_J. Gould and H. C. Richter, del^t_ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]
ARTAMUS MINOR, _Vieill._
Little Wood Swallow.
_Artamus minor_, Vieill. Nouv. Dict. d’Hist. Nat., tom. xvii. p.
298.—Ib. Ency. Méth., Part II. p. 759.
_Ocypterus fuscatus_, Valenc. Mém. du Mus. d’Hist. Nat., tom. vi. p.
24. t. 9. fig. 1.
_Leptopteryx minor_, Wagl. Syst. Av., sp. 6.
_Ocypterus minor_, Gould, Syn. Birds of Australia, Part I. fig. 1.
In its structure and in the disposition of the markings of its plumage,
this species offers a greater resemblance to the _Artamus sordidus_ than
to any other member of the group; the habits of the two species are also
very similar; if any difference exists, it is that the present bird is
still more aërial, a circumstance indicated by the more feeble form of
the foot, and the equal, if not greater, development of the wing. During
fine weather, and even in the hottest part of the day, it floats about
in the air in the most easy and graceful manner, performing in the
course of its evolutions many beautiful curves and circles, without the
least apparent motion of the wings, whose silvery whiteness as seen from
beneath, together with the snowy tips of its wide-spread tail, offer a
strong contrast to the dark colouring of the other parts of its plumage.
I found it abundant on the Lower Namoi, particularly on the plains
thinly studded with the _Acacia pendula_ and other low trees in the
neighbourhood of Gummel-Gummel, where it had evidently been breeding, as
I observed numerous young ones, whose primaries were not sufficiently
developed to admit of their performing a migration of any distance;
besides which, they were constantly being fed by the parents, who were
hawking about in the air over and around the trees, while the young were
quietly perched on some dead twig, as represented in the accompanying
Plate, where two adults and three young are figured, in the manner in
which they are seen huddled together in a state of nature.
I have not yet heard of this species having been seen within the
prescribed limits of the colony of New South Wales, neither is it a
native of Southern or Western Australia.
I have received two specimens from Port Essington, and I believe the
examples in the Paris Museum were from Timor, which proves that it has a
wide range northwards of the Namoi; and I shall not be surprised if
future research should ascertain it to be very generally distributed
over the interior of the Australian continent, not as a summer visitant
only, but as a permanent resident.
The sexes are alike in plumage, but the young differ considerably, as
shown in the Plate, a reference to which will give a more correct idea
of their appearance and markings than any description.
The whole of the head, back, and abdomen chocolate-brown; wings, rump,
and under tail-coverts bluish black; tail deep bluish black, all the
feathers except the two outer and two middle ones tipped with white;
bill beautiful violet-blue at the base, darker at the tip; irides and
feet nearly black.
The figures are of the natural size.
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