_J. & E. Gould del_ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]
HALCYON SANCTUS, _Vig. and Horsf._
Sacred Halcyon.
_Sacred Kingsfisher_, Phill. Bot. Bay, pl. in p. 156.—White’s Voy.,
pl. in p. 193.
_Halcyon Sanctus_, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p.
206.—Gould, Syn. of Birds of Aust., Part III.
_Halcyon sacra_, Jard. and Selb. Ill. Orn., vol. ii. pls. 96 and 97.
_Dacelo chlorocephala_, var. β. Less. Traité Orn., p. 246.
_Kingsfisher_ of the Colonists.
_Kün-yeë-nüh_ of the Aborigines, Western Australia.
On reference to the synonyms given above, it will be seen that a
difference of opinion is entertained from the authors of the
“Illustrations in Ornithology” respecting this species being identical
with the _Halcyon collaris_ of Mr. Swainson, a bird which I have not yet
seen from Australia, although it may possibly be found in the northern
part of that continent, since it is common in Java; and I find that Mr.
Swainson, in his recently published “Classification of Birds,” has
arranged them as distinct.
The Sacred Halcyon does not inhabit Van Diemen’s Land, but is very
generally dispersed over the Australian continent. I have specimens from
nearly every locality: those from Port Essington on the north are
precisely identical with those of the south coast; on the other hand,
those inhabiting Western Australia are a trifle larger in all their
measurements, but otherwise present no differences of sufficient
importance to warrant their being considered as distinct.
It is a summer resident in New South Wales and throughout the southern
portion of the continent, retiring northwards after the breeding-season.
It begins to disappear in December, and by the end of January few are to
be seen: solitary individuals may, however, be met with even in the
depth of winter. They return again in spring, commencing in August, and
by the middle of September are plentifully dispersed over all parts of
the country, inhabiting alike the most thickly wooded brushes, the
mangrove-forests which border, in many parts, the armlets of the sea,
and the more open and thinly-timbered plains of the interior, often in
the most dry and arid situations far distant from water; and it would
appear that, as is the case with many of the insectivorous birds of
Australia, a supply of that element is not essential to its existence,
since, from the localities it is often found breeding in, it must
necessarily pass long periods without being able to obtain it.
The brilliant and metallic lustre of its plumage renders it a
conspicuous object in the bush: its loud piercing call, also, often
betrays its presence, particularly during the season of incubation, when
the bird becomes more and more clamorous as the tree in which its eggs
are deposited is approached by the intruder. The note most frequently
uttered is a loud _pee-pee_, continued at times to a great length,
resembling a cry of distress. It sits very upright, generally perching
on a small dead branch for hours together, merely flying down to capture
its prey, and in most instances returning again to the site it has just
left. Its food is of a very mixed character, and varies with the nature
of the localities it inhabits. It greedily devours the manti,
grasshoppers and caterpillars, not refusing lizards and very small
snakes, all of which are swallowed whole, the latter being killed by
beating their heads against a stone or other hard substance, after the
manner of the Common Kingsfisher. Specimens killed in the neighbourhood
of salt-marshes had their stomachs literally crammed with crabs and
other crustaceous animals; while engaged in the capture of which it may
be observed sitting silently on the low mangrove-bushes skirting the
pools which every receding tide leaves either dry or with a surface of
wet mud, upon which crabs are to be found in abundance. I have never
seen it plunge into the water after fish like the true Kingsfishers, and
I believe it never resorts to that mode of obtaining its prey. On the
banks of the Hunter its most favourite food is the larvæ of a species of
ant, which it procures by excavating holes in the nests of this insect
which are constructed around the boles and dead branches of the
_Eucalypti_, and which resemble excrescences of the tree itself.
The season of nidification commences in October and lasts till December,
the hollow spouts of the gum and boles of the apple trees being
generally selected as a receptacle for the eggs, which are four or five
in number, perfectly white, one inch and a line in length, and ten lines
in diameter.
The sexes present no difference either in their size or colouring, and
the young are only distinguished by being of a less brilliant hue, and
by the wing-coverts and feathers of the breast being edged with brown.
Crown of the head, back, and scapularies dull green; wings and tail
green, slightly tinged with blue; ear-coverts, and an obscure circle
bounding the green of the head, greenish black; rump verditer green;
throat white; line from the nostrils over the eye, nuchal band, and all
the under surface buff, becoming deeper on the flanks; bill black, the
basal portion of the under mandible flesh-white; feet flesh-red, tinged
with brown; irides dark brown.
The Plate represents an old and a young bird of the natural size.
[Illustration:
HALCYON PYRRHOPYGIA: _Gould_.
_J. & E. Gould del,^t_ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]
HALCYON PYRRHOPYGIA, _Gould_.
Red-backed Halcyon.
_Halcyon pyrrhopygia_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., September 8,
1840.
This new Halcyon is an inhabitant of the interior, but over what extent
of country it may range is not yet known. The only parts where I
observed it was the myall-brushes (_Acacia pendula_) of the Lower Namoi,
particularly those growing on the edge of the large plain skirting the
Nundawar range of Major Sir Thomas Mitchell. It was usually seen sitting
very upright on the dead branches of the myall- and gum-trees, sometimes
on those growing out on the hot plains, at others on those close by the
river-side. I succeeded in obtaining both old and young birds, which,
judging from the size of the latter, I should suppose had left their
breeding-place about a month before I arrived in the neighbourhood of
the Namoi, in December. I also saw in this district the common or Sacred
Halcyon, but in far less abundance than between the ranges and the
coast. This latter species may be hereafter found to be more exclusively
an inhabitant of the country bordering the sea, while the Red-backed
Halcyon may be exclusively a denizen of the distant interior. The
unusual colouring of the back at once distinguishes it from all the
other members of the genus inhabiting Australia, but in its general
economy and mode of living it presents no observable difference.
Whether it remains during the whole of the year, or is a migratory bird
like the common species, I was not able to learn; for although Mr.
Charles Coxen had previously informed me of the existence of such a
Halcyon on the Namoi, he could give me no further account of it.
Crown of the head dull green, intermingled with white, giving it a
striated appearance: a broad black stripe commences at the base of the
bill, passes through the eye, and encircles the back of the head; upper
part of the back and scapularies green; remainder of the wings bluish
green; lower part of the back, rump, and upper tail-coverts red; tail
green, tinged with blue; throat, a broad collar encircling the back of
the neck, and all the under surface white; bill black, the base of the
lower mandible flesh-white; irides blackish brown; feet dark
olive-brown.
The figure is of the natural size.
[Illustration:
HALCYON SORDIDUS: _Gould_.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]
HALCYON SORDIDUS, _Gould_.
Sordid Halcyon.
_Halcyon sordidus_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part X. p. 72.
I possess two specimens of this species of _Halcyon_, which were killed
by Mr. Bynoe on the north coast of Australia; unfortunately they were
unaccompanied by any information respecting their habits and economy;
they appear to be fully adult, and equal in size the _Halcyon
collaris_,—a species, which, although said to be Australian, I have no
authentic evidence of its ever having been killed therein.
Head, back, scapularies and wing-coverts brownish oil-green; wings
greenish blue, gradually changing into green on the tips of the
tertiaries; collar round the back of the neck and all the under surface
buffy white; tail greenish blue; upper mandible and tip of the lower one
black; base of the latter flesh-white.
The figures are of the natural size.
[Illustration: