_J. Gould and H. C. Richter, del^t_ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]
ARTAMUS CINEREUS, _Vieill._
Grey-breasted Wood Swallow.
_Artamus cinereus_, Vieill. Nouv. Dict. d’Hist. Nat., tom. xvii. p.
297.—Ib. Ency. Méth., Part II. p. 758.—Vig. and Horsf. in
Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p. 211.
_Ocypterus cinereus_, Valanc. Mém. du Mus. d’Hist. Nat., tom. vi. p.
22. t. 9. fig. 1.
_Be-wö-wen_, Aborigines of the lowland and mountain districts of
Western Australia.
_Wood Swallow_ of the colonists of ditto.
This bird exceeds in size all other of the Australian Wood Swallows, and
as far as I am aware (not having seen the species from Madagascar,
figured in the “Planches Enluminées,”) is the largest of the genus. Its
large tail, most of the feathers of which are broadly tipped with white,
as well as the colouring of its plumage, at once point out its close
affinity to the _Artamus sordidus_ and _Artamus minor_. Like them it
possesses a very extensive range of habitat, Mr. Robert Brown having
found it at Broad Sound on the east, and Mr. Gilbert on the west coast;
it is also a native of Timor.
In Western Australia, although a very local, it is by no means an
uncommon species, particularly at Swan River, where it inhabits the
limestone hills near the coast, and the “Clear Hills” of the interior,
assembling in small families, and feeding upon the seeds of the
_Xanthorrhœa_ which proves that insects do not form the sole diet of
this species; with such avidity in fact does it devour the ripe seeds of
this grass-tree, that several birds may frequently be seen crowded
together on the perpendicular seed-stalks of this plant busily engaged
in extracting them; at other times, particularly among the limestone
hills, where there are but few trees, it descends to the broken rocky
ground in search of insects and their larvæ.
It breeds in October and November, making a round compact nest, in some
instances of fibrous roots, lined with fine hair-like grasses, in others
of the stems of grasses and small plants; it is built either in a
scrubby bush or among the grass-like leaves of the _Xanthorrhœa_, and is
deeper and more cup-shaped than those of the other members of the group.
The eggs are subject to considerable variation in colour and in the
character of their markings; they are usually bluish white, spotted and
blotched with lively reddish brown, intermingled with obscure spots and
dashes of purplish grey; all the markings being most numerous towards
the larger end; they are about eleven lines long by eight lines broad.
The sexes are alike in colour, and can only be distinguished from each
other with certainty by dissection. I have remarked that specimens from
Timor rather exceed in size those collected on the Australian continent,
and are somewhat lighter in colour; but these variations are too slight
to be regarded as specific.
Crown of the head, neck, throat and chest grey, passing into sooty grey
on the abdomen; space between the bill and the eye, the forepart of the
cheek, the chin, the upper and under tail-coverts jet-black; two middle
tail-feathers black; the remainder black, largely tipped with white,
with the exception of the outer feather on each side, in which the black
colouring extends on the outer web nearly to the tip; wings deep grey;
primaries bluish grey; under surface of the shoulder white, passing into
grey on the under side of the primaries; irides dark blackish brown;
bill light greyish blue at the base, black at the tip; legs and feet
greenish grey.
The figures are those of a male and a female of the natural size.
[Illustration:
ARTAMUS ALBIVENTRIS: _Gould_.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]
ARTAMUS ALBIVENTRIS, _Gould_.
White-vented Wood Swallow.
_Artamus albiventris_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., March 23, 1847.
Two examples of this species are all that have come under my notice; one
of these was killed on the Darling Downs in New South Wales, and the
other some distance to the northward of that locality, it being one of
the birds procured during Dr. Leichardt’s expedition to Port Essington.
Its nearest ally is the _Artamus cinereus_, a species inhabiting the
opposite side of the continent; but it is somewhat smaller, and may
moreover be distinguished from that bird by the white under
tail-coverts, and the lighter colour of the lower part of the abdomen. I
regret that I have no information to communicate respecting its habits
and economy; they are doubtless very similar to those of its
representative above alluded to.
Lores, space beneath the eye and the chin deep black; head, neck and
upper part of the back brownish grey; lower part of the back and the
wings dark grey, becoming gradually deeper towards the tips of the
feathers; primaries and secondaries narrowly edged with white at the
tip; under surface of the wing white; ear-coverts, chest and abdomen
pale grey, passing into white on the under tail-coverts; upper
tail-coverts and tail black; the apical third of all but the two middle
ones white; irides dark brown; bill yellowish horn-colour, becoming
black at the tip; feet blackish brown.
The figures are of the natural size.
[Illustration:
ARTAMUS PERSONATUS: _Gould_.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter, del^t_ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]
ARTAMUS PERSONATUS, _Gould_.
Masked Wood Swallow.
_Ocypterus personatus_, Gould, in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part VIII. p.
149.
_Jil̈-bung_, Aborigines of the mountain districts of Western
Australia.
I have much pleasure in adding this new and highly interesting species
of _Artamus_ to the Wood Swallows of Australia, a country peculiarly
adapted for this tribe of birds, and of which the fauna comprises a
greater number of species of this group than that of any other. My
knowledge of the range of this species is very limited; a single
specimen was sent me from South Australia, while the fine examples from
which my figures were taken were killed by Mr. Gilbert in the colony of
Swan River. Its richly coloured black face and throat, separated from
the delicate grey of the breast by a narrow line of snowy white, at once
distinguishes it from every other species, while the strong contrast of
these colours renders it a conspicuous object among the trees.
In size and structure it more nearly resembles the _Artamus
superciliosus_ than any other, and the two species form beautiful
analogues of each other, one being in all probability confined to the
eastern portion of the country, and the other to the western.
“I have only met,” says Mr. Gilbert, “with this species in the York and
Zoodyay districts. It is very like _Artamus sordidus_ in its habits, but
is more shy and retired, never being seen but in the most secluded parts
of the bush. It is merely a summer visitant here, generally making its
appearance in the latter part of October, and immediately commencing the
task of incubation. Its voice very much resembles the chirping of the
English Sparrow.
“Its nest is placed in the upright fork of a dead tree, or in the hollow
part of the stump of a grass-tree; it is neither so well nor so neatly
formed as those of the other species of the group, being a frail
structure externally composed of a very few extremely small twigs, above
which is a layer of fine dried grasses. The eggs also differ as
remarkably as the nest, their ground colour being light greenish grey,
dashed and speckled with hair-brown principally at the larger end, and
slightly spotted with grey, appearing as if beneath the surface of the
shell; they are ten and a half lines long by eight and a half lines
broad. I found two nests in a York Gum Forest, about five miles to the
east of the Avon River: each of these contained two eggs, which I
believe is the usual number.
“Its food consists of insects generally and their larvæ.”
The male has the face, ear-coverts and throat jet-black, bounded below
with a narrow line of white; crown of the head sooty black, gradually
passing into the deep grey, which covers the whole of the upper surface,
wings and tail; the latter tipped with white; all the under surface very
delicate grey; thighs dark grey; irides blackish brown; bill blue at the
base, becoming black at the tip; legs and feet mealy bluish grey.
The female differs in having the colouring of the bill and the black
mask on the face much paler.
The figures are those of a male and a female of the natural size.
[Illustration:
ARTAMUS SUPERCILIOSUS: _Gould_.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter, del^t_ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]
ARTAMUS SUPERCILIOSUS, _Gould_.
White Eye-browed Wood Swallow.
_Ocypterus superciliosus_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part IV.
1836, p. 142; and in Syn. Birds of Australia, Part I. fig.
2.
There is no species of _Artamus_ yet discovered to which the present
yields the palm, either for elegance of form or for the beauty and
variety of its plumage; the only known species with which it could be
confounded is the _Artamus rufiventer_, an Indian bird with the breast
similarly marked, but which is entirely destitute of the superciliary
stripe of white, which has suggested the specific name; in this
character and in the rich chestnut colouring of the breast, it differs
from every member of its tribe inhabiting Australia. I am unable to say
what is the extent of its range, but I am induced to believe that it is
confined to Australia, and that in all probability it seldom leaves the
interior of the country; the extreme limits of the colony of New South
Wales, particularly those which border the extensive plains, being the
only parts where it has yet been observed. I first met with it at
Yarrundi on the Dartbrook, a tributary of the Hunter, where it was
thinly dispersed among the trees growing on the stony ridges bordering
the flats.
From this locality to as far as I penetrated northwards on the Namoi, as
well as in the direction of the River Peel, it was distributed in
similar numbers, intermingled with the _Artamus sordidus_, at about the
ratio of one hundred pairs to the square mile, the two species appearing
to live and perform the task of incubation in perfect harmony, both
being frequently observed on the same tree. In their dispositions,
however, and in many of their actions they are somewhat dissimilar; the
bird forming the subject of the present Plate being much more shy and
difficult of approach than the _Artamus sordidus_, which is at all times
very tame; it also gives a preference to the topmost branches of the
highest trees, from which it sallies forth for the capture of insects,
and to which it again returns, in the usual manner of the tribe. In
every part where I have observed it, it is strictly migratory, arriving
in summer, and departing northwards after the breeding-season.
The nest is ever most difficult of detection, being generally placed
either in a fork of the branches or in a niche near the bole of the
tree, whence the bark had been partially stripped. It is a round, very
shallow and frail structure, composed of small twigs and lined with
fibrous roots; those I discovered contained two eggs, but I had not
sufficient opportunities for ascertaining if this number was constant.
Their ground-colour is dull buffy white, spotted with umber-brown,
forming a zone near the larger end; in some these spots are sparingly
sprinkled over the whole surface; they have also the obscure grey
spotting like those of _A. sordidus_; the eggs are rather more than
eleven lines long by eight and a half lines broad.
The male has the lores, space surrounding the eye, and the ear-coverts
deep black; chin greyish black passing into blackish grey on the chest;
crown of the head greyish black; over each eye a pure white stripe
commencing in a point, and gradually becoming wider or spatulate in form
as it proceeds towards the occiput; all the upper surface, wings and
tail fuliginous grey, which is lightest on the rump and tail; all the
tail-feathers tipped with white, except the outer web of the lateral
feather, which is grey; under surface of the wing pure white; all the
under surface rich deep chestnut; irides nearly black; bill light blue
at the base, black at the tip; feet dark lead-colour.
The female has a similar distribution of colouring, but differs from her
mate in the following particulars: lores and a ring surrounding the eye
jet-black; only an indication of the superciliary stripe; throat grey;
tail not so distinctly tipped with white; under surface light
chestnut-red.
The figures are those of a male and a female of the natural size.
[Illustration:
ARTAMUS LEUCOPYGIALIS: _Gould_.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter, del^t_ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]
ARTAMUS LEUCOPYGIALIS, _Gould_.
White-rumped Wood Swallow.
_Artamus leucopygialis_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., February 8,
1842.
On a careful comparison of specimens of the White-rumped _Artami_ from
India and the Indian Archipelago with those killed in Australia, I
cannot but consider that at least two, if not three, species have been
confounded under one name, and that the Australian bird had remained
undescribed until characterized by me at the Meeting of the Zoological
Society above quoted. The present species is most nearly allied to the
_Artamus leucorhynchus_, but is readily distinguished from it by the
blue colour of the bill; and I may here remark, that all the Australian
birds have the bill fine pale blue, and are also considerably smaller in
all their admeasurements than those of the islands to the northwards.
Van Diemen’s Land and Western Australia are the only colonies in which
this bird has not been observed; its range, therefore, over the
continent may be considered as very general: in South Australia and New
South Wales it would appear to be migratory, visiting those parts in
summer for the purpose of breeding. Among other places where I observed
it in considerable abundance was Mosquito, and the other small islands
near the mouth of the Hunter, and on the borders of the rivers Mokai and
Namoi, situated to the northward of Liverpool Plains; in these
last-mentioned localities it was breeding among the large flooded
gum-trees bordering the rivers.
The breeding-season commences in September and continues until January,
during which period at least two broods are reared. In the Christmas
week of 1839, at which time I was on the plains of the interior, in the
direction of the Namoi, the young progeny of the second brood were
perched in pairs or threes together, on a dead twig near their nest, as
represented in the Plate. They were constantly visited and fed by the
adults, who were hawking about for insects in great numbers, some
performing their evolutions above the tops and among the branches of the
trees, while others were sweeping over the open plain with great
rapidity of flight, making in their progress through the air the most
rapid and abrupt turns; at one moment rising to a considerable altitude
and the next descending to within a few feet of the ground, as the
insects of which they were in pursuit arrested their attention. In the
brushes, on the contrary, the flight of this bird is more soaring and of
a much shorter duration, particularly when hawking in the open glades,
which frequently teem with insect life. When flying near the ground the
white mark on the rump shows very conspicuously, and strikingly reminds
one of the House Marten of our own country.
Two nests, taken in November on a small island in Coral Bay, near the
entrance of the harbour at Port Essington, were compactly formed of
dried wiry grass and the fine plants growing on the beach; they were
placed in a fork of a slender mangrove-tree within fifteen feet of the
water, in which they were growing; but like several other Australian
birds, the _Artamus leucopygialis_ often avails itself of the deserted
nests of other species instead of building one of its own. Most of those
I found breeding on the Mokai had possessed themselves of the forsaken
nest of the _Grallina Melanoleuca_, which they had rendered warm and of
the proper size by slightly lining it with grasses, fibrous roots, and
the narrow leaves of the _Eucalypti_. The eggs are generally three in
number, are much lighter in colour, and more minutely spotted than those
of any other species of the genus I have seen; their ground-colour is
flesh-white, finely freckled and spotted with faint markings of reddish
brown and grey, in some instances forming a zone at the larger end:
their medium length is ten lines, and breadth seven lines and a half.
The sexes are only to be distinguished by dissection, and may be
described thus: head, throat and back sooty grey; primaries and tail
brownish black washed with grey; chest, all the under surface and rump
pure white; irides brown; bill light bluish grey at the base, black at
the tip; legs and feet mealy greenish grey.
The Plate represents a male, a female, two young ones and a nest of the
natural size.
[Illustration: