Chapter III: Part 3

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.