_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]
OREOÏCA GUTTURALIS, _Gould_.
Crested Oreoïca.
_Falcunculus gutturalis_, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p.
212.
_Crested Thrush_, Lewin, Birds of New Holl., pl. 9. fem.
_Oreoïca gutturalis_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part V. p. 151;
and in Syn. Birds of Australia, Part IV.—G. R. Gray, List of
Gen. of Birds, 2nd edit., p. 48.
_Bo-kürn-bo-kürn_, Aborigines of the mountain districts of Western
Australia.
_Bell-bird_, Colonists of Swan River.
This very singular bird possesses an extremely wide range of habitat,
being dispersed over the whole of the southern portion of Australia from
east to west. It has not yet been discovered in Van Diemen’s Land or in
any of the islands in Bass’s Straits, neither has the extent of its
range northwards yet been ascertained. It is, I believe, everywhere a
stationary species, but although its distribution is so general, it is
nowhere very plentiful. From what I observed of it, it appeared to give
a decided preference to the naked sterile crowns of hills and open bare
glades in the forests, and I should say that its presence is indicative
of a poor and bad land. It resorts much to the ground, over the surface
of which it hops with great quickness, often in small companies of from
three to six in number. When flushed it flies but a short distance,
generally to a large horizontal branch of a neighbouring _Eucalyptus_,
along which it passes in a succession of quick hops, similar to those of
the Common Sparrow of Europe. It is very animated in many of its
actions, particularly the male, whose erected crest and white face,
relieved by the beautiful orange-colour of the eye, gives it a very
sprightly appearance. The female, on the other hand, being nearly
uniform in colour, having the eye hazel and the crest less developed, is
by no means so attractive. I regret much that it is not in my power to
convey an idea of the note uttered by this bird, which is singular in
the extreme; besides which it is a perfect ventriloquist, its peculiar,
mournful, piping whistle appearing to be at a considerable distance,
while the bird is perched on a large branch of a neighbouring tree. To
aid my recollections I find the following remarks in my
note-book:—“Note, a very peculiar piping whistle, sounding like
_weet-weet-weet-weet-oo_, the last syllable fully drawn out and very
melodious.” In Western Australia, where the real Bell-bird is never
found, this species has had that appellation given to it,—a term which
must appear ill-applied to those who have heard the note of the true
Bell-bird of the brushes of New South Wales, whose tinkling sound so
nearly resembles that of a distant sheep-bell as occasionally to deceive
the ears of a practised shepherd. My assistant Mr. Gilbert having also
noted down to the best of his power the singular note of this species, I
give it in his own words, but neither his description nor my own can
convey anything like an accurate idea of it; notes of birds, in fact,
are not to be described,—they must be heard to be understood. “The most
singular feature,” says Mr. Gilbert, “connected with this bird is, that
it is a perfect ventriloquist. At first its note commences in so low a
tone that it sounds as if at a considerable distance, and then gradually
increases in volume until it appears over the head of the wondering
hearer, the bird that utters it being all the while on the dead part of
a tree, perhaps not more than three or four yards distant; its
motionless attitude rendering its discovery very difficult. It has two
kinds of song, the most usual of which is a running succession of notes,
or two notes repeated together rather slowly, followed by a repetition
three times rather quickly, the last note resembling the sound of a bell
from its ringing tone; the other song is pretty nearly the same, only
that it concludes with a sudden and peculiar fall of two notes.”
It flies in heavy undulating sweeps, generally so near the ground that
it seems as if it would scarcely take the trouble to rise above the
scrub or small trees that may lie in its course.
In Western Australia its nest is formed of strings of bark, lined with a
few fine dried grasses, and is generally placed in a _Xanthorrea_ or
grass-tree, either in the upper part of the grass or rush above, or in
the fork of the trunk, and is of a deep cup-shaped form. It breeds in
October, and generally lays three eggs, which vary much in colour; the
ground-tint being bluish white, in some instances marked all over with
minute spots of ink-black, in others with long zigzag lines and blotches
of the same hue. In some these markings are confined to the larger end,
where they form a zone; in others they are equally spread all over the
surface, intermingled with the black markings; also blotches of grey
appear as if beneath the surface of the shell, and some eggs have been
found with the ground-colour of the larger end of a beautiful bluish
green.
In its nidification and in many of its actions it offers considerable
resemblance to the members of the genus _Colluricincla_.
It has a thick muscular gizzard, and its food consists of seeds, grain,
coleoptera, and the larvæ of all kinds of insects. In Western Australia
it often resorts to newly ploughed land, as it there finds an abundance
of grubs and caterpillars, its most favourite food.
The sexes present considerable difference in colour.
The male has the face white; feathers on the forepart of the head, along
the centre of the crest, line from the eye bounding the white of the
face, and a large gorget-shaped mark on the breast deep black; sides of
the head and crest grey; all the upper surface and flanks light brown;
wings brown margined with lighter brown; tail dark brown; centre of the
abdomen brownish white; vent and under tail-coverts buff; irides
beautiful orange, surrounded by a narrow black lash; bill black; legs
and feet blackish brown.
The female resembles the male, but differs in having the face and
forehead grey, only a line of black down the centre of the crest, the
chin dull white, in having a mere indication of the black gorget, the
irides hazel, and the feet olive- or dark brown.
The figures are of the natural size.
[Illustration:
DICRURUS BRACTEATUS: _Gould_.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]
DICRURUS BRACTEATUS, _Gould_.
Spangled Drongo.
_Dicrurus Balicassius_, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p.
211.
—— _bracteatus_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part x. p. 132.
Having carefully compared the bird here represented with the other
species of the genus inhabiting Africa, the continent of India and the
Indian islands, I find it to be quite distinct from the whole of them; I
have therefore assigned to it a separate specific title, and selected
that of _bracteatus_ as expressive of its beautifully spangled
appearance. Its range is very extensive, the bird being equally abundant
in all parts of the northern and eastern portions of Australia; it was
found by Captain Grey on the north-west coast, by Mr. Gilbert at Port
Essington, and it has also been observed in the neighbourhood of Moreton
Bay on the east coast. I did not encounter it myself during my rambles
in Australia; we are therefore indebted to Mr. Gilbert’s notes for all
that is known of its history. “This species,” says he, “is one of the
commonest birds of the Cobourg Peninsula, where it is generally seen in
pairs and may be met with in every variety of situation, but more
frequently among the thickets and mangroves than elsewhere. It is at all
times exceedingly active and is strictly insectivorous; its food
consisting entirely of insects of various kinds, but particularly those
belonging to the orders _Coleoptera_ and _Neuroptera_. Its mode of
flight and its voice are both exceedingly variable; its usual note is a
loud, disagreeably harsh, cackling or creaking whistle, so totally
different from that of any other bird, that having been once heard it is
readily recognised.
“I found five nests on the 16th of November, all of which contained
young birds, some of them nearly able to fly, and others apparently but
just emerged from the egg. The whole of these nests were exactly alike
and formed of the same material, the dry wiry climbing stalk of a common
parasitic plant, without any kind of lining; they were exceedingly
difficult to examine from their being placed on the weakest part of the
extremities of the horizontal branches of a thickly-foliaged tree at an
altitude of not less than thirty feet from the ground; they were of a
very shallow form, about five inches and a half in diameter; the eggs
would seem to be three or four in number, as three of the nests
contained three, and the other two four young birds in each.”
The head and the body both above and below are deep black, the feathers
of the head with a crescent, and those of the body, particularly of the
breast, with a spot of deep metallic green at the tip; wings and tail
deep glossy green; under wing-coverts black tipped with white; irides
brownish red; bill and feet blackish brown.
The Plate represents a specimen procured at Port Essington of the
natural size, and I may remark that examples obtained in that locality
are somewhat smaller than those killed on the north-western and eastern
coasts.
[Illustration:
RHIPIDURA ALBISCAPA: _Gould_.
_J. & E. Gould del._ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]
RHIPIDURA ALBISCAPA, _Gould_.
White-shafted Fantail.
_Rhipidura flabellifera_, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p.
247, excl. of Syn.—Swains. Nat. Lib. Orn., vol. x.:
Flycatchers, p. 124, pl. 10; and Class. of Birds, vol. ii.
p. 257.
_Rhipidura albiscapa_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., September 8,
1840.
It would appear that two species of Fantailed Flycatchers have hitherto
been confounded under one specific appellation; for if a comparison be
made, it will be obvious to every one, that the bird here represented is
quite distinct from that described and figured by Latham, in the sixth
volume of his “General History of Birds,” as _Motacilla flabellifera_,
and which he states is a native of New Zealand. It is true, the
Australian birds from different localities present considerable
variations in the depth of their colour, still they never have the
lateral tail-feathers entirely white as in the New Zealand bird:
specimens from Van Diemen’s Land are always much darker than those of
the continent, and have the tail-feathers less marked with white; others
from Western Australia, again, are somewhat lighter in colour, and have
the white markings of the tail more extensive than in those collected in
South Australia or New South Wales. The accompanying illustration
represents the darkest of these varieties, and with the nest and plant
(_Culcitium salicinum_) was drawn in Van Diemen’s Land.
Judging from what facts I could gather respecting the economy of the
White-shafted Fantail, I am induced to regard it as a permanent resident
rather than a migratory species, changing its localities according to
the season of the year; resorting to the more open parts during the
summer months, and retiring in autumn to thick brushes and warm secluded
gullies, where it still finds a supply of food, such as _aphides_ and
other small insects, upon which it almost exclusively subsists.
In Van Diemen’s Land I have seen it in the depth of winter in the
gullies on the sunny sides of Mount Wellington; and it is my opinion,
that instead of migrating they only retire at this season to such
localities as are sheltered from the bleak south-westerly winds which
then so generally prevail, and where insects are still to be found. The
bird is also subject to the same law on the continent of Australia; but
as the temperature of that country is more equable, its effects are not
so apparent; and in support of this opinion I may adduce the remark of
Caley, who says, “The species is very common about Paramatta; and I do
not recollect having missed it at any period of the year.”
It is generally found in pairs, but I have occasionally seen as many as
four or five together. It inhabits alike the topmost branches of the
highest trees, those of a more moderate growth, and the shrouded and
gloomy foliaged dells in the neighbourhood of rivulets: from these
retreats it darts out a short distance to capture insects, and in most
instances returns again to the same branch it had left. While in the air
it assumes a number of lively and beautiful positions, at one moment
mounting almost perpendicularly, constantly spreading out its tail to
the full extent, and frequently tumbling completely over in the descent;
at another it may be seen flitting through the branches, and seeking for
insects among the flowers and leaves, repeatedly uttering a sweet
twittering song.
The Fantail is rather a late breeder, scarcely ever commencing before
October, during which and the three following months it rears two, and
often three broods. Its elegant little nest, closely resembling a
wine-glass in shape, is woven together with exquisite skill, and is
generally composed of the inner bark of a species of _Eucalyptus_,
neatly lined with the down of the tree-fern intermingled with flowering
stalks of moss, and outwardly matted together with the webs of spiders,
which not only serve to envelope the nest, but are also employed to
strengthen its attachment to the branch on which it is constructed. The
situation of the nest is much varied: I have observed it in the midst of
dense brushes, in the more open forest, and placed on a branch
overhanging a mountain rivulet, but at all times within a few feet of
the ground. The eggs are invariably two in number, seven lines long;
their ground colour white, blotched all over, but particularly at the
larger end, with brown slightly tinged with olive: the young from the
nest assume so closely the colour and appearance of the adults, that
they are only to be distinguished by the secondaries and wing-coverts
being margined with brown, a feature lost after the first moult. The
adults are so precisely alike, that actual dissection is necessary to
determine the sexes.
In its disposition this little bird is one of the tamest imaginable,
allowing of a near approach without evincing the slightest timidity, and
will even enter the houses of persons resident in the bush in pursuit of
gnats and other insects. During the breeding-season, however, it
exhibits extreme anxiety at the sight of an intruder in the vicinity of
its nest, the site of which is always betrayed by its becoming more
agitated and active in its movements as he draws near: if approached
unobserved, it may be often seen mounting in the air and singing while
its mate is performing the duty of incubation.
From what I have here stated it will be seen that this species has a
most extensive range over the southern portion of Australia, and in all
probability it will be found in every part of that vast country.
Adult birds from Van Diemen’s Land have the whole of the upper surface,
ear-coverts, and a band across the chest sooty black, slightly tinged
with olive, the tail, crown of the head, and pectoral band being rather
the darkest; stripe over the eye, lunar-shaped mark behind the eye,
throat, tips of the wing-coverts, margins of the secondaries, shafts,
outer webs and tips of all but the two middle tail-feathers white; under
surface buff; eyes black; bill and feet brownish black.
The figures are of the natural size.
[Illustration: