Part 2

It possesses a peculiarly sweet and plaintive song, very much like that of the European Robin, but more weak and not so continuous.

Its food consists of insects of various kinds.

The male has the upper surface, neck, upper part of the breast and wings brownish black; wing-coverts and secondaries edged with white, forming a broad stripe along the wings; middle of the outer web of the quills with a narrow white margin; forehead, crown, and lower part of the breast bright scarlet, passing into white on the vent; irides, bill and feet blackish brown; soles of the feet yellow.

The female, as is the case with the females of the other species, differs much from her mate in the colouring of the plumage, which difference will be more clearly perceived in the accompanying illustration than by the most minute description.

The Plate represents the two sexes of the natural size.

PETROICA PHŒNICEA, _Gould_. Flame-breasted Robin.

_Petroica phœnicea_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part IV. p. 105; and in Syn. Birds of Australia, Part I.

Van Diemen’s Land and the south-eastern portion of the Australian continent constitute the natural habitat of this species; in the former country it is very common, but in New South Wales and South Australia it is not so numerous, and is very local. It is far less arboreal than the _Petroica multicolor_, giving a decided preference to open wastes and cleared lands rather than to the woods: in many of its actions it much resembles the Wheatears and other true Saxicoline birds, often selecting a large stone, clod of earth or other substance, on which to perch and show off its flame-coloured breast to the greatest advantage. As the season of nidification approaches it retires to the forests for the purpose of breeding, building its cup-shaped nest in the chink of a tree, in the cleft of a rock, or any similar situation. It is a very familiar species, seeking rather than shunning the presence of man, and readily taking up its abode in his gardens, orchards, and other cultivated grounds. It is to be found in the neighbourhood of Hobart Town at all seasons of the year, and I have even taken its nest from a shelving bank in the streets of the town.

Its food consists of insects of various kinds, which are principally procured on the surface of the ground.

It has a pretty cheerful song, uttered somewhat low and inwardly; the male generally sings over or near the female while she is sitting upon her eggs.

The nest, which is thick and warm, is formed of narrow strips and thread-like fibres of soft bark, matted together with cobwebs and sometimes wool, and lined with hair and feathers, or occasionally with fine hair-like grasses. The general colour of the eggs is greenish white, spotted and freckled with purplish and chestnut-brown: much variety occurs in these markings, some assuming the form of large bold irregular spots and blotches, while in others they are merely minute freckles; the eggs are three in number; their medium length nine lines, and breadth seven lines.

I have not yet satisfied myself respecting the changes which this species undergoes, or what time elapses before it assumes the red garb; some individuals certainly breed while in the brown dress, and they may frequently be heard singing while clothed in this sombre-coloured plumage; the _Petroica multicolor_, on the contrary, would appear to obtain its red breast during the first autumn, as I have a specimen killed on the 8th of February with a fine red breast, while the colouring of the other parts of its plumage is indicative of immaturity.

The male has the crown of the head and all the upper surface sooty grey, except a small white spot across the forehead, a patch of the same colour on the shoulders and the anterior edges of the tertials; primaries and tail-feathers greyish black, except the outer feathers of the latter, which are nearly all white; the second tail-feather on each side is also tinged with white; upper part of the throat sooty grey, the rest of the under surface rich scarlet; under tail-coverts white; irides, bill and feet black.

The female is uniform brown above; wings dark brown; tertials and wing-coverts edged with reddish grey; tail brown; the outer tail-feathers on each side almost wholly white; all the under surface reddish grey; irides, bill and feet black.

The young resembles the female, but has the centre of the feathers lighter, and the corners of the mouth yellow; bill and feet blackish brown.

The Plate represents the male, female and nest of the natural size.

PETROICA BICOLOR, _Swains._ Pied Robin.

_Muscicapa cucullata_, Lath. Ind. Orn. Supp., p. 51?

_Hooded Flycatcher_, Lath. Gen. Syn., Supp., vol. ii. p. 223? and Gen. Hist., vol. vi. p. 216?

_Petroica bicolor_, Swains. III. Zool., 2nd Ser., pl. 43.

_Jil-but_, Aborigines of the mountain districts of Western Australia.

_Goȍ-ba-mȍgin_, Aborigines around Perth, Western Australia.

_Black Robin_ of the Colonists.

If we consider the Pied Robins from Swan River and the north-west coast of Australia as identical with, or mere varieties of, those killed in New South Wales, from which they differ only in being smaller in all their admeasurements, then the range of the present bird will be very extensive, and in fact its dispersion over the Australian continent almost universal. The _Petroica bicolor_ has never been found in Van Diemen’s Land, nor is it probable that it proceeds so far south. It loves to dwell in the open parts of the country rather than in the thick brushes. I have always found it most numerous on such flats as were studded here and there with large trees, among the lower branches of which, as well as on the ground immediately beneath them, it might be observed darting about for insects in the most bold and active manner; the jet-black colouring of its upper surface, contrasted with the whiteness of the other parts, rendering it very conspicuous, particularly when its wings and tail are displayed to their full extent.

Its food consists solely of insects of various kinds, particularly coleoptera and their larvæ.

The breeding-season commences in September and continues during the four following months; in this period two broods at least are reared. The nest, which is rather small and shallow, is formed of dried grasses, strips of bark and fibrous roots, bound together and partly smoothed over with cobwebs, the inside being lined with fine wire-like fibres, and generally a little wool at the bottom; it is placed on the dried branch of a small tree, resting against the trunk, or in the fork of a fallen branch within two or three feet of the ground. The eggs, which are three in number and of a rather lengthened form, are light olive green without any spots or markings, but occasionally washed with brown, particularly at the larger end; their medium length is ten lines and a half, and breadth seven lines and a half.

This species possesses a simple call-note, so feeble and weak as only to be heard at the distance of a few yards.

The male has the head, throat, neck, back, rump, upper tail-coverts and the two centre tail-feathers deep velvety black; the next tail-feather on each side black on the inner web, white on the outer web, and largely tipped with black, the remainder of the tail-feathers white, largely tipped with black; feathers covering the insertion of the wing white; wings dull black, the secondaries edged with white; an oblique band of white across all but the two first primaries near their base; under surface of the shoulder, breast, abdomen and under tail-coverts white; irides brownish black; bill black; feet blackish brown.

The female has the upper surface dark brownish grey; wings brown, with the oblique band less prominent than in the male; under surface light brownish grey, passing into white on the vent and under tail-coverts; tail brown, the lateral feathers white at the base, the white continuing to near the tip on the external web of the outer feather.

The young immediately after leaving the nest is dark brown, with a stripe of light brown down the centre of each feather, the markings of the wings and tail resembling those of the adult; under surface like the upper, but becoming white as it proceeds towards the vent.

The Plate represents the male and female on a branch of the Currijong, all of the natural size.

PETROICA FUSCA, _Gould_. Dusky Robin.

This unadorned species of Robin is very abundantly distributed over all those parts of Van Diemen’s Land that are suitable to its habits; it gives preference to thinly-timbered hills, and all such plains and low grounds as are sterile and covered here and there with thickets and stunted brushwood. In its manners and whole economy it closely assimilates to the Red-breasted Robins; I frequently observed it sitting on the stumps of dead and fallen trees, on the railings of inclosures, gardens and other similar situations. Its food appeared to consist solely of insects, which it swallows entire, even coleoptera of a large size.

Its nest, which is rather large and of a cup-shape, is formed of coarse fibrous roots, small twigs, strings of bark and dried grasses intermixed with very fine hair-like fibrous roots, wool, and the soft seed-stalks of mosses. The size and form of the nest depend upon the nature of the situation chosen for a site; if a ledge or fissure of a rock, it is much spread out, but with the inside and top very neatly finished; the opening measures on an average about two inches and a half, and the nest is about one inch and a quarter in depth.

The eggs, which are three or four in number, differ in colour from those of every other member of the genus, but more nearly assimilate in tint and markings to those of _Petroica bicolor_ than of any other. They are of a light greenish blue, freckled and spotted with minute indistinct markings of brown; their medium length is ten lines, and breadth seven and a half lines.

Although I have paid considerable attention to the distribution of this species, I have never been able to meet with it on the continent of Australia, or in any other country than Van Diemen’s Land; still I cannot positively assert that it is not an inhabitant of the Australian continent. It is very numerous about Hobart Town, both in the gulleys under Mount Wellington, and on the opposite side of the Derwent towards Clarence Plains.

Its note is low and monotonous, without any peculiar character.

The sexes differ from all the other members of the genus in being alike in colour, and cannot possibly be distinguished without the aid of dissection.

Head, and all the upper surface reddish brown tinged with olive; wings and tail brown; primaries and secondaries crossed by a narrow line of white at the base; the outer tail-feather on each side margined externally, and at the tip with white; under surface pale brown, passing into buffy white on the vent and under tail-coverts; irides, bill and feet blackish brown.

The young is very dark brown above, striated with deep buff; beneath mottled brown and buffy white; the latter colour occupying the centre of the feathers.

The Plate represents a male and two young birds of the natural size.

PETROICA SUPERCILIOSA, _Gould_. White-eyebrowed Robin.

_Petroica superciliosa_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part XIV. p. 106.

For our knowledge of this new species of _Petroica_ we are indebted to the researches of Mr. Gilbert, who while in company with Dr. Leichardt, during his adventurous expedition from Moreton Bay to Port Essington, discovered it in the neighbourhood of the Burdekin Lakes towards the Gulf of Carpentaria. The following remarks in Mr. Gilbert’s Journal comprise all that is at present known respecting it:—“May 14th. In a ramble with my gun I shot a new bird, the actions of which assimilate to those of the _Petroicæ_ and the _Eöpsaltriæ_; like the former it carries its tail very erect, but is more retiring in its habits than those birds; on the other hand, its notes resemble those of the latter. It inhabits the dense jungle-like vegetation growing beneath the shade of the fig-trees on the banks of the Burdekin. I succeeded in procuring two specimens.”

Superciliary stripe, throat, abdomen, under surface of the shoulder, and the bases of the primaries and secondaries white; lores, ear-coverts, wing-coverts, and the primaries and secondaries for some distance beyond the white deep black; all the upper surface, wings and tail sooty brown; all but the two central tail-feathers largely tipped with white; bill and feet black; irides reddish brown.

The Plate represents the two sexes of the natural size.

DRYMODES BRUNNEOPYGIA, _Gould_. Scrub Robin.

_Drymodes brunneopygia_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part VIII. p. 170.

I discovered this singular bird in the great Murray Scrub in South Australia, where it was tolerably abundant; I have never seen it from any other part of the country, and it is doubtless confined to such portions of Australia as are clothed with a similar character of vegetation. It is a quiet and inactive species, resorting much to the ground, over which and among the underwood and low stunted bushes it passes with great ease; it appeared rarely to take wing, but to depend for security upon its dexterity in hopping away under the dense underwood of the most scrubby parts; I have, however, occasionally observed it to mount to the most elevated part of a low bush, and there pour forth a sharp monotonous whistling note, not very unlike that of some of the _Pachycephalinæ_; indeed it was its note that first attracted my attention and led to its discovery. When on the ground, and sometimes when perched on a twig, it elevates its tail considerably, but not to the extent of the _Maluri_.

This new form evidently belongs to the _Saxicolinæ_, and has many habits in common with the members of the genus _Petroica_.

The sexes are alike in colouring, but the female is much smaller than her mate; the young, as will be seen in the accompanying Plate, resembles the immature Petroicas in the character of its plumage.

Head and all the upper surface brown, passing into rufous brown on the upper tail-coverts; wings dark brown, the coverts and primaries edged with dull white; primaries and secondaries crossed near the base on their inner webs with pure white; tail rich brown, all but the two middle feathers tipped with white; under surface greyish brown, passing into buff on the under tail-coverts; irides, bill and feet blackish brown.

The Plate represents an adult male and a young bird of the natural size.

EÖPSALTRIA AUSTRALIS. Yellow-breasted Robin.

_Muscicapa Australis_, Lath. Ind. Orn. Supp., p. li.

_Southern Motacilla_, _Motacilla Australis_, White’s Journ., pl. in p. 239.

_Southern Flycatcher_, Lath. Gen. Syn. Supp., vol. ii. p. 219.—Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. x. p. 369.—Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. vi. p. 216.

_Pachycephala Australis_, Vig. & Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p. 242.

_Muscipeta_, sp. 15, _Muscicapa Australis_, Less. Traité d’Orn., p. 385.

_Eöpsaltria flavicollis_, Swains. Class, of Birds, vol. ii. p. 250.

—— _Australis_, G. R. Gray, List of Gen. of Birds, 2nd edit. p. 45.

_Yellow-breasted Thrush_, Lewin, Birds of New Holl., pl. 23.

_Eöpsaltria parvula_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part V. p. 144. female?

_Yellow Robin_, Colonists of New South Wales.

This is a very common species in all the brushes of New South Wales; I also observed it in most of the gardens in the neighbourhood of Sydney, as well as in those of the settlers in the interior. It is very Robin-like in its actions, particularly in the habit of raising its tail at the moment of perching, and in the sprightly air with which it moves about. It is by no means shy, and may often be seen crossing the garden walks, perching on some stump or railing, regardless of one’s presence, at which time the fine yellow mark on its rump is very conspicuous. Its powers of flight are but feeble, and are seldom employed to do more than enable it to flit from bush to bush or from tree to tree, in a peculiarly quiet Robin-like manner; never displaying the restless activity of the Pardalotes, Acanthizas, and many other tribes of birds. Its food consists entirely of insects, which are more frequently taken on the ground than on the trees.

It breeds in September and October. The nest is a beautiful, compact, round, cup-shaped structure, about three inches in diameter and an inch and a half deep, composed of narrow strips of bark, wiry fibrous roots, and in some instances grasses; the outside held together with cobwebs, and sparingly speckled over with mouse-eared lichen and small pieces of bark, hanging loosely about it; the inside of the nest is generally lined with leaves, but occasionally with portions of the broad blades of grasses. It is generally placed in the fork of some low tree in an open or exposed part of the brush, is a neat structure, and sometimes so nearly resembles the bark of the tree upon which it is constructed, that it is almost impossible to detect it, so extraordinary is the instinctive power of imitation with which the bird has been endowed. The eggs are usually two in number, of a bright apple-green, speckled and spotted all over with chestnut-brown and blackish brown, the latter tint being much less conspicuous than the former; they are nine lines long by seven and a half lines broad.

It is not migratory, and so far as is known, is confined to the southern and eastern portion of the country.

The sexes are alike in colour, but the female is somewhat smaller in size: the young on leaving the nest has the plumage streaked and spotted very similar to that of young Robins, but obtains the plumage of the adult at an early period.

Head and all the upper surface, wings and tail, with the exception of the rump, very dark grey; chin white; all the under surface and rump wax-yellow; irides, bill and feet black.

The figures are of the natural size.

EÖPSALTRIA GRISEOGULARIS, _Gould_. Grey-breasted Robin.

_Eöpsaltria griseogularis_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part V. p. 144; and in Syn. Birds of Australia, Part IV.

_Bȁm-boore_, Aborigines of the lowland districts of Western Australia.

The fact of one species representing another, as they are frequently found to do, on opposite sides of large continents, is in no instance more clearly exemplified than in the two species of the genus _Eöpsaltria_ inhabiting Australia, which, although closely allied in size, structure and colouring, as well as in habits and economy, inhabit very different countries, one being confined to the eastern, and the other to the western portion of the continent.

The _Eöpsaltria griseogularis_ is abundant in every part of the colony of Swan River, inhabiting thickets and all spots clothed with vegetation of a brush-like character. “In its actions,” says Mr. Gilbert, “this bird is very like the Robins, being much on the ground, and when feeding constantly flying up and perching on a small upright twig. It does not appear to be capable of great or continued exertion on the wing, as it is rarely seen to do more than flit from bush to bush. Its most common note much resembles the very lengthened and plaintive song of the _Estrelda bella_, but differs from it in being a double note often repeated; it also utters a great variety of single notes, and during the breeding-season pours forth a short but agreeable song.

“The nest is very difficult to detect, the situations chosen for it being the thickly wooded gum-forests of the mountain districts and the mahogany forests of the lowlands; from the forks of the younger of these trees a great portion of the bark generally hangs down in strips; and in the fork the bird generally makes its nest of narrow strips of the bark bound together with cobwebs, while around the outside a quantity of dangling pieces are suspended, giving it the exact appearance of other forks of the tree; the inside of the nest has no other lining than a few pieces of bark laid across each other, or a single dried leaf, large enough to cover the bottom. It breeds in September and October, and lays two eggs, which are more lengthened in form than those of _Eöpsaltria Australis_, and are of a wood-brown obscurely freckled with yellowish red, ten lines long by seven lines and a half broad.

“Its stomach is muscular, and its food consists of insects of various kinds.”

The sexes are precisely similar in outward appearance.

It is stationary in Western Australia, but the extent of its range over the continent is not yet known.

Crown of the head, ear-coverts, sides and back of the neck, and back grey; throat and chest greyish white; abdomen, rump, upper and under tail-coverts rich yellow; wings and tail greyish brown, the extreme tips of the latter edged with white; bill dark horn-colour; irides very dark reddish brown; legs and feet dark olive-brown.

The figures are male and female, of the natural size.

EÖPSALTRIA LEUCOGASTER, _Gould_. White-bellied Robin.

_Eöpsaltria leucogaster_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., February 24, 1846.

The White-bellied Robin is a native of Western Australia, but is only to be met with in the hilly portions of the country. Mr. Gilbert states that the first specimen he procured was killed on the Darling range, near the gorge of the River Murray, at an elevation of about seven or eight hundred feet, and that he afterwards met with it on the southern extremity of the same range, between Vasse and Augusta, but that he never observed it on the lower grounds between the mountain range and the coast. Like the other species of the genus, it was constantly seen clinging to the bark of large upright trees, or straight and small stems, in search of its insect food. It is extremely quiet and secluded in its habits, is almost exclusively confined to the neighbourhood of small mountain streams, where scarcely any other sound is heard than the rippling and gurgling of the water over the rocks, and on the slightest approach it immediately secretes itself among the thick scrub or brushwood. Its song very closely resembles that of the _Petroicæ_.

Immediately before the eye a small triangular-shaped spot of black; above the eye a faint line of greyish white; crown of the head, all the upper surface, wings and tail dark slate-grey; the lateral tail-feathers largely tipped with white on their inner webs; all the under surface white; irides dark brown; bill and feet black.

The Plate represents the bird of the natural size, on one of the beautiful and rare plants of Western Australia, a species of _Anigozanthus_, the distinctive appellation of which I have not been able to ascertain.