Part 13

This very singular bird possesses an extremely wide range of habitat, being dispersed over the whole of the southern portion of Australia from east to west. It has not yet been discovered in Van Diemen’s Land or in any of the islands in Bass’s Straits, neither has the extent of its range northwards yet been ascertained. It is, I believe, everywhere a stationary species, but although its distribution is so general, it is nowhere very plentiful. From what I observed of it, it appeared to give a decided preference to the naked sterile crowns of hills and open bare glades in the forests, and I should say that its presence is indicative of a poor and bad land. It resorts much to the ground, over the surface of which it hops with great quickness, often in small companies of from three to six in number. When flushed it flies but a short distance, generally to a large horizontal branch of a neighbouring _Eucalyptus_, along which it passes in a succession of quick hops, similar to those of the Common Sparrow of Europe. It is very animated in many of its actions, particularly the male, whose erected crest and white face, relieved by the beautiful orange-colour of the eye, gives it a very sprightly appearance. The female, on the other hand, being nearly uniform in colour, having the eye hazel and the crest less developed, is by no means so attractive. I regret much that it is not in my power to convey an idea of the note uttered by this bird, which is singular in the extreme; besides which it is a perfect ventriloquist, its peculiar, mournful, piping whistle appearing to be at a considerable distance, while the bird is perched on a large branch of a neighbouring tree. To aid my recollections I find the following remarks in my note-book:—“Note, a very peculiar piping whistle, sounding like _weet-weet-weet-weet-oo_, the last syllable fully drawn out and very melodious.” In Western Australia, where the real Bell-bird is never found, this species has had that appellation given to it,—a term which must appear ill-applied to those who have heard the note of the true Bell-bird of the brushes of New South Wales, whose tinkling sound so nearly resembles that of a distant sheep-bell as occasionally to deceive the ears of a practised shepherd. My assistant Mr. Gilbert having also noted down to the best of his power the singular note of this species, I give it in his own words, but neither his description nor my own can convey anything like an accurate idea of it; notes of birds, in fact, are not to be described,—they must be heard to be understood. “The most singular feature,” says Mr. Gilbert, “connected with this bird is, that it is a perfect ventriloquist. At first its note commences in so low a tone that it sounds as if at a considerable distance, and then gradually increases in volume until it appears over the head of the wondering hearer, the bird that utters it being all the while on the dead part of a tree, perhaps not more than three or four yards distant; its motionless attitude rendering its discovery very difficult. It has two kinds of song, the most usual of which is a running succession of notes, or two notes repeated together rather slowly, followed by a repetition three times rather quickly, the last note resembling the sound of a bell from its ringing tone; the other song is pretty nearly the same, only that it concludes with a sudden and peculiar fall of two notes.”

It flies in heavy undulating sweeps, generally so near the ground that it seems as if it would scarcely take the trouble to rise above the scrub or small trees that may lie in its course.

In Western Australia its nest is formed of strings of bark, lined with a few fine dried grasses, and is generally placed in a _Xanthorrea_ or grass-tree, either in the upper part of the grass or rush above, or in the fork of the trunk, and is of a deep cup-shaped form. It breeds in October, and generally lays three eggs, which vary much in colour; the ground-tint being bluish white, in some instances marked all over with minute spots of ink-black, in others with long zigzag lines and blotches of the same hue. In some these markings are confined to the larger end, where they form a zone; in others they are equally spread all over the surface, intermingled with the black markings; also blotches of grey appear as if beneath the surface of the shell, and some eggs have been found with the ground-colour of the larger end of a beautiful bluish green.

In its nidification and in many of its actions it offers considerable resemblance to the members of the genus _Colluricincla_.

It has a thick muscular gizzard, and its food consists of seeds, grain, coleoptera, and the larvæ of all kinds of insects. In Western Australia it often resorts to newly ploughed land, as it there finds an abundance of grubs and caterpillars, its most favourite food.

The sexes present considerable difference in colour.

The male has the face white; feathers on the forepart of the head, along the centre of the crest, line from the eye bounding the white of the face, and a large gorget-shaped mark on the breast deep black; sides of the head and crest grey; all the upper surface and flanks light brown; wings brown margined with lighter brown; tail dark brown; centre of the abdomen brownish white; vent and under tail-coverts buff; irides beautiful orange, surrounded by a narrow black lash; bill black; legs and feet blackish brown.

The female resembles the male, but differs in having the face and forehead grey, only a line of black down the centre of the crest, the chin dull white, in having a mere indication of the black gorget, the irides hazel, and the feet olive- or dark brown.

The figures are of the natural size.

DICRURUS BRACTEATUS, _Gould_. Spangled Drongo.

_Dicrurus Balicassius_, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p. 211.

—— _bracteatus_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part x. p. 132.

Having carefully compared the bird here represented with the other species of the genus inhabiting Africa, the continent of India and the Indian islands, I find it to be quite distinct from the whole of them; I have therefore assigned to it a separate specific title, and selected that of _bracteatus_ as expressive of its beautifully spangled appearance. Its range is very extensive, the bird being equally abundant in all parts of the northern and eastern portions of Australia; it was found by Captain Grey on the north-west coast, by Mr. Gilbert at Port Essington, and it has also been observed in the neighbourhood of Moreton Bay on the east coast. I did not encounter it myself during my rambles in Australia; we are therefore indebted to Mr. Gilbert’s notes for all that is known of its history. “This species,” says he, “is one of the commonest birds of the Cobourg Peninsula, where it is generally seen in pairs and may be met with in every variety of situation, but more frequently among the thickets and mangroves than elsewhere. It is at all times exceedingly active and is strictly insectivorous; its food consisting entirely of insects of various kinds, but particularly those belonging to the orders _Coleoptera_ and _Neuroptera_. Its mode of flight and its voice are both exceedingly variable; its usual note is a loud, disagreeably harsh, cackling or creaking whistle, so totally different from that of any other bird, that having been once heard it is readily recognised.

“I found five nests on the 16th of November, all of which contained young birds, some of them nearly able to fly, and others apparently but just emerged from the egg. The whole of these nests were exactly alike and formed of the same material, the dry wiry climbing stalk of a common parasitic plant, without any kind of lining; they were exceedingly difficult to examine from their being placed on the weakest part of the extremities of the horizontal branches of a thickly-foliaged tree at an altitude of not less than thirty feet from the ground; they were of a very shallow form, about five inches and a half in diameter; the eggs would seem to be three or four in number, as three of the nests contained three, and the other two four young birds in each.”

The head and the body both above and below are deep black, the feathers of the head with a crescent, and those of the body, particularly of the breast, with a spot of deep metallic green at the tip; wings and tail deep glossy green; under wing-coverts black tipped with white; irides brownish red; bill and feet blackish brown.

The Plate represents a specimen procured at Port Essington of the natural size, and I may remark that examples obtained in that locality are somewhat smaller than those killed on the north-western and eastern coasts.

RHIPIDURA ALBISCAPA, _Gould_. White-shafted Fantail.

_Rhipidura flabellifera_, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p. 247, excl. of Syn.—Swains. Nat. Lib. Orn., vol. x.: Flycatchers, p. 124, pl. 10; and Class. of Birds, vol. ii. p. 257.

_Rhipidura albiscapa_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., September 8, 1840.

It would appear that two species of Fantailed Flycatchers have hitherto been confounded under one specific appellation; for if a comparison be made, it will be obvious to every one, that the bird here represented is quite distinct from that described and figured by Latham, in the sixth volume of his “General History of Birds,” as _Motacilla flabellifera_, and which he states is a native of New Zealand. It is true, the Australian birds from different localities present considerable variations in the depth of their colour, still they never have the lateral tail-feathers entirely white as in the New Zealand bird: specimens from Van Diemen’s Land are always much darker than those of the continent, and have the tail-feathers less marked with white; others from Western Australia, again, are somewhat lighter in colour, and have the white markings of the tail more extensive than in those collected in South Australia or New South Wales. The accompanying illustration represents the darkest of these varieties, and with the nest and plant (_Culcitium salicinum_) was drawn in Van Diemen’s Land.

Judging from what facts I could gather respecting the economy of the White-shafted Fantail, I am induced to regard it as a permanent resident rather than a migratory species, changing its localities according to the season of the year; resorting to the more open parts during the summer months, and retiring in autumn to thick brushes and warm secluded gullies, where it still finds a supply of food, such as _aphides_ and other small insects, upon which it almost exclusively subsists.

In Van Diemen’s Land I have seen it in the depth of winter in the gullies on the sunny sides of Mount Wellington; and it is my opinion, that instead of migrating they only retire at this season to such localities as are sheltered from the bleak south-westerly winds which then so generally prevail, and where insects are still to be found. The bird is also subject to the same law on the continent of Australia; but as the temperature of that country is more equable, its effects are not so apparent; and in support of this opinion I may adduce the remark of Caley, who says, “The species is very common about Paramatta; and I do not recollect having missed it at any period of the year.”

It is generally found in pairs, but I have occasionally seen as many as four or five together. It inhabits alike the topmost branches of the highest trees, those of a more moderate growth, and the shrouded and gloomy foliaged dells in the neighbourhood of rivulets: from these retreats it darts out a short distance to capture insects, and in most instances returns again to the same branch it had left. While in the air it assumes a number of lively and beautiful positions, at one moment mounting almost perpendicularly, constantly spreading out its tail to the full extent, and frequently tumbling completely over in the descent; at another it may be seen flitting through the branches, and seeking for insects among the flowers and leaves, repeatedly uttering a sweet twittering song.

The Fantail is rather a late breeder, scarcely ever commencing before October, during which and the three following months it rears two, and often three broods. Its elegant little nest, closely resembling a wine-glass in shape, is woven together with exquisite skill, and is generally composed of the inner bark of a species of _Eucalyptus_, neatly lined with the down of the tree-fern intermingled with flowering stalks of moss, and outwardly matted together with the webs of spiders, which not only serve to envelope the nest, but are also employed to strengthen its attachment to the branch on which it is constructed. The situation of the nest is much varied: I have observed it in the midst of dense brushes, in the more open forest, and placed on a branch overhanging a mountain rivulet, but at all times within a few feet of the ground. The eggs are invariably two in number, seven lines long; their ground colour white, blotched all over, but particularly at the larger end, with brown slightly tinged with olive: the young from the nest assume so closely the colour and appearance of the adults, that they are only to be distinguished by the secondaries and wing-coverts being margined with brown, a feature lost after the first moult. The adults are so precisely alike, that actual dissection is necessary to determine the sexes.

In its disposition this little bird is one of the tamest imaginable, allowing of a near approach without evincing the slightest timidity, and will even enter the houses of persons resident in the bush in pursuit of gnats and other insects. During the breeding-season, however, it exhibits extreme anxiety at the sight of an intruder in the vicinity of its nest, the site of which is always betrayed by its becoming more agitated and active in its movements as he draws near: if approached unobserved, it may be often seen mounting in the air and singing while its mate is performing the duty of incubation.

From what I have here stated it will be seen that this species has a most extensive range over the southern portion of Australia, and in all probability it will be found in every part of that vast country.

Adult birds from Van Diemen’s Land have the whole of the upper surface, ear-coverts, and a band across the chest sooty black, slightly tinged with olive, the tail, crown of the head, and pectoral band being rather the darkest; stripe over the eye, lunar-shaped mark behind the eye, throat, tips of the wing-coverts, margins of the secondaries, shafts, outer webs and tips of all but the two middle tail-feathers white; under surface buff; eyes black; bill and feet brownish black.

The figures are of the natural size.

RHIPIDURA RUFIFRONS. Rufous-fronted Fantail.

_Muscicapa rufifrons_, Lath. Ind. Orn. Suppl., p. 1.—Vieill. 2nde Edit. du Nouv. Diet. d’Hist. Nat., tom. xxi. p. 465.—Bonn. et Vieill. Ency. Méth. Orn., part ii. p. 809.

_Orange-rumped Flycatcher_, Lewin, Birds of New Holl., pl. 13.

_Rufous-fronted Flycatcher_, Lath. Gen. Syn. Suppl., vol. ii. p. 220.—Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. x. p. 373.—Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. vi. p. 213.

_Rhipidura rufifrons_, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p. 248.—Less. Man. d’Orn., tom. i. p. 199.

_Bur-ril_, Aborigines of New South Wales.

The Rufous-fronted Fantail is one of the most beautiful and one of the oldest known members of the group to which it belongs, having been originally described by Latham in his “Index Ornithologicus,” and included in the works of nearly every subsequent writer on Ornithology. In Mr. Caley’s short but valuable “Notes on the Birds of New South Wales,” he says, “This bird appears to me to be a rare one, at least I do not recollect having ever seen any other specimen than the present. I met with it on the 15th of October 1807, at Cardunny, a place about ten miles to the north-east of Paramatta. It is a thick brush (or underwood), and is the resort of the _great Bat_.” The fact of the colony having at that early date been but little explored will readily account for Caley’s opinion of the rarity of this bird; but had he visited the thick brushes of Illawarra, the Liverpool range and the Hunter, he would have found that those situations are its natural habitat, and that it is there to be met with in considerable numbers.

Although many of its habits closely resemble those of the _Rhipidura albiscapa_, they are, as the greater length of its legs would indicate, far more terrestrial; it runs over the ground and the fallen logs of trees with great facility; while thus engaged, and particularly when approached by an intruder, it constantly spreads and displays its beautiful tail, and evinces a great degree of restlessness. It is always found in the most secluded parts of the forest, no portion of which appears to be too dense for its abode.

I never met with it in Van Diemen’s Land, or on the islands in Bass’s Straits, neither do I recollect having seen it in South Australia; and it has not been found in Western Australia, or on the north coast, in which latter locality it is represented by the _Rhipidura Dryas_.

I had no opportunity of observing it during the breeding-season, but frequently encountered its deserted little cup-shaped nests, which bore a general resemblance to that of the _R. albiscapa_, figured on the preceding plate.

The sexes are precisely alike in colour; and their only outward difference consists in the somewhat smaller size of the female.

Forehead rusty red, continuing over the eye; crown of the head, back of the neck, upper part of the back and wings olive-brown; lower part of the back, tail-coverts, and the basal portions of the tail rusty red; remainder of the tail blackish brown, obscurely tipped with light grey; the shafts of the tail-feathers for nearly half their length from the base light rusty red; throat and centre of the abdomen white; ear-coverts dark brown; chest black, the feathers of the lower part edged with white; flanks and under tail-coverts light fawn-colour; eyes, bill and feet brown.

The figures are of the natural size.

RHIPIDURA ISURA, _Gould_. Northern Fantail.

_Rhipidura isura_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part VIII. p. 174.

This species is an inhabitant of the north and north-west coasts of Australia, in which localities specimens have been procured by His Excellency Governor Grey and by Mr. Gilbert, the latter of whom states that it is abundant in all parts of the Cobourg Peninsula, and that it is to be met with in every variety of situation; that it is usually seen in pairs, and that it secludes itself during the heat of the day amidst the dense thickets of mangroves.

A nest found by Mr. Gilbert in the early part of November appeared to have been recently inhabited by young birds; it was placed in the centre of three upright twigs of a species of _Banksia_, and was formed of narrow strips of bark, firmly bound together on the outside with cobwebs and vegetable fibres; it was very cup-like in shape, about two inches and a half in height, one inch and three-quarters in diameter, and three-quarters of an inch in depth.

The stomach is tolerably muscular, and the food consists of insects of various kinds and their larvæ.

All the upper surface dull brown; wings and tail darker brown, the outer feather of the latter on each side margined externally and largely tipped with white, the next having a large irregular spot of white at the tip, and the next with a minute line of white near the tip; chin and under surface buffy white, with an indication of a dark brown band across the chest; bill and feet black.

The Plate represents a male and a female of the natural size.

RHIPIDURA MOTACILLOÏDES, _Vig. and Horsf._ Black Fantailed Flycatcher.

_Rhipidura Motacilloïdes_, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p. 248.

_Wil̈-la-ring_, Aborigines of the lowland, and

_Jiẗ-te-jiẗ-te_, Aborigines of the mountain districts of Western Australia.

_Wagtail Flycatcher_, of the Colonists of Swan River.

With the exception of Van Diemen’s Land, this bird has been found in every part of Australia yet visited by Europeans. A slight difference is observable in the size of the specimens from different localities, those from New South Wales being the largest and those from Port Essington the least: the latter may hereafter prove to be specifically distinct.

At the same time that it is one of the most widely diffused, it is also one of the most tame and familiar of the Australian birds, and consequently a general favourite; it is constantly about the houses, gardens and stock yards of the settlers, often running along the backs and close to the noses of the cattle in order to secure the insects which are roused and attracted by the heat from their nostrils, along the roofs of the buildings, the tops of palings, gates, &c.; constructing its pretty nest beneath the verandah, and even entering the rooms to capture its insect prey; it passes much of its time on the ground, over which it runs and darts with the utmost celerity, and when skirting the stream with tail erect and shaking from side to side, it presents an appearance very similar to that of the English Black and White Wagtail (_Motacilla Yarrellii_); the movements of the tails of the two birds are, however, very different, that of the European being perpendicular, while that of the Australian is lateral.

Its song, which consists of a few rather loud and shrill notes, is continually poured forth throughout the entire night, especially if it be moonlight.

Its flight is at times gracefully undulating, at others it consists of a series of sudden zigzag starts, but is always of a very short duration; it never poises itself in the air, like the _Seïsura volitans_, and never mounts higher than the tops of the trees, appearing to prefer hopping from tree to tree to flying.