_J. & E. Gould del^t._ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]
AMYTIS TEXTILIS.
Textile Wren.
_Malurus textilis_, Quoy et Gaim. Zool de l’Uranie, p. 107. pl. 23.
fig. 1.
The birds figured in this and the following Plate differ from each other
considerably in plumage, as well as in the structure of the bill, that
organ in the present bird being shorter and more robust than in _Amytis
striatus_.
Of the Textile Wren I killed and dissected many examples, but of the
following I only procured a single specimen, and never met with it but
in this one instance. I have considered it necessary to state this, as
it would have been more satisfactory to me to have had further proofs
from actual dissection and comparison, of their being really distinct,
although I have little doubt that such is the case. The bird figured in
the “Voyage de l’Uranie,” is doubtless referable to the one represented
on the opposite Plate, while that figured by M. Lesson in the Atlas to
his “Traité d’Ornithologie,” and which seems to have been the subject
from which he took his generic characters and description, as clearly
belongs to _A. striatus_.
The only place in which I observed the Textile Wren was the plains
bordering the Lower Namoi; and that its range extends far to the
northward and westward is certain, from the fact of the specimen figured
in the “Voyage” above-quoted having been procured on the north-west
coast.
In the various positions it assumes, in the elevated carriage of its
tail, and in its whole economy, it bears a close resemblance to the true
_Maluri_: like them also it wanders about in small troops of four or six
in number, always keeping within a short distance, and returning towards
the close of the day to its accustomed haunts. On the Lower Namoi, where
it is very abundant, it is found in all those parts of the plains that
are studded with scrubs and clumps of a low shrub-like tree, resembling
the Barilla of the coast, through and among which it creeps with
astonishing rapidity; indeed, its mode of progression on the ground is
such as no description can convey an accurate conception of, and must be
seen to be understood: I cannot perhaps compare it with anything, unless
with the motion of an India-rubber ball when thrown forcibly along the
ground. While stealing from bush to bush, with this rapid movement, its
head low and tail perfectly erect, it presents an exceedingly droll
appearance. Like many others of its family, it seldom employs the power
of flight.
Its food is insects of various kinds.
Of its nidification I have nothing to communicate: it doubtless builds a
dome-shaped nest, and in all probability lays four spotted eggs; but to
these points I would call the attention of those who are favourably
situated for observing them, as also to confirm or refute the opinion of
this and the following bird being distinct.
All the upper surface dark brown, each feather with a narrow stripe of
white down the centre; under surface the same, but much paler; flanks
and under surface of the shoulder rust-red; tail dark brown,
indistinctly barred with a still darker hue and edged with pale brown;
irides reddish hazel; base of lower mandible bluish horn-colour;
remainder of the bill black; feet flesh-brown.
The male I dissected was destitute of the rusty red colouring on the
flanks and under surface of the shoulder.
The Plate represents a male and female of the natural size.
[Illustration:
AMYTIS STRIATUS: _Gould_.
_J. & E. Gould del^t._ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]
AMYTIS STRIATUS.
Striated Wren.
_Amytis textilis_, Less. Traité d’Orn., p. 454. pl. 67. fig. 2.
_Dasyornis striatus_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part VII. p. 143.
The only specimen I procured of this little bird in a recent state, was
shot while I was traversing the Lower Namoi; it appeared to give
preference to a loose sandy soil studded with high rank grass, which,
growing in tufts, left the interspaces quite bare: through the natural
labyrinth thus formed the Striated Wren ran with amazing rapidity, and
it was only by forcing it to take wing that I succeeded in killing the
one I obtained, which on dissection proved to be a male, and which
served for the upper figure in my Plate: the other figure is supposed to
represent the female; but as this can only be ascertained by the
internal examination of a recent specimen, and no opportunity for so
doing has yet occurred, this point must, for the present, remain
undecided. All the specimens I have seen from New South Wales were in
the red state of plumage, which goes far towards proving that this bird
is really distinct from _Amytis textilis_.
Nothing has yet been ascertained respecting its nidification: its food,
like that of the Textile Wren, consists of insects of various kinds.
Upper surface fine rusty red, each feather with a line of buffy white
bounded on each side by black down the centre; line beneath the eye
black; ear-coverts black, striated with white; wings and tail brown,
margined with light reddish brown; base of the primaries rust-red,
forming a conspicuous patch; chin and throat white; feathers of the
chest buffy white, with two lines of brown, one down each side the stem;
under surface rust-red, some of the feathers with a stripe of white down
the centre; tail dark brown, indistinctly barred with a still darker
tint, margined with lighter brown; irides hazel; bill dark horn-colour;
feet brownish lead-colour.
The Plate represents a male and female of the natural size.
[Illustration:
AMYTIS MACROURUS: _Gould_.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]
AMYTIS MACROURUS, _Gould_.
Large-tailed Wren.
_Amytis macrourus_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Jan. 27, 1847.
_Nyern-de_ and _Jee-ra_, Aborigines of the interior of Western
Australia.
The present is the first species of the genus that has been discovered
in Western Australia; the two examples in my own collection are all that
I have yet seen; these were shot in the interior by Mr. Gilbert, who
states that “it inhabits the thickets, and is almost always on the
ground in families of from four to seven in number: it carries its tail
more erect than any other bird I have seen, and certainly no bird runs
or rather hops over the surface of the ground with greater rapidity.”
It is evidently the representative of the _Amytis textilis_ of the
eastern coast, to which it is very nearly allied, but from which, as
well as from the _A. striatus_, it may at once be distinguished by its
more robust form, and by the much greater length and size of its tail.
All the upper surface brown, each feather with a narrow stripe of white
down the centre; under surface the same, but much paler; under surface
of the shoulder pale rusty red; tail brown, margined with pale brown;
irides hazel; base of the lower mandible horn-colour, remainder of the
bill black; feet flesh-brown.
The figures are of the natural size.
[Illustration:
STIPITURUS MALACHURUS: _Lefs_.
_J. & E. Gould del^t._ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]
STIPITURUS MALACHURUS, _Less._
Emu Wren.
_Muscicapa malachura_, Lath. Ind. Orn. Supp., pl. lii.—Shaw, Gen.
Zool., vol. x. p. 407.
_Soft-tailed Flycatcher_, Linn. Trans., vol. iv. p. 242. pl. 21.—Lath.
Gen. Syn. Supp., vol. ii. p. 224.
_Malurus malachurus_, Vig. & Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p. 224.
_Stipiturus malachurus_, Less. Traité d’Orn., p. 415.
_Soft-tailed Warbler_, Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. vii. p. 123.
_Waw-gul-jelly_, Aborigines of New South Wales.
_Djur-jeel-ya_, Aborigines of the lowlands of Western Australia.
This curious little bird has a wide distribution; since it inhabits the
whole of the southern portion of Australia, from Moreton Bay on the east
to Swan River on the west, including Tasmania. Among the places where it
is most numerous in the latter country, are the swampy grounds in the
neighbourhood of Recherche Bay in D’Entrecasteaux Channel, the meadows
at New Norfolk, Circular Head, and Flinder’s Island in Bass’s Straits;
on the continent of Australia, Botany Bay, and indeed all portions of
the country having a similar character are favoured with its presence.
In its actions it bears a close resemblance to the true _Maluri_, among
which it has been associated, but, as the nature of its plumage would
lead us to expect, it resorts to situations of a totally different
character; for while the more open forest is the favourite resort of the
_Maluri_, the Emu Wren is especially fond of low marshy districts,
covered with rank high grasses and rushes. It is a recluse little bird,
concealing itself from view by keeping near the ground in the midst of
the more dense parts of the grass beds, and very seldom showing itself.
Its extremely short round wings ill adapt it for flight, and this power
is consequently seldom employed, the bird depending for progression upon
its extraordinary capacity for running: in fact, when the grasses are
wet from dew or rain, its wings are rendered perfectly unavailable. On
the ground it is altogether as nimble and active, its creeping
mouse-like motions, and the extreme facility with which it turns and
bounds over the surface, enabling it easily to elude pursuit, and amply
compensating for the paucity of its powers of flight. The tail is
carried in an erect position, and is even occasionally retroverted over
the back.
The nest, which is a small ball-shaped structure, with rather a large
opening on one side, is composed of grasses lined with feathers, and
artfully concealed in a tuft of grass or low shrub. One that I found in
Recherche Bay contained three newly-hatched young: this being the only
nest I ever met with, I am unable to give any description of its eggs,
but I am informed they are always three in number.
The male is readily distinguished from the female by the blue colouring
of the throat, and by a somewhat greater development of the
tail-feathers. The decomposed or loose structure of these feathers, much
resembling those of the Emu, has suggested the colonial name of Emu Wren
for this species, an appellation singularly appropriate, inasmuch as it
at once indicates the kind of plumage with which the bird is clothed,
and the Wren-like nature of its habits.
The male has the crown of the head rust-red; upper surface brown, each
feather having a black mark down the centre; wing-feathers dark brown,
edged with rufous brown; chin and throat pale blue; sides of the neck
and all the under surface bright rufous; tail dark brown; irides reddish
brown; bill and feet brown.
The female differs from the male only in having the crown of the head
striated with blackish brown, and the throat rufous instead of blue.
The Plate represents a male and a female of the natural size.
[Illustration: