_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]
COLLURICINCLA SELBII, _Jard._
Selby’s Colluricincla.
_Colluricincla Selbii_, Jard. in Jard. and Selby’s Ill. Orn., vol. i.
note to text of pl. 71.
—— _rectirostris_, Jard. and Selby’s Ill. Orn., vol. iv. pl. xxxi.
—— _strigata_, Swains. Anim. in Menag. &c., p. 283, female or young
male.
_Whistling Dick_, of the Colonists of Van Diemen’s Land.
The _Colluricincla Selbii_ is a native of, and a permanent resident in,
Van Diemen’s Land and Flinders’ Island, over all parts of which it is
very generally, but nowhere very abundantly, distributed; it appears to
give a decided preference to the thick woods, wherein its presence may
always be detected by its loud, clear, liquid and melodious whistle. It
is distinguished from all the other members of the genus by the greater
length of the bill, and by the female having a broad stripe of rust-red
over the eye. It does not appear to confine itself to any particular
part of the forest, for it may sometimes be observed on the low scrub
near the ground, and at others on the topmost branches of the highest
trees.
It feeds on caterpillars and insects of various kinds, which it often
procures by tearing off the bark from the branches of the trees in the
most dexterous manner with its powerful bill, and while thus employed
frequently pours forth its remarkable note. In disposition it is lively
and animated, confident and fearless, and might doubtless be easily
tamed, when it would become a most interesting bird for the aviary.
The nest, although composed of coarse materials, is a remarkably neat
structure, round, rather deep and cup-shaped, outwardly formed of strips
of the rind of the stringy bark-tree and lined with a few grasses; it is
about five inches in diameter and four in height, the interior being
three inches and a half in breadth by two and a half in depth. The sites
usually selected for the nest are the hollow open stump of a tree, a
cleft in a rock, &c.
The sexes, which differ considerably from each other, may be thus
described:—
The male has the general plumage dark slate-grey, deepening into brown
on the back and wings, much paler on the under surface, and fading into
white on the throat and breast; over the eye a faint stripe of greyish
white; bill black; irides brown; feet light lead-colour.
The female has all the upper surface, wings and tail brown; upper
tail-coverts slate-grey; over the eye a stripe of rust-red; under
surface light grey tinged with brown on the throat and breast, and each
feather with a stripe of dark brown down the centre; bill horn-colour at
the base, black at the tip.
The young is similar to the female, but has the stripes of the under
surface much broader and more conspicuous, the line over the eye of a
deeper red, and the tail grey.
The Plate represents a male, a female, and a young bird of the natural
size.
[Illustration:
COLLURICINCLA PARVULA: _Gould_.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]
COLLURICINCLA PARVULA, _Gould_.
Little Colluricincla.
_Colluricincla parvula_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., May 27, 1845.
This species, to which I have given the name of _parvula_, from the
circumstance of its being the smallest of the genus that has come under
my notice, is a native of Port Essington and the neighbouring parts of
the northern coast of Australia. Mr. Gilbert, to whose notes I must
refer for all that is known about it, states that it is an inhabitant of
the thickets; is an extremely shy bird, and is generally seen on or near
the ground. Its note is a fine thrush-like tone, very clear, loud and
melodious. The stomach is muscular, and the food consists of insects of
various kinds, but principally of coleoptera. The nest and eggs were
brought me by a native; they were taken from the hollow part of a tree
about four feet from the ground; the former, which was too much injured
to be preserved, was formed of small twigs and narrow strips of the bark
of a _Melaleuca_. The eggs were two in number, of a beautiful pearly
flesh-white, regularly spotted all over with dull reddish orange and
umber-brown; like the eggs of the other species of the genus, they are
also sprinkled over with bluish markings, which appear as if beneath the
surface of the shell; their medium length is one inch, and breadth nine
lines.
The sexes are so nearly alike in plumage, that they are not readily
distinguished from each other; but the male is somewhat larger than his
mate.
All the upper surface, wings and tail olive-brown; a faint line over the
eye and the chin white; all the under surface pale buff, the feathers of
the throat and breast with a broad stripe of brown down the centre;
irides dark brownish red; bill blackish grey; tarsi bluish grey.
The figures are of the natural size.
[Illustration: