_J. & E. Gould del et lith._ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]
CLIMACTERIS SCANDENS, _Temm._
Brown Tree-Creeper.
_Buff-winged Honey-eater_, Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. iv. p. 178.
_Climacteris scandens_, Temm. Pl. Col. 281. fig. 2.—Vig. and Horsf. in
Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p. 296.
The Brown Tree-Creeper inhabits the whole of the south-eastern portion
of the Australian continent, from South Australia to New South Wales. It
gives a decided preference to the open thinly-timbered forests of
_Eucalypti_, as well as the flats studded with the apple-trees
(_Angophoræ_), the bark of which, being rough and uneven, affords
numerous retreats for various tribes of insects; its food, however, is
not only sought for upon the boles and branches of the trees, but is
obtained by penetrating the decayed and hollow parts; and it even dives
into the small hollow spouts of the branches in search of spiders, ants,
and other insects: although its form would lead to a contrary
supposition, it spends much of its time on the ground, under the canopy
and near the boles of the larger trees, in a similar pursuit, and also
traverses the fallen trunks with a keen and scrutinizing eye. While on
the ground it has a pert lively action, passing over the surface in a
succession of quick shuffling hops, carrying its head erect with the
feathers puffed out, almost in the form of a crest. Among the trees it
assumes all the actions of the true Creeper, ascending the upright
boles, and traversing with the greatest facility both the upper and
under sides of the branches. It never descends with the head downwards,
like the members of the genera _Sitta_ and _Sittella_; still I have seen
it descend an upright hole for a short distance, by hopping or shuffling
backwards, as it were, generally making a spiral course.
It flies with a skimming motion of the wings, during which the brown
marking of the primaries is very conspicuous.
Like many other insectivorous birds in Australia, it seldom, if ever,
resorts to the water for the purpose of drinking. It has a sharp
piercing cry, which is frequently uttered, especially if the tree upon
which it is climbing be approached.
The breeding-season commences in August and continues until January. The
nest is generally placed deep down in a hollow branch, and those I found
were entirely composed of the hair of the Opossum, and, judging from its
brightness and freshness, had doubtless been plucked from the living
animal while reposing in the hollow trees. The eggs in all the nests I
took were two in number, of a reddish flesh-colour, thickly blotched all
over with reddish brown; they are ten and a half lines long by eight
lines broad.
The male has the crown of the head blackish brown; lores black; line
over the eye and the throat dull buff; at the base of the throat a few
indistinct blackish brown spots; all the upper surface rufous brown;
primaries blackish brown at the base and light brown at the tip, all but
the first crossed in the centre by a broad band of buff, to which
succeeds another broad band of blackish brown; tail brown, all but the
two centre feathers crossed by a broad band of blackish brown; all the
under surface greyish brown, each feather of the chest and abdomen
having a stripe of dull white, bounded on either side with black,
running down the centre; under tail-coverts reddish buff, crossed by
irregular bars of black; irides, bill and feet blackish brown.
Little difference is observable either in the colour or size of the
sexes; the female may, nevertheless, be at once distinguished from her
mate by the spots at the base of the throat being rufous instead of
blackish brown as in the male.
The figures are those of a male and a female of the natural size.
[Illustration:
CLIMACTERIS RUFA: _Gould_.
_J. & E. Gould del et lith._ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]
CLIMACTERIS RUFA, _Gould_.
Rufous Tree-Creeper.
_Climacteris rufa_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part VIII. p. 149.
_Jin-nee_, Aborigines of the mountain districts of Western Australia.
In its robust form and general contour this new species closely
resembles the _Climacteris scandens_, but from which it is readily
distinguished by the rufous colouring of its plumage.
It is an inhabitant of Western Australia, and is a beautiful analogue of
the _C. scandens_ of the eastern coast. It is a common bird at Swan
River, where Mr. Gilbert states it is generally most abundant in the
white-gum forests abounding with the white ant: it ascends the smooth
bark of the _Eucalypti_, and traverses round the larger branches with
the greatest facility, feeding, like the other members of the genus,
upon insects of various kinds. Mr. Gilbert also states that it is
frequently to be seen on the ground, searching for ants and their larvæ,
and in this situation presents a most grotesque appearance, from its
waddling gait, which, to use his own words, is “between a hop and a
shuffle, at the same time erecting and puffing out its head-feathers;
when disturbed it ascends rather rapidly to the extremity of some lofty
dead branch.
“Its note is a single piercing cry, uttered more rapidly and loudly when
the bird is disturbed, and having a very singular and striking effect
amidst the silence and solitude of the forest.
“At times it flies rather swiftly, but appears to be very soon tired,
for after flying two or three hundred yards it begins to droop, as if
from fatigue; it consequently never takes long flights, merely resorting
to this mode of progression to move from tree to tree: during flight the
motion of the wings is equal until the bird begins to descend.
“It makes a very warm nest of soft grasses, the down of flowers and
feathers, in the hollow part of a dead branch, generally so far down
that it is almost impossible to get at it, and it is, therefore, very
difficult to find. I discovered one by seeing the old birds beating away
a Wattle-bird that tried to perch near their hole; the nest, in this
instance, was fortunately within arm’s length; it contained three eggs
of a pale salmon colour, thickly blotched all over with reddish brown,
eleven lines long by eight and a half lines broad: this occurred during
the first week in October.
“The stomach is large and tolerably muscular.”
The male has the crown of the head, all the upper surface and wings dark
brown; rump and upper tail-coverts tinged with rufous; primaries brown,
all but the first crossed by a broad band of rufous, to which succeeds a
second broad band of dark brown; two centre tail-feathers brown,
indistinctly barred with a darker hue; the remainder pale rufous,
crossed by a broad band of blackish brown, and tipped with pale brown;
line over the eye, lores, ear-coverts, throat, and under surface of the
shoulder rust-brown; chest crossed by an indistinct band of rufous
brown, each feather with a stripe of buffy white, bounded on each side
with a line of black down the centre; the remainder of the under surface
deep rust-red, with a faint line of buffy white down the centre of each
feather, the white line being lost on the flanks and vent; under
tail-coverts light rufous, with a double spot of blackish brown at
intervals along the stem; irides dark reddish brown; bill and feet
blackish brown.
The female is rather less in size; is of the same colour as the male,
but much lighter, without the bounding line of black on each side of the
buff stripes on the breast, and having only an indication of the double
spots on the under tail-coverts.
The figures are those of a male and a female of the natural size.
[Illustration:
CLIMACTERIS ERYTHROPS: _Gould_.
_J. & E. Gould del et lith._ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]
CLIMACTERIS ERYTHROPS, _Gould_.
Red-eyebrowed Tree-Creeper.
_Climacteris erythrops_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part VIII. p.
148.
I obtained this new and highly interesting species while encamped on the
low grassy hills under the Liverpool range; from the manner of its
ascending the trees and keeping almost entirely to the small upright
stems of the _Casuarinæ_, I believed it to be the White-throated
Tree-Creeper (_Climacteris picumnus_); but having made it a rule to
shoot an example of every species I observed in each newly-visited
locality, I was in this instance rewarded with the acquisition of a new
bird, which I afterwards found was numerous in this part of the country.
But whether it is generally distributed over the colony, or merely
confined to such districts as have a similar character to those in which
I found it, I had no opportunity of ascertaining. So far as I could
observe, its habits and manners bore a striking resemblance to those of
the _Climacteris picumnus_.
One singular feature connected with this species, is the circumstance of
the female alone being adorned with the beautiful radiated rufous
markings on the throat, the male having this part quite plain; this I
ascertained beyond a doubt by the dissection of numerous specimens of
both sexes; it is true that a faint trace of this character is
observable both in _Climacteris scandens_ and _C. rufa_, but the present
is the only species of the genus in which this reversion of a general
law of nature is so strikingly apparent.
The male has the crown of the head blackish brown, each feather margined
with greyish brown; lores and a circle surrounding the eye reddish
chestnut; back brown; sides of the neck, lower part of the back, and
upper tail-coverts grey; primaries blackish brown at the base and light
brown at the tip, all but the first crossed in the centre by a broad
band of buff, to which succeeds another broad band of blackish brown;
two centre tail-feathers grey, the remainder blackish brown, largely
tipped with light grey; chin dull white, passing into greyish brown on
the chest; the remainder of the under surface greyish brown, each
feather having a broad stripe of dull white, bounded on either side with
black running down the centre, the lines becoming blended, indistinct,
and tinged with buff on the centre of the abdomen; under tail-coverts
buffy white, crossed by irregular bars of black; irides brown; bill and
feet black.
The female differs in having the chestnut marking round the eye much
richer, and in having, in place of the greyish brown on the breast, a
series of feathers of a rusty red colour, with a broad stripe of dull
white down their middles, the stripes appearing to radiate from a common
centre: in all other particulars her plumage resembles that of the male.
The figures are those of a male and a female of the natural size.
[Illustration:
CLIMACTERIS MELANOTUS: _Gould_.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]
CLIMACTERIS MELANOTUS, _Gould_.
Black-backed Tree-creeper.
_Climacteris melanotus_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part XIV. p.
106.
For this additional species of the limited genus _Climacteris_, a form
confined to Australia, we are indebted to Dr. Leichardt’s Expedition
from Moreton Bay to Port Essington. It was killed in latitude 15° 57′
south, on the eastern side of the Gulf of Carpentaria, and is rendered
particularly interesting to me as being one of the birds procured by
poor Gilbert on the day of his lamented death, the 28th of June 1845,
which untoward event prevented him from recording any particulars
respecting it: all therefore that I can do, is to point out the
differences by which it may be distinguished from the other members of
the genus, and recommend to future observers the investigation of its
habits.
In the dark colouring and thick velvety plumage of the upper surface it
is most nearly allied to the _Climacteris melanura_, but differs from
that species in being destitute of the lanceolate marks on the throat,
and from all others in the dark colouring of the back.
The usual distinction of the sexes—the finer colouring of the
female—exists in this as in the other species of the genus; they may be
thus described:—
Superciliary line and throat buffy white; line before and behind the
eye, all the upper surface, wings and tail dark brownish black; the base
of the primaries, secondaries and tertiaries, and the under surface of
the shoulder buff; under surface pale vinous brown; the feathers of the
abdomen with two stripes of black running parallel to and near the stem,
the space between dull white; at the base of the throat several
irregular spots of black; under tail-coverts buffy white, crossed by
broad bars of black; irides brown.
The female differs in having the markings of the abdomen larger and more
conspicuous, and in having the spots at the base of the throat chestnut
instead of black.
The Plate represents the two sexes of the natural size.
[Illustration:
CLIMACTERIS MELANURA: _Gould_.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]
CLIMACTERIS MELANURA, _Gould_.
Black-tailed Tree-Creeper.
_Climacteris melanura_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part X. p. 138.
Hitherto I had believed that all the members of this genus were confined
to the southern portions of Australia, but that such is not the case is
proved by the circumstance of Mr. Bynoe having killed the bird here
represented on the northern coast. It exceeds all the other species in
size and also differs from them in its colouring, particularly in the
lanceolate feathers on the throat and in the black colour of the tail.
Nothing whatever is known of its habits or general economy, but judging
from its structure, it doubtless closely assimilates to its congeners in
all these particulars. The specimen I possess, and from which my figure
is taken, is, I believe, the only one that has yet been sent to Europe.
Forehead, all the upper surface and the tail-feathers velvety brownish
black; the occiput and back of the neck stained with ferruginous brown;
primaries and secondaries dark brown at the base and at the tip, the
intermediate space buff, forming a conspicuous band across the wing when
expanded; feathers of the throat white, edged all round with black,
giving the throat a striated appearance; abdomen and flanks ferruginous
brown; under tail-coverts black, irregularly crossed with bars of buff;
bill and feet blackish brown.
The figures represent the bird in different positions of the natural
size.
[Illustration: