_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]
MONARCHA TRIVIRGATA.
Black-fronted Flycatcher.
_Drymophila trivirgata_, Temm. Pl. Col. 418, fig. 1.
_Monarcha trivirgata_, Gould in Syn. Birds of Australia, Part II.
Although the _Monarcha trivirgata_ has been known to naturalists for
many years it is still a scarce bird, very few specimens occurring in
any of the numerous collections sent home from Australia, which is
doubtless occasioned by its true habitat not having been yet discovered.
All the specimens I have seen have been procured in the Moreton Bay
district of the east coast.
I have never yet seen what may be considered the female of this bird;
all the examples that have come under my notice being males and marked
precisely alike, with the exception of one procured during the early
part of Dr. Leichardt’s expedition from Moreton Bay to Port Essington,
which differs in being destitute of the rufous tint on the flanks.
Forehead, throat, space round the eye, and the ears jet-black; upper
surface dark grey; tail black, the three outer feathers on each side
largely tipped with white; cheeks, chest and flanks rufous; abdomen and
tail-coverts white; bill lead-colour; feet black.
The figures are of the natural size, and represent the bird as usually
seen, and also the variation in colouring above-mentioned.
[Illustration:
GERYGONE ALBOGULARIS: _Gould_.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]
GERYGONE ALBOGULARIS, _Gould_.
White-throated Gerygone.
_Psilopus albogularis_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part V. p. 147;
and in Syn. Birds of Australia, Part IV.
This sprightly and active little bird is a stationary species and is
abundantly dispersed over all parts of New South Wales, but evinces a
greater preference for the open forests of _Eucalypti_ than for the
brushes near the coast. I found it in considerable numbers in every part
of the Upper Hunter district, nearly always among the gum-trees, and
constantly uttering a peculiar and not very harmonious strain. Like its
near allies it is very active among the small leafy branches of the
trees, where it searches with the greatest avidity for insects, upon
which it almost exclusively subsists; resorting for this purpose to
trees of all heights, from the low sapling of two yards high to those of
the loftiest growth.
I believe that a species very nearly allied to the present inhabits the
north coast of Australia: it is very readily distinguished by the
markings of the tail; and must not be confounded with the bird here
represented.
I have killed young birds in January which had not long left the nest,
but was not so fortunate as to discover the nest itself.
The sexes are nearly alike in plumage; but the young of the year are
distinguished from the adult by the throat being of the same colour as
the breast, instead of white.
Crown of the head, ear-coverts, and all the upper surface olive-brown;
throat white; chest and all the under surface bright citron-yellow; two
centre tail-feathers brown, the remainder brown at the base, above which
is a bar of white, succeeded by a broader one of deep blackish brown;
the tips of all but the two middle ones buffy white on their inner web;
bill blackish brown; irides scarlet; feet blackish brown in some
specimens, and leaden brown in others.
The figures represent an adult and a young bird of the year of the
natural size.
[Illustration:
GERYGONE FUSCA: _Gould_.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]
GERYGONE FUSCA, _Gould_.
Fuscous Gerygone.
_Psilopus fuscus_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part V. p. 147; and
in Syn. Birds of Australia, Part IV.
_Gerygone fusca_, Gould in De Strzelecki’s Phys. Descr. of New South
Wales and Van Diemen’s Land, p. 321.
The _Gerygone fusca_ is an inhabitant of New South Wales, where it is to
be found in all the brushes near the coast, as well as in the cedar and
other brushes on the sides of the ranges in the interior. As its form
would lead us to imagine, it has much of the habit of the Flycatcher,
and lives almost exclusively upon insects, such as aphides and other
swift-winged species, which are as frequently taken on the wing as they
are on the under sides of leaves, &c. It particularly loves to dwell in
the most retired and gloomy part of the forest, among the creeping
Bignonias, &c., and is a most active and lively little bird, flitting
about from branch to branch; sometimes, like the true Flycatchers,
returning again to the same branch, and at others hanging to the smaller
branches and scrutinizing the under sides of the leaves, after the
manner of the _Acanthizæ_.
Its song, which is almost incessantly poured forth, is a pleasing,
twittering sound.
The breeding-season comprises the months of September, October and
November. The nest is a delicate and beautiful structure of a domed
oblong form, the lower end terminating in a point, with the entrance at
the side near the top covered with a well-formed spout, which completely
excludes both sun and rain from the interior of the nest; it is about
eight inches in height and ten in circumference; the spout projecting
about two inches, and the entrance being scarcely an inch in diameter.
The body of a nest found in the brushes of the Hunter was composed of
green moss, mouse-eared lichen, soft wiry grasses, the inner bark of
trees and other materials, and was lined with extremely soft grasses.
The eggs are three in number, and are very similar, both in size and
colour, to those of the _Malurus cyaneus_, being minutely speckled with
red on a white ground; they are seven and a half lines long by five and
a half lines broad.
The sexes are alike in colour.
Crown of the head, all the upper surface and wings dark fuscous brown,
slightly tinged with olive; two centre tail-feathers brown; the
remainder white at the base, succeeded by a broad band of deep blackish
brown, round which is a broad stripe of white, which entirely crosses
the outer feathers, but only the inner webs of the remainder, the tips
pale brown; throat and chest grey; abdomen and under tail-coverts white;
bill and feet deep blackish brown; irides bright brownish red.
The Plate represents the bird of the natural size.
[Illustration:
GERYGONE CULICIVORUS: _Gould_.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]
GERYGONE CULICIVORUS, _Gould_.
Western Gerygone.
_Psilopus culicivorus_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part VIII. p.
174.
_War̈-ryle-bur-dang_, Aborigines of the lowlands of Western Australia.
This species is plentifully dispersed over the colony of Swan River in
Western Australia, where it inhabits forests, scrubs, and all situations
where flowering-trees abound, and where it is seen either in pairs or in
small groups of four or five in number. Its food consists wholly of
aphides and other small insects, which are captured on the wing or from
off the flowers; it sometimes traverses the smaller branches, and even
the upright boles of trees, prying about and searching for its prey with
the most scrutinizing care. Its powers of flight are rarely exerted for
any other purpose than to convey it from shrub to shrub, and for its
little sallies in pursuit of insects, much after the manner of the true
Flycatchers.
Its notes are very varied, being at one time a singing kind of whistle,
and at others a somewhat pleasing and plaintive melody; but it has a
singular habit of uttering, when flitting from tree to tree, a
succession of notes and half-notes, some of which are harmoniously
blended, while others are equally discordant, and resemble a person
producing notes at random on an instrument with which he is
unacquainted.
It is said by the natives to breed in September and October.
The nest is suspended by the top to the extremity of a branch, and is
formed of threads of bark, small spiders’ nests, green moss, &c., all
felted together with cobwebs and vegetable fibres, and warmly lined with
feathers; it is about eight inches in length, pointed at the top and at
the bottom, and about nine inches in circumference in the middle; the
entrance is a small round hole, about three inches from the top, with a
slight projection immediately above it. I did not succeed in procuring
the eggs.
The sexes are alike in plumage.
All the upper surface olive-brown; wings brown margined with olive; two
centre tail-feathers brown; the remainder white, crossed by an irregular
band of black and tipped with brown, the band upon all but the external
feathers so blending with the brown at the tip that the white between
merely forms a spot on the inner web; lores blackish brown; line over
the eye, throat and chest light grey, passing into buff on the flanks,
and into white on the centre of the abdomen and under tail-coverts;
irides light reddish yellow; bill and feet black.
The Plate represents a male and a female of the natural size.
[Illustration:
GERYGONE MAGNIROSTRIS: _Gould_.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]
GERYGONE MAGNIROSTRIS, _Gould_.
Great-billed Gerygone.
_Gerygone magnirostris_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part X. p. 133.
Of this species I regret to say but little information has as yet been
received; the two examples in my collection are all that have come under
my notice, and these were shot by Mr. Gilbert on Greenhill Island near
Port Essington, while hovering over the blossoms of the mangroves and
engaged in capturing the smaller kinds of insects upon which it feeds,
during which occupation he observed that it gave utterance to an
extremely weak twittering song: unfortunately he had no further
opportunity of making himself acquainted with its habits and manners,
which, however, doubtless resemble those of the other members of the
genus.
All the upper surface brown; margins of the primaries slightly tinged
with olive; tail-feathers crossed near the extremity by an indistinct
broad band of brownish black; all the under surface white, tinged with
brownish buff; irides light brown; bill olive-brown; the base of the
lower mandible pearl-white; feet greenish grey.
The Plate represents male and female of the natural size.
[Illustration:
GERYGONE LÆVIGASTER: _Gould_.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]
GERYGONE LÆVIGASTER, _Gould_.
Buff-breasted Gerygone.
_Gerygone lævigaster_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part X. p. 133.
Mr. Gilbert killed several specimens of this little bird on the Cobourg
Peninsula, and on the islands in Van Diemen’s Gulf, and sometimes
observed a solitary individual among the mangroves near the settlement
of Port Essington. He states that it has a very pleasing but weak piping
note, and occasionally utters a number of notes in slow succession, but
not so much lengthened as those of the _Gerygone culicivorus_ of Swan
River; like that bird it hovers up and down the smaller branches of the
trees and creeps about the thickets. It is very tame, and scarcely ever
flies from the tree upon the approach of an intruder, but sits turning
its little head about from side to side until the hand is almost upon
it, when it merely hops upon another branch and again quietly looks
about, apparently quite unconcerned.
The stomach is tolerably muscular, and the food consists of small
insects, principally of the soft-winged kinds.
A narrow obscure line, commencing at the nostrils and passing over the
eye, yellowish white; all the upper surface rusty brown; primaries
brown, margined with lighter brown; tail whitish at the base, gradually
deepening into nearly black, the lateral feather largely, and the
remainder, except the two middle ones, slightly tipped with white; all
the under surface white, slightly washed with yellow; irides light
reddish brown; bill olive-brown; base of lower mandible light ash-grey;
feet dark greenish grey.
The figures represent the two sexes of the natural size.
[Illustration:
GERYGONE CHLORONOTUS: _Gould_.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]
GERYGONE CHLORONOTUS, _Gould_.
Green-backed Gerygone.
_Gerygone chloronotus_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part X. p. 133.
This species is an inhabitant of the northern parts of Australia: it is
tolerably abundant at Port Essington, where it dwells among the
extensive beds of mangroves which stretch along the coast. It is of a
very shy and retiring disposition, and as the colouring of its back
assimilates very closely to that of the leaves of the mangroves, it is a
very difficult bird to sight as it creeps about among the thick branches
in search of insects, upon which it solely subsists. In form and in most
of its habits and economy it offers some difference from the typical
members of the genus _Gerygone_, and it would be no great stretch of
propriety to assign to it a new generic appellation: the more lengthened
form of its legs, the more rigid structure of its primaries, and the
lesser development of the bristles at the gape, are among the points in
which it differs from the _Gerygone fuscus_ of the brushes of New South
Wales. The latter feeds upon the smallest kinds of gnats and other soft
insects which it captures in the air; on the other hand, the structure
of the present bird would lead us to infer that the insects it feeds
upon are procured either on the leaves or about the branches.
The sexes are so precisely similar in plumage, and differ so little in
size, that dissection must be resorted to to distinguish the one from
the other.
Head and back of the neck brownish grey; back, wing-coverts, rump, upper
tail-coverts, margins of the primaries, and the margins of the basal
half of the tail-feathers bright olive-green; primaries and
tail-feathers brown, the latter becoming much darker towards the
extremity; under surface white; sides and vent olive-yellow; irides
wood-brown; upper mandible greenish grey; lower mandible white; feet
blackish grey.
The Plate represents the two sexes of the natural size.
[Illustration:
SMICRORNIS BREVIROSTRIS: _Gould_.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]
SMICRORNIS BREVIROSTRIS, _Gould_.
Short-billed Smicrornis.
_Psilopus brevirostris_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part V. p. 147.
_Geah-ter-but_, Aborigines of the mountain districts of Western
Australia.
Until more information has been acquired respecting the members of this
genus, I shall regard the species from Swan River and New South Wales as
the same, although some trivial differences exist in the examples from
those distant localities.
It is a constant inhabitant of the leafy branches of the _Eucalypti_,
and resorts alike to those of a dwarf stature and those of the loftiest
growth. While searching for insects, in which it is incessantly engaged,
it displays all the scrutinizing habits of the _Pari_ or Tits, clinging
about the finest twigs of the outermost branches, prying underneath and
above the leaves and among the flowers, uttering all the while or very
frequently a low simple song. I found it abundant in every part of South
Australia I visited, particularly in the neighbourhood of Adelaide and
in the gulleys of the ranges skirting the belts of the Murray; in New
South Wales it was frequently seen at Yarrundi, and other parts of the
Upper Hunter district. Mr. Gilbert states that in Western Australia he
only met with it in the York district, that it was always seen on the
branches of trees, where it feeds on larvæ and small insects, that its
flight was of very short duration, merely flitting from tree to tree,
and that its note is a weak twitter, a good deal resembling that of the
_Acanthiza chrysorrhœa_.
It breeds in September and the two following months, and forms a nest of
the downy buds of plants, mixed with green moss, the cocoons of spiders,
&c., all matted and bound together very firmly and closely with spiders’
webs, and the inside lined at the bottom with feathers; it is globular
in form, and is attached by the back part to an upright branch, with the
entrance in the side, the upper part over the entrance being carried out
to a point which shades the opening like the eaves of a house. The eggs
are three in number, of a dull buff, marked with extremely fine freckles
at the larger end; they are six and a half lines long by four and a half
lines broad.
A narrow stripe of yellowish white passes from the bill over each eye;
crown of the head brownish grey, passing into olive at the back of the
neck; back, rump and upper tail-coverts olive, brightest on the latter;
ear-coverts and sides of the face very pale reddish brown; throat and
chest white tinged with olive, with a faint longitudinal mark of brown
down the centre of each feather, the remainder of the under surface pale
citron-yellow; two centre tail-feathers brown; the remainder brown at
the base, the middle being crossed by a broad band of blackish brown,
which is succeeded by a spot of white on the inner webs, the tips pale
brown; feet blackish brown; irides pale straw-yellow; bill varying from
fleshy white to ashy grey.
The figures represent the two sexes, which are similar in plumage, of
the natural size.
[Illustration:
SMICRORNIS FLAVESCENS: _Gould_.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]
SMICRORNIS FLAVESCENS, _Gould_.
Yellow-tinted Smicrornis.
_Smicrornis flavescens_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part X. p. 134.
This is the least of the Australian birds I have yet seen, scarcely
exceeding the smallest Humming-bird. It is tolerably abundant on many
parts of the northern coasts of Australia, and particularly on the
Cobourg Peninsula; it inhabits most of the high trees in the
neighbourhood of Port Essington, keeping to their topmost branches, and
there seeking its insect food among the leaves, over which it creeps and
clings in every possible variety of position. From the circumstance of
its confining itself exclusively to the topmost branches of the trees,
it is not easily procured, its diminutive size preventing its being
seen.
There is no outward difference in the sexes, either in plumage or in
magnitude. Future research, and a longer sojourn in the country than has
hitherto been afforded for the investigation of the natural productions
of those distant parts, are requisite to determine whether it be
migratory or not, and to procure correct information respecting its
nidification.
All the upper surface bright yellowish olive; the feathers of the head
with an indistinct line of brown down the centre; wings brown; tail
brown, deepening into black near the extremity, and with a large oval
spot of white on the inner web near the tip of all but the two central
feathers; all the under surface bright yellow.
The Plate represents the two sexes of the natural size.
------------------------------------------------------------------------