_J. & E. Gould del et lith._ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]
ANTHOCHÆRA MELLIVORA, _Vig. & Horsf._
Brush Wattle-Bird.
_Certhia mellivora_, Lath. Ind. Orn. Supp., p. xxxvii.
_Le Goruck_, Vieill. Ois. Dor., tom. ii. p. 126. pl. 88.
_Goruck Creeper_, Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. viii. p. 243.
_Mellivorous Creeper_, Lath. Gen. Syn. Supp., vol. ii. p. 166.
_Wattled Honey-eater_, var. C. Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. iv. p. 159.
_Merops chrysopterus_, Lath. Ind. Orn. Supp., p. xxxiii.
_Golden-winged Bee-eater_, Lath. Gen. Syn. Supp., vol. ii. p.
153.—Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. viii. p. 180.
_Golden-winged Honey-eater_, Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. iv. p. 160.
_Mellivorous Honey-eater_, Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. iv. p. 161.
_Anthochæra mellivora_, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p.
321.—Gould, Syn. Birds of Australia, Part I.
_Goo-gwar-ruck_, Aborigines of the coast of New South Wales.
The student of nature cannot fail to observe that particular forms, both
of birds and insects, are peculiarly and especially destined to inhabit
certain districts, trees, and plants, and in no instance is this law
more strikingly apparent than in the case of the Brush Wattle-bird,
which so constantly resorts to the Banksias, that its presence may
always be with certainty looked for wherever these trees may be found;
indeed I do not remember ever having seen a group of them without having
also seen or heard their sure accompaniment, the Wattle-bird; but I must
remark, that I have occasionally observed the latter among the
Leptospermums and other low shrubs of the swampy grounds. Neither of
these trees, it is well known, are to be found on good land; the
garrulous note of this species might, therefore, be taken by the settler
as a sure indication of the sterile and unprofitable nature of the soil.
It is indigenous to Van Diemen’s Land, New South Wales, and South
Australia; and in all these countries may be found in such situations as
are favourable to the growth of its favourite trees. In the former
country it is especially abundant on the banks of the Tamar, and in the
belts of Banksias that stretch along the northern shores of that island.
Among the places in which it is most numerous on the continent, are near
the Port of Adelaide in South Australia; and Illawarra, Newcastle, and
Sydney, in New South Wales. The Botanic Garden at the latter place,
although in the midst of a populous city, is visited by great numbers of
this bird, and I may mention that two of their nests with eggs, forming
part of my collection, were taken from the shrubs growing on the borders
of this place of public resort. It is but sparingly dispersed in the
interior of New South Wales and South Australia: how far its range may
extend to the westward of Spencer’s Gulf I have had no means of
ascertaining: I have never yet received it from Swan River or any part
of the western coast, its place being there supplied by an intimately
allied species, the _Anthochæra lunulata_.
The Brush Wattle-bird is a bold and spirited species, evincing a
considerable degree of pugnacity, fearlessly attacking and driving away
all other birds from the part of the tree on which it is feeding; and
there are few of the Honey-eaters whose actions are more sprightly and
animated. During the months of spring and summer the male perches on
some elevated branch and screams forth its harsh and peculiar notes,
which have not unaptly been said to resemble a person in the act of
vomiting, whence the native name of _Goo-gwar-ruck_, in which the
natives have endeavoured to imitate this very singular note. While thus
employed it frequently jerks up its tail, throws back its head, and
distends its throat, as if great exertion was required to force out
these harsh and guttural sounds.
The Banksias are in blossom during a great portion of the year, and each
flower as it expands is diligently examined by the Wattle-bird, which
inserts its long feathery tongue into the interstices of every part of
the flower, extracting the pollen and insects, in searching for which it
clings and hangs about the flowers in every variety of position.
The breeding-season commences in September and continues during the
three following months. The nest is round, open, and rather small in
size, generally placed in the fork of a small branch often within a few
feet of the ground, and formed of fine twigs lined with fibrous roots.
The eggs are two and sometimes three in number, of a beautiful salmon
colour, strongly blotched at the larger end, and here and there over the
remainder of the surface with deep chestnut-brown; thirteen lines long
by nine lines broad.
The sexes are only to be distinguished from each other by the smaller
size of the female; and the young from the nest has all the marks of the
adult, but much less apparent.
All the upper surface dark brown, each feather marked down the centre
with a minute line of white; primaries chestnut-brown on the inner webs
for three parts of their length from the base; outer webs and remainder
of the inner brown tipped with white; secondaries, wings, and
tail-coverts greyish brown tipped with white; tail brown, tinged with
olive, and all the feathers tipped with white; feathers of the throat
and chest blackish brown at the base and white at the tip; feathers of
the under surface the same as the upper, but with the white mark broader
and more conspicuous; bill black; irides grey; feet vinous brown.
The Plate represents a male and a female on a branch of the _Banksia
serrata_, all of the natural size.
[Illustration:
ANTHOCHÆRA LUNULATA: _Gould_.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]
ANTHOCHÆRA LUNULATA, _Gould_.
Lunulated Wattle-Bird.
_Anthochæra lunulata_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., part v. p. 153;
and in Syn. Birds of Australia, Part IV.
_Dj̏ung-gung_, Aborigines of the lowland, and
_Tur-dal-l_, Aborigines of the mountain districts of Western
Australia.
_Little Wattle-Bird_, Colonists of Swan River.
This species is very nearly allied to the _Anthochæra mellivora_, but
differs from that bird in the greater length of its bill, in the entire
absence of the striæ down the head and the back of the neck, and in the
possession of a lunulate mark of white on either side of the neck. Its
natural habitat is Western Australia, where it generally frequents the
Banksias bordering rivers and lakes, and in fact all situations similar
to those resorted to by its near ally: it is to be found in every part
of the colony, but appears to be more abundant in the neighbourhood of
Swan River and the lakes in its vicinity than elsewhere. In its habits
it is very solitary and shy, and is moreover very pugnacious, attacking
every bird, both large and small, that approaches its domicile.
Its flight is rapid and uneven, and its general note is a discordant
cackling sound, resembling an attempt to sing, of the most disagreeable
description.
A remarkable circumstance connected with the incubation of this bird is,
that it appears to lay but a single egg, and it moreover appears to have
no regular time of breeding, its nest being found in abundance from
August to November. It is rather small in size, and is deposited in the
fork of a perpendicular growing branch: the tree most generally chosen
is that called by the colonists of Swan River the stink-wood, but it has
been found in the parasitic clump of a Banksia, and also in a small
scrubby bush two or three feet from the ground; but it is more
frequently constructed at a height of at least eight or twelve. It is
formed of dried sticks, and lined with Zamia wool, soft grasses or
flowers, and sometimes with sheep’s wool. The egg is rather lengthened
in form, being one inch and two lines long by nine and a half lines
broad; its ground colour is a full reddish buff, thinly spotted and
marked with deep chestnut-brown and chestnut-red, some of the spots and
markings appearing as if beneath the surface of the shell, and being
most thickly disposed near the larger end.
The stomach, which is slightly muscular, is diminutive in size, and the
food consists of honey and insects of various kinds, with which the
young when hatched are also fed by the parent birds.
The female is considerably smaller than her mate, but does not differ in
the colouring of her plumage.
Crown of the head, back of the neck, and upper part of the back
olive-brown, the feathers being darkest in the middle; lower part of the
back and rump olive-brown, each feather having a line of white down the
stem, dilated into a spot at the extremity; upper tail-coverts
olive-brown, with a crescent-shaped mark of white at the tip; primaries
brown, the inner webs for nearly their whole length deep chestnut;
secondaries and tertiaries brown margined with grey; two middle
tail-feathers greyish brown, very slightly tipped with white, the
remainder dark brown largely tipped with white; feathers of the sides of
the neck long, narrow, pointed, and of a silvery grey; throat and
fore-part of the neck greyish brown, with a round silvery grey spot at
the extremity of each feather; feathers of the chest and under surface
greyish brown, with a fine line of white down the centre, dilated into
an oblong spot at the extremity, the white predominating on the hinder
part of the abdomen and under tail-coverts; on each side of the chest,
an oblique mark of pure white; irides bright hazel; bill blackish brown;
feet and legs yellowish grey, the former the darkest and with a tinge of
olive.
The figures are of the natural size.
[Illustration: