Forehead black, with a spot of white at the tip of each feather; cheeks,
throat, and a line from the nostrils over each eye greyish white; chest
and under surface yellowish white, passing into light olive-brown on the
flanks; upper surface and wings olive-brown; rump and upper tail-coverts
bright citron-yellow; base of the tail-feathers white, tinged with
yellow; the external margin of the outer feathers and the tips of all
brownish grey, the central portion blackish brown; bill and feet
blackish brown; irides very light grey.
The Plate represents a nest and a male and female of the natural size.
[Illustration:
EPTHIANURA ALBIFRONS: _Gould_.
_J. & E. Gould del et lith._ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]
EPTHIANURA ALBIFRONS.
White-fronted Epthianura.
_Acanthiza albifrons_, Jard. and Selb. Ill. Orn., vol. ii. pl. 56.
figs. 1 and 2.
I first met with this species in a state of nature on the small islands
in Bass’s Straits, where it had evidently been breeding, as I observed
several old nests in the Barilla and other stunted bushes which clothe
those isolated spots, particularly Chalky and Green Islands, immediately
contiguous to Flinders. I did not observe it in Van Diemen’s Land or to
the southward of the localities above mentioned. It would appear that it
extends over the whole of the southern portion of the Australian
continent, as I have specimens in my collection which were killed at
Swan River, in South Australia, and in New South Wales: the extent of
its range northwards is not known; I have never yet seen examples from
the north coast.
It is a most sprightly and active little bird, particularly the male,
whose white throat and banded chest render him much more conspicuous
than the sombre-coloured female. As the structure of its toes and
lengthened tertiaries would lead us to expect, its natural province is
the ground, to which it habitually resorts, and decidedly evinces a
preference to spots of a sterile and barren character. The male, like
many of the Saxicoline birds, frequently perches either on the summit of
a stone, or on the extremity of a dead and leafless branch. It is rather
shy in its disposition, and when disturbed flies off with considerable
rapidity to the distance of two or three hundred yards before it alights
again. I observed it in small companies on the plains near Adelaide,
over the hard clayey surface of which it tripped with amazing quickness,
with a motion that can neither be described as a hop or a run, but
something between the two, accompanied by a bobbing action of the tail.
Of its nidification, I regret to say, nothing is at present known.
The male has the forehead, face, throat and all the under surface pure
white; occiput black; chest crossed by a broad crescent of deep black,
the points of which run up the sides of the neck and join the black of
the occiput; upper surface dark grey, with a patch of dark brown in the
centre of each feather; wings dark brown; upper tail-coverts black; two
centre tail-feathers dark brown; the remainder dark brown, with a large
oblong patch of white on the inner web at the tip; irides, in some,
beautiful reddish buff, in others yellow with a slight tinge of red on
the outer edge of the pupil; bill and feet black.
The female has the crown of the head, all the upper surface, wings and
tail greyish brown, with a slight indication of the oblong white spot on
the inner webs of the latter; throat and under surface buffy white; and
a slight crescent of black on the chest.
The figures are of the natural size.
[Illustration:
EPTHIANURA AURIFRONS: _Gould_.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter lithog._ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]
EPTHIANURA AURIFRONS, _Gould_.
Orange-fronted Epthianura.
_Epthianura aurifrons_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part V. p. 148;
and in Syn. Birds of Australia, Part IV.
As long since as the year 1837 I had the pleasure of characterizing this
species at one of the scientific meetings of the Zoological Society of
London, from a specimen which had been presented to the Society’s
collection by Lieut. Breton, R.N., a gentleman much attached to
zoological science, as exemplified by his numerous donations to that
Society, and in his “Excursions in New South Wales, Western Australia
and Van Diemen’s Land.”
The Orange-fronted Epthianura must be regarded as a bird of the greatest
rarity, for the specimen above mentioned is the only one that has ever
come under my notice, and in all probability it is quite unique; hence
this is another of the birds to which I would wish to direct the
attention of residents in New South Wales, particularly those who have
an opportunity of visiting the locality in which it was seen by Lieut.
Breton, who, when speaking of Gammon Plains, New South Wales, in the
work above mentioned, says “we shot also some _Platypi_, and a small
bird like a Mule Canary (a species of _Saxicola_); this last is
exceedingly rare in the colony, and I am not aware that any other person
possesses a specimen; there were only three together, and the natives
said they had never seen any before.”
In the lengthened wing, largely developed tertiaries, and in the square
form of the tail, it offers a greater alliance to _Epthianura_ than to
any other genus, and there I have provisionally placed it; future
research, however, and a knowledge of its habits and nidification, will
determine the justice of this opinion, or the propriety of separating it
into a distinct genus.
Head, upper tail-coverts, sides of the neck, breast and all the under
surface fine golden orange, which is richest on the forehead and centre
of the abdomen; back olive; wings brown, margined with olive; tail
brownish black, each feather except the two middle ones having an oval
spot of white on the inner web at the tip; chin and centre of the throat
black; bill black; feet brown.
The figure is of the natural size.
[Illustration:
EPTHIANURA TRICOLOR: _Gould_.
_J. & E. Gould del et lith._ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]
EPTHIANURA TRICOLOR, _Gould_.
Tri-coloured Epthianura.
_Epthianura tricolor_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part VIII. p.
159.
While traversing, soon after sunrise on the 11th of December 1839, the
forest lands near Peel’s River to the eastward of Liverpool Plains, a
fine male specimen of this bird attracted my notice by the beauty of its
colouring and the sprightliness and activity of its actions, while
busily engaged in capturing the small insects that were hovering in the
air near the ground. As maybe supposed, the sight of a bird of such
beauty, and which, moreover, was entirely new to me, excited so strong a
desire to possess it that scarcely a moment elapsed before it was dead
and in my hand; I regret to add, however, that neither my travelling
companion Natty nor any other person could give me any account of it,
since, like myself, they had never seen it before; nor could I during my
residence in the colony either see another example or obtain any
information on the subject. In a small collection procured for me in
South Australia by an intelligent and enthusiastic collector, Mr.
Strange, two other specimens occurred which I supposed to be male and
female; unfortunately in this instance also they were unaccompanied by
any notes of their habits or economy; which are yet to be ascertained,
the species being doubtless migratory, and the specimens sent rare
visitors from the interior to the part of the country where they were
killed; any information respecting this _rara avis_ would therefore be
very acceptable.
The male has the crown of the head, upper tail-coverts, breast and
abdomen bright scarlet; lores, line above and beneath the eye,
ear-coverts, occiput and back dark brown; wings brown, each feather
margined with brownish white; tail dark brown, each feather having a
large spot of white on the inner web at the tip; chin, throat and under
tail-coverts white; irides straw white; bill and feet blackish brown.
The female is similar in colour, but has only a slight wash of the
scarlet colouring, except on the upper tail-coverts, where it is as
brilliant as in the male.
The figures are of the natural size.
[Illustration:
XEROPHILA LEUCOPSIS: _Gould_.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]
XEROPHILA LEUCOPSIS, _Gould_.
White-faced Xerophila.
_Xerophila leucopsis_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part VIII. p.
175.
As an instance how objects which are rare or from remote localities
receive a greater share of attention than those with which we are
familiar, I may state that while collections of birds have been
transmitted to Europe from the most distant parts of the new colony of
South Australia, the present little bird, which inhabits the very
streets and gardens of Adelaide, like the sparrow in the towns of
Europe, had been up to the period of my visit utterly disregarded; it
was too common to be considered worthy of notice. Immediately on my
arrival, however, in fact on my way to pay my respects to the Governor,
Colonel Gawler, I observed it hopping about the street in numbers, and
almost on the very door-step of his Excellency’s residence. Upon my
calling his attention to the subject and informing him that it was a
bird entirely new to science, he at once gave orders that some specimens
should be captured alive, so that when I paid my second visit in the
evening this undescribed species was a captive in a cage, by which means
I was enabled to examine it more closely than I had before been able to
do. I afterwards found it to be tolerably abundant in all parts of the
colony I visited, both in the interior and in the neighbourhood of the
coast. It was generally met with in small flocks of from six to sixteen
in number, and more frequently on the ground than among the trees. It
hops over the ground very quickly and appears a busy little bird, prying
among the herbage for its food, which principally consists of the seeds
of the grasses and small annuals which abound on the plains and low
hills of South Australia. In disposition it is so remarkably tame that
it will allow of a very near approach before it will rise, and then it
merely flies to the nearest bush or low tree.
The male offers no external difference by which it can be distinguished
from the female, neither do the young exhibit any contrast to the adults
in their plumage; it has in fact little to recommend it to the notice of
the general observer either in its colouring or in the quality of its
song.
The nest which was kindly forwarded to me by Mr. Strange is of rather a
large size, of a domed form, with a hole for an entrance very near the
top, and is composed of dried grasses, moss, spiders’ webs, wool, the
soft blossoms of plants and dead leaves matted together and warmly lined
with feathers; it is about seven inches in height and four inches in
diameter. The eggs received with the nest were three in number, of a
fleshy white, eight and a half lines long and six lines broad.
Forehead and lores white; upper surface olive-brown; wings and tail
brown, the latter passing into black near the extremity, and tipped with
white; all the under surface pale buff; bill and feet black; irides
light straw-colour.
The Plate represents the male and female of the natural size.
[Illustration:
PYRRHOLÆMUS BRUNNEUS: _Gould_.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]
PYRRHOLÆMUS BRUNNEUS, _Gould_.
Brown Red-Throat.
_Pyrrholæmus brunneus_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part VIII. p.
173.
_Beȑ-rit-beȑ-rit_, Aborigines of the mountain districts of Western
Australia.
I found this new bird tolerably abundant in the Belts of the Murray,
about forty miles to the northward of Lake Alexandrina, where it gave a
decided preference to low stunted bushes and fallen trunks of trees
overgrown with herbage, under which it secreted itself; it sometimes
rose to the top of a bush to sing, pouring forth a melody equal to any
of the smaller birds of Australia, which must render it a general
favourite when that portion of the country becomes colonized. It passes
much of its time on the ground, hopping about with great celerity, and
with its tail elevated considerably above the level of its back.
Since I killed my specimens it has been obtained by Mr. Gilbert in
Western Australia, from whose notes I learn that it is there an
inhabitant of the underwood and the thickest scrub; and that “it
possesses a very sweet and melodious song, which it generally utters
while perched on the extreme topmost branch of a small scrubby tree, and
having repeated it two or three times, dives down into the impenetrable
bush. While feeding it utters a weak, piping, call-like note. I never
saw it fairly on the wing, for it seems averse to flying, but generally
prefers creeping from bush to bush, and even if closely hunted merely
flits a few yards. It makes its nest on the ground, precisely like the
members of the genus _Calamanthus_. I found a pair building in the month
of September; upon visiting the spot again after an interval of a week,
the nest appeared finished, being lined with feathers, but there were no
eggs; unfortunately from this time the birds deserted the nest; but Mr.
Drummond tells me that he once saw the eggs, that they were three in
number and of a green colour.”
Lores greyish white; all the upper surface and wings brown; tail
brownish black, the three lateral feathers on each side largely tipped
with white; centre of the throat rufous; the remainder of the under
surface brownish grey, passing into sandy buff on the flanks and under
tail-coverts; irides reddish brown, with an outer ring of yellowish
white; upper mandible reddish brown; lower mandible greenish white; legs
and feet dark greenish grey.
The figures represent the two sexes of the natural size.
[Illustration: