_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]
SERICORNIS FRONTALIS.
White-fronted Sericornis.
_Acanthiza frontalis_, Vig. & Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p.
226.—Gould, Syn. Birds of Australia, Part IV.
_Sericornis parvulus_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part V. p. 134;
and in Syn. Birds of Australia, Part IV. female.
This little bird inhabits the brushes, as well as all humid situations
clothed with thick underwood, such as the sides of creeks, gullies, &c.
The locality in which it is most abundant is the south-eastern part of
Australia, where it is very numerous in all the dense forests which
stretch along the coast between Sydney and Moreton Bay, and I believe I
may safely state that its range does not extend westward of the 134th
degree of East longitude, beyond which a nearly-allied species is found;
the species, therefore, inosculate about Spencer’s and St. Vincent’s
Gulfs in South Australia. Like the other members of the genus this bird
generally bops about the bottoms of the brushes, selecting in preference
the most damp and humid parts, where rotten wood and moss-covered stones
afford some peculiar species of insect food, upon which it is destined
to live. All the members of this genus are very Wren-like in their
habits, actions, the kind of food they select, and in the structure of
their nest. The present is one of the smallest yet discovered, and was
always a favourite little bird with me, for in the inmost recesses of
the forest, where all nature was hushed to quietude, and silence reigned
supreme, the presence of the little bird figured in the accompanying
Plate, hopping about from stone to stone in search of its insect food,
now and then broke the monotony of the scene with its inward warbling
strain, which however is so feeble, that it can only be heard when
uttered close at hand.
The sexes present so little difference in colour that they cannot be
distinguished with certainty; the female is somewhat the smaller. The
young birds differ from the adult in having a few faint spots on the
throat, but which are entirely lost as they advance in age.
The nest of this species, which, as I have before remarked, is very like
that of the European Wren (_Troglodytes Europæus_), is made of leaves,
moss and fibrous roots, and lined with feathers; its site is various,
being sometimes under the shelving of a bank, and at others at the foot
of a tuft of grass or herbage, beneath a stone, &c.; it is quite
spherical in form, with a small neatly-made hole for an entrance. The
breeding-season includes August, and the three or four following months,
during which period two or three broods are usually reared. The eggs,
which are generally three in number, are of a dull flesh-white, freckled
and streaked with purplish brown, particularly at the larger end; their
medium length is ten lines and breadth seven and a half lines.
Centre of the forehead, lores, and a line beneath the eye black; over
the eye a line of greyish white; crown of the head, all the upper
surface, wings and tail olive-brown; wing-coverts tipped with white;
spurious wing blackish brown; throat white, striated with black; centre
of the chest and abdomen citron-yellow; flanks olive-brown; bill
blackish brown; feet yellowish white.
The Plate represents the male and female of the natural size. The very
pretty plant was gathered in the brushes of Illawarra, where the birds
are tolerably numerous.
[Illustration:
SERICORNIS LÆVIGASTER: _Gould_.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]
SERICORNIS LÆVIGASTER, _Gould_.
Buff-breasted Sericornis.
_Sericornis lævigaster_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., January 27,
1847.
This species, although nearly allied to the _S. maculata_, is
distinguished by the entire absence of spots on the throat and chest,
and by having the tail-feathers largely tipped with white.
The male and female in my collection, and which are represented on the
accompanying Plate, are part of the results of Dr. Leichardt’s overland
expedition from Moreton Bay to Port Essington, they having been killed
by Mr. Gilbert on the 30th of November 1844; but no information whatever
is to be found respecting them in his Journal.
All the upper surface brown; tail deepening into black near the
extremity and tipped with white; spurious wing-feathers dark brown,
margined with white on their inner webs; lores and mark under the eye
brownish black; above the eye an indistinct line of white; all the under
surface washed with yellowish buff; irides greenish white.
The female presents the usual differences, being somewhat smaller in
size and wanting the black mark on the lores.
The figures are of the natural size.
[Illustration:
SERICORNIS MACULATA: _Gould_.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]
SERICORNIS MACULATUS, _Gould_.
Spotted Sericornis.
_Sericornis maculatus_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., January 27,
1847.
_Goor-gal_, Aborigines of the mountain districts of Western Australia.
The present bird, to which I have assigned the specific term of
_maculatus_ has always been a source of perplexity to me, from the
circumstance of its varying considerably in its markings; after mature
consideration, however, I am induced to regard the specimens from South
Australia, Western Australia and the north coast as referable to one and
the same species, each however possessing trivial differences by which
it may be known from whence it was received. Specimens from the
Houtman’s Abrolhos are of a rather smaller size, of a much greyer tint
on the back, and have much darker-coloured legs. I believe that the
bright yellow wash on the under surface of some individuals is
characteristic of newly moulted or young birds: in this species, not
only is the throat spotted with black, but the spotting extends over the
chest and some distance down the flanks; it has at all times the tail
tipped with white, a character which serves at once to distinguish it
from _S. osculans_ and _S. frontalis_. Scrubby places, and ravines
covered with dense herbage, whether in sterile or humid situations, are
its favourite resort. It has the same shy disposition and retiring
habits as the other members of the genus, depending for safety rather
upon its creeping, mouse-like habits than upon its powers of flight,
which are indeed seldom resorted to.
Its note is a harsh, grating kind of twitter, often repeated.
The nest is a warm, dome-shaped structure, formed of leaves and grasses,
and lined with feathers; the eggs are reddish white, minutely freckled
and streaked with reddish brown, particularly at the larger end; they
are three in number, nine lines long by seven lines broad.
All the upper surface, wings and tail brown; the latter crossed near the
tip with a broad band of blackish brown, and the outer feathers slightly
tipped with white; forehead and lores deep black; stripe above and a
small patch below the eye white; spurious wing-feathers black, margined
on their inner web with white; under surface in some specimens greyish
white, in others washed with yellow; the feathers of the throat and
chest spotted with black on a light ground; irides greenish white.
The female is somewhat smaller than her mate, and has the lores brown
instead of black; in other respects her plumage is very similar to that
of the male.
The upper figure in the accompanying Plate represents a female, and the
lower probably a young male; the figures are of the natural size, from
specimens killed in Southern and Western Australia.
[Illustration:
ACANTHIZA MAGNIROSTRIS: _Gould_.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]
SERICORNIS MAGNIROSTRIS, _Gould_.
Large-billed Sericornis.
_Acanthiza magnirostra_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part V. p. 146;
and in Syn. Birds of Australia, Part IV.
The _Sericornis magnirostris_ an inhabitant of the brushes of New South
Wales, both those which clothe the gullies and sides of the mountain
ranges of the interior, as well as those near the coast; such as occur
at Illawarra and on the banks of the Hunter, the Clarence, the Macleay
and other rivers; it is never seen in the open country, and so far as I
am aware, is entirely confined to New South Wales. Although it has
nothing either in its form or colouring to recommend it to notice, it
must always be an object of interest, from the very singular nest it
constructs, and which, like that of _Sericornis citreogularis_, forms a
remarkable object in the scenery of the portion of the country it
inhabits. It is formed of a large loose mass of moss, and being attached
to the extreme tips of the pendent branches, waves about with every wind
that blows; it is very frequently constructed within reach of the hand,
but is more often suspended at about ten, and sometimes as high as
thirty feet from the ground; occasionally two or three are constructed
together under a dense canopy of foliage, overhanging water or a deep
and gloomy gully, and then present a very singular appearance. I
procured several examples by shooting the branch asunder just above the
nest. The nest so perfectly resembles the tufts of living moss which are
attached to many of the extremities of the branches of the trees of the
brushes, that it is impossible to distinguish the one from the other;
and it is a question whether the bird purposely builds its nest in
imitation of these hanging masses in order to elude pursuit, or whether
it avails itself of the mass already formed, and by a little
architectural skill converts it into a receptacle for its eggs. It would
seem that the same nest is resorted to for several seasons in
succession, and probably for a series of years; the entire mass consists
of living moss, and the small hole left for an entrance is so skilfully
concealed as scarcely to admit of detection. The breeding-season
commences in August and continues until February, during which period
many broods are reared. I procured a nest in September out of which flew
three young birds, and others during the same month which contained eggs
so recently laid that they could scarcely have been sat upon. The eggs
are generally two or three in number; their ground-colour varies from
bluish white to dull reddish white, with the larger end sparingly
washed, freckled and streaked with dark brown; they are large for the
size of the bird, being nine and a half lines long by seven lines broad.
It is a very active but shy bird, keeping much among the branches of the
high trees, where it gains a plentiful supply of insect food; it may,
however, be easily enticed into view by imitating the squeak of its
young.
Its powers of song are very feeble.
The sexes do not differ in external appearance, nor do the young when
fully fledged offer any variation in colour from the adult.
Crown of the head, all the upper surface, wings and tail olive-brown,
the forehead and tail becoming rufous brown; throat and chest brownish
white; abdomen greyish white, passing into bright olive-green on the
lower part of the flanks; bill black; feet light brown; irides brown.
The figures represent a male and a female of the natural size.
[Illustration: