_C. Hullmandel Imp._
]
TALEGALLA LATHAMI.
Wattled Talegalla.
_New Holland Vulture_, Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. i. p. 32.
_Genus Alectura_, Ibid., vol. x. p. 455.
_Alectura Lathami_, Gray, Zool. Misc., No. I. p. 3.—Jard. and Selby,
Ill. Orn., vol. iii. pl. cxl.
_New Holland Vulture_, Swains. Class. of Birds, vol. i. p. 383.
_Catheturus Australis_, Ibid., vol. ii. p. 206.
_Meleagris Lindesayii_, Jameson, Mem. Wern. Nat. Hist. Soc., vol. vii.
p. 473.
_Brush Turkey_ of the Colonists; _Wee-lah_, Aborigines of the Namoi.
It has often been asserted that Australia abounds in anomalies, and in
no instance is the truth of this proposition more fully exemplified than
in the history of the very singular bird here represented, respecting
the situation of which, in the natural system, much diversity of opinion
has hitherto prevailed. It was consequently one of the birds which
demanded my utmost attention during my late expedition, and I trust that
the following details will assist in clearing up this long-disputed
point.
The bird in question was originally described and figured by the late
Dr. Latham in the first volume of his “General History of Birds,” under
the name of _New Holland Vulture_; but subsequently he conceived himself
in error in classing it with the _Vidturidæ_, and at the end of the
tenth volume of the same work placed it among the _Gallinaceæ_, with the
generic appellation of _Alectura_: the species was afterwards dedicated
to this venerable ornithologist by Mr. John Edward Gray, in his
“Zoological Miscellany.”
The generic and specific terms, _Catheturus Australis_, were
subsequently applied to it by Mr. Swainson, who in both volumes of his
“Classification of Birds” replaces it among the _Vidturidæ_, in order,
apparently, to establish his own views respecting this family, of which
he considers it the rasorial type, and details at some length why he
entertains this opinion.
“The New Holland Vulture,” says Mr. Swainson, “is so like a rasorial
bird, that some authors have hesitated (not having seen a specimen)
as to what order it really belonged. So completely, indeed, has
nature disguised this rare and extraordinary vulture in the
semblance of that type which it is to represent in its own family,
that it has even been classed by one writer with the _Menura_; and
it must be confessed, that if clear conceptions of the difference
between analogy and affinity are not entertained, such a
classification has some plausible reasons to recommend it. The feet,
in fact, of the two birds are formed nearly on the same principle,
but then so are those of _Orthonyx_, a little scansorial bird not
much bigger than a Robin. All three genera, in short, are remarkable
for their large disproportionate feet, long and slightly curved
claws, and the equality of length, or nearly so, of the outer and
the middle toe. Nor is this the only peculiarity of the New Holland
Vulture; for, unlike all others of its family, it possesses eighteen
feathers in its tail. An examination of the bill, which is decidedly
raptorial, joined with many other considerations, shows that all
these are but analogical relations to the _Rasores_, while the real
affinities of the bird are in the circle of the _Vulturidæ_, of
which it forms the rasorial type. A perfect specimen of this very
rare vulture, now before us,” continues this author, “enables us to
speak of its structure from personal examination.”
The term _Alectura_ having been previously employed for a group of
Flycatchers, and the present bird possessing all the characters of M.
Lesson’s genus _Talegalla_, which was published prior to Mr. Swainson’s
_Catheturus_, I feel that I ought to adopt that appellation.
How far its range may extend over Australia is not yet satisfactorily
ascertained; it is known to inhabit various parts of New South Wales,
from Cape Howe on the south to Moreton Bay on the north; but the
assaults of the cedar-cutters and others who so frequently hunt through
the brushes of Illawarra and Maitland, having nearly extirpated it from
those localities, it is now most plentiful in the dense and
little-trodden brushes of the Manning and Clarence. I was at first led
to believe that the country between the mountain-ranges and the coast
constituted its sole habitat; but I was agreeably surprised to find it
also an inhabitant of the scrubby gullies and sides of the lower hills
that branch off from the great range into the interior. I procured
specimens on the Brezi range to the north of Liverpool Plains, and
ascertained that it was abundant in all the hills on either side of the
Namoi.
It is a gregarious bird, generally moving about in small companies, much
after the manner of the _Gallinaceæ_, and, like some species of that
tribe, is very shy and distrustful. When disturbed it readily eludes
pursuit by the facility with which it runs through the tangled brush. If
hard pressed, or when rushed upon by its great enemy the native dog, the
whole company spring upon the lowermost bough of some neighbouring tree,
and by a succession of leaps from branch to branch ascend to the top,
and either perch there or fly off to another part of the brush. They are
also in the habit of resorting to the branches of trees as a shelter
from the mid-day sun, a peculiarity that greatly tends to their
destruction, as the sportsman is not only enabled to take a certain aim,
but, like the Ruffed Grouse of America, they will even allow a
succession of shots to be fired until they are all brought down. Unless
some measures be adopted for their preservation, this circumstance must
lead to an early extinction of the race; an event much to be regretted,
since, independently of its being an interesting bird for the aviary,
its flesh is extremely delicate, tender, and juicy.
The most remarkable circumstances connected with the economy of this
bird, are the facts of its not hatching its eggs by incubation: the
means resorted to for effecting this object, although in some degree
assimilating to the practice of the Ostrich, is yet upon a totally
different principle. The Wattled Talegalla collects together an immense
heap of decaying vegetable matter as a depositary for the eggs, and
trusts to the heat engendered by the process of decomposition for the
development of the young. The heap employed for this purpose is
collected by the birds during several weeks previous to the period of
laying; it varies in size from two to four cart-loads, and is of a
perfectly pyramidal form. The construction of the mound is not the work
of one pair of birds, but is effected by the united labours of several;
the same site appears to me, from the great size and the entire
decomposition of the lower part, to be resorted to for several years in
succession, the birds adding a fresh supply of materials on each
occasion previous to laying.
The mode in which the materials composing these mounds are accumulated
is equally singular,—the bird never using its bill, but always grasping
a quantity in its foot, throwing it backwards to one common centre, and
thus clearing the surface of the ground for a considerable distance so
completely, that scarcely a leaf or a blade of grass is left. The heap
being accumulated, and time allowed for a sufficient heat to be
engendered, the eggs are deposited, not side by side, as is ordinarily
the case, but planted at the distance of nine or twelve inches from each
other, and buried at nearly an arm’s depth, perfectly upright, with the
large end upwards; they are covered up as they are laid, and allowed to
remain until hatched. I have been credibly informed both by natives and
settlers living near their haunts, that it is not an unusual event to
obtain nearly a bushel of eggs at one time from a single heap; and as
they are delicious eating, they are eagerly sought after. Some of the
natives state that the females are constantly in the neighbourhood of
the heap about the time the young are likely to be hatched, and
frequently uncover and cover them up again, apparently for the purpose
of assisting those that may have appeared; while others have informed me
that the eggs are merely deposited, and the young allowed to force their
way unassisted. In all probability, as Nature has adopted this mode of
reproduction, she has also furnished the tender birds with the power of
sustaining themselves from the earliest period; and the great size of
the egg would equally lead to this conclusion, since in so large a space
it is reasonable to suppose that the bird would be much more developed
than is usually found in eggs of smaller dimensions. In further
confirmation of this point, I may add, that in searching for eggs in one
of the mounds I discovered the remains of a young bird, apparently just
excluded from the shell, and which was clothed with feathers, not with
down, as is usually the case: it is to be hoped that those who are
resident in Australia, in situations favourable for investigating the
subject, will direct their attention to the further elucidation of these
interesting points. The upright position of the eggs tends to strengthen
the opinion that they are never disturbed after being deposited, as it
is well known that the eggs of birds which are placed horizontally, are
frequently turned during incubation. Although, unfortunately, I was
almost too late for the breeding-season, I nevertheless saw several of
the heaps, both in the interior and at Illawarra; in every instance they
were placed in the most retired and shady glens, and on the slope of a
hill, the part above the nest being scratched clean, while all below
remained untouched, as if the birds had found it more easy to convey the
materials down than to throw them up. In one instance only was I
fortunate enough to find a perfect egg, although the shells of many from
which the young had been excluded were placed in the manner I have
described. At Illawarra they were rather deposited in the light
vegetable mould than among the leaves which formed a considerable heap
above them. The eggs are perfectly white, of a long oval form, three
inches and three-quarters long by two inches and a half in diameter: a
fine egg of this bird was subsequently presented to me by J. H.
Plunkett, Esq., Attorney-General, New South Wales.
While stalking about the wood they frequently utter a rather loud
clucking noise; and in various parts of the brush I observed depressions
in the earth, which the natives informed me were made by the birds in
dusting themselves.
The stomach is extremely muscular, and the crop of one dissected was
filled with seeds, berries, and a few insects.
I have already alluded to its capability for domestication; and I have
the gratification of adding, that a living specimen was in the
possession of Mr. Alexander MacLeay for several years, during which it
was mostly at large, and usually associated with the fowls in the
poultry-yard. On my arrival at Sydney this venerable gentleman took me
into his garden and showed me the bird, which, as if in its native
woods, had for two successive years collected an immense mass of
materials similar to those above described. The borders, lawn and
shrubbery over which it was allowed to range presented an appearance as
if regularly swept, from the bird having scratched to one common centre
everything that lay upon the surface; the mound in this case was about
three feet and a half high, and ten feet over. On placing my arm in it I
found the heat to be about 90° or 95° Fahr. The bird itself was
strutting about with a proud and majestic air, sometimes parading round
the heap, at others perching on the top, and displaying its brilliantly
coloured neck and wattle to the greatest advantage; this wattle it has
the power of expanding and contracting at will; at one moment it is
scarcely visible, while at another it is extremely prominent.
Before I left New South Wales Mr. MacLeay’s bird had met with an
untimely end by falling into a tank or water-butt, occasioned, it was
conjectured, by seeing the reflection of its own image in the water, and
rushing forward to meet a supposed antagonist. On dissection this
individual was found to be a male, thereby proving that the sexes are
equally employed in forming the mound for the reception of the eggs.
After all the facts that have been stated, I trust it will be evident
that its natural situation is among the _Rasores_, and that it forms one
of a great family of birds peculiar to Australia and the Indian islands,
of which _Megapodius_ forms a part; and in confirmation of this view I
may add, that the sternum has the two deep emarginations so truly
characteristic of the _Gallinaceæ_; at all events, it is in no way
allied to the _Vulturidæ_, and is nearly as far removed from _Menura_.
The adults have the whole of the upper surface, wings and tail blackish
brown; the feathers of the under surface blackish brown at the base,
becoming silvery grey at the tip; skin of the head and neck deep pink
red, thinly sprinkled with short hair-like blackish brown feathers;
wattle bright yellow, tinged with red where it unites with the red of
the neck; bill black; irides and feet brown.
The female, which is about a fourth less than the male in size, is so
closely the same in colour as to render a separate description
unnecessary. She also possesses the wattle, but not to so great an
extent.
The figure is about two-thirds the size of life.
[Illustration:
LEIPOA OCELLATA: _Gould_.
]
LEIPOA OCELLATA, _Gould_.
Ocellated Leipoa.
_Leipoa ocellata_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., October 13, 1840.
_Ngow_, Aborigines of the lowland; _Ng̏ow-oo_, of the mountain
districts of Western Australia.
_Native Pheasant_, Colonists of Western Australia.
This beautiful bird is among the most interesting of the novelties which
the little-explored regions of Australia have lately unfolded to us;
since, by its discovery, and a knowledge of its habits, we are enabled
to assign to its proper family (the _Megapodinæ_) the singular species
figured under the name of _Talegalla Lathami_.
The Ocellated Leipoa appears to be more peculiarly suited for a plain
and open country than for the tangled brush; and it is most curious to
observe how beautifully the means employed by Nature for the
reproduction of the species is adapted to the situations it is destined
to inhabit. A sketch of its economy, as far as it has yet been
ascertained, has been sent me by Mr. John Gilbert, and is here given in
his own words:
“The following account of the habits, manners, and nidification of this
bird have been detailed to me by G. Moore, Esq., Advocate-General, Mr.
Armstrong, the aboriginal interpreter, and some of the more intelligent
natives of Western Australia. Mr. Moore saw a great many of them about
sixty miles north of Perth; but its most favourite country appears to be
the barren sandy plains of the interior, 100 miles north and east of
York. It is a ground bird, never taking to a tree except when closely
hunted; when pursued it will frequently run its head into a bush, and is
then easily taken. In its actions and manners it is very like the
domestic fowl. Its food generally consists of seeds and berries. It has
a mournful note, very like that of a pigeon, but with a more inward
tone. The eggs are deposited in a mound of sand, the formation of which
is the work of both sexes: the natives say they scratch up the sand for
many yards around, forming a mound of about three feet in height; the
inside being constructed of alternate layers of dried leaves, grasses,
&c., among which the eggs are deposited to the number of twelve and
upwards, and covered up by the birds as laid; or, as the natives express
it, ‘the countenances of the eggs are never visible.’ The bird never
sits upon the eggs; but when she has laid her number the whole are
covered up, after which the mound of sand resembles an ant’s nest. The
eggs are hatched by the heat of the sun’s rays, the vegetable lining of
the hillock retaining sufficient warmth during the night: the eggs are
deposited in layers, no two eggs being suffered to lie without a
division. They are about the size of a fowl’s egg, and are white, very
slightly tinged with red. The natives are exceedingly fond of them, and
rob the mounds two or three times in a season; they judge of the
probable number of eggs in the heap by the quantity of feathers lying
around. If these are abundant, they know the hillock is full, when they
immediately open it and take the whole; upon which the bird will again
commence laying, to be robbed a second time, and will frequently lay a
third time. Upon questioning one of the men attached to Mr. Moore’s
expedition, he gave me a similar account of its habits and mode of
incubating; adding that in all the mounds they opened they found ants
almost as numerous as in an ant-hill, and that in many instances that
part of the mound surrounding the lower portion of the eggs had become
so hard, they were obliged to chip round them with a chisel to get them
out: the insides of the mounds were always hot.”
Captain Grey, of the 83rd Regiment, who has just returned from his
expedition to the north-west coast, has also furnished me with the
following information respecting its range, &c.: “The farthest point
north,” says this gentleman, “at which I have seen the breeding-places
of this bird, is Gantheaume Bay. The natives of King George’s Sound say
the same, or a nearly allied species, exists in that neighbourhood. I
have never fallen in with its nests but in one description of country,
viz. where the soil was dry and sandy, and so thickly wooded with a
species of dwarf _Leptospermum_, that if you stray from the native
paths, it is almost impossible to force your way through. In these close
scrubby woods small open glades occasionally occur, and here the
Ng̏ow-oo constructs its nest, a large heap of sand, dead grass and
boughs, at least nine feet in diameter, and three feet in height: I have
seen them even larger than this. Upon one occasion only I saw eggs in
these nests; they were placed some distance from each other, and buried
in the earth. I am not sure of the number, but the account given by the
natives led me to believe that at times large numbers are found.”
The Ocellated Leipoa is altogether a more slender and elegantly formed
bird than the Wattled Talegalla, and moreover differs from that bird in
having the head and neck thickly clothed with feathers, and in being
adorned with a beautifully variegated style of colouring.
Head and crest blackish brown; neck and shoulders dark ash grey; the
fore part of the former, from the chin to the breast, marked by a series
of lanceolate feathers, which are black with a white stripe down the
centre; back and wings conspicuously marked with three distinct bands of
greyish white, brown and black near the tip of each feather, the marks
assuming an ocellate form, particularly on the tips of the secondaries;
primaries brown, their outer webs marked with zigzag lines of darker
brown; rump and upper tail-coverts brownish grey, the feathers of the
latter transversely marked with two or three zigzag lines near their
tip; all the under surface light buff, the tips of the flank feathers
barred with black; tail blackish brown, broadly tipped with buff; bill
black; feet blackish brown.
The figures are about two-thirds of the natural size.
[Illustration:
MEGAPODIUS TUMULUS: _Gould_.
_C. Hullmandel Imp._
]
MEGAPODIUS TUMULUS, _Gould_.
Mound-raising Megapode.
_Megapodius tumulus_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., February 8, 1842.
_Oooregoorgā_, Aborigines of the Cobourg Peninsula.
_Jungle-fowl_, Colonists of Port Essington.
The discovery of a species of _Megapodius_ in Australia, as soon as the
northern portions of the country should be subjected to a careful
investigation, is no more than might have been expected, considering
that New Guinea and the adjacent islands are the great nursery of this
extraordinary tribe of birds.
When the _Megapodius Tumulus_ first came under my observation I
conceived it to be the _M. rubripes_ of M. Temminck, and it was not
until I had examined specimens of that species in the Museums of Paris
and Leyden that I was satisfied of its being distinct. Its much greater
size and more than proportionately powerful legs are among the specific
differences which will be observable by those who may feel disposed to
institute a comparison. Interesting as this bird must be to every
naturalist, to myself it is peculiarly so, since the valuable notes on
its habits and economy which happily I am enabled to give fully confirm
all that I had previously asserted respecting the extraordinary mode of
incubation of the _Talegalla_, verifying the opinion I have before
expressed, that _Megapodius_, _Talegalla_ and _Leipoa_ are most nearly
allied genera forming part of a great family of birds, whose range will
be found to extend from the Philippines through the islands of the
Indian Archipelago to Australia.
The _Megapodius Tumulus_ is rather numerously spread over the whole of
the Cobourg Peninsula on the north coast of the Australian continent,
where the British settlement of Port Essington is now established;
future research will doubtless require us to assign to it a much wider
range, probably over the whole extent of the north coast.
The following account of its habits is taken from Mr. Gilbert’s notes;
and, novel and extraordinary as my description of those of _Talegalla_
and _Leipoa_ may have been considered, this will be read with even
greater interest.
“On my arrival at Port Essington my attention was attracted to
numerous immense mounds of earth, which were pointed out to me by
some of the residents as the tumuli of the aborigines; on the other
hand I was assured by the natives that they were formed by the
Jungle-fowl for the purpose of incubating its eggs: their statement
appeared so extraordinary, and so much at variance with the general
habits of birds, that no one in the settlement believed them, or
took sufficient interest in the matter to examine the mounds, and
thus to verify or refute their accounts; another circumstance which
induced a doubt of their veracity, was the great size of the eggs
brought in by the natives as those of this bird. Aware that the eggs
of _Leipoa_ were hatched in a similar manner, my attention was
immediately arrested by these accounts, and I at once determined to
ascertain all I possibly could respecting so singular a feature in
the bird’s economy; and having procured the assistance of a very
intelligent native, who undertook to guide me to the different
places resorted to by the bird, I proceeded on the sixteenth of
November to Knocker’s Bay, a part of Port Essington Harbour
comparatively but little known, and where I had been informed a
number of these birds were always to be seen. I landed beside a
thicket, and had not proceeded far from the shore ere I came to a
mound of sand and shells, with a slight mixture of black soil, the
base resting on a sandy beach, only a few feet above high water
mark; it was enveloped in the large yellow-blossomed _Hibiscus_, was
of a conical form, twenty feet in circumference at the base, and
about five feet in height. On pointing it out to the native and
asking him what it was, he replied, ‘Oooregoorgā Rambal,’
Jungle-fowls’ house or nest. I then scrambled up the sides of it,
and to my extreme delight found a young bird in a hole about two
feet deep; it was lying on a few dry withered leaves, and appeared
to be only a few days old. So far I was satisfied that these mounds
had some connexion with the bird’s mode of incubation; but I was
still sceptical as to the probability of these young birds ascending
from so great a depth as the natives represented, and my suspicions
were confirmed by my being unable to induce the native, in this
instance, to search for the eggs, his excuse being that ‘he knew it
would be of no use, as he saw no traces of the old birds having
recently been there.’ I took the utmost care of the young bird,
intending to rear it if possible; I therefore obtained a moderately
sized box, and placed in it a large portion of sand. As it fed
rather freely on bruised Indian corn I was in full hopes of
succeeding, but it proved of so wild and intractable a disposition
that it would not reconcile itself to such close confinement, and
effected its escape on the third day. During the period it remained
in captivity it was incessantly occupied in scratching up the sand
into heaps, and the rapidity with which it threw the sand from one
end of the box to the other was quite surprising for so young and
small a bird, its size not being larger than that of a small quail.
At night it was so restless that I was constantly kept awake by the
noise it made in its endeavours to escape. In scratching up the sand
it only used one foot, and having grasped a handful as it were, the
sand was thrown behind it, with but little apparent exertion, and
without shifting its standing position on the other leg; this habit
seemed to be the result of an innate restless disposition and a
desire to use its powerful feet, and to have but little connexion
with its feeding; for although Indian corn was mixed with the sand,
I never detected the bird in picking any of it up while thus
employed.
“I continued to receive the eggs without having an opportunity of
seeing them taken from the mound until the sixth of February, when
on again visiting Knocker’s Bay I had the gratification of seeing
two taken from a depth of six feet, in one of the largest mounds I
had then seen. In this instance the holes ran down in an oblique
direction from the centre towards the outer slope of the hillock, so
that although the eggs were six feet deep from the summit, they were
only two or three feet from the side. The birds are said to lay but
a single egg in each hole, and after the egg is deposited the earth
is immediately thrown down lightly until the hole is filled up; the
upper part of the mound is then smoothed and rounded over. It is
easily known when a Jungle-fowl has been recently excavating, from
the distinct impressions of its feet on the top and sides of the
mound, and the earth being so lightly thrown over, that with a
slender stick the direction of the hole is readily detected, the
ease or difficulty of thrusting the stick down indicating the length
of time that may have elapsed since the bird’s operations. Thus far
it is easy enough; but to reach the eggs requires no little exertion
and perseverance. The natives dig them up with their hands alone,
and only make sufficient room to admit their bodies, and to throw
out the earth between their legs; by grubbing with their fingers
alone they are enabled to follow the direction of the hole with
greater certainty, which will sometimes, at a depth of several feet,
turn off abruptly at right angles, its direct course being
obstructed by a clump of wood or some other impediment. Their
patience is, however, often put to severe trials. In the present
instance the native dug down six times in succession to a depth of
at least six or seven feet without finding an egg, and at the last
attempt came up in such a state of exhaustion that he refused to try
again; but my interest was now too much excited to relinquish the
opportunity of verifying the native’s statements, and by the offer
of an additional reward I induced him to try again: this seventh
trial proved successful, and my gratification was complete, when the
native with equal pride and satisfaction held up an egg, and after
two or three more attempts produced a second; thus proving how
cautious Europeans should be of disregarding the narratives of these
poor children of nature, because they happen to sound extraordinary
or different from anything with which they were previously
acquainted.
“I revisited Knocker’s Bay on the tenth of February, and having with
some difficulty penetrated into a dense thicket of canelike creeping
plants, I suddenly found myself beside a mound of gigantic
proportions. It was fifteen feet in height and sixty in
circumference at the base, the upper part being about a third less,
and was entirely composed of the richest description of light
vegetable mould; on the top were very recent marks of the bird’s
feet. The native and myself immediately set to work, and after an
hour’s extreme labour, rendered the more fatiguing from the
excessive heat, and the tormenting attacks of myriads of mosquitoes
and sand-flies, I succeeded in obtaining an egg from a depth of
about five feet; it was in a perpendicular position, with the earth
surrounding and very lightly touching it on all sides, and without
any other material to impart warmth, which in fact did not appear
necessary, the mound being quite warm to the hands. The holes in
this mound commenced at the outer edge of the summit, and ran down
obliquely towards the centre; their direction therefore is not
uniform. Like the majority of the mounds I have seen, this was so
enveloped in thickly foliaged trees as to preclude the possibility
of the sun’s rays reaching any part of it.
“The mounds differ very much in their composition, form and
situation: most of those that are placed near the water’s edge were
formed of sand and shells without a vestige of any other material,
but in some of them I met with a portion of soil and decaying wood;
when constructed of this loose material they are very irregular in
outline, and often resemble a bank thrown up by a constant heavy
surf. One remarkable specimen of this description, situated on the
southern side of Knocker’s Bay, has the appearance of a bank, from
twenty-five to thirty feet in length, with an average height of five
feet; another even more singular is situated at the head of the
harbour, and is composed entirely of pebbly iron-stone, resembling a
confused heap of sifted gravel; into this I dug to the depth of two
or three feet without finding any change of character; it may have
been conical originally, but is now without any regularity, and is
very extensive, covering a space of at least a hundred and fifty
feet in circumference. These remarkable specimens would, however,
seem to be exceptions, as by far the greater number are entirely
formed of light black vegetable soil, are of a conical form, and are
situated in the densest thickets. Occasionally the mounds are met
with in barren, rocky and sandy situations, where not a particle of
soil similar to that of which they are composed occurs for miles
around: how the soil is produced in such situations appears
unaccountable; it has been said that the parent birds bring it from
a great distance; but as we have seen that they readily adapt
themselves to the difference of situation, this is scarcely
probable: I conceive that they collect the dead leaves and other
vegetable matter that may be at hand, and which decomposing forms
this particular description of soil. The mounds are doubtless the
work of many years, and of many birds in succession; some of them
are evidently very ancient, trees being often seen growing from
their sides; in one instance I found a tree growing from the middle
of a mound which was a foot in diameter. I endeavoured to glean from
the natives how the young effect their escape; but on this point
they do not agree; some asserting that they find their way unaided;
others on the contrary affirmed that the old birds, knowing when the
young are ready to emerge from their confinement, scratch down and
release them.
“The natives say that only a single pair of birds are ever found at
one mound at a time, and such, judging from my own observation, I
believe to be the case; they also affirm that the eggs are deposited
at night, at intervals of several days, and this I also believe to
be correct, as four eggs taken on the same day, and from the same
mound, contained young in different stages of development; and the
fact that they are always placed perpendicularly is established by
the concurring testimony of all the different tribes of natives I
have questioned on the subject.
“The Jungle-fowl is almost exclusively confined to the dense
thickets immediately adjacent to the sea-beach; it appears never to
go far inland, except along the banks of creeks. It is always met
with in pairs or quite solitary, and feeds on the ground, its food
consisting of roots, which its powerful claws enable it to scratch
up with the utmost facility, and also of seeds, berries and insects,
particularly the larger species of coleoptera.
“It is at all times a very difficult bird to procure; for although
the rustling noise produced by its stiff pinions when flying may be
frequently heard, the bird itself is seldom to be seen. Its flight
is heavy and unsustained in the extreme; when first disturbed it
invariably flies to a tree, and on alighting stretches out its head
and neck in a straight line with its body, remaining in this
position as stationary and motionless as the branch upon which it is
perched; if, however, it becomes fairly alarmed, it takes a
horizontal but laborious flight for about a hundred yards, with its
legs hanging down as if broken. I did not myself detect any note or
cry; but from the natives’ description and imitation of it, it much
resembles the clucking of the domestic fowl, ending with a scream
like that of the peacock.
“I observed that the birds continued to lay from the latter part of
August to March, when I left that part of the country; and,
according to the testimony of the natives, there is only an interval
of about four or five months, the driest and hottest part of the
year, between their seasons of incubation. The composition of the
mound appears to influence the colouring of a thin epidermis with
which the eggs are covered, and which readily chips off, showing the
true shell to be white; those deposited in the black soil are always
of a dark reddish brown, while those from the sandy hillocks near
the beach are of a dirty yellowish white; they differ a good deal in
size, but in form they all assimilate, both ends being equal; they
are three inches and five lines long by two inches and three lines
broad.”
Head and crest very deep cinnamon-brown; back of the neck and all the
under surface very dark gray; back and wings cinnamon-brown; upper and
under tail-coverts dark chestnut-brown; tail blackish brown; irides
generally dark brown, but in some specimens light reddish brown; bill
reddish brown, with yellow edges; tarsi and feet bright orange, the
scales on the front of the tarsi from the fourth downwards, and the
scales of the toes dark reddish brown.
The figure is about one-fifth less than the natural size.
[Illustration:
PEDIONOMUS TORQUATUS: _Gould_.
_J. & E. Gould del._ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]
PEDIONOMUS TORQUATUS, _Gould_.
Collared Plain Wanderer.
_Pedionomus torquatus_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., September 8,
1840.
The structure of this singular little bird is admirably adapted for
inhabiting those extensive and arid plains which characterize many of
the central portions of Australia; and we may reasonably suppose, that
whenever its vast interior shall be explored, other species of this new
form will be discovered. The bird forming the subject of the present
Plate was received from Mr. Strange, who merely stated that he killed it
on the plains, near Adelaide. I also learn from Captain Grey, that Mr.
Hack, of Adelaide, had a dog which was constantly in the habit of
catching a small quail-like bird while hunting over those plains, and
which is doubtless identical with the present, as a second species I
obtained on Gawler Plains was caught in a similar way by one of my dogs.
Its lengthened and bustard-like legs are admirably suited for running,
while its short round and concave wings are as little adapted for
extensive flight; the general contour of this little Wanderer in fact
suggests the idea of a diminutive Bustard; and were its legs not
furnished with a hind toe, it would range very near to that group. It
has also several characters in common with _Hemipodius_, and a bird from
Africa, figured by Mr. Swainson in his “Zoological Illustrations” under
the name of _Hemipodius nivosus_, but which in his more recently
published “Classification of Birds” he has placed in the genus _Ortygis_
of Illiger.
I regret to say I am unable to give any account of its habits and
economy; but I trust that my friend Captain Sturt, who is resident near
the locality it inhabits, and whose ardent love of Natural History will
induce him to pay every attention to the subject, may be able to collect
the requisite information on these interesting points, in which case his
observations will be included in the present work.
Crown of the head reddish brown, speckled with black; sides of the head
and the neck light buff, speckled with black; neck surrounded by a broad
band of white, thickly spotted with black; all the upper surface reddish
brown, each feather having several transverse crescent-shaped marks in
the centre, and margined with buff; tail buff, crossed by numerous
narrow brown bars; centre of the breast rufous, the remainder of the
under surface buff; the feathers on the breast marked in a similar
manner to those on the upper surface, and the flanks with large
irregular spots of black; irides straw-yellow; bill yellow, passing into
black at the point; feet greenish yellow.
The figures are of the natural size.
[Illustration:
HEMIPODIUS MELANOGASTER: _Gould_.
_J. Gould and H.C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]
HEMIPODIUS MELANOGASTER, _Gould_.
Black-breasted Hemipode.
_Hemipodius melanogaster_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part V. p. 7.
Australia may be said to constitute the great nursery of the Hemipodes;
for no other country is inhabited by so many species, and certainly
there is not a finer one in existence than the subject of the present
Plate. Future research will doubtless furnish others, and in all
probability the interior, at present a terra incognita, will not be
wanting in species of a form peculiarly adapted to inhabit the sterile
kind of country of which it is supposed to consist.
I regret that, never having seen this species in a state of nature, I am
unable to render any account of its habits and economy. It is a native
of the eastern portion of Australia; specimens in my own collection, and
in those of the Zoological Society and King’s College, London, were all
procured at Moreton Bay. Judging from analogy, I presume that the sexes
present little or no difference in their markings; until we are enabled
to resort to dissection, we cannot with certainty ascertain whether the
same disparity in the size of the sexes occurs in this species as in the
other members of the genus; in all probability the female will be found
to exceed the male.
Crown of the head, ear-coverts, throat and centre of the abdomen black;
over each eye extends a line of feathers having each a small white spot
at the tip; this line extends to the nape, which part is also thickly
spotted with white on a black and chestnut-coloured ground; feathers on
the sides of the chest and flanks black, having a large crescent-shaped
marking of white near the tip; mantle and upper part of the back rich
chestnut brown, each feather having a spot of white and a stripe of
black on each side, and barred with black at or near the tip; shoulders,
greater and lesser wing-coverts rufous brown, each feather having a
white spot surrounded with a black line; primaries dark brown; thighs
and upper and under tail-coverts brown, freckled and crossed with black;
bill light brown; feet flesh-colour.
The Plate represents the bird of the natural size.
[Illustration: