 15th of October 1807, at Cardunny, a place about ten
miles to the north-east of Paramatta. It is a thick brush (or
underwood), and is the resort of the _great Bat_.” The fact of the
colony having at that early date been but little explored will readily
account for Caley’s opinion of the rarity of this bird; but had he
visited the thick brushes of Illawarra, the Liverpool range and the
Hunter, he would have found that those situations are its natural
habitat, and that it is there to be met with in considerable numbers.
Although many of its habits closely resemble those of the _Rhipidura
albiscapa_, they are, as the greater length of its legs would indicate,
far more terrestrial; it runs over the ground and the fallen logs of
trees with great facility; while thus engaged, and particularly when
approached by an intruder, it constantly spreads and displays its
beautiful tail, and evinces a great degree of restlessness. It is always
found in the most secluded parts of the forest, no portion of which
appears to be too dense for its abode.
I never met with it in Van Diemen’s Land, or on the islands in Bass’s
Straits, neither do I recollect having seen it in South Australia; and
it has not been found in Western Australia, or on the north coast, in
which latter locality it is represented by the _Rhipidura Dryas_.
I had no opportunity of observing it during the breeding-season, but
frequently encountered its deserted little cup-shaped nests, which bore
a general resemblance to that of the _R. albiscapa_, figured on the
preceding plate.
The sexes are precisely alike in colour; and their only outward
difference consists in the somewhat smaller size of the female.
Forehead rusty red, continuing over the eye; crown of the head, back of
the neck, upper part of the back and wings olive-brown; lower part of
the back, tail-coverts, and the basal portions of the tail rusty red;
remainder of the tail blackish brown, obscurely tipped with light grey;
the shafts of the tail-feathers for nearly half their length from the
base light rusty red; throat and centre of the abdomen white;
ear-coverts dark brown; chest black, the feathers of the lower part
edged with white; flanks and under tail-coverts light fawn-colour; eyes,
bill and feet brown.
The figures are of the natural size.
[Illustration:
RHIPIDURA ISURA: _Gould_.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]
RHIPIDURA ISURA, _Gould_.
Northern Fantail.
_Rhipidura isura_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part VIII. p. 174.
This species is an inhabitant of the north and north-west coasts of
Australia, in which localities specimens have been procured by His
Excellency Governor Grey and by Mr. Gilbert, the latter of whom states
that it is abundant in all parts of the Cobourg Peninsula, and that it
is to be met with in every variety of situation; that it is usually seen
in pairs, and that it secludes itself during the heat of the day amidst
the dense thickets of mangroves.
A nest found by Mr. Gilbert in the early part of November appeared to
have been recently inhabited by young birds; it was placed in the centre
of three upright twigs of a species of _Banksia_, and was formed of
narrow strips of bark, firmly bound together on the outside with cobwebs
and vegetable fibres; it was very cup-like in shape, about two inches
and a half in height, one inch and three-quarters in diameter, and
three-quarters of an inch in depth.
The stomach is tolerably muscular, and the food consists of insects of
various kinds and their larvæ.
All the upper surface dull brown; wings and tail darker brown, the outer
feather of the latter on each side margined externally and largely
tipped with white, the next having a large irregular spot of white at
the tip, and the next with a minute line of white near the tip; chin and
under surface buffy white, with an indication of a dark brown band
across the chest; bill and feet black.
The Plate represents a male and a female of the natural size.
[Illustration:
RHIPIDURA MOTACILLOÏDES: _Vig. & Horsf._
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]
RHIPIDURA MOTACILLOÏDES, _Vig. and Horsf._
Black Fantailed Flycatcher.
_Rhipidura Motacilloïdes_, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv.
p. 248.
_Wil̈-la-ring_, Aborigines of the lowland, and
_Jiẗ-te-jiẗ-te_, Aborigines of the mountain districts of Western
Australia.
_Wagtail Flycatcher_, of the Colonists of Swan River.
With the exception of Van Diemen’s Land, this bird has been found in
every part of Australia yet visited by Europeans. A slight difference is
observable in the size of the specimens from different localities, those
from New South Wales being the largest and those from Port Essington the
least: the latter may hereafter prove to be specifically distinct.
At the same time that it is one of the most widely diffused, it is also
one of the most tame and familiar of the Australian birds, and
consequently a general favourite; it is constantly about the houses,
gardens and stock yards of the settlers, often running along the backs
and close to the noses of the cattle in order to secure the insects
which are roused and attracted by the heat from their nostrils, along
the roofs of the buildings, the tops of palings, gates, &c.;
constructing its pretty nest beneath the verandah, and even entering the
rooms to capture its insect prey; it passes much of its time on the
ground, over which it runs and darts with the utmost celerity, and when
skirting the stream with tail erect and shaking from side to side, it
presents an appearance very similar to that of the English Black and
White Wagtail (_Motacilla Yarrellii_); the movements of the tails of the
two birds are, however, very different, that of the European being
perpendicular, while that of the Australian is lateral.
Its song, which consists of a few rather loud and shrill notes, is
continually poured forth throughout the entire night, especially if it
be moonlight.
Its flight is at times gracefully undulating, at others it consists of a
series of sudden zigzag starts, but is always of a very short duration;
it never poises itself in the air, like the _Seïsura volitans_, and
never mounts higher than the tops of the trees, appearing to prefer
hopping from tree to tree to flying.
It commences breeding in September and generally rears two or three
broods. Its beautiful deep cup-shaped and compact nest is very often
built on a branch overhanging water, or on the dead limb of a tree
overshadowed by a living branch above it, but the usual and favourite
site is the upper side of a fallen branch without the slightest shelter
from the sun and rain, at about three or four feet from the ground; the
nest itself is constructed of dried grasses, strips of bark, small
clumps of grass, roots, &c., all bound and firmly matted together and
covered over with cobwebs, the latter material being at times so similar
in appearance to the bark of the branch, that the entire nest looks like
an excrescence of the wood, consequently it is almost impossible to
detect it; it is lined with a finer description of grass, small wiry
fibrous roots or feathers. The eggs are generally three in number, of a
dull greenish white, banded round the centre or towards the larger end
with blotches and spots of blackish and chestnut-brown, which in some
instances are very minute; the medium length of the egg is nine lines
and a half by seven lines in breadth. On an intruder approaching the
nest, the birds fly about and hover over his head, and will even sit on
the same branch on which the nest is placed while the intruder is in the
act of robbing it of the eggs; all the time uttering a peculiar cry,
which may be compared to the sound of a child’s rattle, or the noise
produced by the small cog-wheels of a steam-mill.
The stomach is muscular, and the food consists of insects of various
kinds.
The sexes are alike in plumage, and may be thus described:—
Head, neck, throat, sides of the chest, upper surface and tail, glossy
greenish black; over each eye a narrow line of white; wings brown;
wing-coverts with a small triangular spot of white at the tip; under
surface pale buffy white; irides, bill and feet black.
The figures are of the natural size.
[Illustration:
SEÏSURA INQUIETA.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]
SEÏSURA INQUIETA.
Restless Flycatcher.
_Turdus inquietus_, Lath. Ind. Orn. Supp., p. xl.
_Restless Thrush_, Lath. Gen. Syn. Supp., vol. ii. p. 181.—Shaw, Gen.
Zool., vol. x. p. 263.—Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. v. p. 120.
_Turdus volitans_, Lath. Ind. Orn. Supp., p. xli.
_Volatile Thrush_, Lath. Gen. Syn. Supp., vol. ii. p. 183.—Shaw, Gen.
Zool., vol. x. p. 290.—Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. v. p. 122.
_Seïsura volitans_, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p.
250.—Swains. Class. of Birds, vol. ii. p. 256.—G. R. Gray,
List of Gen. of Birds, 2nd Edit., p. 43.—Nat. Lib. Orn.,
vol. x., Flycatchers, pl. 12. p. 138.
_Jiẗ-tee-gnut_, Aborigines of Western Australia.
_The Grinder_, of the Colonists of Swan River and New South Wales.
This species ranges over the whole of the southern portions of the
Australian continent, and appears to be as numerous at Swan River as it
is in New South Wales, where it may be said to be universally
distributed, for I observed it in every part I visited, both among the
brushes as well as in the more open portions of the country, in all of
which it is apparently a stationary species. It is a bird possessing
many peculiar and very singular habits. It not only captures its prey
after the usual manner of the other Flycatchers, but it frequently
sallies forth into the open glades of the forest and the cleared lands,
and procures it by poising itself in the air with a remarkably quick
motion of the wings, precisely after the manner of the English Kestrel
(_Tinnunculus Alaudarius_), every now and then making sudden
perpendicular descents to the ground to capture any insect that may
attract its notice. It is while performing these singular movements that
it produces the remarkable sound, which has procured for it from the
colonists of New South Wales the appellation of “The Grinder.” The
singular habits of this species appear to have attracted the notice of
all who have paid any attention to the natural history of New South
Wales: Mr. Caley observes, “It is very curious in its actions. In
alighting on the stump of a tree it makes several semicircular motions,
spreading out its tail at the time, and making a loud noise somewhat
like that caused by a razor-grinder at work. I have seen it frequently
alight on the ridge of my house, and perform the same evolutions:” and
Latham says, “It is observed to hover about two feet from the ground,
making sudden darts on something, which, by attention, was found to be a
sort of worm, which this bird, by a chirping note, and tremulous motion
of the wings, with the tail widely expanded, seemed to fascinate out of
its hole in the ground.” To this I may add the following account of the
actions and manners of this species as observed by Mr. Gilbert in
Western Australia:—
“This bird is found in pairs in every variety of situation. Its general
note is a loud harsh cry several times repeated; it also utters a loud
clear whistle; but its most singular note is that from which it has
obtained its colonial name, and which is only emitted while the bird is
in a hovering position at a few feet above the ground; this noise so
exactly resembles a grinder at work, that a person unaware of its being
produced by a bird might easily be misled. Its mode of flight is one of
the most graceful and easy imaginable; it rarely mounts high in flying
from tree to tree, but moves horizontally with its tail but little
spread, and with a very slight motion of the wings; it is during this
kind of flight that it utters the harsh note above-mentioned; the
grinding note being only emitted during the graceful hovering motion,
the object of which appears to be to attract the notice of the insects
beneath, for it invariably terminates in the bird descending to the
ground, picking up something, flying into a tree close by, and uttering
its shrill and distinct whistle.”
The food consists of insects of various kinds, and it is said to devour
scorpions also.
The months of September, October and November constitute the
breeding-season. The nests observed by me in New South Wales were rather
neatly made, very similar to those of _Rhipidura Motacilloïdes_,
cup-shaped, and composed of fine grasses matted together on the outside
with cobwebs, and lined with very fine fibrous roots and a few feathers;
they were placed on horizontal branches frequently overhanging water.
The eggs, which are sometimes only two, but mostly three in number, are
dull white, distinctly zoned round the centre with spots of chestnut and
greyish brown, the latter colour appearing as if beneath the surface of
the shell; their medium length is nine lines and a half by seven lines
in breadth. The nests found by Mr. Gilbert in Western Australia were
remarkably neat and pretty, and were formed of cobwebs, dried soft
grasses, narrow strips of gum-tree bark, the soft paper-like bark of the
_Melaleucæ_, &c., and were usually lined with feathers or a fine wiry
grass, and in some instances horse-hair; the situations chosen for its
erection are the most difficult of access, being the upper side, the
extreme end and the dead portion of a horizontal branch. The bird is
very reluctant to leave the nest, and will almost suffer itself to be
handled rather than desert its eggs.
The sexes are very similar in plumage, but the female and young males
have the lores or space between the bill and the eye not so deep a black
as in the male.
Head and all the upper surface shining bluish black; wings dark brown;
tail brownish black; lores deep velvety black; under surface silky
white, with the exception of the sides of the chest, which are dull
black; irides dark brown; basal half of the sides of the upper mandible
and the basal two-thirds of the lower mandible greenish blue; the
remainder of the bill bluish black; legs and feet dark bluish brown.
The figures are of the natural size, the upper one exhibiting a rufous
tint on the breast, which frequently occurs.
[Illustration:
PIEZORHYNCHUS NITIDUS: _Gould_.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]
PIEZORHYNCHUS NITIDUS, _Gould_.
Shining Flycatcher.
_Piezorhynchus nitidus_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part VIII. p.
171.
_Un̈g-bur-ka_, Aborigines of Port Essington.
I here give a representation of a Flycatcher, whose habitat, so far as
we know, is restricted to the northern portions of Australia. It is by
no means scarce at Port Essington, but, from the extreme shyness of its
disposition and the situations it inhabits, it is seldom seen; specimens
in fact are not procured without considerable trouble and difficulty. As
I have not myself seen the bird in its native haunts, I shall
transcribe, with as little alteration as possible, Mr. Gilbert’s notes
respecting it:—“Inhabits the densest mangroves and thickets, and is
usually seen creeping about close to the ground among the fallen trees
in the swamps, at which time it utters a note so closely resembling the
croak of a frog, that it might easily be mistaken for the voice of that
animal; this peculiar note would seem to be only emitted while the bird
is feeding on the ground; for when it occasionally mounts to the higher
branches of the trees it utters a rather pleasing succession of sounds
resembling _twit-te-twite_; on the slightest disturbance it immediately
descends again to the underwood and recommences its frog-like note. The
nest is either built among the mangroves, or on the verge of a thicket
near an open spot. One that I found among the mangroves was built on a
seedling-tree not more than three feet from the ground; another was on a
branch overhanging a small running stream within reach of the hand;
while a third, constructed on the branches of the trees bordering a
clear space in the centre of a dense thicket, was at least twenty feet
high. The nest at all times so closely resembles the surrounding
branches, that it is very difficult to detect unless the birds are very
closely watched; in some instances it looks so like an excrescence of
the tree, and in others is so deeply seated in the fork whereon it is
placed, that it can only be discovered when the bird is sitting upon it.
The nest is about two inches and a half in height and three and a
quarter in diameter, is of a cup-shaped form, with the rim brought to a
sharp edge, and is outwardly composed of the stringy bark of an
_Eucalyptus_ bound together on the outside with vegetable fibres, among
which in some instances cobwebs are mixed: all over the outside of the
nest small pieces of bark resembling portions of lichens are attached,
some of them hanging by a single thread and moving about with every
breath of air; the internal surface is lined with a strong wiry
thread-like fibrous root, whereby the whole structure is rendered nearly
as firm as if it were bound with wire.”
The eggs, which are two in number, are ten lines long and seven lines
broad, of a bluish white, blotched and spotted all over with olive and
greyish brown, the spots of the latter hue being less numerous and more
obscure; the spots inclining towards the form of a zone at the larger
end.
The food consists of insects of various kinds.
The male has the whole of the plumage rich deep glossy greenish black;
irides dark brown; bill greyish blue at the base, black at the tip;
tarsi greenish grey.
The female has the top and sides of the head and the back of the neck
rich deep glossy greenish black; the remainder of the upper surface,
wings and tail rusty brown; and the whole of the under surface white.
The figures are those of a male and a female of the natural size.
[Illustration:
MYIAGRA PLUMBEA: _Vig. & Horsf._
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]
MYIÄGRA PLUMBEA, _Vig. and Horsf._
Plumbeous Flycatcher.
_Myiägra plumbea_, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p.
254.—Less. Man. d’Orn., tom. i. p. 181.—Swains. Class. of
Birds, vol. ii. p. 260.
A summer visitant to New South Wales, where it takes up its abode on
high trees bordering-creeks and low valleys, and captures its insect
food under the shady branches, the _Myiägra plumbea_ is mostly seen in
pairs, which are rather thinly dispersed over the districts forming its
usual place of resort. A low whistling note, frequently uttered by the
males, is, in all probability, indicative of the season of love; but
whether it is also uttered at any other than the pairing and breeding
time, I had no opportunities of observing. On the approach of winter it
retires northwards from New South Wales, and is not to be met with there
until the following August or September, the months in which spring
commences in the opposite hemisphere.
It is a most active bird; in fact all its positions are characterized by
great liveliness; for while in a state of comparative repose, or when
not actually in pursuit of insects, it displays a constant tremulous
motion of the tail, by which means its presence is often betrayed when
it would otherwise remain unnoticed.
As is the case with all the other members of the genus, the sexes
present considerable difference in their plumage, the female having the
throat of a bright rusty red, while the throat of the male is of a rich
greenish lead-colour, like the upper surface,—a style of colouring which
has suggested the specific name of _plumbea_. The young males during the
first year so closely assimilate in plumage to the female, that by
dissection alone can they be distinguished with certainty.
New South Wales appears to be the great nursery of this species, for I
never met with it either in Van Diemen’s Land or in any other of the
Australian colonies; where then does it go during the colder months of
the year? The woods bordering the north coast are inhabited by a nearly
allied but distinct species; the _M. plumbea_ would not therefore be
likely to pass over this country, or to find therein a resting-place
among the individuals of another species. If however we consider the
vast extent of Australia, and the probability that its central parts may
be far more fertile than is generally supposed, it is not unlikely that
the winter abode of this and numerous other birds will there be found,
and that thereby the mysteriously sudden appearance and departure of
many species, which are so frequently taking place, will be readily
accounted for.
The nest is cup-shaped, rather deep, formed of moss and lichens and
neatly lined with feathers, and is generally placed on the horizontal
branch of a tree. I did not succeed in procuring the eggs.
The male has the whole of the upper surface, wings, tail and breast
lead-colour, glossed with green on the head, neck and breast, and
becoming gradually paler towards the extremity of the body and on the
wings and tail; primaries slaty black; secondaries faintly margined with
white; under surface of the wing, abdomen and under tail-coverts white;
bill leaden blue, except at the extreme tip, which is black; irides and
feet black.
The female has the head and back lead-colour, without the greenish
gloss; wings and tail brown, fringed with bluish grey, particularly the
secondaries; throat and breast rich rusty red, gradually fading into the
white of the lower part of the abdomen and under tail-coverts; upper
mandible black; under mandible pale blue, except at the extremity, which
is black.
The Plate represents the two sexes of the natural size.
[Illustration:
MYIAGRA CONCINNA: _Gould_.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]
MYIAGRA CONCINNA. _Gould_.
Pretty Flycatcher.
_Myiagra concinna_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., November 1847.
This species is a native of the north-western portion of Australia,
where it inhabits the dense mangroves and thickets adjacent to swamps.
It is very shy and retiring in its disposition, but may occasionally be
seen on the topmost branches of the highest trees of the forest. Like
the other Flycatchers, it has the habit of sitting for a long time on a
branch, watching the various insects as they pass, now and then darting
forth and capturing one on the wing, and then returning again to the
branch from which it had flown.
When among the mangroves it utters a rather agreeable twittering song,
but when among the high trees it emits a loud and shrill whistle, drawn
out at times to a considerable length.
The stomach is muscular, and the food consists of insects of various
kinds and their larvæ.
Like the other members of the genus, the sexes differ considerably in
colour; they may be thus described:—
The male has the whole of the upper surface, wings, tail and breast
lead-colour, glossed with green on the head, neck and breast, and
becoming gradually paler towards the extremity of the body and on the
wings and tail; primaries slaty black; secondaries faintly margined with
white; under surface of the wing, abdomen and under tail-coverts white;
bill leaden blue, except at the extreme tip, which is black; irides
brown; feet blackish grey.
The female has the head and back lead-colour, without the greenish
gloss; wings and tail brown, fringed with bluish grey, particularly the
secondaries; throat and breast rich rusty red; abdomen and under
tail-coverts white, which colour does not gradually blend with the rusty
red of the breast, as in the female of _Myiagra plumbea_; upper mandible
black; under mandible pale blue, except at the tip, which is black.
The Plate represents the two sexes of the natural size.
[Illustration:
MYIAGRA NITIDA: _Gould_.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]
MYIAGRA NITIDA, _Gould_.
Shining Flycatcher.
_Todus Rubecula_, Lath. Ind. Orn. Supp., p. xxii., female.
_Red-breasted Tody_, Lath. Gen. Syn. Supp., vol. ii. p. 147.—Shaw,
Gen. Zool., vol. viii. p. 126.—Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. iv. p.
92, female.
_Myiagra Rubeculoides_, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p.
253, female.
—— _nitida_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part V. p. 142; and in Syn.
Birds of Australia, Part IV, male.
_Satin Sparrow_, of the Colonists of Van Diemen’s Land.
The _Myiagra nitida_ arrives in Van Diemen’s Land about the end of
September, commences breeding soon after its arrival, rears a somewhat
numerous progeny during the months of summer, and departs again in
February. In performing these migrations it necessarily passes directly
over the colonies of South Australia and New South Wales, yet it seldom
occurs in collections from those countries, and I believe is only seen
there during the passage. It is a most lively, showy and active bird,
darting about from branch to branch and sallying forth in the air in
pursuit of its insect prey with a most singular, quick, oscillating or
trembling motion of the tail.
I experienced but little difficulty in obtaining several of its nests
and eggs among the gullies and forest lands on the north side of Mount
Wellington, particularly those immediately in the rear of New Town, near
the residence of the Rev. Thomas J. Ewing, who frequently accompanied
and aided me in my search. The nest is usually placed at the extreme tip
of a dead branch, at a height varying from twenty to forty feet from the
ground. Some nests are formed of a minute species of light green moss,
others are constructed of fine threads of stringy bark; all are rendered
very warm by a dense lining of soft hair, probably that of the opossums
or kangaroo rats, and wool, or the soft silk-like threads of the
flowering stalks of moss, the down of the tree-fern, and the blossoms of
many other kinds of plants; and the outsides of all are very similar,
being alike ornamented with small pieces of lichen stuck on without any
degree of regularity; these different materials are all felted together
with cobwebs, or vegetable fibres. The form of the nest appears to
depend upon the nature of the site upon which it is built: if placed on
a level part of the branch, the nest is large and high; if in a fork,
then it is a more shallow structure; in each case the opening is as
perfect a circle as the nature of the materials will admit: the height
varies from two inches to three inches and a quarter, the average
breadth of the opening is about one inch and three-quarters, and the
depth one inch. The eggs are generally three in number, somewhat round
in form, and of a greenish white spotted and blotched all over with
umber brown, yellowish brown, and obscure markings of purplish grey;
their medium length is nine lines and breadth seven lines.
The weight of this bird is nearly three ounces and three-quarters; the
stomach is muscular, and those examined contained the remains of
dipterous and coleopterous insects.
The note is a loud piping whistle frequently repeated.
The male has the lores deep velvety black; all the upper surface, wings,
tail and breast of a rich deep blackish green with a metallic lustre;
primaries deep brown; under surface of the shoulder, abdomen and under
tail-coverts white; bill lead-colour at the base, passing into black at
the tip; irides and feet black.
The female, as will be seen on reference to the accompanying Plate,
differs considerably from the male; the upper surface being much less
brilliant, and the throat and breast of a rich rusty red, a style of
colouring which is also characteristic of the young males during the
first autumn of their existence.
The figures represent the two sexes of the natural size.
[Illustration:
MYIAGRA LATIROSTRIS: _Gould_.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]
MYIAGRA LATIROSTRIS, _Gould_.
Broad-billed Flycatcher.
_Myïagra latirostris_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part VIII. p.
172.
I possess two examples of this species, one of which was procured on the
north coast by Mr. Dring, and the other at Port Essington by Mr.
Gilbert. It is in every respect a true _Myïagra_, and is rendered
remarkably conspicuous by the great breadth or lateral dilatation of the
bill. As no notes accompanied the specimens, I am unable to give any
particulars as to its habits and economy; in all probability they are
very similar to those of the other members of the genus.
All the upper surface, wings and tail dark bluish gray, with a shining
greenish lustre on the head and back of the neck; throat and chest sandy
buff; under surface white; bill black; irides blackish brown; feet
black.
The figures are of the natural size.
[Illustration:
MICRŒCA MACROPTERA.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]
MICRŒCA MACROPTERA.
Great-winged Micrœca.
_Myiagra macroptera_, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p.
254.
_Micrœca macroptera_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part VIII. p. 172.
_Loxia fascinans_, Lath. Ind. Ora. Supp., p. xlvi.?—Shaw, Gen. Zool.,
vol. ix. p. 298?
_Fascinating Grosbeak_, Lath. Gen. Syn. Supp., vol. ii. p. 197.—Ib.
Gen. Hist., vol. v. p. 266?
_Brown Flycatcher_, of the Colonists.
This bird is generally dispersed over the colonies of New South Wales
and South Australia, where it inhabits nearly every kind of situation,
from the open forest lands of the interior to the brushes of thickly
grown trees near the sea-coast; shrubs not a yard high, and the branches
of the highest gum-trees being alike resorted to. It is certainly the
least ornamental of the Australian birds, for it is neither
gay-coloured, nor is it characterized by any conspicuous markings; these
deficiencies, however, are, as is usually the case, amply compensated
for by the little sombre tenant of the forest being endowed with a most
cheerful and pleasing song, the notes of which much resemble, but are
more clear and powerful than the spring notes of the Chaffinch
(_Fringilla Cœlebs_), and which are poured forth at the dawn of day from
the topmost dead branch of a lofty gum-tree, an elevated position which
appears to be frequently resorted to for the purpose of serenading its
mate, its usual place of abode being much nearer the ground. It is
mostly met with in pairs, and may be frequently seen perched on the low
bushy twigs of a thistle-like plant, occasionally on the gates and
palings and in the gardens of the settlers; Mr. Caley states that “it
has all the actions of the British _Robin Red-breast_, except coming
inside houses. When a piece of ground was fresh dug it was always a
constant attendant.” It appeared to me that its actions resemble quite
as much those of the Flycatchers as of the Robins, and at the same time
are sufficiently distinct from either to justify the bird being made the
type of a new genus; I may particularly mention a singular lateral
movement of the tail, which it is continually moving from side to side.
Its food consists of insects, which it captures both among the foliage
of the trees and on the wing, frequently flying forth in pursuit of
passing flies and returning again to the branch it had left.
It generally rears two broods in the course of the year.
The nest, which is built in October, is a slight, nearly flat and very
small structure, measuring only two inches and a half in diameter by
half an inch in depth; it is formed of fine fibrous roots, decorated
externally with lichens and small flat pieces of bark, attached by means
of fine vegetable fibres and cobwebs; and is most artfully placed in the
fork of a dead horizontal branch, whereby it is rendered so nearly
invisible from beneath, that it easily escapes detection from all but
the scrutinizing eye of the aboriginal native. The eggs are generally
two in number, of a pale greenish blue, strongly marked with dashes of
chestnut-brown and indistinct blotches of grey; they are eight and a
half lines long by five and a half lines broad.
The sexes are alike in colour; the young differs from the adult in being
much paler, and in being spotted with white on the head and back and
with brown on the breast.
The adult has all the upper surface and wings pale brown; wing-coverts
slightly tipped with white, and a wash of white on the margins of the
tertiaries and tips of the upper tail-coverts; tail dark brown, the
external feather white, and the next on each side with a large spot of
white on the inner web at the tip; all the under surface pale brownish
white, fading into nearly pure white on the chin and abdomen; bill,
irides and feet brown.
The figures represent the two sexes of the size of life.
[Illustration:
MICRŒCA FLAVIGASTER: _Gould_.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]
MICRŒCA FLAVIGASTER, Gould.
Yellow-bellied Micrœca.
_Micrœca flavigaster_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part X. p. 132.
_Brown Flycatcher_, Residents at Port Essington.
This little Flycatcher, which is a native of the northern portions of
Australia, is met with in the neighbourhood of Port Essington in every
variety of situation, and is particularly abundant on all the islands in
Van Diemen’s Gulf. “Its habits and manners,” says Mr. Gilbert,
“assimilate more nearly to those of the _Petroicæ_ than to those of any
other group. It gives utterance to many different notes, pouring forth
at the dawn of day a strain much resembling that of some of the
_Petroicæ_, and like them remaining stationary for a long time while
giving utterance to its very pretty and agreeable melody. In the middle
of the day, when the sun is nearly vertical, it leaves the trees and
soars upward in regular circles, like the Skylark, until it arrives at
so great a height as to be scarcely perceptible; it then descends
perpendicularly until it nearly reaches the trees, when it closes its
wings and apparently falls upon the branch on which it alights. During
the whole of this movement it pours forth a song, some parts of which
are very soft and melodious, but quite different from that of the
morning; in the evening its song is again varied, and then so much
resembles the unconnected notes of the _Gerygones_, that I have
frequently been misled by it. The _Micrœca flavigaster_ is a very
familiar species, inhabiting the trees and bushes close around the
houses, and is little alarmed or disturbed at the approach of man. At
times it is extremely pugnacious; I have seen a pair attack a crow and
beat it until it was obliged to seek safety by flight, all the while
calling out most lustily. Notwithstanding it is so abundant everywhere,
and it must have been breeding during my stay here, as is proved by my
killing young birds apparently only a few days old, I did not succeed in
finding the nest; and on inquiring of the natives, they could give me no
information whatever respecting it or the period of incubation.”
The sexes do not differ in colour or size.
The stomach is tolerably muscular, and the food consists of insects of
various kinds.
All the upper surface brownish olive; wings and tail brown, margined
with paler brown; throat white; all the under surface yellow; irides
blackish brown; feet blackish grey.
The figures are of the natural size.
[Illustration:
MONARCHA CARINATA.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]
MONARCHA CARINATA.
Carinated Flycatcher.
_Muscipeta carinata_, Swains. Zool. Ill., 1st ser., pl. 147.
_Drymophila carinata_, Temm. Pl. Col. 418. f. 2.
_Monarcha carinata_, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p.
255.—Gould in Syn. Birds of Australia, Part II.
This is a migratory bird in New South Wales, arriving in spring and
departing before winter. It gives a decided preference to thick brushy
forests, such as those at Illawarra and other similar districts
extending from the Hunter to Moreton Bay. It is also equally abundant in
the thick brushes which clothe the sloping mountains of the interior.
During the spring or pairing time it becomes very animated, and is
continually flying about and beneath the branches of the trees; it does
not capture insects, like the true Flycatchers, on the wing, but obtains
them while hopping about from branch to branch, after the manner of the
_Pachycephalæ_. It has a rather loud whistling note, which being often
repeated tends considerably to enliven the woods in which it dwells.
I dissected many examples in the bright plumage, all of which proved to
be males, yet I could not fully satisfy myself whether the upper bird in
the Plate is a female, a young bird, or a distinct species; I believe,
however, that it will prove to be the female.
The _Monarcha carinata_ does not inhabit Van Diemen’s Land or South
Australia; its great nursery is evidently the south-eastern portion of
the country: a distinct but nearly-allied species inhabits the north
coast, of which I have specimens in my collection from the neighbourhood
of Cape York.
Forehead, lores and throat jet-black; all the upper surface grey; wings
and tail brown; sides of the neck and the chest light grey; abdomen and
under tail-coverts rufous; bill beautiful light blue-grey, the tip paler
than the base; legs bluish lead-colour; irides black; inside of the
mouth greyish blue.
In all probability, the females and the young males of the year are
destitute of the black mark on the face, and the upper figure is that of
a female or a male in the plumage of the first year.
The figures are of the size of life.
[Illustration:
MONARCHA TRIVIRGATA.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]
MONARCHA TRIVIRGATA.
Black-fronted Flycatcher.
_Drymophila trivirgata_, Temm. Pl. Col. 418, fig. 1.
_Monarcha trivirgata_, Gould in Syn. Birds of Australia, Part II.
Although the _Monarcha trivirgata_ has been known to naturalists for
many years it is still a scarce bird, very few specimens occurring in
any of the numerous collections sent home from Australia, which is
doubtless occasioned by its true habitat not having been yet discovered.
All the specimens I have seen have been procured in the Moreton Bay
district of the east coast.
I have never yet seen what may be considered the female of this bird;
all the examples that have come under my notice being males and marked
precisely alike, with the exception of one procured during the early
part of Dr. Leichardt’s expedition from Moreton Bay to Port Essington,
which differs in being destitute of the rufous tint on the flanks.
Forehead, throat, space round the eye, and the ears jet-black; upper
surface dark grey; tail black, the three outer feathers on each side
largely tipped with white; cheeks, chest and flanks rufous; abdomen and
tail-coverts white; bill lead-colour; feet black.
The figures are of the natural size, and represent the bird as usually
seen, and also the variation in colouring above-mentioned.
[Illustration:
GERYGONE ALBOGULARIS: _Gould_.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]
GERYGONE ALBOGULARIS, _Gould_.
White-throated Gerygone.
_Psilopus albogularis_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part V. p. 147;
and in Syn. Birds of Australia, Part IV.
This sprightly and active little bird is a stationary species and is
abundantly dispersed over all parts of New South Wales, but evinces a
greater preference for the open forests of _Eucalypti_ than for the
brushes near the coast. I found it in considerable numbers in every part
of the Upper Hunter district, nearly always among the gum-trees, and
constantly uttering a peculiar and not very harmonious strain. Like its
near allies it is very active among the small leafy branches of the
trees, where it searches with the greatest avidity for insects, upon
which it almost exclusively subsists; resorting for this purpose to
trees of all heights, from the low sapling of two yards high to those of
the loftiest growth.
I believe that a species very nearly allied to the present inhabits the
north coast of Australia: it is very readily distinguished by the
markings of the tail; and must not be confounded with the bird here
represented.
I have killed young birds in January which had not long left the nest,
but was not so fortunate as to discover the nest itself.
The sexes are nearly alike in plumage; but the young of the year are
distinguished from the adult by the throat being of the same colour as
the breast, instead of white.
Crown of the head, ear-coverts, and all the upper surface olive-brown;
throat white; chest and all the under surface bright citron-yellow; two
centre tail-feathers brown, the remainder brown at the base, above which
is a bar of white, succeeded by a broader one of deep blackish brown;
the tips of all but the two middle ones buffy white on their inner web;
bill blackish brown; irides scarlet; feet blackish brown in some
specimens, and leaden brown in others.
The figures represent an adult and a young bird of the year of the
natural size.
[Illustration:
GERYGONE FUSCA: _Gould_.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]
GERYGONE FUSCA, _Gould_.
Fuscous Gerygone.
_Psilopus fuscus_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part V. p. 147; and
in Syn. Birds of Australia, Part IV.
_Gerygone fusca_, Gould in De Strzelecki’s Phys. Descr. of New South
Wales and Van Diemen’s Land, p. 321.
The _Gerygone fusca_ is an inhabitant of New South Wales, where it is to
be found in all the brushes near the coast, as well as in the cedar and
other brushes on the sides of the ranges in the interior. As its form
would lead us to imagine, it has much of the habit of the Flycatcher,
and lives almost exclusively upon insects, such as aphides and other
swift-winged species, which are as frequently taken on the wing as they
are on the under sides of leaves, &c. It particularly loves to dwell in
the most retired and gloomy part of the forest, among the creeping
Bignonias, &c., and is a most active and lively little bird, flitting
about from branch to branch; sometimes, like the true Flycatchers,
returning again to the same branch, and at others hanging to the smaller
branches and scrutinizing the under sides of the leaves, after the
manner of the _Acanthizæ_.
Its song, which is almost incessantly poured forth, is a pleasing,
twittering sound.
The breeding-season comprises the months of September, October and
November. The nest is a delicate and beautiful structure of a domed
oblong form, the lower end terminating in a point, with the entrance at
the side near the top covered with a well-formed spout, which completely
excludes both sun and rain from the interior of the nest; it is about
eight inches in height and ten in circumference; the spout projecting
about two inches, and the entrance being scarcely an inch in diameter.
The body of a nest found in the brushes of the Hunter was composed of
green moss, mouse-eared lichen, soft wiry grasses, the inner bark of
trees and other materials, and was lined with extremely soft grasses.
The eggs are three in number, and are very similar, both in size and
colour, to those of the _Malurus cyaneus_, being minutely speckled with
red on a white ground; they are seven and a half lines long by five and
a half lines broad.
The sexes are alike in colour.
Crown of the head, all the upper surface and wings dark fuscous brown,
slightly tinged with olive; two centre tail-feathers brown; the
remainder white at the base, succeeded by a broad band of deep blackish
brown, round which is a broad stripe of white, which entirely crosses
the outer feathers, but only the inner webs of the remainder, the tips
pale brown; throat and chest grey; abdomen and under tail-coverts white;
bill and feet deep blackish brown; irides bright brownish red.
The Plate represents the bird of the natural size.
[Illustration:
GERYGONE CULICIVORUS: _Gould_.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]
GERYGONE CULICIVORUS, _Gould_.
Western Gerygone.
_Psilopus culicivorus_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part VIII. p.
174.
_War̈-ryle-bur-dang_, Aborigines of the lowlands of Western Australia.
This species is plentifully dispersed over the colony of Swan River in
Western Australia, where it inhabits forests, scrubs, and all situations
where flowering-trees abound, and where it is seen either in pairs or in
small groups of four or five in number. Its food consists wholly of
aphides and other small insects, which are captured on the wing or from
off the flowers; it sometimes traverses the smaller branches, and even
the upright boles of trees, prying about and searching for its prey with
the most scrutinizing care. Its powers of flight are rarely exerted for
any other purpose than to convey it from shrub to shrub, and for its
little sallies in pursuit of insects, much after the manner of the true
Flycatchers.
Its notes are very varied, being at one time a singing kind of whistle,
and at others a somewhat pleasing and plaintive melody; but it has a
singular habit of uttering, when flitting from tree to tree, a
succession of notes and half-notes, some of which are harmoniously
blended, while others are equally discordant, and resemble a person
producing notes at random on an instrument with which he is
unacquainted.
It is said by the natives to breed in September and October.
The nest is suspended by the top to the extremity of a branch, and is
formed of threads of bark, small spiders’ nests, green moss, &c., all
felted together with cobwebs and vegetable fibres, and warmly lined with
feathers; it is about eight inches in length, pointed at the top and at
the bottom, and about nine inches in circumference in the middle; the
entrance is a small round hole, about three inches from the top, with a
slight projection immediately above it. I did not succeed in procuring
the eggs.
The sexes are alike in plumage.
All the upper surface olive-brown; wings brown margined with olive; two
centre tail-feathers brown; the remainder white, crossed by an irregular
band of black and tipped with brown, the band upon all but the external
feathers so blending with the brown at the tip that the white between
merely forms a spot on the inner web; lores blackish brown; line over
the eye, throat and chest light grey, passing into buff on the flanks,
and into white on the centre of the abdomen and under tail-coverts;
irides light reddish yellow; bill and feet black.
The Plate represents a male and a female of the natural size.
[Illustration:
GERYGONE MAGNIROSTRIS: _Gould_.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]
GERYGONE MAGNIROSTRIS, _Gould_.
Great-billed Gerygone.
_Gerygone magnirostris_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part X. p. 133.
Of this species I regret to say but little information has as yet been
received; the two examples in my collection are all that have come under
my notice, and these were shot by Mr. Gilbert on Greenhill Island near
Port Essington, while hovering over the blossoms of the mangroves and
engaged in capturing the smaller kinds of insects upon which it feeds,
during which occupation he observed that it gave utterance to an
extremely weak twittering song: unfortunately he had no further
opportunity of making himself acquainted with its habits and manners,
which, however, doubtless resemble those of the other members of the
genus.
All the upper surface brown; margins of the primaries slightly tinged
with olive; tail-feathers crossed near the extremity by an indistinct
broad band of brownish black; all the under surface white, tinged with
brownish buff; irides light brown; bill olive-brown; the base of the
lower mandible pearl-white; feet greenish grey.
The Plate represents male and female of the natural size.
[Illustration:
GERYGONE LÆVIGASTER: _Gould_.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]
GERYGONE LÆVIGASTER, _Gould_.
Buff-breasted Gerygone.
_Gerygone lævigaster_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part X. p. 133.
Mr. Gilbert killed several specimens of this little bird on the Cobourg
Peninsula, and on the islands in Van Diemen’s Gulf, and sometimes
observed a solitary individual among the mangroves near the settlement
of Port Essington. He states that it has a very pleasing but weak piping
note, and occasionally utters a number of notes in slow succession, but
not so much lengthened as those of the _Gerygone culicivorus_ of Swan
River; like that bird it hovers up and down the smaller branches of the
trees and creeps about the thickets. It is very tame, and scarcely ever
flies from the tree upon the approach of an intruder, but sits turning
its little head about from side to side until the hand is almost upon
it, when it merely hops upon another branch and again quietly looks
about, apparently quite unconcerned.
The stomach is tolerably muscular, and the food consists of small
insects, principally of the soft-winged kinds.
A narrow obscure line, commencing at the nostrils and passing over the
eye, yellowish white; all the upper surface rusty brown; primaries
brown, margined with lighter brown; tail whitish at the base, gradually
deepening into nearly black, the lateral feather largely, and the
remainder, except the two middle ones, slightly tipped with white; all
the under surface white, slightly washed with yellow; irides light
reddish brown; bill olive-brown; base of lower mandible light ash-grey;
feet dark greenish grey.
The figures represent the two sexes of the natural size.
[Illustration:
GERYGONE CHLORONOTUS: _Gould_.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]
GERYGONE CHLORONOTUS, _Gould_.
Green-backed Gerygone.
_Gerygone chloronotus_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part X. p. 133.
This species is an inhabitant of the northern parts of Australia: it is
tolerably abundant at Port Essington, where it dwells among the
extensive beds of mangroves which stretch along the coast. It is of a
very shy and retiring disposition, and as the colouring of its back
assimilates very closely to that of the leaves of the mangroves, it is a
very difficult bird to sight as it creeps about among the thick branches
in search of insects, upon which it solely subsists. In form and in most
of its habits and economy it offers some difference from the typical
members of the genus _Gerygone_, and it would be no great stretch of
propriety to assign to it a new generic appellation: the more lengthened
form of its legs, the more rigid structure of its primaries, and the
lesser development of the bristles at the gape, are among the points in
which it differs from the _Gerygone fuscus_ of the brushes of New South
Wales. The latter feeds upon the smallest kinds of gnats and other soft
insects which it captures in the air; on the other hand, the structure
of the present bird would lead us to infer that the insects it feeds
upon are procured either on the leaves or about the branches.
The sexes are so precisely similar in plumage, and differ so little in
size, that dissection must be resorted to to distinguish the one from
the other.
Head and back of the neck brownish grey; back, wing-coverts, rump, upper
tail-coverts, margins of the primaries, and the margins of the basal
half of the tail-feathers bright olive-green; primaries and
tail-feathers brown, the latter becoming much darker towards the
extremity; under surface white; sides and vent olive-yellow; irides
wood-brown; upper mandible greenish grey; lower mandible white; feet
blackish grey.
The Plate represents the two sexes of the natural size.
[Illustration:
SMICRORNIS BREVIROSTRIS: _Gould_.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]
SMICRORNIS BREVIROSTRIS, _Gould_.
Short-billed Smicrornis.
_Psilopus brevirostris_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part V. p. 147.
_Geah-ter-but_, Aborigines of the mountain districts of Western
Australia.
Until more information has been acquired respecting the members of this
genus, I shall regard the species from Swan River and New South Wales as
the same, although some trivial differences exist in the examples from
those distant localities.
It is a constant inhabitant of the leafy branches of the _Eucalypti_,
and resorts alike to those of a dwarf stature and those of the loftiest
growth. While searching for insects, in which it is incessantly engaged,
it displays all the scrutinizing habits of the _Pari_ or Tits, clinging
about the finest twigs of the outermost branches, prying underneath and
above the leaves and among the flowers, uttering all the while or very
frequently a low simple song. I found it abundant in every part of South
Australia I visited, particularly in the neighbourhood of Adelaide and
in the gulleys of the ranges skirting the belts of the Murray; in New
South Wales it was frequently seen at Yarrundi, and other parts of the
Upper Hunter district. Mr. Gilbert states that in Western Australia he
only met with it in the York district, that it was always seen on the
branches of trees, where it feeds on larvæ and small insects, that its
flight was of very short duration, merely flitting from tree to tree,
and that its note is a weak twitter, a good deal resembling that of the
_Acanthiza chrysorrhœa_.
It breeds in September and the two following months, and forms a nest of
the downy buds of plants, mixed with green moss, the cocoons of spiders,
&c., all matted and bound together very firmly and closely with spiders’
webs, and the inside lined at the bottom with feathers; it is globular
in form, and is attached by the back part to an upright branch, with the
entrance in the side, the upper part over the entrance being carried out
to a point which shades the opening like the eaves of a house. The eggs
are three in number, of a dull buff, marked with extremely fine freckles
at the larger end; they are six and a half lines long by four and a half
lines broad.
A narrow stripe of yellowish white passes from the bill over each eye;
crown of the head brownish grey, passing into olive at the back of the
neck; back, rump and upper tail-coverts olive, brightest on the latter;
ear-coverts and sides of the face very pale reddish brown; throat and
chest white tinged with olive, with a faint longitudinal mark of brown
down the centre of each feather, the remainder of the under surface pale
citron-yellow; two centre tail-feathers brown; the remainder brown at
the base, the middle being crossed by a broad band of blackish brown,
which is succeeded by a spot of white on the inner webs, the tips pale
brown; feet blackish brown; irides pale straw-yellow; bill varying from
fleshy white to ashy grey.
The figures represent the two sexes, which are similar in plumage, of
the natural size.
[Illustration:
SMICRORNIS FLAVESCENS: _Gould_.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]
SMICRORNIS FLAVESCENS, _Gould_.
Yellow-tinted Smicrornis.
_Smicrornis flavescens_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part X. p. 134.
This is the least of the Australian birds I have yet seen, scarcely
exceeding the smallest Humming-bird. It is tolerably abundant on many
parts of the northern coasts of Australia, and particularly on the
Cobourg Peninsula; it inhabits most of the high trees in the
neighbourhood of Port Essington, keeping to their topmost branches, and
there seeking its insect food among the leaves, over which it creeps and
clings in every possible variety of position. From the circumstance of
its confining itself exclusively to the topmost branches of the trees,
it is not easily procured, its diminutive size preventing its being
seen.
There is no outward difference in the sexes, either in plumage or in
magnitude. Future research, and a longer sojourn in the country than has
hitherto been afforded for the investigation of the natural productions
of those distant parts, are requisite to determine whether it be
migratory or not, and to procure correct information respecting its
nidification.
All the upper surface bright yellowish olive; the feathers of the head
with an indistinct line of brown down the centre; wings brown; tail
brown, deepening into black near the extremity, and with a large oval
spot of white on the inner web near the tip of all but the two central
feathers; all the under surface bright yellow.
The Plate represents the two sexes of the natural size.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES
1. Silently corrected typographical errors and variations in spelling.
2. Retained anachronistic, non-standard, and uncertain spellings as
printed.
3. Enclosed italics font in _underscores_.
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