Part 8

_Cracticus streperus_, Vieill. Gal. des Ois., pl. 109.—Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p. 261.

_Gracula strepera_, Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. vii. p. 462.

_Barita strepera_, Temm. Man., part i. p. li.

_Coronica strepera_, Gould, Syn. Birds of Australia, Part I.

_Strepera_, Less. Traité d’Orn., p. 329.

_Strepera graculina_, G. R. Gray, Gen. of Birds, 2nd Edit., p. 50.

This species was originally described and figured in White’s ‘Voyage to New South Wales’: it is consequently the oldest and most familiarly known member of the group to which it belongs. It is very generally distributed over the colony of New South Wales, inhabiting alike the brushes near the coast, those of the mountain ranges, and also the forests of _Eucalypti_ which clothe the plains and more open country. As a great part of its food consists of seeds, berries and fruits, it is more arboreal in its habits than some of the other species of its group, whose structure better adapts them for progression on the ground, and whose food principally consists of insects and their larvæ. The habitat of the present bird appears to be confined to the south-eastern portions of the continent, where, as is the case with all birds whose range is so limited, it is a stationary species, merely moving from one district to another according to the season; at one time being more numerous on the open coast, and at another among the brushes, as each may offer it a greater variety or more abundant supply of food: the hilly portions of the country intersected with deep ravines are, however, decidedly its most congenial localities. Like the other members of the genus it is mostly seen in small companies, varying from four to six in number, seldom either singly or in pairs: I am not, however, inclined to consider them as gregarious birds in the strict sense of the word, believing as I do that each of these small companies is composed of a pair and their progeny, which appear to keep together from the birth of the latter until the natural impulse for pairing prompts them to separate.

Their flight is very different from that of the Crow, (which they much resemble in outward appearance) being much less protracted, and never of an elevated character; its utmost extent is from one part of the forest to another, or across a gully, in effecting which they sometimes pass over the tops of the trees, while at others they accomplish the distance by flitting from tree to tree. It is during flight that the markings of this bird are displayed to the greatest advantage, the strong contrast of its colours then rendering it a conspicuous object in the bush: while on the wing also it frequently causes the woods to ring with its peculiar noisy cry, by which its presence is often indicated when otherwise it would not be seen. On the ground it hops over the surface with the greatest facility.

The nest, which is usually constructed on the branches of low trees, sometimes even on those of the _Casuarinæ_, is of a large size, round, open, and cup-shaped, built of sticks and lined with moss and grasses; the eggs, which I was not so fortunate as to procure, are generally three or four in number.

The flesh of this species is frequently eaten by the colonists, and is by some considered a delicacy.

Of all the species of this singular and well-defined genus, the present, although not the largest in stature, is by far the handsomest, its markings being more clearly defined and the tints of its plumage more rich and contrasted than those of any of its congeners, the black being as deep as jet, and the white pure and unspotted; it differs also from all its allies yet discovered in having the basal half of the primaries and the basal half and the tips of the tail-feathers together with those portions of the shafts pure white.

The plumage of both sexes at all ages is so precisely similar, that by dissection alone can we distinguish the male from his mate, or the young from the adult; the female is, however, always a trifle less in all her admeasurements, and the young birds have the corners of the mouth more fleshy and of a brighter yellow than the adults.

All the plumage fine bluish black with the exception of the basal half of the primaries, the basal half and the tips of the tail-feathers, including those portions of their shafts and the under tail-coverts which are snow-white; irides beautiful yellow; bill and feet black.

STREPERA FULIGINOSA, _Gould_. Sooty Crow-Shrike.

_Cracticus fuliginosus_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part IV. p. 106.

_Coronica fuliginosa_, Gould in Syn. Birds of Australia, Part I.

_Black Magpie_, of the Colonists.

The great stronghold of this species is the island of Van Diemen’s Land, in which it is a permanent resident; but its range extends to the islands in Bass’s Straits, and a few individuals have been found in South Australia. Its browner colouring, more arched and gibbose bill, its smaller size, and the absence of the white colouring of the under tail-coverts and of the base of the primaries, are characters by which it may at once be distinguished from all the other members of the group. The localities it frequents are also of a different description, those preferred being low swampy grounds in the neighbourhood of the sea and woods bordering rivers. Like the other species of the genus, it subsists on insects and grubs of various kinds, to which pulpy seeds and berries are frequently added.

It is very active on the ground, running over the surface with a motion between a run and a hop with great rapidity.

It breeds in the low trees, constructing a large, deep and cup-shaped nest very similar to that of the European Crow, and lays three eggs, of a pale vinous brown marked all over with large irregular blotches of brown, one inch and five-eighths long by one inch and a quarter broad.

Its note is much less shrill than that of the _Strepera arguta_.

I have seen this bird in a state of captivity, and it appeared to bear confinement remarkably well.

The sexes present no visible difference except in size, the female being smaller than the male; they may be thus described:—

All the plumage sooty black, with the exception of the ends of the primaries and all but the two middle tail-feathers, which are white; irides bright yellow; bill and feet black.

The figures are of the natural size.

STREPERA ARGUTA, Gould. Hill Crow-Shrike.

_Strepera arguta_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part XIV. p. 19.

The _Strepera arguta_ is abundantly dispersed over Van Diemen’s Land, but is more numerous in the central parts of the island than in the districts adjacent to the coast; it also inhabits South Australia, in which country it is more scarce, and all the specimens I have seen are rather smaller in size. I have never seen it in any part of New South Wales that I have visited, neither have specimens occurred in the numerous collections from the west coast that have come under my notice. It is the largest, the boldest and the most animated species of the genus yet discovered. If not strictly gregarious, it is often seen in small companies of from four to ten, and during the months of winter even a greater number are to be seen congregated together. The districts most suited to its habits are open glades in the forest and thinly-timbered hills: although it readily perches on the trees, its natural resort is the ground, for which its form is admirably adapted, and over which it passes with amazing rapidity, either in a succession of leaps or by running. Fruits being but sparingly diffused over Australia, insects necessarily constitute almost its sole food, and of these nearly every order inhabiting the surface of the ground forms part of its diet. It devours grasshoppers with great avidity, and as these insects are ever most abundant, the one would appear to be formed for the sustenance of the other.

Its note is a loud ringing and very peculiar sound, somewhat resembling the words _clink, clink_, several times repeated, and strongly reminded me of the distant sound of the strokes on a blacksmith’s anvil; and hence the term _arguta_ appeared to me to be an appropriate specific appellation for this new species.

All the nests I found of this species either contained young birds or were without eggs; I am consequently unable to give their size and colour. The nest, which is of a large size, is generally placed on a horizontal branch of a low tree; it is round, deep and cup-shaped, outwardly formed of sticks and lined with fibrous roots and other fine materials.

The sexes present no external difference whatever, neither is there much difference in size; the young are black from the nest, except that the tertiary feathers are strongly tipped with white, a character never I believe thrown off in adult age.

All the plumage brownish black, becoming much browner on the tips of the wing-feathers, and of a grey tint on the abdomen; base of the inner webs of the primaries and secondaries, the under tail-coverts and the apical third of the inner webs of the tail-feathers white; irides orange-yellow; bill and feet black; corner of the mouth yellow.

The Plate represents the bird about four-fifths of the size of life.

STREPERA ANAPHONENSIS. Grey Crow-Shrike.

_Barita Anaphonensis_, Temm. Pl. Col.—Less. Traité d’Orn., p. 345, Atlas, pl. 47. fig. 1.

_Strepera plumbea_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part XIV. p. 20.

_Dje-läak_, Aborigines of Western Australia.

_Squeaker_, of the Colonists.

Having formerly considered the Grey Crow-Shrikes of New South Wales and Western Australia as distinct species, I assigned to the Swan River bird the specific appellation of _plumbea_; subsequent research has, however, proved them to be identical: I am therefore under the necessity of adopting the name of _Anaphonensis_, previously applied to the species by my friend M. Temminck, and of sinking that of _plumbea_ into a synonym.

No one species of the genus has so wide a range as the present, extending as it does from New South Wales on the east to Swan River on the west coast. It is, however, more local in its habitat than any of them, at least such is the case in New South Wales; for although it is tolerably abundant at Illawarra, at Camden, and in the park of C. Throsby, Esq., at Bong-bong, it was not seen in any other district that I visited. Mr. Gilbert states that he observed it in every part of Western Australia visited by him; and that he mostly met with it in the thickly wooded forests, singly or in pairs, feeding on the ground with a gait and manners very much resembling the Common Crow. Its flight is easy and long-sustained, and it occasionally mounts to a considerable height in the air.

Its note is a piercing shriek, very much resembling in sound the native name.

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

It breeds in the latter part of September and the beginning of October, forming a nest of dried sticks in the thickest part of the foliage of a gum- or mahogany-tree and laying three eggs, the ground-colour of which is either reddish buff or wood-brown, marked over nearly the whole of the surface with blotches of a darker tint; their medium length is one inch and nine lines by one inch and two and a half lines broad.

The sexes resemble each other so closely in colour, that it is impossible to distinguish the one from the other, except by dissection.

All the upper surface leaden grey, becoming much darker on the forehead and lores; wings black; secondaries margined with grey and tipped with white; basal half of the inner webs of the primaries white, of the outer webs grey; the remainder of their length black, slightly tipped with white; tail black, margined with grey and largely tipped with white; all the under surface greyish brown; under tail-coverts white; irides orange; bill and feet black.

The figure represents a male of the natural size.

GYMNORHINA TIBICEN. Piping Crow-Shrike.

_Coracias Tibicen_, Lath. Ind. Orn., Supp., xxvii.—Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. vii. p. 405.

_Barita Tibicen_, Temm. Man., part i. p. li.—Less. Traité d’Orn., p. 345.

_Piping Roller_, Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. iii. p. 86. no. 23.

_Cracticus Tibicen_, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p. 260.—Gould, Syn, Birds of Australia, Part I.

_Gymnorhina Tibicen_, G. R. Gray, List of Gen. of Birds, 2nd edit. p. 50.

_Ca-ruck_, Aborigines of New South Wales.

This species is universally diffused over the colony of New South Wales, to which part of the Australian continent I believe its habitat to be confined. It is true that a bird of this genus inhabits the neighbourhood of Swan River, whose size and style of plumage is very similar, but which I have little doubt will prove to be distinct. In fact, from what we see in other instances, it is natural to expect that there would be a species of this genus on the western as well as on the eastern side of the country, and that they would, as representatives of each other, be very nearly allied; I shall therefore consider the habitat of the present bird to be restricted to New South Wales until I have further proofs to the contrary.

The _Gymnorhina Tibicen_ is a bold and showy bird, which, when not harassed and driven away, greatly enlivens and ornaments the lawns and gardens of the colonists by its presence, and with the slightest protection from molestation becomes so tame and familiar that it approaches close to their dwellings, and perches round them and the stock yards in small families of from six to ten in number. Nor is its morning carol less amusing and attractive than its pied and strongly contrasted plumage is pleasing to the eye. To describe the notes of this bird is beyond the power of my pen, and it is a source of regret to myself that my readers cannot, as I have done, listen to them in their native wilds, or that the bird is not introduced into this country in sufficient numbers for it to become generally known; a more amusing and easily-kept denizen for the aviary could not be selected. As it dwells in New South Wales all the year round, breeds upon the trees bordering the cleared lands, and constructs a nest as large and conspicuous as that of the Crow of our own island, there can be no difficulty in procuring as many young ones as might be desired; and I trust, therefore, that whenever opportunities occur for sending living examples to England they will not be neglected.

Cleared lands, open flats and plains skirted by belts of trees are its favourite localities, hence the interior of the country is more favourable to its habits than the neighbourhood of the coast.

It lives almost entirely on insects, which are generally procured on the ground, and the number of locusts and grasshoppers it devours is immense. In captivity it subsists upon animal food of almost every kind, and that berries and fruits would be equally acceptable I have but little doubt.

The breeding-season commences in August and lasts until January, during which period two broods are generally reared by each pair of birds. The nest is round, deep and open, composed outwardly of sticks, leaves, wool, &c., and lined with any finer materials that may be at hand. The eggs are either three or four in number; their colour and size I regret to say I cannot give, having unfortunately neglected to procure them while in New South Wales. Of two other and much rarer species I possess the eggs; and although I might from analogy proceed to describe those of the present bird from them, I refrain from so doing.

The young assume the plumage of the adult from the nest, and no change takes place from age or season.

Crown of the head, cheeks, throat, back, all the under surface, scapularies, secondaries, primaries and tips of the tail-feathers black; wing-coverts, nape of the neck, upper and under tail-coverts, and base of the tail-feathers white; bill bluish ash-colour at the base, passing into black at the tip; irides rich reddish hazel; legs black.

The Plate represents the male and female, with the nest, rather less than the natural size.

GYMNORHINA LEUCONOTA, _Gould_. White-backed Crow-Shrike.

_Barita Tibicen_, Quoy et Gaim. Voy. de la Coq., pl. 20.—Less. Traité d’Orn., p. 345.

_Goor̈e-bat_, Aborigines of the lowland districts of Western Australia.

This fine species of _Gymnorhina_, which has been confounded by the French writers with the _G. Tibicen_, inhabits South Australia, and extends its range as far to the eastward as the colony of New South Wales. I hear that it is tolerably abundant at Port Philip, and that it is sometimes seen on the plains near Yass. For my own part I have never met with it in New South Wales, but observed it to be rather abundant in South Australia. In the extreme shyness of its disposition it presents a remarkable contrast to the _G. Tibicen_; it was indeed so wary and so difficult to approach, that it required the utmost ingenuity to obtain a sufficient number of specimens necessary for my purpose. Plain and open hilly parts of the country are the localities it prefers, where it dwells much on the ground, feeding upon locusts and other insects. In size it is fully as large as any species of the genus yet discovered; it runs over the ground with great facility, and the long flights it frequently takes across the plains from one belt of trees to another, indicated greater powers of flight than is possessed by its near allies; in other parts of its economy it so nearly resembles the _G. Tibicen_, that it would be useless to repeat a description of them here. The same single note and early carol of small companies perched on some leafless branch of a _Eucalyptus_ appears characteristic of all the members of the genus.

It breeds in September and October, constructing a nest of dried sticks in an upright fork of a gum- or mahogany-tree. The eggs are three in number, very long in form, and of a dull bluish white, in some instances tinged with red, marked with large bold blotches or zigzag streakings of brownish red or light chestnut; the average length of the eggs is one inch and eight lines, and breadth one inch and one line. Occasionally eggs are met with which are spotted with black or umber-brown.

The sexes when fully adult present no other outward difference than the larger size of the female. Immature birds of both sexes have the whole of the back clouded with grey, and the bill of a less pure ash-colour.

Back of the neck, back, upper and under coverts of the wings, basal portion of the spurious wing, upper and under tail-coverts, and base of the tail-feathers white; remainder of the plumage and the shafts of the white portion of the tail-feathers glossy black; irides light hazel; bill bluish lilac-purple, passing into black at the tip; legs and feet blackish grey.

The Plate represents the two sexes rather less than the size of life.

GYMNORHINA ORGANICUM, _Gould_. Tasmanian Crow-Shrike.

_Cracticus hypoleucus_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part IV. p. 106; and in Syn. Birds of Australia, Part I.

_Organ-Bird_ and _White Magpie_ of the Colonists.

This animated and elegant bird is a native of Van Diemen’s Land, and appears to be very local in its habitat, for while it is never found below Austin’s Ferry on the southern bank of the river Derwent, it is very plentiful on the opposite side and in the interior of the country, particularly on the salt-pan plains, which would be dreary indeed were they not enlivened by the presence of this amusing bird, the Miners (_Myzanthæ_), and the Rose Hill Parrakeet. It is also to be met with in all the open parts of the country, in small troops of from six to twelve or more in number; but I did not observe it on the banks of the Tamar, and it certainly does not inhabit Flinders’ Island. It runs, and occasionally hops, over the surface with great quickness, but flies rather slowly, and upon alighting on a branch raises and closes one wing several times in quick succession, and in a very peculiar manner. When on the plains it utters a loud ringing call, but when perched on the dead branches of the trees soon after day-break, it pours forth a succession of notes of the strangest description that can be imagined, much resembling the sounds of a hand-organ out of tune, which has obtained for it the colonial name of the Organ-Bird. It is very easily tamed; and as it possesses the power of imitation in an extraordinary degree, it may be readily taught to whistle various tunes as well as to articulate words; it consequently soon becomes a most amusing as well as ornamental bird for the aviary or cage. The stomach is very muscular, and the food consists of insects of various kinds, grubs, caterpillars, &c., which are procured on the ground.

A nest I found was placed among the topmost branches of a high gum-tree, was round, cup-shaped, and outwardly constructed of sticks interspersed with strips of bark, short grasses, and tufts of a species of swamp grass, to which succeeded an internal lining of coarse grass, which again was lined with the inner bark of the stringy bark-tree, sheep’s wool and a few feathers, felted together and forming a dense and warm receptacle for the eggs; it was about ten inches in diameter, and about four or five inches in depth.

The eggs were four in number, of a lengthened form with a ground-colour of greenish ashy grey, spotted and blotched, particularly at the larger end, with umber-brown and bluish grey, the latter colour appearing as if beneath the surface of the shell; they were one inch and five lines long by one inch broad. The young assume the adult livery from the nest, and appear to keep in company of the parent birds during the first ten months of their existence.

The male has the crown of the head, cheeks, throat, all the under surface, scapularies, primaries and tips of the tail jet-black; nape of the neck, back, upper and under tail-coverts, and base of the tail-feathers white; bill dark lead-colour at the base, passing into black at the tip; legs black; irides bright hazel.

The female differs in having the nape of the neck and back grey, and the primaries and tips of the tail-feathers brownish black.

The Plate represents the two sexes of the natural size.

CRACTICUS NIGROGULARIS, _Gould_. Black-throated Crow-Shrike.

_Vanga nigrogularis_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part V.; and in Syn. Birds of Australia, Part I.

_Cracticus varius_, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p. 261.