Chapter VI: Part 6

“This bird incubates from August to October, making no nest, but
merely smoothing down a small part of a clump of grass and forming a
slight hollow, in which it deposits two eggs, which are greenish
white, one inch and a quarter long by seven-eighths of an inch in
breadth. The young bird on emerging from the egg is clothed with
down like the young of the Quail.”

Eyes surrounded with a large naked space of a bright reddish orange colour; head and all the upper surface olive-brown; throat white, the tips of the last feathers grey, forming a surrounding margin of that colour; on the cheeks a large brownish grey spot, nearly insulated by the large space of the eyes being surrounded by a narrow band of white, the feathers of which are tipped with black; chest reddish brown; on the centre of the breast a few of the feathers are clear grey, margined at the tip with black; breast and abdomen purplish olive-brown; flanks white; lower part of the abdomen and vent buff; primaries and secondaries dark brown, margined with pale brown; the outer webs of the three or four last secondaries, and one or two greater coverts for two-thirds of their length from the base rich purple with greenish wavy reflexions; two centre tail-feathers olive-brown, the remainder deep slate-grey at base and black at the extremity; under tail-coverts dark brown margined with light brown; irides of three colours, first a narrow ring of red next the pupil, then a broader ring of pure white, and lastly a narrow one of grey; bill blackish grey; legs and feet bluish grey; back of the tarsi and inner side of the feet yellowish grey.

The figures are those of a male and female of the natural size.

GEOPHAPS PLUMIFERA: _Gould_.

_J. Gould and H.C. Richter lithog._ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]

GEOPHAPS PLUMIFERA, _Gould_.
Plumed Partridge Bronze-wing.

_Geophaps plumifera_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., February 8, 1842.

This rare and highly interesting species of Pigeon was sent me by my friend B. Bynoe, Esq., who procured it on the north-west coast of Australia. The notes accompanying the bird informed me that “it inhabits the country between Cape Hotham and the island of Depuch; the specimen sent is from the isolated water reaches about 150 miles up the Victoria River. It congregates on the ground and rises like a Quail, plunging immediately afterwards in the thick long grass.”

In its structure and markings it closely assimilates to the other members of the genus _Geophaps_; but widely differs from them in its diminutive size, and in the possession of a long and graceful crest springing from the occiput, a character which exists in several of the _Gallinacea_, and is familiar to every one in the pretty Pewit or Lapwing (_Vanellus cristatus_) of the British Islands.

Lores and orbits naked, and of a yellowish red; head furnished with a lengthened occipital crest, which with the crown, sides of the neck and chest, and under part of the wing, are light ferruginous; chin black; throat banded alternately with white and black, the latter colour extending to the ear-coverts; on the chest two semilunar marks of white, which meeting form a point in the centre; middle of the abdomen light buff; under tail-coverts brown, with lighter edges; back of the neck, back, rump and upper tail-coverts rufous brown; wings light ferruginous, with the basal half of the feathers silvery grey, the two colours separated by a transverse band of black; primaries rufous brown; secondaries brown, with a large patch of bronze-purple towards their tips; tail black; bill black; feet reddish brown.

The figures are of the natural size.

OCYPHAPS LOPHOTES.

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

OCYPHAPS LOPHOTES.
Crested Pigeon.

_Columba Lophotes_, Temm. Pl. Col. 142.—Wagl. Syst. Av. Columba, sp.
103.—Steph. Cont. of Shaw’s Gen. Zool., vol. xiv. p. 289. pl. 34.

_The Crested Pigeon of the Marshes_, Sturt’s two Exp. to the interior
of Southern Australia, vol. i. pl. in p. 24.

_Turtur? Lophotes_, Selby, Nat. Lib. Orn., vol. v. Pigeons, p. 174.
pl. 18.

The chasteness of its colouring, the extreme elegance of its form, and the graceful crest which flows backwards from its occiput, all tend to render this Pigeon one of the most lovely of its tribe inhabiting Australia, and in fact I consider it is not surpassed in beauty by any other from any part of the world. It is to be regretted, that owing to its being exclusively an inhabitant of the plains of the interior, it can never become an object of general observation; but, like the _Peristera histrionica_ and _Geophaps scripta_ it can only be seen by those of our enterprising countrymen whose love of exploring new countries prompts them to leave for a time the haunts of civilized man to wander among the wilds of the distant interior, a portion of the country never to be regarded as solitary or uninteresting by those who look with admiration upon the wonderful works of their Creator: the fauna of the interior of Australia has in fact, as I have frequently had occasion to remark in the course of the present work, features peculiarly its own, and its members are eminently interesting both for their novelty and for the beauty and elegance of their form.

As might be supposed, this bird has attracted the notice of all our travellers who have journeyed across the colonial line of demarcation; Captain Sturt mentions it as being numerous on the plains of Wellington valley, and in the neighbourhood of the Morumbidgee. It would seem to affect marshy situations in preference to others, for Captain Sturt observes that he took its appearance to be a sure sign of his approach to a country more than ordinarily subject to overflow; since, on the Macquarie and the Darling, those birds were only found to inhabit the regions of marshes, or spaces covered by the _Acacia pendula_ or the _Polygonum junceum_. The locality nearest the coast line that I know it to inhabit, is the country near the great bend of the river Murray in South Australia, where it is tolerably abundant; it abounds on the plains at the back of Moreton Bay on the banks of the river Namoi, and is occasionally, but very rarely, seen on the Liverpool Plains. It frequently assembles in very large flocks, and when it visits the lagoons or river-sides for water, during the dry seasons, generally selects a single tree, or even a particular branch, on which to congregate; very great numbers perching side by side, and all descending simultaneously to drink: so closely are they packed while thus engaged, that I have heard of dozens of them being killed by the single discharge of a gun.

Its powers of flight are so rapid as to be unequalled by those of any member of the group to which it belongs; an impetus being acquired by a few quick flaps of the wings, it goes skimming off apparently without any further movement of the pinions. Upon alighting on a branch it elevates its tail and throws back its head, so as to bring them nearly together, at the same time erecting its crest and showing itself off to the utmost advantage.

I met with the nest of this species in a low tree, on the great plain near Gundermein on the Lower Namoi, on the twenty-third of December 1839; like that of the other species of Pigeon, it was a slight structure of small twigs, and contained two white eggs, which were one inch and a quarter long and nearly an inch broad, upon which the female was then sitting.

The sexes are alike in plumage.

Head, face, throat, breast and abdomen grey; lengthened occipital plumes black; back of the neck, back, rump, flanks, upper and under tail-coverts light olive-brown; the upper tail-coverts tipped with white; sides of the neck washed with pinky salmon-colour; feathers covering the insertion of the wing deep buff, each crossed near the tip with a line of deep black, giving this part of the plumage a barred appearance; greater wing-coverts shining bronzy green, margined with white; primaries brown, becoming of a deeper tint as they approach the body; the third, fourth and fifth finely margined on the apical half of their external web with brownish white, the remainder with a narrow line of white bounding the extremities of both webs; secondaries brown on their inner webs, bronzy purple on their outer webs at the base, and brown at the extremity, broadly margined with white; two centre tail-feathers brown, the remainder blackish brown, glossed with green on their outer webs, and tipped with white; irides buffy orange; orbits naked, wrinkled, and of a pink-red; nostrils and base of the bill olive-black; tip black; legs and feet pink-red.

The figures are of the natural size.

PETROPHASSA ALBIPENNIS: _Gould_.

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

PETROPHASSA ALBIPENNIS, _Gould_.
White-quilled Rock Dove.

_Petrophassa albipennis_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part VIII. p.
173.

This highly singular species of Pigeon is an inhabitant of the most rugged, rocky and sterile districts of the north-west coast of Australia. The specimens in my possession were sent me by the Officers of the Beagle, but, I regret to say, were unaccompanied by any particulars respecting their history. The form of the wing would lead us to imagine that in many parts of its economy this species much resembles those of the members of the genus _Geophaps_; but on these points nothing can be ascertained with certainty, until the productions of those remote parts of Australia have been carefully investigated, a period which, from the inhospitable character of the country, I fear is far distant.

Crown of the head and neck greyish brown, margined with sandy brown; all the upper surface, chest and tail rufous brown, the centre of each feather inclining to grey; lores black; abdomen and under tail-coverts chocolate brown; throat clothed with small feathers white at the tip, black at the base; primaries dark brown at their tips, the basal half pure white; bill and irides blackish brown; feet reddish brown.

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

GEOPELIA HUMERALIS.

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

GEOPELIA HUMERALIS.
Barred-shouldered Ground-Dove.

_Columba humeralis_, Temm. Pl. Col. 191.

_Mangrove Pigeon_, resident at Port Essington.

There are reasons for believing that the _Geopelia humeralis_ inhabits the whole of the vast interior of Australia as well as the neighbourhood of the coasts of its northern and eastern portions. In New South Wales it is sparingly dispersed over the Liverpool Plains, where some of the specimens I possess were obtained, while others were procured at Port Essington. As the structure of its legs would indicate, it passes much of its time on the ground, feeding on the seeds of various kinds of grasses and leguminous plants. Not only is it one of the most elegant of the Dove tribe inhabiting Australia, but it is also one of the most tame and docile, if I may judge from the few I observed on the heated plains of New South Wales: their confidence was such that they sometimes perched within two yards of the spot where I was sitting; extreme thirst and a scanty supply of water may, however, have rendered them more tame and bold than they otherwise would have been.

Mr. Gilbert states that at Port Essington “this Pigeon is extremely abundant, inhabiting thickets, swampy grounds, and the banks of running streams. It mostly feeds on the seeds of various kinds of grasses, but when the country becomes burnt it finds an abundant supply of berries in the thickets. It may often be seen among the mangroves in flocks of several hundreds, and hence its colonial name of Mangrove Pigeon. It was equally numerous during the whole period of my stay in that part of the country. Any number of specimens may be readily procured, for when disturbed the bird merely flits from branch to branch, or if in an open part of the country to the nearest tree. I did not on any occasion observe it take anything approaching a sustained flight. Its most common note is a rather loud _coo-coo_, occasionally uttered at long intervals; during the pairing-season the note becomes of a softer tone, and is more rapidly repeated, and its actions very much resemble those of the Domestic Pigeon of Europe. It breeds in August, and makes a very slight nest of slender twigs, loosely and carelessly laid across each other on two or three of the lower leaves of the _Pandanus_, the upper leaves of which afford it a shelter from the rays of the sun, and from the rain; the eggs are two in number of a delicate fleshy-white.”

The sexes are alike in colouring.

Forehead, cheeks, sides of the neck and breast delicate grey; occiput, back, wing-coverts, rump and upper tail-coverts silky brown; back of the neck rufous, every feather of the upper surface bounded at the extremity with a narrow band of black, giving the whole a squamated or scaled appearance; under surface of the shoulder and the inner webs, except their tips, of the primaries and secondaries fine rust-red; outer webs and tips of the inner webs of the primaries and secondaries brown; two centre tail-feathers dark grey, the remainder reddish brown at the base, gradually increasing in intensity towards their tips, those next the centre ones washed with grey on their outer webs, and all but the centre ones largely tipped with white; centre of the abdomen white; the remainder of the under surface washed with vinous; irides ochre-yellow; bill and nostrils delicate mealy light blue; naked skin round the eye mealy purple; legs and feet pink red.

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

GEOPELIA TRANQUILLA: _Gould_.

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

GEOPELIA TRANQUILLA, _Gould_.
Peaceful Dove.

_Geopelia placida_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part XII. p. 56.

The interior of the country northward from New South Wales is inhabited by considerable numbers of this pretty little Dove, but it has not yet been met with either in Southern or Western Australia. It was very abundant on the Namoi, particularly on the lower part of that river; and that its range will extend over a large part of the interior, is more than probable.

A bird precisely similar in markings, but of a smaller size, is very abundant at Port Essington, and the two birds may prove to be mere varieties of each other; at the same time, as so great a variation in size rarely if ever occurs in a state of nature, I have for the present considered it to be a distinct species, and assigned to it the name of _Geopelia placida_; it is nearly one-third less than the bird here represented, but as there is not the slightest difference in the markings, it will not be necessary for me to give a figure of it.

The bird found in the neighbourhood of the Lower Namoi was chiefly observed on the ground, feeding on the seeds of the various kinds of plants that grow under the shelter of the thinly-timbered forests bordering the plains. It was frequently seen in flocks, and was equally as tame as the _Geopelia cuneata_.

The Port Essington bird is abundantly and equally distributed over all parts of the peninsula and the neighbouring islands; its favourite haunts being moist meadows or the grassy banks of small streams, and grass-seeds its principal food. It is usually met with in flocks of from twenty to fifty in number, which when disturbed generally fly off to the nearest tree; on alighting they jerk the tail very erect, and utter their slowly-repeated and monotonous double note; at other times they coo very faintly, after the manner of the other members of the family.

It is said to make a slight nest in a hollow among the grass near the ground, and to lay two eggs.

The only observable difference between the sexes is the smaller size of the female.

Face and throat grey; occiput, back and wings ashy brown, each feather with a band of deep velvety black at the extremity; spurious wings and primaries dark brown; under surface of the shoulders chestnut; chest, sides and back of the neck grey, crossed by numerous narrow bands of black; abdomen and flanks vinous; four central tail-feathers ashy brown, the remainder black largely tipped with white; irides light ash-grey; bill and orbits bright greyish blue, becoming much paler before and behind the eye; frontal scales of the tarsi and feet dark greenish grey; remainder of the legs and feet reddish flesh-colour.

The Plate represents the two sexes of the natural size.

GEOPELIA CUNEATA.

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

GEOPELIA CUNEATA.
Graceful Ground-Dove.

_Columba cuneata_, Lath. Ind. Orn., Supp., p. 61.—Wagl. Syst. Av., sp.
107.

—— _Macquarie_, Quoy et Gaim. Voy. de l’Uranie, Ois., t. 31.—Ib. Knip
et Prevost, Hist. Nat. des Pig., t. 41

—— _spiloptera_, Vig. in Zool. Journ., vol. v. p. 275.

_Geopelia cuneata_, List of Brit. Mus. Coll., Part III. p. 11.

_Men-na-brun-ka_, Aborigines of the mountain districts of Western
Australia.

_Turtle Dove_, Colonists of Swan River.

The beautiful little Dove here represented is at once remarkable for the elegance of its contour, the chaste and quiet colouring of its plumage, and for its tame and gentle disposition, all of which combine to render it a general favourite with the Australians; and it is a matter of surprise to me that it has not long ere this been a denizen of their aviaries and sent alive to England, few birds being likely to bear confinement more contentedly.

I have specimens collected in every one of the Australian colonies, even that of Port Essington; I encountered it myself on the flat and fertile districts of the Upper Hunter in New South Wales, and James Macarthur, Esq., informed me that it is sometimes seen on his estate at Camden; at the same time, as it is rarely met with on the seaside of the mountain ranges, but occurs in considerable numbers on the plains of the interior, so far as they have yet been explored, it must be regarded as an inhabitant of the central portion of the country, over the whole of which vast space it is doubtless numerously dispersed.

Its natural food being the seeds of grasses and leguminous plants, it is observed more frequently on the ground than among the trees; I sometimes met with it in small flocks, but more often in pairs or singly. It runs over the ground with a short bobbing motion of the tail, and while feeding is so remarkably tame as almost to admit of its being taken by the hand, and if forced to take wing it merely flies to the nearest trees, and there remains motionless among the branches until it again descends to the ground. I not unfrequently observed it close to the open doors of the huts of the stock-keepers of the interior, who, from its being so constantly before them, regard it with little interest.

The nest is a frail but beautiful structure, formed of the stalks of a few flowering grasses, crossed and interwoven after the manner of the other pigeons. One sent me from Western Australia is “composed,” says Mr. Gilbert, “of a small species of knotted everlasting-like plant (_Composita_), and was placed on the overhanging grasses of the _Xanthorrhœa_; but the bird usually constructs a very loosely formed nest in the fork of a tree. During my first visit to this part of the country only two situations were known as places of resort for this species, and I did not meet with more than five or six examples; since that period it has become extremely abundant, and now a pair or two may occasionally be seen about most of the settlers’ houses on the Avon, becoming apparently very tame and familiarized to man. It utters a rather singular note, which at times very much resembles the distant crowing of a cock. The term is _Men-na-brun-ka_ is applied to it by the natives from a traditionary idea that the bird originally introduced the _Men-na_, a kind of gum which exudes from a species of _Acacia_, and which is one of the favourite articles of food of the natives.”

The eggs are white and two in number, eleven-sixteenths of an inch long by seven-sixteenths broad.

The sexes, although bearing a general resemblance to each other, may be readily distinguished by the smaller size of the female, by the browner hue of her wing-feathers, and by the spotting of her upper surface not being so numerous or so regular as in the male.

The male has the head, neck and breast delicate grey, passing into white on the abdomen and under tail-coverts; back and scapularies cinnamon-brown; wing-coverts dark grey; each feather of the wing-coverts and scapularies with two spots, one on the edge of either web near the tip, of white encircled with black; spurious wing and primaries brown, the latter rufous on their inner webs for two-thirds of their length; four centre tail-feathers grey, deepening into black at the extremity and with black shafts; the remainder greyish black at the base, and pure white for the remainder of their length; irides in some instances bright red, and the naked skin round the eyes light scarlet; in others the irides and naked skin round the eyes are pale greenish yellow; bill dark olive-brown; feet reddish flesh-colour in some instances, in others yellowish.

The female differs in having the back of the head, neck and upper surface browner, and the spots on the wings larger than the male.

The Plate represents the two sexes of the natural size.

MACROPYGIA PHASIANELLA.

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

MACROPYGIA PHASIANELLA.
Pheasant-tailed Pigeon.

_Columba Phasianella_, Temm, Pl. Col. 100.

From what I could personally observe during my residence in New South Wales, the Pheasant-tailed Pigeon resorts entirely to the brushes, as in no instance did I ever meet with it in the open parts of the country. From Illawarra to Moreton Bay it is a common and stationary species. It is a fine showy bird in a state of nature, and exhibits itself to great advantage when it rises from the ground to the trees, with its large and long tail spread to its greatest extent. While traversing the brushes I have frequently come upon this bird quite unawares, when busily engaged searching on the ground for fallen seeds and berries. Rarely were more than four or five collected together at one time, and most frequently it occurred singly or in pairs. Up to the present time, our knowledge of the extent of habitat enjoyed by this bird is very limited; I have never myself seen it in any collections but those made in New South Wales; other nearly allied species are found in Java and Amboina, and doubtless there are many others yet to be discovered, since from the recluse habits of the birds forming the present genus, they may be very easily overlooked. As its lengthened tarsi would lead us to imagine, it spends much of its time on the ground, while its broad and voluminous tail equally indicates that this organ is displayed to the greatest advantage amongst the branches, and in both instances such is really the case; when flushed from the ground in the depths of the forest it merely flies to the branch of some low shrub-like tree, and there remains with little appearance of fear.

The sexes are precisely similar in colour and nearly so in size; dissection, in fact, is necessary to distinguish them.

Its note is loud, mournful and monotonous.

General plumage rich rusty brown, becoming of a dark brown on the wings; wing-coverts margined with rusty brown; ear-coverts crossed by narrow bars of black; sides and back of the neck glossed with bronzy purple; lateral tail-feathers crossed near the tip by a broad band of black, beyond which the brown colour is paler than at the base; bill dark olive-brown, mealy at the base; irides blue, with an outer circle of scarlet; orbits mealy bluish lilac; feet pink-red.

The figure is of the natural size.

GNATHODON STRIGIROSTRIS: _Jard._

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

GNATHODON STRIGIROSTRIS, _Jard._
Gnathodon.

_Gnathodon strigirostris_, Jard. in Ann. and Mag. of Nat. Hist., vol.
xvi. p. 175. pl. ix.

The researches of modern zoologists have not perhaps brought to light a more curious object than the bird here represented, a single specimen of which is in the collection of Sir William Jardine, Bart., to whose kindness and liberality I am indebted for permission to include a drawing of it in the present work. I regret to say that no intelligence whatever could be obtained as to its habits, or the precise locality of which it is a native; it was purchased by Lady Harvey at a sale in Edinburgh, where the other objects sold at the same time were all Australian, and mostly peculiar to the south-eastern coast of that country; hence I have been induced to include a figure of it in the present work for which I feel that no apology is required, as the Plate cannot fail to be viewed with interest by all ornithologists, and will probably induce residents in the country to investigate the history of so remarkable a species. While we know so little as we do respecting it, every ornithologist must form his own opinion as to the place it should occupy in the natural system; and these opinions will doubtless be very various; the contour of the bill, the form and position of the nostrils are different from those of any other species with which we are acquainted, and although pertaining to so much smaller a bird strongly remind one of the celebrated Dodo; the form of the body and wings and the structure of the feathers differ but slightly from those of the _Columbidæ_, to which family it is, in my opinion, most nearly allied; for although at a first glance its strongly hooked upper and deeply notched under mandible would seem to indicate a sanguinary disposition, and that its food consists of animal substances, I am inclined to believe that it is frugivorous or granivorous, and that the remarkably formed bill is expressly adapted to denude palm-nuts or other strongly coated seeds of their hard outer covering; the maxillæ are very wide, and the nakedness of the throat would indicate that the gullet is capable of sufficient dilatation to admit of the passage of articles of food of considerable size.

The probably unique specimen from which my figure is taken is very perfect, with the exception of the scales of the front of the tarsi, which are unfortunately wanting; I am consequently left in doubt as to whether the legs as far as the knees, if not the upper part of the tarsi, have or have not been clothed with feathers.

The first description of this species was published by Sir William Jardine in the ‘Annals and Magazine of Natural History,’ above referred to, wherein he states that “we are indebted to Lady Harvey, whose extensive collection of natural history in Edinburgh is always open when science can be promoted, for a specimen of this remarkable bird;” and adds, “we are aware of no existing description, though there is one allusion made to a bird which may eventually turn out to be this. In Mr. Strickland’s Report on the Recent Progress and Present State of Ornithology, read before the British Association at York, it is stated, ‘The recent American voyage of discovery will extend our knowledge of Polynesian zoology, and its researches will be made known by Mr. Titian Peale, who is said to have discovered among other rarities a new bird allied to the Dodo, which he proposes to name _Didunculus_;’ and we believe ‘_strigirostris_’ has been applied specifically.”

The structure of the wing indicates that its powers of flight are considerable.

Lores and a small patch on each side of the throat bare and apparently red; head, neck, breast and belly glossy greenish black; feathers of the upper part of the back black, with a crescent-shaped mark of glossy green at the tip of each feather; back, wings, tail and under tail-coverts rich deep chestnut-red; primaries and secondaries greyish black; bill orange; tarsi and feet apparently reddish flesh-colour.

The figures represent the bird in two positions of the natural size.

TALEGALLA LATHAMI.

_C. Hullmandel Imp._
]

TALEGALLA LATHAMI.
Wattled Talegalla.

_New Holland Vulture_, Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. i. p. 32.

_Genus Alectura_, Ibid., vol. x. p. 455.

_Alectura Lathami_, Gray, Zool. Misc., No. I. p. 3.—Jard. and Selby,
Ill. Orn., vol. iii. pl. cxl.

_New Holland Vulture_, Swains. Class. of Birds, vol. i. p. 383.

_Catheturus Australis_, Ibid., vol. ii. p. 206.

_Meleagris Lindesayii_, Jameson, Mem. Wern. Nat. Hist. Soc., vol. vii.
p. 473.

_Brush Turkey_ of the Colonists; _Wee-lah_, Aborigines of the Namoi.

It has often been asserted that Australia abounds in anomalies, and in no instance is the truth of this proposition more fully exemplified than in the history of the very singular bird here represented, respecting the situation of which, in the natural system, much diversity of opinion has hitherto prevailed. It was consequently one of the birds which demanded my utmost attention during my late expedition, and I trust that the following details will assist in clearing up this long-disputed point.

The bird in question was originally described and figured by the late Dr. Latham in the first volume of his “General History of Birds,” under the name of _New Holland Vulture_; but subsequently he conceived himself in error in classing it with the _Vidturidæ_, and at the end of the tenth volume of the same work placed it among the _Gallinaceæ_, with the generic appellation of _Alectura_: the species was afterwards dedicated to this venerable ornithologist by Mr. John Edward Gray, in his “Zoological Miscellany.”

The generic and specific terms, _Catheturus Australis_, were subsequently applied to it by Mr. Swainson, who in both volumes of his “Classification of Birds” replaces it among the _Vidturidæ_, in order, apparently, to establish his own views respecting this family, of which he considers it the rasorial type, and details at some length why he entertains this opinion.

“The New Holland Vulture,” says Mr. Swainson, “is so like a rasorial
bird, that some authors have hesitated (not having seen a specimen)
as to what order it really belonged. So completely, indeed, has
nature disguised this rare and extraordinary vulture in the
semblance of that type which it is to represent in its own family,
that it has even been classed by one writer with the _Menura_; and
it must be confessed, that if clear conceptions of the difference
between analogy and affinity are not entertained, such a
classification has some plausible reasons to recommend it. The feet,
in fact, of the two birds are formed nearly on the same principle,
but then so are those of _Orthonyx_, a little scansorial bird not
much bigger than a Robin. All three genera, in short, are remarkable
for their large disproportionate feet, long and slightly curved
claws, and the equality of length, or nearly so, of the outer and
the middle toe. Nor is this the only peculiarity of the New Holland
Vulture; for, unlike all others of its family, it possesses eighteen
feathers in its tail. An examination of the bill, which is decidedly
raptorial, joined with many other considerations, shows that all
these are but analogical relations to the _Rasores_, while the real
affinities of the bird are in the circle of the _Vulturidæ_, of
which it forms the rasorial type. A perfect specimen of this very
rare vulture, now before us,” continues this author, “enables us to
speak of its structure from personal examination.”

The term _Alectura_ having been previously employed for a group of Flycatchers, and the present bird possessing all the characters of M. Lesson’s genus _Talegalla_, which was published prior to Mr. Swainson’s _Catheturus_, I feel that I ought to adopt that appellation.

How far its range may extend over Australia is not yet satisfactorily ascertained; it is known to inhabit various parts of New South Wales, from Cape Howe on the south to Moreton Bay on the north; but the assaults of the cedar-cutters and others who so frequently hunt through the brushes of Illawarra and Maitland, having nearly extirpated it from those localities, it is now most plentiful in the dense and little-trodden brushes of the Manning and Clarence. I was at first led to believe that the country between the mountain-ranges and the coast constituted its sole habitat; but I was agreeably surprised to find it also an inhabitant of the scrubby gullies and sides of the lower hills that branch off from the great range into the interior. I procured specimens on the Brezi range to the north of Liverpool Plains, and ascertained that it was abundant in all the hills on either side of the Namoi.

It is a gregarious bird, generally moving about in small companies, much after the manner of the _Gallinaceæ_, and, like some species of that tribe, is very shy and distrustful. When disturbed it readily eludes pursuit by the facility with which it runs through the tangled brush. If hard pressed, or when rushed upon by its great enemy the native dog, the whole company spring upon the lowermost bough of some neighbouring tree, and by a succession of leaps from branch to branch ascend to the top, and either perch there or fly off to another part of the brush. They are also in the habit of resorting to the branches of trees as a shelter from the mid-day sun, a peculiarity that greatly tends to their destruction, as the sportsman is not only enabled to take a certain aim, but, like the Ruffed Grouse of America, they will even allow a succession of shots to be fired until they are all brought down. Unless some measures be adopted for their preservation, this circumstance must lead to an early extinction of the race; an event much to be regretted, since, independently of its being an interesting bird for the aviary, its flesh is extremely delicate, tender, and juicy.

The most remarkable circumstances connected with the economy of this bird, are the facts of its not hatching its eggs by incubation: the means resorted to for effecting this object, although in some degree assimilating to the practice of the Ostrich, is yet upon a totally different principle. The Wattled Talegalla collects together an immense heap of decaying vegetable matter as a depositary for the eggs, and trusts to the heat engendered by the process of decomposition for the development of the young. The heap employed for this purpose is collected by the birds during several weeks previous to the period of laying; it varies in size from two to four cart-loads, and is of a perfectly pyramidal form. The construction of the mound is not the work of one pair of birds, but is effected by the united labours of several; the same site appears to me, from the great size and the entire decomposition of the lower part, to be resorted to for several years in succession, the birds adding a fresh supply of materials on each occasion previous to laying.

The mode in which the materials composing these mounds are accumulated is equally singular,—the bird never using its bill, but always grasping a quantity in its foot, throwing it backwards to one common centre, and thus clearing the surface of the ground for a considerable distance so completely, that scarcely a leaf or a blade of grass is left. The heap being accumulated, and time allowed for a sufficient heat to be engendered, the eggs are deposited, not side by side, as is ordinarily the case, but planted at the distance of nine or twelve inches from each other, and buried at nearly an arm’s depth, perfectly upright, with the large end upwards; they are covered up as they are laid, and allowed to remain until hatched. I have been credibly informed both by natives and settlers living near their haunts, that it is not an unusual event to obtain nearly a bushel of eggs at one time from a single heap; and as they are delicious eating, they are eagerly sought after. Some of the natives state that the females are constantly in the neighbourhood of the heap about the time the young are likely to be hatched, and frequently uncover and cover them up again, apparently for the purpose of assisting those that may have appeared; while others have informed me that the eggs are merely deposited, and the young allowed to force their way unassisted. In all probability, as Nature has adopted this mode of reproduction, she has also furnished the tender birds with the power of sustaining themselves from the earliest period; and the great size of the egg would equally lead to this conclusion, since in so large a space it is reasonable to suppose that the bird would be much more developed than is usually found in eggs of smaller dimensions. In further confirmation of this point, I may add, that in searching for eggs in one of the mounds I discovered the remains of a young bird, apparently just excluded from the shell, and which was clothed with feathers, not with down, as is usually the case: it is to be hoped that those who are resident in Australia, in situations favourable for investigating the subject, will direct their attention to the further elucidation of these interesting points. The upright position of the eggs tends to strengthen the opinion that they are never disturbed after being deposited, as it is well known that the eggs of birds which are placed horizontally, are frequently turned during incubation. Although, unfortunately, I was almost too late for the breeding-season, I nevertheless saw several of the heaps, both in the interior and at Illawarra; in every instance they were placed in the most retired and shady glens, and on the slope of a hill, the part above the nest being scratched clean, while all below remained untouched, as if the birds had found it more easy to convey the materials down than to throw them up. In one instance only was I fortunate enough to find a perfect egg, although the shells of many from which the young had been excluded were placed in the manner I have described. At Illawarra they were rather deposited in the light vegetable mould than among the leaves which formed a considerable heap above them. The eggs are perfectly white, of a long oval form, three inches and three-quarters long by two inches and a half in diameter: a fine egg of this bird was subsequently presented to me by J. H. Plunkett, Esq., Attorney-General, New South Wales.

While stalking about the wood they frequently utter a rather loud clucking noise; and in various parts of the brush I observed depressions in the earth, which the natives informed me were made by the birds in dusting themselves.

The stomach is extremely muscular, and the crop of one dissected was filled with seeds, berries, and a few insects.

I have already alluded to its capability for domestication; and I have the gratification of adding, that a living specimen was in the possession of Mr. Alexander MacLeay for several years, during which it was mostly at large, and usually associated with the fowls in the poultry-yard. On my arrival at Sydney this venerable gentleman took me into his garden and showed me the bird, which, as if in its native woods, had for two successive years collected an immense mass of materials similar to those above described. The borders, lawn and shrubbery over which it was allowed to range presented an appearance as if regularly swept, from the bird having scratched to one common centre everything that lay upon the surface; the mound in this case was about three feet and a half high, and ten feet over. On placing my arm in it I found the heat to be about 90° or 95° Fahr. The bird itself was strutting about with a proud and majestic air, sometimes parading round the heap, at others perching on the top, and displaying its brilliantly coloured neck and wattle to the greatest advantage; this wattle it has the power of expanding and contracting at will; at one moment it is scarcely visible, while at another it is extremely prominent.

Before I left New South Wales Mr. MacLeay’s bird had met with an untimely end by falling into a tank or water-butt, occasioned, it was conjectured, by seeing the reflection of its own image in the water, and rushing forward to meet a supposed antagonist. On dissection this individual was found to be a male, thereby proving that the sexes are equally employed in forming the mound for the reception of the eggs.

After all the facts that have been stated, I trust it will be evident that its natural situation is among the _Rasores_, and that it forms one of a great family of birds peculiar to Australia and the Indian islands, of which _Megapodius_ forms a part; and in confirmation of this view I may add, that the sternum has the two deep emarginations so truly characteristic of the _Gallinaceæ_; at all events, it is in no way allied to the _Vulturidæ_, and is nearly as far removed from _Menura_.

The adults have the whole of the upper surface, wings and tail blackish brown; the feathers of the under surface blackish brown at the base, becoming silvery grey at the tip; skin of the head and neck deep pink red, thinly sprinkled with short hair-like blackish brown feathers; wattle bright yellow, tinged with red where it unites with the red of the neck; bill black; irides and feet brown.

The female, which is about a fourth less than the male in size, is so closely the same in colour as to render a separate description unnecessary. She also possesses the wattle, but not to so great an extent.

The figure is about two-thirds the size of life.

LEIPOA OCELLATA: _Gould_.
]

LEIPOA OCELLATA, _Gould_.
Ocellated Leipoa.

_Leipoa ocellata_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., October 13, 1840.

_Ngow_, Aborigines of the lowland; _Ng̏ow-oo_, of the mountain
districts of Western Australia.

_Native Pheasant_, Colonists of Western Australia.

This beautiful bird is among the most interesting of the novelties which the little-explored regions of Australia have lately unfolded to us; since, by its discovery, and a knowledge of its habits, we are enabled to assign to its proper family (the _Megapodinæ_) the singular species figured under the name of _Talegalla Lathami_.

The Ocellated Leipoa appears to be more peculiarly suited for a plain and open country than for the tangled brush; and it is most curious to observe how beautifully the means employed by Nature for the reproduction of the species is adapted to the situations it is destined to inhabit. A sketch of its economy, as far as it has yet been ascertained, has been sent me by Mr. John Gilbert, and is here given in his own words:

“The following account of the habits, manners, and nidification of this bird have been detailed to me by G. Moore, Esq., Advocate-General, Mr. Armstrong, the aboriginal interpreter, and some of the more intelligent natives of Western Australia. Mr. Moore saw a great many of them about sixty miles north of Perth; but its most favourite country appears to be the barren sandy plains of the interior, 100 miles north and east of York. It is a ground bird, never taking to a tree except when closely hunted; when pursued it will frequently run its head into a bush, and is then easily taken. In its actions and manners it is very like the domestic fowl. Its food generally consists of seeds and berries. It has a mournful note, very like that of a pigeon, but with a more inward tone. The eggs are deposited in a mound of sand, the formation of which is the work of both sexes: the natives say they scratch up the sand for many yards around, forming a mound of about three feet in height; the inside being constructed of alternate layers of dried leaves, grasses, &c., among which the eggs are deposited to the number of twelve and upwards, and covered up by the birds as laid; or, as the natives express it, ‘the countenances of the eggs are never visible.’ The bird never sits upon the eggs; but when she has laid her number the whole are covered up, after which the mound of sand resembles an ant’s nest. The eggs are hatched by the heat of the sun’s rays, the vegetable lining of the hillock retaining sufficient warmth during the night: the eggs are deposited in layers, no two eggs being suffered to lie without a division. They are about the size of a fowl’s egg, and are white, very slightly tinged with red. The natives are exceedingly fond of them, and rob the mounds two or three times in a season; they judge of the probable number of eggs in the heap by the quantity of feathers lying around. If these are abundant, they know the hillock is full, when they immediately open it and take the whole; upon which the bird will again commence laying, to be robbed a second time, and will frequently lay a third time. Upon questioning one of the men attached to Mr. Moore’s expedition, he gave me a similar account of its habits and mode of incubating; adding that in all the mounds they opened they found ants almost as numerous as in an ant-hill, and that in many instances that part of the mound surrounding the lower portion of the eggs had become so hard, they were obliged to chip round them with a chisel to get them out: the insides of the mounds were always hot.”

Captain Grey, of the 83rd Regiment, who has just returned from his expedition to the north-west coast, has also furnished me with the following information respecting its range, &c.: “The farthest point north,” says this gentleman, “at which I have seen the breeding-places of this bird, is Gantheaume Bay. The natives of King George’s Sound say the same, or a nearly allied species, exists in that neighbourhood. I have never fallen in with its nests but in one description of country, viz. where the soil was dry and sandy, and so thickly wooded with a species of dwarf _Leptospermum_, that if you stray from the native paths, it is almost impossible to force your way through. In these close scrubby woods small open glades occasionally occur, and here the Ng̏ow-oo constructs its nest, a large heap of sand, dead grass and boughs, at least nine feet in diameter, and three feet in height: I have seen them even larger than this. Upon one occasion only I saw eggs in these nests; they were placed some distance from each other, and buried in the earth. I am not sure of the number, but the account given by the natives led me to believe that at times large numbers are found.”

The Ocellated Leipoa is altogether a more slender and elegantly formed bird than the Wattled Talegalla, and moreover differs from that bird in having the head and neck thickly clothed with feathers, and in being adorned with a beautifully variegated style of colouring.

Head and crest blackish brown; neck and shoulders dark ash grey; the fore part of the former, from the chin to the breast, marked by a series of lanceolate feathers, which are black with a white stripe down the centre; back and wings conspicuously marked with three distinct bands of greyish white, brown and black near the tip of each feather, the marks assuming an ocellate form, particularly on the tips of the secondaries; primaries brown, their outer webs marked with zigzag lines of darker brown; rump and upper tail-coverts brownish grey, the feathers of the latter transversely marked with two or three zigzag lines near their tip; all the under surface light buff, the tips of the flank feathers barred with black; tail blackish brown, broadly tipped with buff; bill black; feet blackish brown.

The figures are about two-thirds of the natural size.

MEGAPODIUS TUMULUS: _Gould_.

_C. Hullmandel Imp._
]

MEGAPODIUS TUMULUS, _Gould_.
Mound-raising Megapode.

_Megapodius tumulus_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., February 8, 1842.

_Oooregoorgā_, Aborigines of the Cobourg Peninsula.

_Jungle-fowl_, Colonists of Port Essington.

The discovery of a species of _Megapodius_ in Australia, as soon as the northern portions of the country should be subjected to a careful investigation, is no more than might have been expected, considering that New Guinea and the adjacent islands are the great nursery of this extraordinary tribe of birds.

When the _Megapodius Tumulus_ first came under my observation I conceived it to be the _M. rubripes_ of M. Temminck, and it was not until I had examined specimens of that species in the Museums of Paris and Leyden that I was satisfied of its being distinct. Its much greater size and more than proportionately powerful legs are among the specific differences which will be observable by those who may feel disposed to institute a comparison. Interesting as this bird must be to every naturalist, to myself it is peculiarly so, since the valuable notes on its habits and economy which happily I am enabled to give fully confirm all that I had previously asserted respecting the extraordinary mode of incubation of the _Talegalla_, verifying the opinion I have before expressed, that _Megapodius_, _Talegalla_ and _Leipoa_ are most nearly allied genera forming part of a great family of birds, whose range will be found to extend from the Philippines through the islands of the Indian Archipelago to Australia.

The _Megapodius Tumulus_ is rather numerously spread over the whole of the Cobourg Peninsula on the north coast of the Australian continent, where the British settlement of Port Essington is now established; future research will doubtless require us to assign to it a much wider range, probably over the whole extent of the north coast.

The following account of its habits is taken from Mr. Gilbert’s notes; and, novel and extraordinary as my description of those of _Talegalla_ and _Leipoa_ may have been considered, this will be read with even greater interest.