Part 14

It commences breeding in September and generally rears two or three broods. Its beautiful deep cup-shaped and compact nest is very often built on a branch overhanging water, or on the dead limb of a tree overshadowed by a living branch above it, but the usual and favourite site is the upper side of a fallen branch without the slightest shelter from the sun and rain, at about three or four feet from the ground; the nest itself is constructed of dried grasses, strips of bark, small clumps of grass, roots, &c., all bound and firmly matted together and covered over with cobwebs, the latter material being at times so similar in appearance to the bark of the branch, that the entire nest looks like an excrescence of the wood, consequently it is almost impossible to detect it; it is lined with a finer description of grass, small wiry fibrous roots or feathers. The eggs are generally three in number, of a dull greenish white, banded round the centre or towards the larger end with blotches and spots of blackish and chestnut-brown, which in some instances are very minute; the medium length of the egg is nine lines and a half by seven lines in breadth. On an intruder approaching the nest, the birds fly about and hover over his head, and will even sit on the same branch on which the nest is placed while the intruder is in the act of robbing it of the eggs; all the time uttering a peculiar cry, which may be compared to the sound of a child’s rattle, or the noise produced by the small cog-wheels of a steam-mill.

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

The sexes are alike in plumage, and may be thus described:—

Head, neck, throat, sides of the chest, upper surface and tail, glossy greenish black; over each eye a narrow line of white; wings brown; wing-coverts with a small triangular spot of white at the tip; under surface pale buffy white; irides, bill and feet black.

The figures are of the natural size.

SEÏSURA INQUIETA. Restless Flycatcher.

_Turdus inquietus_, Lath. Ind. Orn. Supp., p. xl.

_Restless Thrush_, Lath. Gen. Syn. Supp., vol. ii. p. 181.—Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. x. p. 263.—Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. v. p. 120.

_Turdus volitans_, Lath. Ind. Orn. Supp., p. xli.

_Volatile Thrush_, Lath. Gen. Syn. Supp., vol. ii. p. 183.—Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. x. p. 290.—Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. v. p. 122.

_Seïsura volitans_, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p. 250.—Swains. Class. of Birds, vol. ii. p. 256.—G. R. Gray, List of Gen. of Birds, 2nd Edit., p. 43.—Nat. Lib. Orn., vol. x., Flycatchers, pl. 12. p. 138.

_Jiẗ-tee-gnut_, Aborigines of Western Australia.

_The Grinder_, of the Colonists of Swan River and New South Wales.

This species ranges over the whole of the southern portions of the Australian continent, and appears to be as numerous at Swan River as it is in New South Wales, where it may be said to be universally distributed, for I observed it in every part I visited, both among the brushes as well as in the more open portions of the country, in all of which it is apparently a stationary species. It is a bird possessing many peculiar and very singular habits. It not only captures its prey after the usual manner of the other Flycatchers, but it frequently sallies forth into the open glades of the forest and the cleared lands, and procures it by poising itself in the air with a remarkably quick motion of the wings, precisely after the manner of the English Kestrel (_Tinnunculus Alaudarius_), every now and then making sudden perpendicular descents to the ground to capture any insect that may attract its notice. It is while performing these singular movements that it produces the remarkable sound, which has procured for it from the colonists of New South Wales the appellation of “The Grinder.” The singular habits of this species appear to have attracted the notice of all who have paid any attention to the natural history of New South Wales: Mr. Caley observes, “It is very curious in its actions. In alighting on the stump of a tree it makes several semicircular motions, spreading out its tail at the time, and making a loud noise somewhat like that caused by a razor-grinder at work. I have seen it frequently alight on the ridge of my house, and perform the same evolutions:” and Latham says, “It is observed to hover about two feet from the ground, making sudden darts on something, which, by attention, was found to be a sort of worm, which this bird, by a chirping note, and tremulous motion of the wings, with the tail widely expanded, seemed to fascinate out of its hole in the ground.” To this I may add the following account of the actions and manners of this species as observed by Mr. Gilbert in Western Australia:—

“This bird is found in pairs in every variety of situation. Its general note is a loud harsh cry several times repeated; it also utters a loud clear whistle; but its most singular note is that from which it has obtained its colonial name, and which is only emitted while the bird is in a hovering position at a few feet above the ground; this noise so exactly resembles a grinder at work, that a person unaware of its being produced by a bird might easily be misled. Its mode of flight is one of the most graceful and easy imaginable; it rarely mounts high in flying from tree to tree, but moves horizontally with its tail but little spread, and with a very slight motion of the wings; it is during this kind of flight that it utters the harsh note above-mentioned; the grinding note being only emitted during the graceful hovering motion, the object of which appears to be to attract the notice of the insects beneath, for it invariably terminates in the bird descending to the ground, picking up something, flying into a tree close by, and uttering its shrill and distinct whistle.”

The food consists of insects of various kinds, and it is said to devour scorpions also.

The months of September, October and November constitute the breeding-season. The nests observed by me in New South Wales were rather neatly made, very similar to those of _Rhipidura Motacilloïdes_, cup-shaped, and composed of fine grasses matted together on the outside with cobwebs, and lined with very fine fibrous roots and a few feathers; they were placed on horizontal branches frequently overhanging water. The eggs, which are sometimes only two, but mostly three in number, are dull white, distinctly zoned round the centre with spots of chestnut and greyish brown, the latter colour appearing as if beneath the surface of the shell; their medium length is nine lines and a half by seven lines in breadth. The nests found by Mr. Gilbert in Western Australia were remarkably neat and pretty, and were formed of cobwebs, dried soft grasses, narrow strips of gum-tree bark, the soft paper-like bark of the _Melaleucæ_, &c., and were usually lined with feathers or a fine wiry grass, and in some instances horse-hair; the situations chosen for its erection are the most difficult of access, being the upper side, the extreme end and the dead portion of a horizontal branch. The bird is very reluctant to leave the nest, and will almost suffer itself to be handled rather than desert its eggs.

The sexes are very similar in plumage, but the female and young males have the lores or space between the bill and the eye not so deep a black as in the male.

Head and all the upper surface shining bluish black; wings dark brown; tail brownish black; lores deep velvety black; under surface silky white, with the exception of the sides of the chest, which are dull black; irides dark brown; basal half of the sides of the upper mandible and the basal two-thirds of the lower mandible greenish blue; the remainder of the bill bluish black; legs and feet dark bluish brown.

The figures are of the natural size, the upper one exhibiting a rufous tint on the breast, which frequently occurs.

PIEZORHYNCHUS NITIDUS, _Gould_. Shining Flycatcher.

_Piezorhynchus nitidus_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part VIII. p. 171.

_Un̈g-bur-ka_, Aborigines of Port Essington.

I here give a representation of a Flycatcher, whose habitat, so far as we know, is restricted to the northern portions of Australia. It is by no means scarce at Port Essington, but, from the extreme shyness of its disposition and the situations it inhabits, it is seldom seen; specimens in fact are not procured without considerable trouble and difficulty. As I have not myself seen the bird in its native haunts, I shall transcribe, with as little alteration as possible, Mr. Gilbert’s notes respecting it:—“Inhabits the densest mangroves and thickets, and is usually seen creeping about close to the ground among the fallen trees in the swamps, at which time it utters a note so closely resembling the croak of a frog, that it might easily be mistaken for the voice of that animal; this peculiar note would seem to be only emitted while the bird is feeding on the ground; for when it occasionally mounts to the higher branches of the trees it utters a rather pleasing succession of sounds resembling _twit-te-twite_; on the slightest disturbance it immediately descends again to the underwood and recommences its frog-like note. The nest is either built among the mangroves, or on the verge of a thicket near an open spot. One that I found among the mangroves was built on a seedling-tree not more than three feet from the ground; another was on a branch overhanging a small running stream within reach of the hand; while a third, constructed on the branches of the trees bordering a clear space in the centre of a dense thicket, was at least twenty feet high. The nest at all times so closely resembles the surrounding branches, that it is very difficult to detect unless the birds are very closely watched; in some instances it looks so like an excrescence of the tree, and in others is so deeply seated in the fork whereon it is placed, that it can only be discovered when the bird is sitting upon it. The nest is about two inches and a half in height and three and a quarter in diameter, is of a cup-shaped form, with the rim brought to a sharp edge, and is outwardly composed of the stringy bark of an _Eucalyptus_ bound together on the outside with vegetable fibres, among which in some instances cobwebs are mixed: all over the outside of the nest small pieces of bark resembling portions of lichens are attached, some of them hanging by a single thread and moving about with every breath of air; the internal surface is lined with a strong wiry thread-like fibrous root, whereby the whole structure is rendered nearly as firm as if it were bound with wire.”

The eggs, which are two in number, are ten lines long and seven lines broad, of a bluish white, blotched and spotted all over with olive and greyish brown, the spots of the latter hue being less numerous and more obscure; the spots inclining towards the form of a zone at the larger end.

The food consists of insects of various kinds.

The male has the whole of the plumage rich deep glossy greenish black; irides dark brown; bill greyish blue at the base, black at the tip; tarsi greenish grey.

The female has the top and sides of the head and the back of the neck rich deep glossy greenish black; the remainder of the upper surface, wings and tail rusty brown; and the whole of the under surface white.

The figures are those of a male and a female of the natural size.

MYIÄGRA PLUMBEA, _Vig. and Horsf._ Plumbeous Flycatcher.

_Myiägra plumbea_, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p. 254.—Less. Man. d’Orn., tom. i. p. 181.—Swains. Class. of Birds, vol. ii. p. 260.

A summer visitant to New South Wales, where it takes up its abode on high trees bordering-creeks and low valleys, and captures its insect food under the shady branches, the _Myiägra plumbea_ is mostly seen in pairs, which are rather thinly dispersed over the districts forming its usual place of resort. A low whistling note, frequently uttered by the males, is, in all probability, indicative of the season of love; but whether it is also uttered at any other than the pairing and breeding time, I had no opportunities of observing. On the approach of winter it retires northwards from New South Wales, and is not to be met with there until the following August or September, the months in which spring commences in the opposite hemisphere.

It is a most active bird; in fact all its positions are characterized by great liveliness; for while in a state of comparative repose, or when not actually in pursuit of insects, it displays a constant tremulous motion of the tail, by which means its presence is often betrayed when it would otherwise remain unnoticed.

As is the case with all the other members of the genus, the sexes present considerable difference in their plumage, the female having the throat of a bright rusty red, while the throat of the male is of a rich greenish lead-colour, like the upper surface,—a style of colouring which has suggested the specific name of _plumbea_. The young males during the first year so closely assimilate in plumage to the female, that by dissection alone can they be distinguished with certainty.

New South Wales appears to be the great nursery of this species, for I never met with it either in Van Diemen’s Land or in any other of the Australian colonies; where then does it go during the colder months of the year? The woods bordering the north coast are inhabited by a nearly allied but distinct species; the _M. plumbea_ would not therefore be likely to pass over this country, or to find therein a resting-place among the individuals of another species. If however we consider the vast extent of Australia, and the probability that its central parts may be far more fertile than is generally supposed, it is not unlikely that the winter abode of this and numerous other birds will there be found, and that thereby the mysteriously sudden appearance and departure of many species, which are so frequently taking place, will be readily accounted for.

The nest is cup-shaped, rather deep, formed of moss and lichens and neatly lined with feathers, and is generally placed on the horizontal branch of a tree. I did not succeed in procuring the eggs.

The male has the whole of the upper surface, wings, tail and breast lead-colour, glossed with green on the head, neck and breast, and becoming gradually paler towards the extremity of the body and on the wings and tail; primaries slaty black; secondaries faintly margined with white; under surface of the wing, abdomen and under tail-coverts white; bill leaden blue, except at the extreme tip, which is black; irides and feet black.

The female has the head and back lead-colour, without the greenish gloss; wings and tail brown, fringed with bluish grey, particularly the secondaries; throat and breast rich rusty red, gradually fading into the white of the lower part of the abdomen and under tail-coverts; upper mandible black; under mandible pale blue, except at the extremity, which is black.

The Plate represents the two sexes of the natural size.

MYIAGRA CONCINNA. _Gould_. Pretty Flycatcher.

_Myiagra concinna_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., November 1847.

This species is a native of the north-western portion of Australia, where it inhabits the dense mangroves and thickets adjacent to swamps. It is very shy and retiring in its disposition, but may occasionally be seen on the topmost branches of the highest trees of the forest. Like the other Flycatchers, it has the habit of sitting for a long time on a branch, watching the various insects as they pass, now and then darting forth and capturing one on the wing, and then returning again to the branch from which it had flown.

When among the mangroves it utters a rather agreeable twittering song, but when among the high trees it emits a loud and shrill whistle, drawn out at times to a considerable length.

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

Like the other members of the genus, the sexes differ considerably in colour; they may be thus described:—

The male has the whole of the upper surface, wings, tail and breast lead-colour, glossed with green on the head, neck and breast, and becoming gradually paler towards the extremity of the body and on the wings and tail; primaries slaty black; secondaries faintly margined with white; under surface of the wing, abdomen and under tail-coverts white; bill leaden blue, except at the extreme tip, which is black; irides brown; feet blackish grey.

The female has the head and back lead-colour, without the greenish gloss; wings and tail brown, fringed with bluish grey, particularly the secondaries; throat and breast rich rusty red; abdomen and under tail-coverts white, which colour does not gradually blend with the rusty red of the breast, as in the female of _Myiagra plumbea_; upper mandible black; under mandible pale blue, except at the tip, which is black.

The Plate represents the two sexes of the natural size.

MYIAGRA NITIDA, _Gould_. Shining Flycatcher.

_Todus Rubecula_, Lath. Ind. Orn. Supp., p. xxii., female.

_Red-breasted Tody_, Lath. Gen. Syn. Supp., vol. ii. p. 147.—Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. viii. p. 126.—Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. iv. p. 92, female.

_Myiagra Rubeculoides_, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p. 253, female.

—— _nitida_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part V. p. 142; and in Syn. Birds of Australia, Part IV, male.

_Satin Sparrow_, of the Colonists of Van Diemen’s Land.

The _Myiagra nitida_ arrives in Van Diemen’s Land about the end of September, commences breeding soon after its arrival, rears a somewhat numerous progeny during the months of summer, and departs again in February. In performing these migrations it necessarily passes directly over the colonies of South Australia and New South Wales, yet it seldom occurs in collections from those countries, and I believe is only seen there during the passage. It is a most lively, showy and active bird, darting about from branch to branch and sallying forth in the air in pursuit of its insect prey with a most singular, quick, oscillating or trembling motion of the tail.

I experienced but little difficulty in obtaining several of its nests and eggs among the gullies and forest lands on the north side of Mount Wellington, particularly those immediately in the rear of New Town, near the residence of the Rev. Thomas J. Ewing, who frequently accompanied and aided me in my search. The nest is usually placed at the extreme tip of a dead branch, at a height varying from twenty to forty feet from the ground. Some nests are formed of a minute species of light green moss, others are constructed of fine threads of stringy bark; all are rendered very warm by a dense lining of soft hair, probably that of the opossums or kangaroo rats, and wool, or the soft silk-like threads of the flowering stalks of moss, the down of the tree-fern, and the blossoms of many other kinds of plants; and the outsides of all are very similar, being alike ornamented with small pieces of lichen stuck on without any degree of regularity; these different materials are all felted together with cobwebs, or vegetable fibres. The form of the nest appears to depend upon the nature of the site upon which it is built: if placed on a level part of the branch, the nest is large and high; if in a fork, then it is a more shallow structure; in each case the opening is as perfect a circle as the nature of the materials will admit: the height varies from two inches to three inches and a quarter, the average breadth of the opening is about one inch and three-quarters, and the depth one inch. The eggs are generally three in number, somewhat round in form, and of a greenish white spotted and blotched all over with umber brown, yellowish brown, and obscure markings of purplish grey; their medium length is nine lines and breadth seven lines.

The weight of this bird is nearly three ounces and three-quarters; the stomach is muscular, and those examined contained the remains of dipterous and coleopterous insects.

The note is a loud piping whistle frequently repeated.

The male has the lores deep velvety black; all the upper surface, wings, tail and breast of a rich deep blackish green with a metallic lustre; primaries deep brown; under surface of the shoulder, abdomen and under tail-coverts white; bill lead-colour at the base, passing into black at the tip; irides and feet black.

The female, as will be seen on reference to the accompanying Plate, differs considerably from the male; the upper surface being much less brilliant, and the throat and breast of a rich rusty red, a style of colouring which is also characteristic of the young males during the first autumn of their existence.

The figures represent the two sexes of the natural size.

MYIAGRA LATIROSTRIS, _Gould_. Broad-billed Flycatcher.

_Myïagra latirostris_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part VIII. p. 172.

I possess two examples of this species, one of which was procured on the north coast by Mr. Dring, and the other at Port Essington by Mr. Gilbert. It is in every respect a true _Myïagra_, and is rendered remarkably conspicuous by the great breadth or lateral dilatation of the bill. As no notes accompanied the specimens, I am unable to give any particulars as to its habits and economy; in all probability they are very similar to those of the other members of the genus.

All the upper surface, wings and tail dark bluish gray, with a shining greenish lustre on the head and back of the neck; throat and chest sandy buff; under surface white; bill black; irides blackish brown; feet black.

The figures are of the natural size.

MICRŒCA MACROPTERA. Great-winged Micrœca.

_Myiagra macroptera_, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p. 254.

_Micrœca macroptera_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part VIII. p. 172.

_Loxia fascinans_, Lath. Ind. Ora. Supp., p. xlvi.?—Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. ix. p. 298?

_Fascinating Grosbeak_, Lath. Gen. Syn. Supp., vol. ii. p. 197.—Ib. Gen. Hist., vol. v. p. 266?

_Brown Flycatcher_, of the Colonists.