Chapter VI: Part 6

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.