Chapter VI: Part 6

This bird I believe to be peculiar to Van Diemen’s Land, over the whole of which island it is very abundant. The _Eucalypti_ appear to be the trees to which it gives preference, for although it is seen on every tree in the forest, the gums are those most frequented by it; and among the foliage and flowers of those trees it is constantly searching for its food, which is of a mixed character, and which, like that of the other members of the _Meliphagidæ_, consists principally of insects, particularly small coleoptera, and the pollen of flowers; like the other members of the family also, it creeps and clings about the branches after the manner of the Tits of Europe. It is a lively, animated bird, and generally goes in companies of from ten to twenty in number, according as the supply of food may be more or less plentiful. During the fruit-season it frequents the gardens of the settlers and commits considerable havoc among the fruit, of which it is exceedingly fond.

The sexes are precisely alike in external appearance, but the young differ considerably from the adults, having the throat yellowish white instead of black, and the basal portion of the bill flesh-colour or yellow; their feet also are much lighter than the adults.

This bird is one of the numerous foster-parents of _Cuculus cinereus_ and _C. cineraceus_, which species I have seen it feeding soon after leaving the nest.

The whole of the head and throat, and a semilunar mark on either side of the chest deep glossy black; all the upper surface yellowish olive, becoming brighter on the rump; wings and tail brownish grey with lighter margins; breast white; remainder of the upper surface greyish white; bill black; irides reddish brown; feet brown; bare skin over the eye pearly white, slightly tinged with green.

The Plate represents a male and a female of the natural size.

MYZANTHA GARRULA: _Vig. & Horsf._

_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]

MYZANTHA GARRULA, _Vig. & Horsf._
Garrulous Honey-eater.

_Merops garrulus_, Lath. Ind. Orn., Supp. p. xxiv.

_Chattering Bee-eater_, Lath. Gen. Syn., Supp., vol. ii. p. 154.—Shaw,
Gen. Zool., vol. viii. p. 171.

_Chattering Honey-eater_, Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. iv. p. 164.

_Philemon garrulus_, Vieill. 2nd edit. du Nouv. Dict. d’Hist. Nat.,
tom. xxvii. p. 427.—Ib. Ency. Méth. Orn., Part ii. p. 616.

_Myzantha garrula_, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p. 319.

_Cobaýgin_, Aborigines of New South Wales.

_Miner_, Colonists of Van Diemen’s Land.

Van Diemen’s Land, and all parts of the colonies of New South Wales and South Australia, are alike inhabited by this well-known bird. It has never yet been observed in northern or western Australia, its place being supplied in those parts of the country by other nearly allied species. On comparing examples from Van Diemen’s Land with others killed on the continent of Australia, a difference is found to exist in their relative admeasurements, the Van Diemen’s Land birds being more robust and larger in every respect; still as not the slightest difference is observable in the markings of their plumage, I consider them to be merely local varieties and not distinct species.

The natural habits of this bird lead it to frequent the thinly timbered forests of _Eucalypti_ clothing the plains and low hills, rather than the dense brushes, and so local is it and so exclusively does it confine itself to such situations that the edge of a river frequently forms the boundary of its habitat: for instance, it is very abundant on the northern side of the Derwent near Hobart Town, yet never did I meet with it on the opposite shore during the whole of my stay in Van Diemen’s Land excepting many miles up the river, where the trees and land on both sides appear equally suitable to its habits.

The Garrulous Honey-eater is not truly gregarious, but moves about in small flocks of from four to ten in number. In disposition it is unlike any other bird I ever met with, for if its haunts be in the least intruded upon it becomes the most restless and inquisitive creature possible, and withal so bold and noisy that it is regarded as a troublesome nuisance rather than an object of interest; no sooner does the hunter come within the precincts of its abode than the whole troop assemble round him and perform the most grotesque actions, spreading out their wings and tail, hanging from the branches in every possible variety of position, and sometimes suspended by one leg, keeping up all the time one incessant babbling note: were this only momentary or for a short time, their droll attitudes and singular note would be rather amusing than otherwise; but when they follow you through the entire forest, leaping and flying from branch to branch, and almost buffeting the dogs, they become very troublesome and annoying, awakening as they do the suspicions of the other animals of which you are in pursuit.

The food of this bird is of a mixed character, for although it loves to dwell among the branches of the flowering _Eucalypti_, from the pollen of the flowers of which it obtains much genial food, it preys with avidity upon insects, both those resorting to the flowers of the gum-trees and those—coleoptera, &c.—peculiar to the ground; it is consequently often to be seen descending in pursuit of insects, particularly under the large trees on the grassy open plains. The stomach is of the same diminutive size as the rest of the Honey-eaters, but, as might be supposed from the varied character of the food, is much more muscular.

The nest is cup-shaped and about the size of that of the European Thrush, very neatly built of fine twigs and coarse grass, and lined either with wool and hair, or fine soft hair-like strips of bark, frequently mixed with feathers: it is usually placed among the small upright branches of a moderately-sized tree. The eggs, which are thirteen lines long by nine and a half lines broad, are of a bluish white, marked all over with reddish brown, without any indication of the zone at the larger end so frequently observable in the eggs of other species.

The sexes offer no other external difference than that the female is a trifle smaller than her mate.

Face grey; crown of the head dull black; ear-coverts and a crescent-shaped mark inclining upwards to the angle of the bill glossy black; all the upper surface light greyish brown; the feathers at the back of the neck tipped with silvery grey; primaries dark brown margined externally with grey; secondaries dark brown on their inner webs, the outer webs grey at the tip, and wax-yellow at the base; tail greyish brown, with dark brown shafts, and all but the two centre feathers largely tipped with brownish white; chin grey, a patch of dark brown down the centre; under surface grey; the feathers of the breast with a narrow crescent-shaped mark of brown near the tip of each; irides dark hazel; naked space beneath the eye, bill and feet yellow.

The Plate represents the two sexes of the natural size, drawn from specimens killed in Van Diemen’s Land.

MYZANTHA OBSCURA: _Gould_.

_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]

MYZANTHA OBSCURA, _Gould_.
Sombre Honey-eater.

_Myzantha obscura_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part VIII. p. 159.

_Bil-y̏a-goo-rong_, Aborigines of the lowland, and

_Bil-yoȕr-ga_, Aborigines of the mountain districts of Western
Australia.

This species inhabits Swan River and the south-western portion of Australia generally, where it beautifully represents the _Myzantha garrula_ of New South Wales. In habits, actions and disposition the two birds nearly assimilate, minor differences being easily discernible.

Mr. Gilbert’s notes supply me with the following information, which I give in his own words:—

“It inhabits every variety of wooded situation, in all parts of the colony, and is generally met with in small families. In flying the wings are moved very rapidly, but the bird does make progress in proportion to the apparent exertion; at times, when passing from tree to tree, its flight is graceful in the extreme.

“Its note is a loud _pee-pee_, which is often very much varied.

“The stomach is small but tolerably muscular; and the food, which consists of coleopterous and other insects, seeds and berries, is procured both on the ground and among the branches.

“The nest is built on an upright fork of the topmost branches of the smaller gum-trees, and is formed of small dried sticks lined with soft grasses and feathers. The eggs are eleven and a half lines long by nine lines broad, of a rich orange-buff, obscurely spotted and blotched with a deeper tint, particularly at the larger end.”

The sexes offer but little difference in colour, but the female is somewhat smaller in all her admeasurements.

Forehead yellowish olive; lores, line beneath the eye and ear-coverts black; head and all the upper surface dull grey, with an indistinct line of brown down the centre of each feather, giving the whole a mottled appearance; wings and tail brown, margined at the base of the external webs with wax-yellow, the tail terminating in white; throat and under surface dull grey, becoming lighter on the lower part of the abdomen and under tail-coverts; the feathers of the breast with a crescent-shaped mark of light brown near the extremity, and tipped with light grey; irides dark brown; bare skin round the eye, bill, and bare patch on each side of the throat, bright yellow; legs and feet dull reddish yellow; claws dark brown.

The Plate represents the two sexes of the natural size.

MYZANTHA LUTEA: _Gould_.

_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]

MYZANTHA LUTEA, _Gould_.
Luteous Honey-eater.

_Myzantha lutea_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part VII. p. 134.

I consider this to be by far the finest species of the genus yet discovered, exceeding as it does every other both in size and in the brilliancy of its colouring. I am indebted to Messrs. Bynoe and Dring for fine specimens of this beautiful bird, which were obtained by those gentlemen on the north-west coast of Australia, in which part of the country it supplies the place of the _Myzantha garrula_ of New South Wales. The law of representation is rarely carried out in a more beautiful manner, even in the ornithology of Australia, than in the members of the present genus; the _Myzantha garrula_ being, so far as is yet known, confined to the south-eastern portion of the country, the _M. lutea_ to the neighbourhood of the north coast, the _Myzantha obscura_ to Swan River on the western coast, and the _M. flavigula_ to the north-eastern portion of the country.

Naked space behind the eye, forehead and the tips of several feathers on the sides of the neck, fine citron-yellow; lores blackish brown with silvery reflexions; upper surface grey, the feathers of the back of the neck and back crossed near the tip with white; rump, upper tail-coverts and under surface white; throat and chest tinged with grey, each feather crossed by an arrow-shaped mark of brown; wings and tail brown, the external margins of the feathers dull citron-yellow; tail tipped with white; bill fine citron-yellow; feet yellowish brown.

The Plate represents the two sexes of the natural size.

MYZANTHA FLAVICULA: _Gould_.

_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]

MYZANTHA FLAVIGULA, _Gould_.
Yellow-throated Miner.

_Myzantha flavigula_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part VII. p. 143.

This species inhabits the interior of New South Wales, where it is tolerably abundant in most of the belts of _Eucalypti_ bordering the river Namoi and all similar situations: although it has many of the habits and actions of its near ally the _Myzantha garrula_, it is much more shy in disposition, less noisy, and more disposed to frequent the tops of the trees; and so exclusively does it replace the common species in the districts alluded to that the latter does not occur therein.

I did not succeed in finding the nest, but the fact of my having shot very young individuals affords indubitable evidence that the bird breeds in the localities above-mentioned.

The sexes are alike in plumage.

Naked space behind the eye, forehead, upper part of the throat, and the tips of several feathers on each side of the neck citron-yellow; rump and upper tail-coverts white; back of the neck and back grey, each feather obscurely barred with white near the tip; lores and ear-coverts black, the latter crossed with silvery grey; throat, cheeks, and all the under surface white, the feathers of the chest crossed by an arrow-shaped mark of brown; wings and tail dark brown, the outer webs of the primaries, many of the secondaries, and the basal portion of the tail-feathers dull citron-yellow; all the tail-feathers tipped with white; bill bright orange-yellow; feet yellow; irides leaden brown.

The figures represent the two sexes of the natural size.

MYZANTHA VIRIDIS.

_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]

MYZANTHA MELANOPHRYS.
Australian Bell-bird.

_Turdus melanophrys_, Lath. Ind. Orn. Supp., p. xlii.

_Black-browed Thrush_, Lath. Gen. Syn. Supp., vol. ii. p. 185.—Shaw,
Gen. Zool., vol. x. p. 206.—Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. v. p.
125.

_Manorhina viridis_, Vieill. Gal. des Ois., pi. 149.—Jard. and Selb.
Ill. Orn., vol. ii. pl. 78.

_Myzantha flavirostris_, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p.
319.—Less. Man. d’Orn., tom. ii. p. 67.

_Manorina viridis_, Bonn, et Vieill. Ency. Méth. Orn., part ii. p.
692.—G. R. Gray, List of Gen. of Birds, 2nd Edit., p. 21.

_Dilbong_ and _Dilring_, Aborigines of New South Wales (Latham).

_Bell-bird_ of the Colonists.

In its habits, actions and general economy the Bell-bird so closely resembles the Garrulous Honey-eater (_Myzantha garrula_), as not to justify its separation from the members of the group of which that is the acknowledged type. In strict justice, perhaps, Vieillot’s name of _Manorhina_, which has the advantage of priority, should have been applied to all the members of this group, in which case the new species named by me as _Myzanthæ_ must be termed _Manorhinæ_, and the former generic appellation sink into a synonym. The _Myzanthæ_, as I have before remarked, frequent the trees of the plains and the more open parts of the forest; the present bird, on the other hand, evinces a decided preference for, and appears to be strictly confined to dense and thick brushes, particularly such as are of a humid and swampy nature, and with the foliage of which the peculiar tint of its plumage closely assimilates. I frequently encountered it in companies of from ten to forty, and occasionally still greater numbers were seen disporting among the leafy branches in search of insects and displaying many varied actions, at one time clinging to and hanging down from the branches by one leg, and at another prying beneath the leaves, or flying with outspread wings and tail from tree to tree, and giving utterance to a peculiar garrulous note totally different in sound from the faint monotonous tinkle usually uttered, which has been justly compared to the sound of distant sheep-bells, and which, when poured forth by a hundred throats from various parts of the forest, has a most singular effect. The same appellation of Bell-bird having been given by the colonists of Swan River to a species inhabiting that part of Australia, I must here warn my readers against considering them identical, by informing them that the two birds are not only specifically but generically distinct.

The bird forming the subject of the present Plate has not as yet been observed out of New South Wales, where its peculiar province is the brushes; and if it departs from those which stretch along the coast from Port Philip to Moreton Bay, I believe it will only be found in those which clothe the sides of the higher hills, such as the Liverpool range and others of a similar character. Although it is stationary in New South Wales, and very abundant at Illawarra and in the brushes of the Hunter, I did not succeed in obtaining its nest or eggs.

The sexes are precisely alike in plumage, and the young soon attain the colouring of the adult.

Like the _Myzantha garrula_ it is of a prying and inquisitive disposition, and the whole troop may be easily brought within the range of observation by uttering any kind of harsh squeaking note, when they will descend to ascertain the cause, and look around with the utmost curiosity. Its flight is of the same skimming motionless kind as that of the Garrulous Honey-eater; and upon some given signal the whole flock, or the greater portion of it, fly off simultaneously and descend to some neighbouring branch in a cluster.

The whole of the plumage, with the exception of the primaries and secondaries, yellowish olive, but the under surface much paler than the upper; forehead, stripe from the angle of the lower mandible, ring encircling and dilated into a spot above the eye, black; ear-coverts olive-brown; primaries and secondaries dark brown, the former margined with grey and the latter with yellowish olive; bill fine yellow; tarsi and toes fine orange-yellow; eye dark leaden brown; eyelash leaden grey; bare space below and behind the eye orange-red.

The Plate represents a male and a female of the natural size on a plant gathered in the brushes of Illawarra.

ZOSTEROPS DORSALIS: _Vig. & Horsf._

_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]

ZOSTEROPS DORSALIS, _Vig. & Horsf._
Grey-backed Zosterops.

_Certhia cœralescens_, Lath. Ind. Orn. Supp., p. xxxviii.

_L’Heorotaire bleu_, Vieill. Ois. dor., tom. ii. p. 121. pl. 83?

_Bluish-breasted Creeper_, Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. viii. p. 244.

_Cœrulean Creeper_, Lath. Gen. Syn. Supp., vol. ii. p. 188.

_Cœrulean Honey-eater_, Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. iv. p. 204.

_Sylvia lateralis_, Lath. Ind. Orn. Supp., p. lv.

_Rusty-side Warbler_, Lath. Gen. Syn. Supp., vol. ii. p. 250.—Shaw
Gen. Zool., vol. x. p. 659.—Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. vii. p.
140.

_Certhia diluta_, Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. viii. p. 244.

_Philedon cœruleus_, Cuv.

_Meliphaga cœrulea_, Steph. Cont. of Shaw’s Gen. Zool., vol. xiv. p.
264.

_Sylvia annulosa_, var. Β, Swains. Zool. Ill. 1st Ser., pl. 16.

_Zosterops dorsalis_, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p.
235.

_White-eye_, Colonists of New South Wales.

This bird is stationary in all parts of Van Diemen’s Land, New South Wales and South Australia, and is more numerous than any other bird inhabiting those countries; where it is not only to be met with in the forests and thickets, but also in nearly every garden, by the proprietors of which it is regarded more as a pest than, as one would suppose, a welcome visitor; no one of the birds of the country effecting greater damage to the buds and fruits of every kind. It even builds its nest and rears its young in the shrubs and rose-trees bordering the walks. I observed several nests in such situations in the garden of the Government House at New Norfolk, Van Diemen’s Land. Among the trees of the forest the beautiful tea-tree (leptospermum ?) is the one to which at all times this species evinces a great partiality. Were it not for its destructive propensities, the Grey-backed Zosterops must from its familiar disposition and pretty lively song be a very general favourite.

Its flight is quick and darting, and when among the branches of the trees it is as active as most birds, prying and searching with the most scrutinizing care into the leaves and flowers for the insects, upon which it feeds. It is sometimes seen singly or in pairs, while at others it is to be observed in great numbers, on the same or neighbouring trees. The southern and eastern portions of Australia, and the islands adjacent, are its true habitat; and the two succeeding plates will show how beautifully it is represented by allied species in other parts of the country.

The breeding-season commences in September and continues to January. The nest is one of the neatest structures possible; it is of a round deep cup-shaped form, composed of fine grasses, moss and wool, and most carefully lined with fibrous roots and grasses. The eggs are usually three in number, of a beautiful uniform pale blue, eight and a half lines long by six lines broad.

The sexes present no difference of plumage.

On examining the “Collection of Australian Drawings,” formerly belonging to the late A. B. Lambert, Esq., and now in the possession of the Earl of Derby, who kindly forwarded them to me for the purposes of the present work, I find that this species was long since described by Latham, under the names above quoted; in neither of his descriptions, however, does he mention the white ring around the eye, which forms so conspicuous a feature in the appearance of the bird, the want of which would have precluded the possibility of my believing them to be identical, had not the drawings named by Latham’s own hand proved such to be the case: the species should therefore stand as _Zosterops cœrulescens_, although _Z. lateralis_ would certainly be more appropriate; unfortunately this fact did not come to my knowledge until after the Plate had been named, and the requisite number of impressions struck off. Latham refers to the 83rd Plate of the “Oiseaux Dorées,” as identical with his _cœrulescens_, but of this as I have indicated above I am doubtful.

Crown of the head, wings and tail olive; back dark grey, eyes surrounded by a zone of white feathers, bounded in front and below with black; throat, centre of the abdomen, and under tail-coverts greyish white with a slight tinge of olive; flanks light chestnut-brown; upper mandible dark brown, under mandible lighter; irides and feet greyish brown.

In some specimens the throat and sides of the head are wax-yellow, and the flanks are only stained with chestnut-brown.

The Plate represents the male, female and nest of the natural size, on a branch of the tea-tree of Van Diemen’s Land.

ZOSTEROPS CHLORONOTUS: _Gould_.

_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]

ZOSTEROPS CHLORONOTUS, _Gould_.
Green-backed Zosterops.

_Zosterops chloronotus_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part VIII. p.
165.

_Jule-w̏e-de-lung_, Aborigines of the lowland districts of Western
Australia.

_Grape-_ and _Fig-eater_, Colonists of Swan River.

The _Zosterops chloronotus_ is an inhabitant of the western coast of Australia, where it constitutes a beautiful representative of the _Zosterops dorsalis_ of the southern and eastern coasts. As might be supposed, the habits, manners, actions and economy of two species so nearly allied are very similar; hence the settlers of Swan River were not long in discovering that in this species they had found no friend to their gardens during the season when the fruits are ripening, whatever good it may effect by the destruction of insects at other periods.

Mr. Gilbert states that “This bird is particularly fond of figs and grapes, it consequently abounds in all the gardens where those plants are cultivated; and it is often to be seen as numerous as sparrows in England; besides feeding upon fruits, I have also observed it taking flies while on the wing after the manner of the true Flycatchers.

“Its note is a single plaintive one, several times repeated; and its flight is irregular, and of short duration.

“The breeding-season commences in August and ends in November; those nests that came under my observation during the earlier part of the season, invariably contained two eggs; but in October and November I usually found the number to be increased to three, and upon one occasion to four. The nest is small, compact, and formed of dried wiry grasses, bound together with the hairy tendrils of small plants and wool, the inside being lined with very minute fibrous roots; its breadth is about two inches, and depth one inch; the eggs are greenish blue without spots or markings, eight lines long by six lines broad.”

Lores black; crown of the head and all the upper surface olive-green; primaries and tail-feathers brown, margined with olive-green; throat and under tail-coverts light greenish yellow; breast and under surface grey, tinged with brown on the abdomen and flanks; irides wood-brown; bill brown, lighter on the under mandible; legs and feet dark grey.

The figures are of the natural size.

ZOSTEROPS LUTEUS: _Gould_.

_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]

ZOSTEROPS LUTEUS, _Gould_.
Yellow Zosterops.

_Zosterops luteus_, Gould, in Proc. of Zool. Soc.

This new species is an inhabitant of the northern portion of Australia. “I first met with it,” says Mr. Gilbert, “in August, on Greenhill Island, Van Diemen’s Gulf, dwelling among the mangroves or the densest thickets. It is much more wild and solitary than _Zosterops dorsalis_, and does not resort like that bird to the gardens and the neighbourhood of the houses of the settlers; its note is also very different, being a pretty canary-like song, instead of the long drawn-out note of _Z. dorsalis_. When disturbed it usually left the thicket for the higher branches of the gum-trees, where it was effectually hidden from view by the thick foliage. It was generally met with in small families of from three to seven or eight in number.”

All the upper surface olive-yellow; primaries and tail-feathers brown, margined with olive-yellow; forehead and throat pure yellow; lores and line beneath the eye black; eye encircled with a zone of white feathers; abdomen and under tail-coverts dull yellow; irides light reddish brown; upper mandible blackish grey, the basal half rather lighter; apical third of the lower mandible blackish grey; basal two-thirds light ash-grey; legs and feet bluish grey.

The figures are of the natural size.

CUCULUS OPTATUS: _Gould_.

_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]

CUCULUS OPTATUS, _Gould_.
Australian Cuckoo.

_Cuculus optatus_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part XIII. p. 18.

It is no less remarkable than true, that when we are in countries far distant from that which gave us birth, our minds are strongly disposed to seize upon any objects presenting associations connected with our native land; whatever reminds us of our own country becomes immediately interesting, and its productions acquire a triple value. By the colonists of New South Wales and Van Diemen’s Land, a stripling oak or an elm, a violet or a primrose are regarded as treasures; and a caged blackbird or lark is more prized than a bird of paradise would be here; how welcome then to the settlers will be this Cuckoo, when the part of Australia in which it is found becomes inhabited by Englishmen! Here, as in Europe, it is the harbinger of spring, and an index of the revivifying of nature, and its voice will be heard with even greater sensations of pleasure than was that of its representative in Europe.

I think I hear my readers remark, “Surely this is the true Cuckoo of Europe; and if so, why give it a new name?” To this I may answer, that I can trace distinctions, which in my opinion warrant me in stating the Australian bird to be a distinct species; specific characters, which, although appearing very trivial to the general observer, are so apparent to the ornithologist, that he can always distinguish an Australian specimen from one killed in Europe. In the Australian bird the black bands on the breast are broader and more defined than in the European, and in the former a light fawn tint pervades the abdomen, which part is white in the latter; the claws of the Australian bird are also smaller and more delicate than those of its northern ally; the breast, neck and head of the immature Australian bird are more broadly and distinctly barred with black and white, while the rufous tint which pervades the body of the immature European Cuckoo is almost, if not wholly, wanting.

The northern part of Australia is the only locality in which this bird has been found; the specimens in my collection, as I learn from the labels attached, were killed in the month of January: whether it utters the word ‘Cuckoo’ or not I am unable to say, but it is most likely that in this respect it also closely assimilates to its European relative.

All the upper surface slaty grey; inner webs of the primaries broadly barred with white; tail-feathers dark violet-brown, with a row of oblong spots of white, placed alternately on either side of the stem, and slightly tipped with white; the lateral feathers have also a row of white spots on the margin of their inner webs; chin and breast light grey; all the under surface buffy white, crossed by bands of black; irides, bill and feet orange.

The Plate represents a male of the natural size.

CUCULUS INORNATUS: _Vig. & Horsf._

_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]

CUCULUS INORNATUS, _Vig. & Horsf._
Unadorned Cuckoo.

_Cuculus inornatus_, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p. 297.

—— _albostrigatus_, Ib., p. 298. young.

_Dju-dȕr-run_, Aborigines of Western Australia.

_Greater Cuckoo_ of the Colonists.

The southern portion of Australia generally, and the island of Van Diemen’s Land, are inhabited by this species of Cuckoo; to the latter country, however, it is only a summer visitant, and a partial migration also takes place in the adjacent portion of the continent, as is shown by its numbers being much fewer during winter. Its migratory movement seems to be regulated, as in most other instances, by the more or less abundant supply of food necessary for its sustenance. It arrives in Van Diemen’s Land in the month of September, and departs northward in February. During the vernal season it is an animated and querulous bird, and it may then be seen either singly, or two or more males engaged in chasing each other from tree to tree. Its ringing whistling call, which consists of a succession of running notes, the last and highest of which are several times rapidly repeated, is often uttered while the bird is at rest among the branches, and also occasionally while on the wing. Its food consists of caterpillars, _Phasmidæ_ and coleopterous insects, which are generally procured among the leafy branches of the trees, and in searching for which the bird displays considerable activity, and great power of traversing the smaller limbs. When desirous of repose after feeding, it perches on the topmost dead branches of the trees, on the posts and rails of the fences, or any other prominent site whence it can survey all around. It is however by no means a shy bird, and but little caution is required to approach within gun-shot. Its flight is straight and rapid, and not unlike that of the _Cuculus canorus_, to which it bears a close resemblance in everything except its note; occasionally it mounts considerably above the tops of the trees, and it is capable of sustaining a long-continued flight.

In respect to its reproduction it is strictly parasitic, devolving the task of incubation on the smaller birds, many species of which are known to be the foster-parents; among them may be enumerated the various _Melithrepti_, _Ptiloti_, _Maluri_, _Acanthizæ_, &c. After the young has left the nest and attained a considerable size, it is not unusual to see it fed by two or more species at the same time; this I have witnessed with my own eyes; the young Cuckoo, in fact, selects some low dead branch in an open glade of the forest, from which it seldom moves during the day, as a convenient situation for its various foster-parents to supply it with food, for the procuring and supplying of which all the smaller birds appear to have entered into a mutual compact.

The specimens of this bird from Western Australia are somewhat smaller, and have the white marks of the tail less distinct than specimens from Van Diemen’s Land, but these differences are too trivial to be regarded as other than mere local variations. When fully adult the plumage is nearly of a uniform brown, with the inner webs of the wing and tail-feathers relieved by bars and markings of white; the immature colouring on the contrary presents a variegated and very diversified character, which, owing to the constant change taking place, cannot be described so as to render it clear to my readers. When the young leaves the nest, the throat, face and shoulders are black, the feathers of the remainder of the body crossed and spotted with buff; the black colouring gradually gives place to the grey of the under surface, while the buffy marks of the upper surface are retained even after the second or third moult; it breeds in this state, and it is doubtful whether in the female it is ever entirely cast off.

The stomachs of those dissected were found to be capacious, membranous, and thickly lined with hair.

The egg is about seven-eighths of an inch long by five-eighths broad, and is of a cream-colour speckled all over with markings of brown.

The adult male has the head, neck and all the under surface brownish grey, with a streak of dark brown down the sides of the neck; all the upper surface olive-brown, becoming much darker on the wings and tail; basal portion of the inner webs of the primaries broadly barred with white; tail-feathers barred on the margins of both webs with white, slightly on the outer and deeply on the inner; all the feathers tipped with white, and with a mark of white on the stem near the tip, this mark being very small on the central tail-feather, and gradually increasing on the lateral feathers until on the outer it forms a band; under-irides very dark brown; eyelash yellow; gape and inside of the mouth rich deep orange; feet olive.

The female differs in having the upper surface mottled with buff and rufous, in having a triangular spot of reddish buff at the extremity of each of the wing-coverts, and the markings of the tail buff instead of white; all which markings may in very old birds give place to a style of colouring similar to the male.

The young, independently of the differences pointed out above, has the feet yellowish olive, the soles of the feet yellow; the bill yellowish olive, the corner of the mouth and the tip of the bill being more yellow than the rest of that organ; irides greyish brown.

The figures represent the two sexes of the natural size.

CUCULUS CINERACEUS: _Vig. & Horsf._

_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]

CUCULUS CINERACEUS, _Vig. & Horsf._
Ash-coloured Cuckoo.

_Cuculus cineraceus_, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p.
298.

—— _incertus_, Ib. p. 299, young.

—— _variolosus_, Ib. p. 300, very young.

_Barred-tailed Cuckoo_, Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. iii. p. 310?

_Cuculus flabelliformis_, Lath. Ind. Orn. Supp., p. xxx.?—Shaw, Gen.
Zool., vol. ix. p. 96?

_Fan-tailed Cuckoo_, Lath. Gen. Syn. Supp., vol. ii. p. 138. pl.
126?—Ib. Gen. Hist., vol. iii. p. 305. pl. lvii.?

_Du-laar_, Aborigines of the lowland districts of Western Australia.

_Lesser Cuckoo_ of the Colonists.

This is a migratory species, arriving in Van Diemen’s Land in September, and after spending the summer months therein, departing to the northward in January. In the southern parts of the continent of Australia solitary individuals remain throughout the entire winter, as evidenced by my having observed it in South Australia in July: I have never seen individuals from the north coast; I therefore infer that its migratory movements are somewhat restricted; in all probability the 26th degree of latitude may be the extent of its range to the northward. During the summer months, its distribution over the southern portion of the continent may be said to be universal, but withal it is rather a solitary bird and loves to dwell in secluded situations, where but for its loud ringing call, which much resembles its aboriginal name, it would easily escape detection.

It flies rather heavily, and on alighting moves the tail up and down for some time; a similar movement of the tail also invariably precedes its taking flight.

Like the other species of Cuckoo, it deposits its single egg in the nest of some one or other of the smaller kinds of birds: it is of a perfectly oval form, of a flesh-white sprinkled all over with fine spots of purplish brown, nine or ten lines long by seven and a half lines broad.

The stomach is capacious, membranous, and lined with hairs; and the food consists of the larvæ of insects of various kinds.

The sexes are alike in plumage, but the female is a trifle smaller than her mate.

Head and all the upper surface dark slate-grey; wings brown, glossed with green; tail dark glossy greenish brown, each feather toothed on the edge with white, the extent of which gradually increases until on the lateral feathers they assume the form of irregular interrupted bars; on the edge of the shoulder a short narrow stripe of white; on the under surface of the wing an oblique band of white; chin grey; under surface ferruginous; bill black, except at the base of the lower mandible, where it is fleshy orange; irides dark brown; eyelash beautiful citron-yellow; feet yellowish olive.

The figures are of the size of life.

CUCULUS INSPERATUS: _Gould_.

_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]

CUCULUS INSPERATUS, _Gould_.
Brush Cuckoo.

_Cuculus insperatus_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part XIII. p. 19.

While traversing the cedar brushes of the Liverpool range on the 26th of October, 1839, my attention was attracted by the appearance of a Cuckoo, which I at first mistook for the _Cuculus cineraceus_, but which on examination proved to be the new species here represented; this example was the only one I ever saw living, and a single skin is all that has since been sent to me from New South Wales; it must therefore be very rare in the south-eastern portion of the continent, but it is doubtless equally as common a few degrees to the northward. At Port Essington there is a nearly allied species differing from the present in being much smaller, and in having a browner tint on the under surface; to this bird I have given the specific appellation of _dumetorum_; but as it closely resembles the species here represented, it will not be necessary to give a figure of it.

On comparison, this species will be found to differ from _C. cineraceus_, for which it might be readily mistaken, in its smaller size, in the more square form of the tail, and in that organ being destitute of white markings on the outer webs of the feathers. In its structure and colouring it will be found to depart from the true _Cuculi_ and to approximate to the members of the genus _Chalcites_, and in fact to form one of the links which unite the two groups.

Head, throat and all the upper surface dark slate-grey; back and wings glossed with green; tail glossy brownish green, each feather tipped with white, and with a row of triangular-shaped white markings on the margins of the inner webs; primaries and secondaries with a patch of white on their inner webs near the base; edge of the shoulder white; under surface of the shoulder, vent and under tail-coverts rufous; remainder of the under surface grey, washed with rufous; bill black; feet olive.

The figures are of the natural size.

CHALCITES OSCULANS: _Gould_.

_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]

CHALCITES OSCULANS, _Gould_.
Black-eared Cuckoo.

_Chalcites osculans_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part XV. p. 32.

_Black-eared Cuckoo_, Colonists of Swan River.

Four examples of this species are all that have come under my notice—one from Swan River, two killed by myself in New South Wales, and one in the collection of H. E. Strickland, Esq. Judging from the little that I saw of this species in a state of nature, its habits were those common to the members of the genus in which I have placed it; thick shrubby trees of moderate height appeared to be its favourite resort, and its food to consist of insects obtained among the branches and from off the leaves, and in search of which it hops about with stealthiness and quietude; further than this, little is known respecting it. One of my specimens was killed near Gundermein on the Lower Namoi, on the 24th of December 1839; but the true habitat of the species has not yet been discovered. That it is confined to Australia is almost certain, but this can only be verified by future research.

Although the structure of this bird evinces a slight departure from the true _Chalcites_, and an affinity to that of the typical _Cuculi_, I have retained it in the former genus because it possesses the stiff rigid wings, short and square tail, and the luminous colouring of the upper surface common to the other members of that group.

Mr. Gilbert, who once observed this bird in Western Australia, states that it is very shy, and that he only met with it in the interior of the country. It utters a feeble, lengthened and plaintive note at long intervals. It flies slowly and heavily, and but short distances at a time. The stomach is thin and capacious, and slightly lined with hairs.

Head, all the upper surface and wings glossy olive-brown, becoming darker on the shoulders and primaries, and fading into white on the upper tail-coverts; tail dark olive-brown, each feather tipped with white, and the lateral one on each side crossed on the inner web with five bars of white; ear-coverts black, encircled with white; under surface of the wing, throat, breast and abdomen pale cinnamon-brown, fading into white on the under tail-coverts; bill very dark brown; irides dark blackish brown; tarsi and upper surface of the feet greenish grey; under surface of the feet and the back of the tarsi mealy fleshy grey.

The figures are of the natural size.

CHRYSOCOCCYX LUCIDUS.

_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]

CHRYSOCOCCYX LUCIDUS.
Shining Cuckoo.

_Cuculus lucidus_, Gmel. Edit. of Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. p.
421.—Lath. Ind. Orn., vol. i. p. 215.—Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol.
ix. p. 126. pl. 26.—Temm. Pl. Col. 102. fig. 1.—Vig. &
Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p. 301.—Vieill. 2nde Edit.
du Nouv. Dict. d’Hist. Nat., tom. viii. p. 233.—Ib. Ency.
Méth., tom. iii. p. 1335. pl. 219. fig. 1.

_Shining Cuckoo_, Lath. Gen. Syn., vol. ii. p. 528. pl. 23.—Ib. Gen.
Hist., vol. iii. p. 299. pl. lvi.

_Chalcites lucidus_, Less. Traité d’Orn., p. 153.

_Dj̏u-reet_, Aborigines of the lowland districts of Western Australia.

_Golden or Bronze Cuckoo_ of the Colonists.

This species is very widely dispersed, being an inhabitant of every part of the Australian continent and Van Diemen’s Land. In the latter country it is strictly migratory, arriving in September and departing again in January. If it be not so truly migratory in New South Wales, the great mass certainly retire in winter to the northward, where insect food is more abundant. I have, however, seen it in the Botanic Garden at Sydney in the month of March. Its food consists of insects of various orders, the stomachs of those examined containing the remains of _Hymenoptera_, _Coleoptera_, and caterpillars. While searching for food, its motions, although very active, are characterized by a remarkable degree of quietude, the bird leaping about from branch to branch in the gentlest manner possible, picking an insect here and there, and prying for others among the leaves and the crevices of the bark with the most scrutinizing care. Its flight is rather quick and undulating, and when passing from one tree to another on a sunny day, the brilliant green colouring of the male shows very beautifully. Like the true Cuckoos, it always deposits its single egg in the nest of another bird: in Van Diemen’s Land those of the _Malurus longicaudus_ and _Acanthiza Diemenensis_ are generally selected; in New South Wales the _Malurus cyaneus_ and the _Acanthiza chysorrhæa_ are among others the foster-parents; in Western Australia the nests of the various kinds of Honey-eaters, and the _Malurus splendens_, are resorted to; and it is a remarkable fact, that the egg is mostly deposited in a domed nest, with a very small hole for an entrance.

The stomach is capacious, membranous, and slightly lined with hair.

Its note is a mournful whistle, very like that usually employed to call a dog.

The egg is of a clear olive-brown, somewhat paler at the smaller end, about eleven-sixteenths of an inch long by half an inch in breadth.

The adult male has the head, all the upper surface and wings, of a rich coppery bronze; primaries brown with a bronzy lustre; tail bronzy brown, crossed near the tip with a dull black band; the two lateral feathers on each side with a series of large oval spots of white across the inner web, and a series of smaller ones opposite the interspaces on the outer web; third and fourth feathers on each side with a small oval spot of white at the tip of the inner web; all the under surface white, crossed by numerous broad conspicuous bars of rich deep bronze; irides brownish yellow; feet dark brown, the interspaces of the scales mealy.

The female is similarly marked, but has only a wash of the bronzy colouring on the upper surface, and the bars of the under surface much less distinct, and of a brown hue.

The young, which are brown, with a still fainter wash of bronze, have the throat and under surface grey, without any trace of the bars, except on the under surface of the shoulder; the base of the tail-feathers deep rusty red, the irides bright grey, and the corners of the mouth yellow.

The Plate represents the male, female, and young, of the natural size.

SCYTHROPS NOVÆ-HOLLANDIÆ: _Lath._

_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]

SCYTHROPS NOVÆ-HOLLANDIÆ, _Lath._
Channel-Bill.

_Scythrops Novæ-Hollandiæ_, Lath. Ind. Orn., vol. i. p. 141.—Temm.
Man. d’Orn., tom. i. p. lxxv.—Vig. and Horsf. in Linn.
Trans., vol. xv. p. 306.—Temm. Pl. Col., 290.—Vieill. Gal.
des Ois., tom. i. pl. 39.—Less. Traité d’Orn., p. 128. pl.
23. fig. 1.—Ib. Man. d’Orn., tom. ii. p. 128.—G. R. Gray,
List of Gen. of Birds, 2nd Edit., p. 73.—Vieill. Nouv. Dict.
d’Hist. Nat., tom. xxx. p. 456.—Ib. Ency. Méth., tom. iii.
p. 1427.

_Psittaceous Hornbill_, Phil. Bot. Bay, pl. in p. 165.

_Anomalous Hornbill_, White’s Journ., pl. in p. 142.

_Channel-Bill_, Lath. Gen. Syn. Supp., vol. ii. p. 96. pl. 124.

_Australasian Channel-Bill_, Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. viii. p. 378. pl.
50.—Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. ii. p. 300. pl. xxxii.

_Scythrops Australasiæ_, Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. viii. p. 378.—Ib.
Steph. Cont., vol. xiv. p. 95.

—— _Australis_, Swains. Class. of Birds, vol. ii. p. 299.

_Curriay-gun_, Aborigines of New South Wales.

This remarkable bird, which has been considered a Hornbill by some naturalists, and as nearly allied to the Toucans by others, is in reality a member of the family _Cuculidæ_ or Cuckoos; an examination of its structure and a comparison of it with that of the other species of the family will render this very apparent, and I may add, that the little I saw of it in a state of nature fully confirms the opinion here given; its habits, actions, and mode of flight are precisely the same, as is also the kind of food upon which it subsists, except that it devours the larger kinds of _Phasmiæ_ and _Coleoptera_ instead of the smaller kinds of insects eaten by the other members of the family, and that it occasionally feeds upon fruits; the changes too which it undergoes from youth to maturity are exactly similar.

It is a migratory bird in New South Wales, arriving in October and departing again in January; whither it proceeds is not known, but as it has not been found out of Australia nor even on the north coast of that country, it cannot retire very far. As I had but few opportunities of observing it myself, I cannot do better than transcribe the particulars recorded by Latham, who in the second volume of his ‘General History of Birds,’ says, “It is chiefly seen in the morning and evening, sometimes in small parties of seven or eight, but more often in pairs; both on the wing and when perched it makes a loud screaming noise when a hawk or other bird of prey is in sight. In the crop and gizzard the seeds of the red gum and peppermint trees have been found; it is supposed that they are swallowed whole, as the pericarp or capsule has been found in the stomach; exuviæ of beetles have also been seen, but not in any quantity. The tail, which is nearly the length of the body, is occasionally displayed like a fan, and gives the bird a majestic appearance. The natives appear to know but little of its habits or haunts; they consider its appearance as an indication of blowing weather, and that its frightful scream is through fear, as it is not a bird of very active or quick flight. It is not easily tamed, for Mr. White observes, that he kept a wounded one alive for two days, during which it would eat nothing, but bit everything that approached it very severely.”

New South Wales is the only one of the Australian colonies whence I have seen examples of this bird. Most naturalists will be anxious to know if, like the other Cuckoos, this species is parasitic; unfortunately however I am not able to clear up this point: but I possess an egg which has been recently sent me by Mr. Strange of Sydney; it is fully developed, and he informs me was taken by himself from the ovarium of a female after he had shot the bird. It is of a light stone-colour, marked all over, but particularly at the larger end, with irregular blotches of reddish brown, many of which are of a darker hue and appear as if beneath the surface of the shell; it is one inch eleven-sixteenths long by one inch and a quarter broad.

The sexes are alike in plumage, but the female is somewhat smaller than the male.

Head, neck and breast grey; all the upper surface, wings and tail greenish olive-grey, each feather largely tipped with blackish brown; tail crossed near the extremity by a broad band of black and tipped with white, which gradually increases in extent as the feathers recede from the centre; the inner webs are also largely toothed with white, which is bounded posteriorly with a broad streak of black; under surface of the wing and body buffy white crossed with indistinct bars of greyish brown, which gradually deepen in colour on the flanks and thighs; orbits and lores scarlet; bill light yellowish horn-colour; feet olive-brown.

The Plate represents a male rather less than the natural size.

EUDYNAMYS FLINDERSII.

_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]

EUDYNAMYS FLINDERSII.
Flinders’s Cuckoo.

_Eudynamys Orientalis_, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p.
304.

—— _Flindersii_, Lath. MSS. Ibid., p. 305, young.

_Flinders’s Cuckoo_, Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. iii. p. 308.

_Cuculus cyanocephalus_, Lath. Ind. Orn. Supp., p. xxx.—Shaw, Gen.
Zool., vol. ix. p. 110.

_Blue-headed Cuckoo_, Lath. Gen. Syn. Supp., vol. ii. p. 137.—Ib. Gen.
Hist., vol. iii. p. 310.

_Eudynamis Australis_, Swains. Anim. in Menag., p. 344.

This species differs from the _Eudynamys_ inhabiting Java, which may be the true _Orientalis_ in having a more slender bill, and in being a less robust and powerful bird; the young of the first year also exhibits changes not quite in accordance with those of the young of the species from the Indian islands. It will be seen by the list of synonyms quoted above, that the young and the adult have been considered as distinct species, and that the name of _Flindersii_, which I have retained from its priority, has been applied to the bird in one of the earliest stages of its existence after leaving the nest, when the prevailing tints of its plumage are rufous brown, with transverse markings of dark brown; from this state until the bird attains maturity, many parti-coloured changes of plumage occur; but whether the sexes when fully adult are alike in colouring, I have not been able to ascertain; I am inclined to think they are not, and that the specimens having the upper surface regularly spotted with white on a bronzed olive ground, and with zigzag marks or bars on the buffy white of the under surface, are adult females; of this state I have given a figure on the annexed Plate, as well as a representation of the old male.