_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]
ANTHOCHÆRA INAURIS.
Wattled Honey-eater.
_Anthochæra carunculata_, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p.
321.—Gould, Syn. Birds of Australia, Part I.
_Creadion carunculatus_, Vieill. Gal. des Ois., tom. i. pl. 94.
_Wattle Bird_ of the Colonists of Van Diemen’s Land.
By nearly every author who has had occasion to mention or refer to this
species, it has been confounded with the bird originally described by
Latham under the name of _Merops carunculatus_, which bird is strictly
confined to New South Wales and South Australia, while that here figured
is I believe exclusively an inhabitant of Van Diemen’s Land; hence it
becomes necessary to give the latter a new specific appellation, and I
have selected that of _inauris_ as indicative of the peculiar feature by
which it is distinguished, namely the great length of the pendulous
ear-drops. The vast primæval forests of _Eucalypti_ clothing the greater
portion of Van Diemen’s Land, whose recesses in many parts have never
yet been trodden, afford it an asylum not only where food is abundant,
but where it is safe from the attack of man; from these retreats however
it frequently emerges, and visits the flowering _Eucalypti_ of the more
open forest in the Upper Derwent districts, where forty or fifty
individuals may be frequently seen on a single tree. Even in the
vicinity of Hobart Town and the islands of South Arm and Bruni it may be
observed, but in far less numbers, at all seasons of the year. The
neighbourhood of the Macquarrie Plains is a locality particularly
favourable to this bird, where hundreds are annually shot and sent to
the markets of Hobart Town for the purposes of the table. It exhibits
but little shyness of disposition, and almost any number may be obtained
without much trouble. It is highly prized as an article of food, and in
winter becomes so excessively fat as to exceed in this respect any bird
I ever saw, the entire body and neck, both internally and externally,
being completely enveloped. I have been informed that a large tea-cupful
of oil may be procured from two of these birds, and that as it gives a
better light, it is sometimes used in lieu of candles; after the
breeding-season it becomes thin and spare, the male then weighing on an
average only six ounces. This bird feeds almost exclusively on honey and
the pollen of the _Eucalypti_; the only other food detected in its very
diminutive stomach being the remains of coleopterous insects. Its whole
structure is admirably adapted for procuring this kind of food; its long
tongue, with its brush-like tip, being protruded at will into the
honey-cups of the newly opened flowers, a succession of which appears
with every rising sun throughout the year, upon one or other of the
numerous species of _Eucalypti_.
The same restless disposition appears to be common to all the tribe of
Honey-eaters, and this bird is as active and quick in its movements as
the smallest of the genus, hanging and clinging to the branches in every
possible variety of position; and when thirty or forty are seen on a
single tree, they present a very animated appearance. Its flight, which
seldom extends farther than from tree to tree, is very similar to that
of the Magpie of Europe. Its note is a harsh and disagreeable scream,
resembling in loudness and somewhat in tone the call of the Pheasant; by
some persons it has been compared to the sound produced by the retching
or vomiting of man. Both sexes have the wattled appendages beneath the
ear, but they are less developed in the female, whose size is also
smaller than that of her mate.
Although I found several of the nests of this species in various parts
of the colony, I failed in procuring the eggs, which are still
desiderata to my cabinet. The nests were moderately large cup-shaped
structures, formed of fine twigs and grasses intermingled with wool, and
were usually built on some low tree, such as the _Casuarina_ or
_Acacia_.
Crown of the head and back of the neck striped with black and grey, the
centre of each feather being black, and its external edges grey; back
and shoulders dusky brown, the shaft of each feather buffy white; wings
deep blackish brown, the external margins of the primaries slightly, and
the secondaries broadly fringed with grey; tips of all the primaries
white; tail much graduated; the upper tail-coverts and two middle
tail-feathers grey, the remainder blackish brown, and the whole tipped
with white; chin and under tail-coverts white; throat, breast and flanks
grey, each feather having a central mark of blackish brown, which is
much enlarged on the lower part of the breast; centre of the abdomen
rich yellow; bill black; corner of the mouth yellow; irides very dark
brownish black; feet light flesh-colour; claws black; bare skin round
the ear, and the upper part of the long pendulous wattle which hangs
from below the ear white, gradually deepening into rich orange at its
extremity.
The Plate represents the two sexes of the natural size.
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