Part 13

There are reasons for believing that the _Geopelia humeralis_ inhabits the whole of the vast interior of Australia as well as the neighbourhood of the coasts of its northern and eastern portions. In New South Wales it is sparingly dispersed over the Liverpool Plains, where some of the specimens I possess were obtained, while others were procured at Port Essington. As the structure of its legs would indicate, it passes much of its time on the ground, feeding on the seeds of various kinds of grasses and leguminous plants. Not only is it one of the most elegant of the Dove tribe inhabiting Australia, but it is also one of the most tame and docile, if I may judge from the few I observed on the heated plains of New South Wales: their confidence was such that they sometimes perched within two yards of the spot where I was sitting; extreme thirst and a scanty supply of water may, however, have rendered them more tame and bold than they otherwise would have been.

Mr. Gilbert states that at Port Essington “this Pigeon is extremely abundant, inhabiting thickets, swampy grounds, and the banks of running streams. It mostly feeds on the seeds of various kinds of grasses, but when the country becomes burnt it finds an abundant supply of berries in the thickets. It may often be seen among the mangroves in flocks of several hundreds, and hence its colonial name of Mangrove Pigeon. It was equally numerous during the whole period of my stay in that part of the country. Any number of specimens may be readily procured, for when disturbed the bird merely flits from branch to branch, or if in an open part of the country to the nearest tree. I did not on any occasion observe it take anything approaching a sustained flight. Its most common note is a rather loud _coo-coo_, occasionally uttered at long intervals; during the pairing-season the note becomes of a softer tone, and is more rapidly repeated, and its actions very much resemble those of the Domestic Pigeon of Europe. It breeds in August, and makes a very slight nest of slender twigs, loosely and carelessly laid across each other on two or three of the lower leaves of the _Pandanus_, the upper leaves of which afford it a shelter from the rays of the sun, and from the rain; the eggs are two in number of a delicate fleshy-white.”

The sexes are alike in colouring.

Forehead, cheeks, sides of the neck and breast delicate grey; occiput, back, wing-coverts, rump and upper tail-coverts silky brown; back of the neck rufous, every feather of the upper surface bounded at the extremity with a narrow band of black, giving the whole a squamated or scaled appearance; under surface of the shoulder and the inner webs, except their tips, of the primaries and secondaries fine rust-red; outer webs and tips of the inner webs of the primaries and secondaries brown; two centre tail-feathers dark grey, the remainder reddish brown at the base, gradually increasing in intensity towards their tips, those next the centre ones washed with grey on their outer webs, and all but the centre ones largely tipped with white; centre of the abdomen white; the remainder of the under surface washed with vinous; irides ochre-yellow; bill and nostrils delicate mealy light blue; naked skin round the eye mealy purple; legs and feet pink red.

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

GEOPELIA TRANQUILLA, _Gould_. Peaceful Dove.

_Geopelia placida_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part XII. p. 56.

The interior of the country northward from New South Wales is inhabited by considerable numbers of this pretty little Dove, but it has not yet been met with either in Southern or Western Australia. It was very abundant on the Namoi, particularly on the lower part of that river; and that its range will extend over a large part of the interior, is more than probable.

A bird precisely similar in markings, but of a smaller size, is very abundant at Port Essington, and the two birds may prove to be mere varieties of each other; at the same time, as so great a variation in size rarely if ever occurs in a state of nature, I have for the present considered it to be a distinct species, and assigned to it the name of _Geopelia placida_; it is nearly one-third less than the bird here represented, but as there is not the slightest difference in the markings, it will not be necessary for me to give a figure of it.

The bird found in the neighbourhood of the Lower Namoi was chiefly observed on the ground, feeding on the seeds of the various kinds of plants that grow under the shelter of the thinly-timbered forests bordering the plains. It was frequently seen in flocks, and was equally as tame as the _Geopelia cuneata_.

The Port Essington bird is abundantly and equally distributed over all parts of the peninsula and the neighbouring islands; its favourite haunts being moist meadows or the grassy banks of small streams, and grass-seeds its principal food. It is usually met with in flocks of from twenty to fifty in number, which when disturbed generally fly off to the nearest tree; on alighting they jerk the tail very erect, and utter their slowly-repeated and monotonous double note; at other times they coo very faintly, after the manner of the other members of the family.

It is said to make a slight nest in a hollow among the grass near the ground, and to lay two eggs.

The only observable difference between the sexes is the smaller size of the female.

Face and throat grey; occiput, back and wings ashy brown, each feather with a band of deep velvety black at the extremity; spurious wings and primaries dark brown; under surface of the shoulders chestnut; chest, sides and back of the neck grey, crossed by numerous narrow bands of black; abdomen and flanks vinous; four central tail-feathers ashy brown, the remainder black largely tipped with white; irides light ash-grey; bill and orbits bright greyish blue, becoming much paler before and behind the eye; frontal scales of the tarsi and feet dark greenish grey; remainder of the legs and feet reddish flesh-colour.

The Plate represents the two sexes of the natural size.

GEOPELIA CUNEATA. Graceful Ground-Dove.

_Columba cuneata_, Lath. Ind. Orn., Supp., p. 61.—Wagl. Syst. Av., sp. 107.

—— _Macquarie_, Quoy et Gaim. Voy. de l’Uranie, Ois., t. 31.—Ib. Knip et Prevost, Hist. Nat. des Pig., t. 41

—— _spiloptera_, Vig. in Zool. Journ., vol. v. p. 275.

_Geopelia cuneata_, List of Brit. Mus. Coll., Part III. p. 11.

_Men-na-brun-ka_, Aborigines of the mountain districts of Western Australia.

_Turtle Dove_, Colonists of Swan River.

The beautiful little Dove here represented is at once remarkable for the elegance of its contour, the chaste and quiet colouring of its plumage, and for its tame and gentle disposition, all of which combine to render it a general favourite with the Australians; and it is a matter of surprise to me that it has not long ere this been a denizen of their aviaries and sent alive to England, few birds being likely to bear confinement more contentedly.

I have specimens collected in every one of the Australian colonies, even that of Port Essington; I encountered it myself on the flat and fertile districts of the Upper Hunter in New South Wales, and James Macarthur, Esq., informed me that it is sometimes seen on his estate at Camden; at the same time, as it is rarely met with on the seaside of the mountain ranges, but occurs in considerable numbers on the plains of the interior, so far as they have yet been explored, it must be regarded as an inhabitant of the central portion of the country, over the whole of which vast space it is doubtless numerously dispersed.

Its natural food being the seeds of grasses and leguminous plants, it is observed more frequently on the ground than among the trees; I sometimes met with it in small flocks, but more often in pairs or singly. It runs over the ground with a short bobbing motion of the tail, and while feeding is so remarkably tame as almost to admit of its being taken by the hand, and if forced to take wing it merely flies to the nearest trees, and there remains motionless among the branches until it again descends to the ground. I not unfrequently observed it close to the open doors of the huts of the stock-keepers of the interior, who, from its being so constantly before them, regard it with little interest.

The nest is a frail but beautiful structure, formed of the stalks of a few flowering grasses, crossed and interwoven after the manner of the other pigeons. One sent me from Western Australia is “composed,” says Mr. Gilbert, “of a small species of knotted everlasting-like plant (_Composita_), and was placed on the overhanging grasses of the _Xanthorrhœa_; but the bird usually constructs a very loosely formed nest in the fork of a tree. During my first visit to this part of the country only two situations were known as places of resort for this species, and I did not meet with more than five or six examples; since that period it has become extremely abundant, and now a pair or two may occasionally be seen about most of the settlers’ houses on the Avon, becoming apparently very tame and familiarized to man. It utters a rather singular note, which at times very much resembles the distant crowing of a cock. The term is _Men-na-brun-ka_ is applied to it by the natives from a traditionary idea that the bird originally introduced the _Men-na_, a kind of gum which exudes from a species of _Acacia_, and which is one of the favourite articles of food of the natives.”

The eggs are white and two in number, eleven-sixteenths of an inch long by seven-sixteenths broad.

The sexes, although bearing a general resemblance to each other, may be readily distinguished by the smaller size of the female, by the browner hue of her wing-feathers, and by the spotting of her upper surface not being so numerous or so regular as in the male.

The male has the head, neck and breast delicate grey, passing into white on the abdomen and under tail-coverts; back and scapularies cinnamon-brown; wing-coverts dark grey; each feather of the wing-coverts and scapularies with two spots, one on the edge of either web near the tip, of white encircled with black; spurious wing and primaries brown, the latter rufous on their inner webs for two-thirds of their length; four centre tail-feathers grey, deepening into black at the extremity and with black shafts; the remainder greyish black at the base, and pure white for the remainder of their length; irides in some instances bright red, and the naked skin round the eyes light scarlet; in others the irides and naked skin round the eyes are pale greenish yellow; bill dark olive-brown; feet reddish flesh-colour in some instances, in others yellowish.

The female differs in having the back of the head, neck and upper surface browner, and the spots on the wings larger than the male.

The Plate represents the two sexes of the natural size.

MACROPYGIA PHASIANELLA. Pheasant-tailed Pigeon.

_Columba Phasianella_, Temm, Pl. Col. 100.

From what I could personally observe during my residence in New South Wales, the Pheasant-tailed Pigeon resorts entirely to the brushes, as in no instance did I ever meet with it in the open parts of the country. From Illawarra to Moreton Bay it is a common and stationary species. It is a fine showy bird in a state of nature, and exhibits itself to great advantage when it rises from the ground to the trees, with its large and long tail spread to its greatest extent. While traversing the brushes I have frequently come upon this bird quite unawares, when busily engaged searching on the ground for fallen seeds and berries. Rarely were more than four or five collected together at one time, and most frequently it occurred singly or in pairs. Up to the present time, our knowledge of the extent of habitat enjoyed by this bird is very limited; I have never myself seen it in any collections but those made in New South Wales; other nearly allied species are found in Java and Amboina, and doubtless there are many others yet to be discovered, since from the recluse habits of the birds forming the present genus, they may be very easily overlooked. As its lengthened tarsi would lead us to imagine, it spends much of its time on the ground, while its broad and voluminous tail equally indicates that this organ is displayed to the greatest advantage amongst the branches, and in both instances such is really the case; when flushed from the ground in the depths of the forest it merely flies to the branch of some low shrub-like tree, and there remains with little appearance of fear.

The sexes are precisely similar in colour and nearly so in size; dissection, in fact, is necessary to distinguish them.

Its note is loud, mournful and monotonous.

General plumage rich rusty brown, becoming of a dark brown on the wings; wing-coverts margined with rusty brown; ear-coverts crossed by narrow bars of black; sides and back of the neck glossed with bronzy purple; lateral tail-feathers crossed near the tip by a broad band of black, beyond which the brown colour is paler than at the base; bill dark olive-brown, mealy at the base; irides blue, with an outer circle of scarlet; orbits mealy bluish lilac; feet pink-red.

The figure is of the natural size.

GNATHODON STRIGIROSTRIS, _Jard._ Gnathodon.

_Gnathodon strigirostris_, Jard. in Ann. and Mag. of Nat. Hist., vol. xvi. p. 175. pl. ix.

The researches of modern zoologists have not perhaps brought to light a more curious object than the bird here represented, a single specimen of which is in the collection of Sir William Jardine, Bart., to whose kindness and liberality I am indebted for permission to include a drawing of it in the present work. I regret to say that no intelligence whatever could be obtained as to its habits, or the precise locality of which it is a native; it was purchased by Lady Harvey at a sale in Edinburgh, where the other objects sold at the same time were all Australian, and mostly peculiar to the south-eastern coast of that country; hence I have been induced to include a figure of it in the present work for which I feel that no apology is required, as the Plate cannot fail to be viewed with interest by all ornithologists, and will probably induce residents in the country to investigate the history of so remarkable a species. While we know so little as we do respecting it, every ornithologist must form his own opinion as to the place it should occupy in the natural system; and these opinions will doubtless be very various; the contour of the bill, the form and position of the nostrils are different from those of any other species with which we are acquainted, and although pertaining to so much smaller a bird strongly remind one of the celebrated Dodo; the form of the body and wings and the structure of the feathers differ but slightly from those of the _Columbidæ_, to which family it is, in my opinion, most nearly allied; for although at a first glance its strongly hooked upper and deeply notched under mandible would seem to indicate a sanguinary disposition, and that its food consists of animal substances, I am inclined to believe that it is frugivorous or granivorous, and that the remarkably formed bill is expressly adapted to denude palm-nuts or other strongly coated seeds of their hard outer covering; the maxillæ are very wide, and the nakedness of the throat would indicate that the gullet is capable of sufficient dilatation to admit of the passage of articles of food of considerable size.

The probably unique specimen from which my figure is taken is very perfect, with the exception of the scales of the front of the tarsi, which are unfortunately wanting; I am consequently left in doubt as to whether the legs as far as the knees, if not the upper part of the tarsi, have or have not been clothed with feathers.

The first description of this species was published by Sir William Jardine in the ‘Annals and Magazine of Natural History,’ above referred to, wherein he states that “we are indebted to Lady Harvey, whose extensive collection of natural history in Edinburgh is always open when science can be promoted, for a specimen of this remarkable bird;” and adds, “we are aware of no existing description, though there is one allusion made to a bird which may eventually turn out to be this. In Mr. Strickland’s Report on the Recent Progress and Present State of Ornithology, read before the British Association at York, it is stated, ‘The recent American voyage of discovery will extend our knowledge of Polynesian zoology, and its researches will be made known by Mr. Titian Peale, who is said to have discovered among other rarities a new bird allied to the Dodo, which he proposes to name _Didunculus_;’ and we believe ‘_strigirostris_’ has been applied specifically.”

The structure of the wing indicates that its powers of flight are considerable.

Lores and a small patch on each side of the throat bare and apparently red; head, neck, breast and belly glossy greenish black; feathers of the upper part of the back black, with a crescent-shaped mark of glossy green at the tip of each feather; back, wings, tail and under tail-coverts rich deep chestnut-red; primaries and secondaries greyish black; bill orange; tarsi and feet apparently reddish flesh-colour.

The figures represent the bird in two positions of the natural size.

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.