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NATURAL HISTORY

HANDBOOK

BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

HANDBOOK

BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

BY

JOHN GOULD, F.RS., etc.

AUTHOR OF THE ' BIEDS OF AUSTRALIA,* 'MAMMALS OF

AUSTRALIA,' 'BIRDS OF EUROPE,' 'BIRDS OF ASIA,'

MONOGRAPHS OF THE TROCHILIDiE,

RAMPIIASTIDtE, TROaONID^,

ODONTOPHORINiE, ETC.

IN TWO VOLUMES.
VOL. II.

LONDON:

PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR,
2r., CHARLOTTE STREET BEDFORD SQUARE.

180)5.

[T/tf riijhf iij Traiixhitiou is n:sc'rvcd.\

PBINTKD BY TAYLOR AND FRANCIS, BED LION COURT, FLEET STREET.

ALERE 8 FLAMMAM.

PREFACE TO THE SECOND VOLUME.

In the last paragraph of the Introduction I stated that the
various species would be arranged nearly in the same order
as in the folio edition ; and, vv^ith some trifling exceptions,
this rule has been observed, the exceptions being the trans-
position of two or three of the genera into other parts of
their respective Orders. All the Raptores, and as many
families of the Insessores as could be conveniently com-
prised therein, are contained in the first volume ; and I com-
mence the second with the Psittacidse or Parrots, with which
the Order Insessores will be brought to a close. As before
stated, they will be followed by the Rasores, Grallatores, and
Natatores. I have considered it necessary to add an Appendix
at the end of this volume, comprising those birds figured in
the folio edition which are not found in Australia, and a
Table of the distribution of the species in the seven colonies
into which Australia is divided, and a General Index.

HANDBOOK

BIEDS OF AUSTRALIA.

Order INSESSORES.
Family PSITTACIDiE.

No group of birds gives to Australia so tropical and foreign
an air as the numerous species of this great family, by which
it is tenanted, each and all of which are individually very
abundant. Immense flocks of white Cockatoos are sometimes
seen perched among the green foliage of the loftiest trees ; the
brilliant scarlet breasts of the Rose-hills blaze forth from the
yellow flowering Acacics: i\i.QTricho(/lossi or Honey-eating Par-
rakeets enliven the flowering branches of the larger Eucalypti
with their beauty and their lively actions ; the little Grass
Parrakeets rise from the plains of the interior and render these
solitary spots a world of animation ; nay the very towns, parti-
cidarly Hobart Town and Adelaide, are constantly visited by
flights of this beautiful tribe of birds, which traverse the
streets with arrow-like swiftness, and chase each other precisely
after the manner the Cypseli are seen to do in our own islands.
In Tasmania I have seen flocks of from fifty to a hundred
of the Flatycercus Jlaviventris, like tame pigeons, at the
barn-doors in the farm-yards of the settlers, to which
they descend for the refuse grain thrown out with the

VOL. II. B

iS BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

straw by the threshers. As might naturally be expected,
the agriculturist is often annoyed by the destruction
certain species effect among his newly-sown and ripening
corn, particularly where the land has been recently cleared and
is adjacent to the forests. About sixty well-defined species
of this family are described in the present work. They appear
to constitute four great groups, each comprising several genera,
nearly the whole of which are peculiarly Australian.

I shall follow the arrangement of these birds as it is in the
folio edition as nearly as possible, and insert in their proper
places those species which have been discovered since the
completion of that work.

Genus CACATUA, Vieillot.

Australia, the Molucca and Philippine Islands and New
Guinea are the great nurseries of the members of this genus.
They incubate in holes of trees or in rocks, and lay two
white eggs.

Sp.391. CACATUA GALERITA.

Great Sulphue-crested Cockatoo.

The Crested Cockatoo, White's Journ., pi. at p. 337.
Psittacus galeritus, Lath. Ind. Orn., vol. i. p. 109.

[Kakadoe) galeritus, Kuhl, Consp. Psitt. pp. 12, 87.

Great Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. viii. p. 479.

Crested Cockatoo, Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. ii. p. 205.

Cacatua galeritn, Vieill., 2nde edit, du Nouv. Diet. d'Hist. Nat.,

torn. xvii. p. 11.
Plyctolophus galeritus, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p. 268.
Cacatua chrysolophus. Less. Traite d'Orn., p. 182.
Kakadoe sulfureus major vel australensis, Bourj. de St.-Hil. Perr. tab.
Car'away and Cur'riang, Aborigines of New South Wales.

Cacatua galerita, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. v. pi. 1.

If we regard the White Cockatoo of Tasmania and that of
the adjacent continent as mere varieties of each other, this
species has a very extensive range.

INSESSORES. 3

On a close examination of specimens from different parts
of Australia, a decided variation is observable in the form of
the bill, but of too trivial a character, in my opinion, to war-
rant their being considered as distinct. The Tasmanian
bird is the largest in every respect, and has the bill, particu-
larly the upper mandible, less abruptly curved, exhibiting a
tendency to the form of that organ in the genus Licmetis :
the bill of the north-western bird is much rounder than that
of the White Cockatoo of Tasmania : on this head the late
Mr. Elsey furnished me with the following note : —

" The Cacatua galerita of the Victoria has many points of
difference from that of the eastern coast, especially in the
upper mandible. I find that the mandibles of the Cockatoos
differ in a striking manner according to the season, and the
kind of food upon which they subsist. When feeding on the
seeds of the Eucalypti, the brittle outer layers disappear, and
the tip becomes hard and sharp, while when feeding on roots
grubbed from soft ground, the outer layers are not worn, and
the end is square and spade-like. Leichardt mentions that
the Cockatoos shot round the gulf had a pink colouring on
the breast, and asks whether they were to be considered as a
variety. We noticed this fact also ; and the first bird I saw
was so well coloured on the breast, and the dye so uniform,
that it deceived me ; but I soon found others in which, not
only the breast, but the wings, tail, and face were dyed of a
pale rose-colour ; spots of the same hue also occurred on their
bodies. The cause is this : — all the large sandy river-beds
contain a large quantity of iron, and the pools formed in them
are usually covered with a thin film of oxide of iron which is
transferred to the bird when drinking."

The crops and stomachs of those killed in Tasmania were
very muscular, and contained seeds, grain, native bread (a
species of fungus), small tuberous and bulbous roots, and in
most instances large stones.

As may be readily imagined, this bird is not regarded

b2

4 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

with favour by the agriculturist, upon whose fields of newly-
sown grain and ripening maize it commits the greatest devas-
tation ; it is consequently hunted and shot down wherever
it is found, a circumstance which tends much to lessen its
numbers. It evinces a decided preference for the open plains
and cleared lands, rather than for the dense brushes near the
coast ; and, except when feeding or reposing on the trees after
a repast, the presence of a flock, which sometimes amounts to
thousands, is certain to be indicated by their screaming notes,
the discordance of which may be easily conceived by those
who have heard the peculiarly loud, piercing, grating scream
of the bird in captivity, always remembering the immense
increase of the din occasioned by the large number of birds
emitting their harsh notes at the same moment ; still I con-
sidered this annoyance amply compensated by their sprightly
actions and the life their snowy forms imparted to the dense
and never- varying green of the Australian forest — a feeling
participated in by Sir Thomas Mitchell, who says, " amidst
the umbrageous foliage, forming dense masses of shade, the
White Cockatoos sported like spirits of light."

The situations chosen for the purpose of nidification vary
with the nature of the locality the bird inhabits ; the eggs
are usually deposited in the holes of trees, but they are
also placed in fissures in the rocks wherever they may present
a convenient site : the crevices of the white cliff's borderinir
the Murray, in South Australia, are annually resorted to for
this purpose by thousands of this bird, and are said to be
completely honeycombed by them. The eggs are two in
number, of a pure white, rather pointed at the smaller end,
one inch and seven lines long by one inch two and a half
lines broad.

All the plumage white, with the exception of the elongated
occipital crest, which is deep sulphur-yellow, and the ear-
coverts, centre of the under surface of the wing, and the
basal portion of the inner webs of the tail-feathers, which are

INSESSORliS. 0

pale sulphur-yellow ; iridcs and bill black ; orbits white ; feet
greyish brown.

Sp. 392. CACATUA LEADBEATERI.

Leadbeater's Cockatoo.

Plj/dolophus leadbeate7'i, Vig. in Proc. of Comm. of Sci. and Corr. of

Zool. Soc, part i. p. 61.

erijthropterus, Swains. Class, of Birds, vol. ii. p. 302.

Cacatua leadbeateri, Wagl. Mon. Psitt. in Abhand., }). 692.
Kakadoe crista tricolorata, Bourj. de St.-Hil. Perr., tab. 77.
Lophochroa leadbeateri^ Bouap. Conipt. Rend, de FAcad. Sci., 1857,

p.

" "

Jak-kul-yak-kul, Aborigines of the mountain districts of Western

Australia.

Pink Cockatoo, Colonists of Swan River.

Cacatua leadbeateri, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. v. pi. 2.

This beautiful species of Cockatoo enjoys a wide range over
the southern portions of the Australian continent ; it never
approaches very near the sea, but evinces a decided preference
for the belts of lofty gums and scrubs clothing the sides of
the rivers of the interior of the country ; it annually visits the
Toodyay district of Western Australia, and breeds at Gawler,
in South Australia. On reading the works of Sturt and
Mitchell, I find that both those travellers met with it in the
course of their explorations, particularly on the banks of the
rivers Darling and Murray ; in fact, most of the interior
districts between New South Wales and Adelaide are in-
habited by it : but as yet no specimen has been received either
from the north or north-west coasts. *

It must be admitted that this species is the most beautiful
and elegant of the genus yet discovered, and it will conse-
quently ever be most highly prized for the cage and the aviary ;
it appears to bear confinement as well as any of its congeners;
in disposition it is not so sprightly and animated, but it is

6 BIRDS OE AUSTRALIA.

much less noisy, a circumstance tending to enhance rather
than to decrease our partiaUty for it.

Few birds more enhven the monotonous hues of the
Austrahan forests than this beautiful species, whose " pink-
coloured wings and glowing crest," says Sir T. Mitchell,
"might have embellished the air of a more voluptuous
region."

Its note is more plaintive than that of C. galerita, and
does not partake of the harsh grating sound peculiar to that
species.

General plumage white ; forehead, front and sides of the
neck, centre of the under surface of the wing, middle of the
abdomen, and the basal portion of the inner webs of the tail-
feathers tinged with rose-colour, becoming of a rich salmon-
colour under the wing ; feathers of the occipital crest crimson
at the base, with a yellow spot in the centre and white at the
tip ; bill light horn-colour ; feet dark brown.

The sexes are nearly equal in size ; but the female has the
yellow spots in the centre of the crest more conspicuous and
better defined than the male, whose crest, although larger,
is not so diversified in colour as that of the female ; on the
other hand, the salmon tint of the under surface is much
more intense in the male than in the female.

Sp. 393. CACATUA SANGUINEA, Gould.
Blood-stained Cockatoo.

Cacatua sanguinea, Gould m Proc. of Zool. Soc, part x. p. 138.
EolopJius sanguineus, Bouap. Compt. Rend, de I'Acad. Sci., 1857,

P- •

Cacatua sanguinea, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. v. pi. 3.

The circumstance of this species never having been cha-
racterized until I described it in the 'Proceedings of the
Zoological Society,' above quoted, may doubtless be attributed
to its being an inhabitant of the north-west coasts, portions

INSESSORES. 7

of the country where few collections have been formed. With
the exception of a specimen brought home by Captain Cham-
bers, R.N., and another in the collection of Mr. Bankier, my
own specimens are all that I have ever seen ; the whole of
these were collected at Port Essington ; but, as it was ob-
served by Captain Sturt at the Depot, in Central Australia,
we may infer that its range extends over all the intermediate
country ; and that no bird is more common on the Victoria
is certain, for Mr. Elsey informed me he saw it there in flocks
of millions.

The Blood-stained Cockatoo inhabits swamps and wet
grassy meadows, and is often to be seen in company with its
near ally, the Cacatua galerita, but I am informed it is even
more shy and difficult of approach than that bird. It is
doubtless attracted to the swampy districts by the various
species of Orchidaceous plants that grow in such localities,
upon the roots of which at some seasons it mainly subsists.

But little diflPerence occurs either in the size or the colouring
of the sexes, and I have young birds, which, although a third
less in size, closely assimilate in every respect to the adult ; so
much so that an examination of the bill, which during
immaturity is soft and yielding to the touch, is necessary to
distinguish them.

General plumage white, with the exception of the basal
portions, the feathers of the lores, and sides of the face, which
are stained with patches of blood-red, and the base of the inner
webs of the primaries, secondaries, and tail-feathers with fine
sulphur-yellow ; bill yellowish white ; feet mealy brown.

Total length 15 inches; bill 1-|^; wing lOf ; tail 6; tarsi -J.

Other species of white Cockatoos nearly allied to this bird
occur in the islands immediately to the northward of Aus-
tralia, some of which extend their range to the Philippines.

O BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

Sp. 394. CACATUA ROSEICAPILLA.

Rose-breasted Cockatoo.

Cacatua roseicapilla, YieiW. Nouv. Diet. d^Hist. Nat., torn. xvii. p. 12.

eos, Less. Man. d'Orn., torn. ii. p. 143.

7'osea, Vieill. Gal. des Ois., torn. ii. p. 5. pi. 25.

Psittacus eos, Kuhl. Nova Aeta, torn. x. p. 88.

Rose-coloured Cockatoo, Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. ii. p. 207.

Pbjctohphus eos, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p. 269.

Kakadoe rosea, Bourj. de St.-Hil. Pen*., tab. 74.

Eolophus roseus, Bonap. Rev. et Mag. de Zool., 1854, p. 155.

roseicapillus, Bonap. Compt. Rend, de PAcad. Sci., 1857, p.

The Rose Cockatoo, Sturt's Travels in Australia, vol. ii. pi. in p. 79.

Cacatua eos, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. v. pi. 4.

This beautiful Cockatoo is abundantly dispersed over a
great part of the interior of Australia ; both Oxley and Sturt
speak of it as inhabiting the country to the north-west of the
Blue Mountains ; in fact, few travellers have visited the
interior without having had their attention attracted by its
appearance ; and I myself saw it in great numbers on the
plains bordering the river Namoi, particularly under the
Nundewar range of Sir Thomas Mitchell; I possess speci-
mens also from the north coast, procured by the officers of
the ' Beagle.' A difference, however, which may hereafter
prove to be specific, exists between the birds from New
South AVales and those of the north coast. Those from the
latter locality are the largest in size, and have the bare skin
round the eye more extended ; the rosy colour of the breast
and the grey colouring of the back are darker than in the
specimens I killed on the Namoi. The late Mr. Elsey informed
me that " The country round the Gulf seems to be the favom-ite
resort of this species ; it there feeds on the broad open
plains in flocks of from fifty to two hundred. Nothing can
exceed the beauty of their appearance as they wheel about
over these plains in the light of an early sun."

INSESSORES. 9

The Rose-breasted Cockatoo possesses considerable power
of wing, and frequently passes in flocks over the plains with
a long sweeping flight, at one minute displaying their beau-
tiful silvery grey backs, at the next by a simultaneous change
of position bringing their rich rosy breasts into view, the
effect of which is so beautiful that it is a source of regret to
me that my readers cannot participate in the pleasure I have
derived from the sight. I was informed by the natives of
the Namoi that the bird had but recently arrived in the dis-
trict, and they supposed it had migrated from the north.
During the years 1839 and 1840 it bred in considerable
numbers in the boles of the large Eucalifpti skirting the
Nundewar range, and afforded an abundant supply of young
ones for the draymen and stock-keepers to transport to Sydney,
where they were sold for a considerable sum to be shipped
to England ; and as the bird is very hardy, bears cold and con-
finement extremely well, and is perfectly contented in a cage,
there are, perhaps, more of this species living in Em-ope at the
present time than of any other member of the genus. In
Australia I have seen it as tame as the ordinary denizens
of the farm-yard, enjoying perfect liberty, and coming round
the door to receive food in company with the pigeons and
poultry, amongst which it mingled on terms of intimate
friendship.

In a letter received from my friend Captain Sturt, he says,
" The Rose-breasted Cockatoo is a bird of the low country
entirely, and limited in the extent of its habitat, never being
found in any great number on the banks of the Darling, or
rising higher than 600 feet above the level of the sea. It
feeds on Salsolcs, and occupies those vast plains which lie
immediately to the westward of the Blue Mountains. It has
a peculiar flight, and the whole flock turning together show
the rose-colour of the under surface with pretty effect." I
have not yet seen specimens of this bird from any part of
the Swan River colony, neither did I observe it in any part

10 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

of South Australia that I visited ; the eastern and northern
portions of AustraUa are evidently those most frequented
by it.

The eggs, which are white, are generally three in number,
about an inch and a half long by an inch and an eighth
broad.

The sexes do not vary in colouring and scarcely in size,
but individuals differ considerably in the depth of the tint of
the under surface, some being much deeper than others, and
in the extent of the bare space round the eye.

Crown of the head pale rosy white ; all the upper surface
grey, deepening into brown at the extremity of the wings and
tail, and becoming nearly white on the rump and upper tail-
coverts ; sides of the neck, all the under surface from below
the eyes and the under surface of the shoulder rich deep rosy
red ; thighs and under tail-coverts grey ; irides rich deep rosy
red ; orbits brick-red ; bill white ; feet mealy dark brown.

The young at first are covered with long, fine downy fea-
thers, which at an early age give place to the colours which
characterize the plumage of the adult.

Genus LICMETIS, Wagler.

The two species forming the genus Licmetis are not only
confined to Australia, but, so far as we yet know, to the
southern portions of that continent, one inhabiting the western
and the other the eastern part of the country. Their singu-
larly formed bill being admirably adapted for procuring their
food on the ground, they are more terrestrial in their habits
than the other members of the family.

They appear to be allied to the Nestors in form, but are
more quiet and sedate in disposition ; and moreover differ
from them in having longer wings and in their plumage being
nearly uniform white.

INSESSORES. 11

Sp. 395. LICMETIS TENUIROSTRIS.

Long-billed Cockatoo.

Psittacus nasicus, Temni. in Linn. Trans., vol. xiii. p. 115.

Long-nosed Cockatoo, Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. ii. p. 205.

Licmetis tenuirostris, Wagl. Mon. Psitt. in Abhand., vol. i. pp. 505

and 695.
Psittacus tenuirostris, Kuhl in Nov. Acta, torn. x. p. 88.
Cacatua nasica, Less. Traite d'Orn., p. 183.
Plyctolophus tenuirostris, Steph. Cont. of Shawns Gen. Zool., vol. xiv.

p. 108.
Kakadoe tenuirostris, Bourj. de St.-Hil. Perr., tab. 7Q.
The Red-vented Cockatoo, Brown's 111., p. 10, pi. 5.

Licmetis nasicus, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. v. pi. 5.

The habitat of the present species would appear to be
confined to Victoria and South Australia, where it inhabits
the interior rather than the neighbourhood of the coast.
Like the Cacatua galerita, it assembles in large flocks and
spends much of its time on the ground, where it grubs
up the roots of Orchids and other bulbous plants upon
which it mainly subsists, and hence the necessity for its
singularly formed bill. It not unfrequently invades the
newly sown fields of corn, where it is the most destructive
bird imaginable. It passes over the ground in a succession
of hops, much more quickly than the Cacatua galerita ; its
powers of flight also exceed those of that bird, not perhaps in
duration, but in the rapidity with which it passes through the
air. I noticed this particularly when a flock passed me in
the interior of South Australia. I have seen many individuals
of this species in captivity, both in New South Wales and in
this country ; and although they appear to bear confinement
equally well with the other members of the family, they
seemed more dull and morose, and of a very irritable temper.

The eggs, which are white, two in number, and about the
size of those of the Cacatua galerita^ are usually deposited on

12 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

a layer of rotten wood at the bottom of holes in the larger
gum-trees.

The sexes are alike in colom* and size.

The general plumage white, washed with pale brimstone-
yellow on the under surface of the wing, and with bright
brimstone-yellow on the under surface of the tail ; line across
the forehead and lores scarlet ; the feathers of the head, neck,
and breast are also scarlet at the base, showing through the
white, particularly on the breast ; irides light brown ; bill
white ; naked skin round the eye light blue ; legs and feet
dull olive-grey.

Sp. 396. LICMETIS PASTINATOR, Gould.
Western Long-billed Cockatoo.
Licmetis pastinator, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, part viii. p. 175.

All ornithologists now admit that there are two species of
the genus Licmetis ; one inhabiting the western and the other
the eastern portions of Austraha. Living examples of both
have been for some time in the Menagerie of the Zoological
Society of London, where their differences are far more appa-
rent than in the skins which have from time to time been
sent to this country.

Lores scarlet ; general plumage white ; the base of the
feathers of the head and front of the neck scarlet, showing
through, and giving those parts a stained appearance ; the
basal half of the inner webs of the primaries, the inner webs
of all the other feathers of the wing, and the inner webs of
the tail-feathers beautiful brimstone-yellow; naked space
round the eye greenish blue ; irides light brown ; bill white ;
feet dull olive grey.

Genus CALYPTORHYNCHUS, Vig. and Horsf.

The members of this genus are strictly arboreal, and are
evidently formed to live upon the seeds of the Banksia,

INSESSORES. 13

Eucalypti, and other trees peculiar to the country they
inhabit ; but they diversify their food by occasionally devouring
large caterpillars. They can scarcely be considered gregarious,
but move about in small companies. Their flight is rather
powerful, but at the same time laboured and heavy ; and
their voice is a low crying call, totally different from the
harsh screaming notes of the CacatucB. Each division of the
country, from the northern portions of the continent to
Tasmania, is inhabited by its own peculiar species,

I have never seen a bird of this form from any other
country than Australia, but I have heard that an extraordinary
Parrot, said to be larger than any at present in our collections,
inhabits New Guinea, and which, from the description given
of it, will probably belong to this genus, or possibly to that
of Microglosmm. The Calyptorhynchi lay from two to four
eggs in the holes of trees.

Sp. 397. CALYPTORHYNCHUS BANKSII.
Banksian Cockatoo.

Psittacus banksii, Lath. Ind. Orn., vol. i. p. 107.
magnificus, Shaw, Nat. Misc., pi. 50.

{Kakadoe) banksii, Kuhl, Cousp, Psitt., ])p. 12, 90.

[Banksianus) australis, Less. Traite d'Orn., p. 180.

Plyctolophus banksii, Swains. Class, of Birds, vol. ii. p. 302.
Cacatua banksii, Vieill. Nouv. Diet. d'Hist. Nat., torn, xvii. p. 8.
Calyptorhynchus banksii, Vig.and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p. 271 .
banksii et stellatus, Wagl. Mon. Psitt. in Abliand,, torn. i. pp. 685,

686, pi. 27.

Calyptorhynchus Banksii, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. v.
pi. 7.

1 have abundant reasons for stating that every portion of
Australia yet visited by Europeans is inhabited by members
of the genus Calyptorhynchus, and that at least six species are
now known, each of which has its own peculiar limits, whence
it seldom or never passes. The present species is the one with

14 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

which ornithologists first became acquainted ; it is a native
of New South Wales and Victoria, out of which colonies I
have never known it to occur, its range appearing to be
limited by Moreton Bay on the east and Port Philip on the
south. It is not unfrequently seen in the immediate neigh-
bourhood of Sydney and other large towns, and it alike
frequents the brashes and the more open wooded parts of the
colony, where it feeds on the seeds of the Banksia and
Casuarince, but occasionally changes its diet to caterpil-
lars, particularly those that infest the wattles and other
low trees. The facility with which it procures these large
grubs is no less remarkable than the structure of the bird's
bill, which is admirably adapted for scooping out the wood
of both the larger and smaller branches, and by this means
obtaining possession of the hidden treasure within.

The Banksian Cockatoo is a suspicious and shy bird, and a
considerable degree of caution is required to approach it
within gunshot ; there are times, however, particularly when
it is feeding, when this may be more readily accomplished.
It never assembles in large flocks like the White Cockatoo,
but moves about either in pairs or in small companies of
from four to eight in number. Its flight is heavy, and the
wings are moved with a flapping laboured motion ; it seldom
mounts high in the air, for although its flight is somewhat
protracted, and journeys of several miles are performed, it
rarely rises higher than is sufficient to surmount the tops of
the lofty Eucali/pti, a tribe of trees it often frequents, and in
the larger kinds of which it almost invariably breeds, depo-
siting its two or three white eggs in some inaccessible hole,
spout, or dead limb, the only nest being the rotten wood at
the bottom, or the chips made by the bird in forming an
excavation.

The female and young birds of both sexes diff'er very con-
siderably from the old male in the marking of their tails.

It is with feelings of great pleasure I find the term Banksii

INSESSORES. 15

was the first specific appellation assigned to this species. The
name of the illustrious Banks will ever be retained as the
distinctive designation of this noble and ornamental bird;
and I would that it were in my power to write as many pages
respecting its habits and economy as I have written lines ; but
this task must devolve upon some future historian of the
productions of a country teeming with the highest interest,
who will doubtless find occupation in investigating the minute
details of that respecting which I am only able to give a
general outline.

The male has the entire plumage glossy greenish black,
with a broad band of rich deep vermilion across the middle
of all but the two central tail-feathers, and the external web
of the outer feather on each side ; feet mealy brown ; bill in
young specimens greyish white, in old specimens black.

The female has the general plumage glossy greenish black,
each feather of the head, sides of the neck, and wing-coverts
pale yellow ; under surface crossed by narrow irregular bars
of pale yellow, becoming fainter on the abdomen ; under
tail-coverts crossed by narrow freckled bars of yellowish red ;
tail banded with red, passing into sulphur-yellow on the inner
margins of the feathers, and interrupted by numerous narrow
irregular bars and freckles of black.

Sp. 398. CALYPTORHYNCHUS MACRORHYNCHUS,

Gould.

Great-billed Black Cockatoo.

Calyptorhynchus macrorhynchiis, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, part x.

p. 138.
Lar-a-wuk, Natives of Taratong.

Calyptorhynchus macrorhynchus, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL,
vol. V. pi. 8.

All the examples of this species that have come under my
notice have been collected at Port Essington, where it is

10 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

usually seen in small troops of from four to six in number.
It has many characters in common with the Black Cockatoos
of the south coast, but no species of the genus yet discovered
has the bill so largely developed, which development is doubt-
less requisite to enable it to procure some peculiar kind of
food at present unknown to us ; it assimilates to the C.
banksii of New South Wales in the lengthened form of its
crest, but differs in having much shorter wings, and in the
mandibles being fully one-third larger. The females of the
two species also vary considerably in the colouring of the
bands across the tail-feathers, which in the C. hanhsii is pure
scarlet, while the same part of the female of the present bird
is mingled yellow and scarlet. It differs from the C. naso of
Western Australia in having a larger bill than that species,
and in the much greater length of the crest.

The male has the whole of the plumage glossy bluish black ;
lateral tail-feathers, except the external web of the outer one,
crossed by a broad band of fine scarlet ; bill horn-colour ;
irides blackish brown ; feet mealy blackish brown.

The female has the general plumage as in the male, but
with the crest-feathers, those on the sides of the face and
neck, and the wing-coverts spotted with light yellow ; each
feather of the under surface, but particularly the chest, crossed
by several semicircular fasciae of yellowish bufi'; lateral tail-
feathers crossed on the under surface by numerous irregular
bands of dull yellow, which are broad and freckled with black
at the base of the tail, and become narrower and more irre-
gular as they approach the tip ; on the upper surface of the
tail these bands are bright yellow at the base of the feathers,
and gradually change into pale scarlet as they approach the
tip ; irides blackish brown.

Total length 22 inches ; bill — length 1^, depth 3 ; wing 16 ;
tail 21 ; tarsi 1.

TNSKSSOllES. 17

Sp. 399. CALYFrORHYNCHUS NASO, Gould.
Western Black Cockatoo.

Calyptorhynchus naso, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, part iv. p. 106.

Kar-rak, Aborigines of the mountain and lowland, and

Keer-jan-dee of the Aborigines of the northern districts of Western

Aiistralia.
Red-tailed Black Cockatoo of the Colonists of Swan River.

Calyptorhynchus naso, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. v. pi. 9.

The characters by which this species is distinguished from
the Calyptorhynchus macrorhynchus are a smaller bill and a
shorter and more rounded crest. The bill is moreover inclined
to be gibbous, like that of C. leachii, to which species it also
offers a further alliance in its shorter contour and more rounded
crest and short tail.

The extent of range enjoyed by the Calyptorhynchus naso I
have not been able to ascertain; it appears to be most numerous
in the colony of Swan River, where it inhabits all parts of the
country. As might be expected, its general economy closely
resembles that of the other members of the genus. Except
in the breeding-season, when it pairs, it may often be observed
in companies of from six to fifteen in number.

It breeds in the holes of trees, where it deposits its snow-
white eggs on the soft dead wood. They are generally placed
in trees so difficult of access that even the natives dislike to
climb them. Those given to Gilbert by the son of the colonial
chaplain were taken by a native from a hole in a very high
white gum, in the last week of October ; they are white, one
inch and eight lines long by one inch and four lines broad.

It flies slowly and heavily, and while on the wing utters a
very harsh and grating cry, resembling the native name.

The stomach is membranous and capacious, and the food of
those examined contained seeds of the Eucalypti, Banksice, &c.

The sexes differ considerably in the colour of the tail.

The male has the entire plumage glossy greenish black ;

VOL. II. c

18 BIRDS or AUSTRALIA.

lateral tail-feathers, except the external web of the outer one,
crossed by a broad band of fine scarlet ; irides dark blackish
brown ; bill bluish lead-colour, feet brownish black, with a
leaden tinge.

The female has the upper surface similar to, but not so
rich as, that of the male, and has an irregularly shaped spot
of yellowish white near the tip of each of the feathers of the
head, crest, cheeks, and wing-coverts ; the under surface
brownish black, crossed by numerous narrow irregular bars
of dull sulphur-yellow ; the under tail-coverts crossed by several
irregular bars of mingled yellow and dull scarlet ; the lateral
tail-feathers dull scarlet, crossed by numerous irregular bars
of black, which are narrow at the base of the feathers and
gradually increase in breadth towards the tip.

Total length 22 inches ; bill in height 2f ; wing 14 ; tail
lOJ; tarsi f.

Sp. 400. CALYPTORHYNCHUS LEACHII.

Leach's Cockatoo.

Psittacus leachii, Kuhl, Consp. Psitt. in Nova Acta, vol. x. p. 91, pi. 3.

temminckii, Kuhl, lb., vol. x. p. 89:.

solandrii, Temm. lb., vol. xiii. p. 113.

Cacatua viridis, Vieill. Nouv. Diet. d'Hist. Nat., torn. xvii. p. 13.
Calyptorhynchus cookii, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans,, vol. xv. p. 272.

solandri, Yig. and Horsf. lb., vol. xv. p. 274.

leachii, Wagl. Mon. Psit. in Abhand., vol. i. p. 683.

temminckii, Wagl, lb., vol. i. p. 684.

stellatus, Selb. in Nat. Lib. Orn., vol. vi. Parrots, p. 134, pi. 15.

Banksianus australis. Less. Traite d'Orn., p. 180, Atlas, pi. 18. fig. 2,

female.
Plyctolophus solandri et cookii. Swains. Class, of Birds, vol. ii. p. 302.
Carat, Aborigines of New South Wales.

Calyptorhynchus leachii, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. v.
pi. 10.

The Calyptorhynchus leachii is the least species of the

INSESSORES. 19

genus yet discovered, and, independently of its smaller size,
it may be distinguished from its congeners by the more
swollen and gibbous form of its bill. Its native habitat is
New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia. I obtained
specimens on the Lower Namoi, more than three hundred
miles in the interior ; and the cedar-brushes of the Liverpool
range, Mr. Charles Throsby's park at Bong-bong, and the
sides of the creeks of the Upper Hunter, were also among the
places in which I killed it. So invariably did I find it among
the Casuarina, that those trees appear to be as essential to
its existence as the BanksicB are to that of some species of
Honey-eater; the crops of those I killed were invariably
filled with the seeds of the trees in question. Its disposition
is less shy and distrusting than those of the Calyptorltyncld
banksii and funereus, but httle stratagem being required to
get within gunshot ; when one is killed or wounded, the rest
of the flock either fly around or perch on the neighbouring
trees, and every one may be procured. It has the feeble
whining call of the other members of the genus. Its flight
is laboured and heavy ; but when it is necessary for it to pass
to a distant part of the country, it mounts high in the air and
sustains a flight of many miles.

It is not unusual to find individuals of this species with
yellow feathers on the cheeks and other parts of the head ;
this variation I am unable to account for; it is evidently
subject to no law, as it frequently happens that six or eight
may be seen together without one of them exhibiting this
mark, while on the contrary a like immber may be encountered
with two or three of them thus distinguished. To this
circumstance, and to the variation in the colouring of the tail-
feathers of the two sexes, may be attributed the voluminous
list of synonyms pertaining to this species.

There is no doubt that Mr. Caley was right in the opinion
expressed in his notes that this is the Carat of the natives ;
and he adds that it lays two eggs in the holes of the trees ;

c 2

20 BIRDS or AUSTRALIA.

" does not cut off the branches of trees like the C. funereus,
but cuts off May-ryhoT-ro and Mun-mow (the fruit of two
species of Persooiiia), without however eating them, before
they are ripe, to the great injury and vexation of the natives."

The adult male may at all times be distinguished from the
female by the broad band of scarlet on the tail. The females
and males during the first year have this part banded with
black.

The old male has the entire plumage glossy greenish black,
washed with brown on the head and neck, with a broad band
of deep vermilion across the middle of all but the two centre
tail-feathers, and the external web of the outer feather on
each side ; irides very dark brown ; orbits mealy black in
some, in others pinky; bill dark horn-colour; feet mealy
black.

The females and young males differ in having the head and
neck browner than in the adult male, and in having the
scarlet band on the tail crossed by narrow bands of greenish
black.

Sp.401. CALYPTORHYNCHUS FUNEREUS.

Funereal Cockatoo.

Psittacus funereus, Shaw, Nat. Misc., pi. 186.
Funereal Cockatoo, Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. ii. p. 202.
Calyptorhynchus funereus, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv.

p. 271.
Plyctolophus funeralis. Swains. Class, of Birds, vol. ii. p. 302.
Cacatua banksii, p., Vieill. Nouv. Diet. d'Hist. Nat., torn. xvii. p. 9.
Psittacus [Bonksianus] australis, p., Less. Traite d^Orn., p. 180.

[Kakadoe) funereus, Kuhl, Cousp. Psitt., pp. 12, 89.

Wy-la, Aborigines of the Upper Hunter in New South Wales.

Calyptorhynchus funereus, G-ould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. v.
pi. 11.

Although not the most powerful in its mandibles, the
present bird is the largest species of the genus to which it

INSESSOUES. 21

belongs, its great wings and expansive tail being unequalled in
size by those of any other member of the great family oi Psitta-
cidcs yet discovered. The true habitat of the Calyptorhynclms
funereus is New South Wales, or that portion of the Australian
continent forming its south-eastern division. Among other
places, I observed it in the neighbourhood of Sydney, at
Bong-bong, on Mosquito Island, near the mouth of the river
Hunter, and on the Liverpool range ; and it may be said to
be universally distributed over this part of the continent.
The thick brushes clothing the mountain sides and bordering
the coast-line, the trees of the plains, and the more open
country are equally frequented by it ; at the same time it is
nowhere very numerous, but is usually met with associated
in small companies of from four to eight in number, except
during the breeding-season, when it is only to be seen in
pairs. Its food is much varied ; sometimes the great belts of
Banksias are visited, and the seed-covers torn open for the
sake of their contents ; while at others it searches with avidity
for the larvae of the large caterpillars which are deposited in
the wattles and gums. Its flight, as might be expected, is
very heavy, flapping, and laboured, but it sometimes dives
about between the trees in a most rapid and extraordinary
manner.

When busily engaged in scooping off" the bark in search of
its insect food, it may be approached very closely ; and if one
be shot, the remainder of the company will fly round for a
short distance and perch on the neighbouring trees, until the
whole are brought down, if you are desirous of so doing.

Its note is very singular — a kind of whining call, which it
is impossible to describe, but which somewhat resembles the
syllables Wy-la, whence the native name.

The eggs, which are white and two in number, about one
inch and five-eighths long by one inch and three-eighths
broad, are deposited on the rotten wood in the hollow branch
of a large gum.

22 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

Caley mentions that this bird has a habit of cutting off the
smaller branches of the apple-trees {Anr/ophorcB), apparently
from no other than a mischievous motive.

The sexes are very nearly alike, and may be thus de-
scribed : —

The general plumage brownish black, glossed with green,
particularly on the head ; feathers of the body, both above
and beneath, narrowly margined with brown ; ear-coverts
dull wax-yellow ; all but the two central tail-feathers crossed
in the centre by a broad band, equal to half their length, of
brimstone-yellow, thickly freckled with irregular zigzag mark-
ings of brownish black ; the external web of the outer pri-
mary on each side, and the margin of the external web of the
other banded feathers, brownish black; bill black in some
and white in others, the latter being probably young birds ;
eyes blackish brown ; feet mealy blackish brown ; orbits in
some black, in others pinkish red, and in others whitish.

402. CALYPTORHYNCHUS XANTHONOTUS, Gould,
Yellow-eared Black Cockatoo.

Calyptorhynchus xanthonotus, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, part v.
p. 151.

Calyptorhynchus xanthonotus, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol.,
vol. V. pi. 12.

The principal habitat of this species is Tasmania, but I
have also seen specimens from Flinder's Island and Port Lin-
coln in South Australia. It is very plentifully dispersed over
all parts of Tasmania, where it evinces a preference for the
thickly wooded and mountainous districts ; and is always to be
observed in the gulleys under Mount Wellington, particularly
in the neighbourhood of New Town. In fine weather it takes
a higher range, but descends to the lower part of the country
on the approach of rain, when it becomes excessively noisy, and
utters as it flics a very peculiar whining cry. Its flight is

INSESSORES. 23

heavy and laboured, and while on the wing it presents a very
remarkable appearance, its short neck, rounded head, and
long wings and tail giving it a very singular contour. It is
generally to be observed in companies of from four to ten in
number, but occasionally in pairs only. I found it very shy
and difficult of approach, which may perhaps be attributed to
its being wantonly shot wherever it may be met with.

Its principal food is a large kind of caterpillar, which it
obtains from the wattle- and gum-trees, and in procuring
which it displays the greatest activity and perseverance,
scooping off the bark and cutting through the thickest branch
until it arrives at the object of its search ; it is in fact sur-
prising to see what enormous excavations it makes in the
larger branches, and how expertly it cuts across the smaller
ones : besides these large caterpillars, it also feeds upon the
larvse of several kinds of coleopterous insects, and occasionally
on the seeds of the Banksias and berries ; chrysalides were
also found in the stomachs of some that were dissected.

I found it exceedingly difficult to obtain any particulars
respecting the nidification of this bird, in consequence of its
resorting for the performance of this duty to the most retired
and inaccessible parts of the forests. Lieut. Breton, R.N.,
having informed me that a pair were breeding in a tree on
the estate of Mr. Wettenhall, I requested him to use his in-
fluence with that gentleman to have their eggs procured for
me ; and on the 2nd of February 1839, 1 received a note from
him, in which he says : —

" In compliance with your request, I wrote to Mr. Wetten-
hall upon the subject of the Black Cockatoo's nest, and he
forthwith directed his shepherd to fell the tree in which the
bird had established itself. It was situated in a gulley or
bottom, and was about four feet and a half in diameter. The
hole was from ninety to one hundred feet from the ground,
two feet in depth, and made quite smooth, the heart of the
tree being decayed. There was no appearance whatever of a

24 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

nest. The tree was broken in pieces by the fall, and the
contents of the hole or nest destroyed ; the fragments, how-
ever, were sought for with the greatest care, and all that could
be found are sent you. It may perhaps be as well to state,
that both while the tree was being felled and for a short time
afterwards, a Hawk kept attacking the Cockatoo, which flew
in circles round the tree before it fell, uttering its loudest and
most mournful notes, and at times turning upon the Hawk,
until at length it flew off."

Mr. G. French Angas informs me that this bird " lays two
white eggs in some large rotten gum-tree, generally where
one of the large branches has rotted off at the fork ; inside
this hole, which occasionally extends five or six feet down
the bole of the tree, the bird scrapes and clears away some,
of the rotten wood until a sort of seat is formed ; for it is a
very rude attempt at making a nest. The laying commences
about the latter end of October or beginning of November.
The bird, which at other times is very shy and wild, now
becomes very tame ; and I have known an old bird to perch
herself quietly close to me while I have been examining the
hole beneath which contained her eggs. When the young are
hatched, both the old birds go to the adjacent grounds for
a supply of food, which generally consists of the seeds of some
leguminous plant, and having filled their crops and throats,
they both return, when one of them commences feeding one
young one, and the other attends to and feeds the second.
The young birds eat an immense quantity of seeds, and are
very soon able to leave the nest ; but the old ones continue to
feed them for some time longer. They utter a very peculiar
low, continued, plaintive, screeching cry when hungry. As
the old birds disgorge the food and push it into the mouth of
the young they make a very curious noise, sounding like
' chucka, chucka, chucka,' rapidly repeated."

The eggs are one inch and eight lines long by one inch and
four lines broad.

INSESSORES. 25

The bird varies considerably in size and weight, some spe-
cimens weighing as much as one pound and ten ounces, while
others weighed no more than one pound and three ounces.

The sexes differ but little from each other. I believe the
birds with white bills to be immature.

Crown of the head, cheeks, throat, upper and under surface
brownish black ; feathers of the breast obscurely tipped with
dull olive ; ear-coverts yellow ; two centre tail-feathers deep
blackish brown, the remainder black at the base and tips, the
central portion being in some specimens uniform light lemon-
yellow, and in others the same colour blotched with spots and
markings of brown ; bill in some specimens white, in others
blackish brown ; feet greyish brown ; orbits in some black,
in others pink ; irides nearly black.

Total length 24 inches ;. wing 14^ ; tail 12 ; tarsi 1.

Sp. 403. CALYPTORHYNCHUS BAUDINII, Fi(/.

Baudin's Cockatoo.

Calyptorhynchus baudinii, Vig. in Lear's 111. Psitt., pi. 6.
Phjctulophus ? baudinii, Swains. Class, of Birds, vol. ii. p. 302.
Oo-laak of the Aborigines of the lowland, and
Ngol-ye-nuk of the Aborigines of the mountain districts of Western

Australia.
White-tailed Black Cockatoo of the Colonists.

Calyptoryhnchus baudinii, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. v.
pi. 13.

This species, which is a native of Western Australia, is
distinguished from all the other known members of the group
by its smaller size and by the white markings of its tail-
feathers. It belongs to that section of the Black Cockatoos
in which a similarity of marking characterizes both sexes,
such as Calyptorhyndius fimereus and C. xanthonotus. Like
the other members of the genus it frequents the large forests
of Bucalypti and the belts of BanksicB, upon the seeds of

26 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

which it mainly subsists ; occasionally it seeks its food on the
ground, when insects, fallen seeds, &c. are equally partaken
of; the larva) of moths and other insects are also extracted
by it from the trunks and limbs of such trees as are infested
by them.

Its flight is heavy and apparently laboured : when on the
wing it frequently utters a note very similar to its aboriginal
name ; at other times when perched on the trees it emits a
harsh croaking sound, which is kept up all the time the bird
is feeding.

It breeds in the holes of the highest white gum-trees, often
in the most dense and retired part of the forest. The eggs
are generally two in number, of a pure white ; their average
length being one inch and three-quarters by one inch and
three-eighths in breadth. The breeding-season extends over
the months of October, November, and December.

I have never seen specimens from any other part of Aus-
tralia than the colony of Swan River, over the whole of which
it seems to be equally distributed.

The entire plumage is blackish brown, glossed with green,
especially on the forehead ; all the feathers narrowly tipped
with dull white ; ear-coverts creamy white ; all but the two
central tail-feathers crossed by a broad band, equal to half
their length, of cream-white ; the external web of the outer
primary and the margin of the external web of the other
banded feathers blackish brown ; the shafts black ; irides
blackish brown ; bill lead-colour ; in some specimens the
upper mandible is blackish brown ; legs and feet dull yel-
lowish grey, tinged with olive.

Genus MICROGLOSSUM, Geoffroy.

The species of this genus are among the largest members
of the great family of Parrots ; they are also rendered con-
spicuously different from the whole of their congeners by their

INSESaORES. 27

extraordiuarily developed bills and their lengthened lanceolate
crest-feathers. Two species are all that are known, one of
which is Australian.

Sp. 404. MICROGLOSSUM ATERRIMUM.
Great Palm Cockatoo.

Ch'eat Black Cockatoo, Edw. Glean., pi. 316.

Psittacus aterrimus, Gmel. Edit. Linn. Syst. Nat., vol. i. p. 330.

gigas, Lath. Ind. Orn., vol. i. p. 107.

griseus, Bechst.

goliath, Kuhl, Consp. Psitt. in Nov. Acta, vol. x. p. 92.

Cacatua aterrima, Vieill. Nouv. Diet. d^Hist. Nat., torn. xvii. p. 13.
Microglossus atemmus, Wagl. Mon. Psitt. in Abhand., vol. i. p. 682.

et griseus, Swains. Classif. of Birds, vol. ii. p. 302.

Microglossum aterrimum. Gray and Miteb. Gen. of Birds, vol. ii. p. 424.

ater, Less. Traite d'Orn., p. 184, Atlas, pi. 19. fig. 1 et A.

Psittacus {Prohosciger) aterrimus, Kuhl, Consp. Psitt. in Nov. Acta,
pp. 12, 91.

( ) goliath, Kubl, lb., pp. 9, 94.

Solenoglossus zeylanicus, Ranz. Elem. d'Orn., torn. ii. p. 21.

Psittacus {Cacatua) goliath, Miill. et Sclileg.

PayUntoo, Goodang Tribe of the Aborigines at Cape York.

Microglossus aterrimus, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, Supple-
ment, pi.

As might have been expected, the fauna of the Cape York
district is found to comprise many species common to the
islands immediately to the northward of that part of the
country ; among which the present noble bird must now be
enumerated. Although not new to science, no one of the
accessions obtained during the expedition of H.M.S. Rattle-
snake is of greater interest than the Microglossum aterrimum,
adding, as it does, another to the rich series of the Psittacidae
previously described as pertaining to the ornithology of Aus-
tralia.

I have much pleasure in communicating the following
interesting notes on this species by Mr. Macgillivray : —

28 BIRDS or AUSTRALIA.

"This very fine bird, which is not uncommon in the
vicinity of Cape York, was usually found in the densest scrub
among the tops of the tallest trees, but was occasionally seen
in the open forest land perched on the largest of the Eucalypti,
apparently resting on its passage from one belt of trees or
patch of scrub to another : like the Calyptorhynchi, it flies
slowly, and usually but a short distance. In November 1849,
the period of our last visit to Cape York, it was always found
in pairs, very shy, and difficult of approach. Its cry is
merely a low short whistle of a single note, which may be
represented by the letters * Hweet-Uweet! The stomach of
the first one killed contained a few small pieces of quartz
and triturated fragments of palm cabbage, with which the
crop of another specimen was completely filled; and the
idea immediately suggests itself, that the powerful bill of this
bird is a most fitting instrument for stripping off" the leaves
near the summits of the Seaforthia elegaiis and other palms to
enable it to arrive at the central tender shoot."

Lores deep velvety black ; lengthened crest-feathers greyish
black; the remainder of the plumage black, with purple
reflexions ; irides purplish brown ; cheeks pale dull crimson,
bordered with pale yellow, the two colours gradually blending
into each other ; bill and feet purplish black.

In the young male the tip of the upper and the whole of
the lower mandible is horn-colour, and the under surface is
brownish black, with narrow obscure crescentic marks of
yellowish white at the tips of the abdominal feathers.

Genus CALLOCEPHALON, Lesson.

Of this form the only species known is a very remarkable
bird, and is doubtless adapted for some particular mode of
existence; being short and thickset, and furnished with a
very powerful bill. The sexes are alike in colour, except in
the hue of their long filamentous crest, which is scarlet in
the male and grey in the female.

INSESSORES. 29

Sp.405. CALLOCEPHALON GALEATUM.

Gang-gang Cockatoo.

Psittacus galeatus, Lath. Ind. Orn., Supp. p. xxiii.

fimbriatus, Grant.

Red-crowned Parrot, Lath. Gen. Syn.. Supp. vol. ii. p. 369, pi. 140.
Calyptorhynchus galeatus, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv.

p. 274.
Cory don galeatus, Wagl. Mon. Psitt. in Abhand., vol. i. pp. 504, 690.
Plyctolophus galeatus. Swains. Class, of Birds, vol. ii. p. 302.
Banksianus galeatus. Less. Traite d^Orn., p. 18L
Callocephalon australe, Less. Zool. Voy. of Thetis, pis. 47, 48.

galeatum, G. R. Gray, List of Gen. of Birds, 2nd edit., p. 68.

Cacatua galeata, Vieill. Nouv. Diet. d'Hist. Nat., torn. xvii. p. 12.
Psittacus phcenicocephalus, Mus. de Paris.

[Banksianus) galeatus. Less. Traite d'Orn., p. 181.

Kakadoe ruhro-galeatus, Bourj. de St.-Hil. Perr., tabs. 75, 75 «, 756.
Gang-gang Cockatoo, Colonists of New South Wales.

Callocephalon galeatum, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. v.
pi. 14.

The only information I can give respecting this fine species
is that it is a native of the forests bordering the south coast
of Australia, some of the larger islands in Bass's Straits, and
the northern parts of Tasmania, and that it frequents the
most lofty trees, and feeds on the seeds of the various Eucalypti.
A few instances have occurred of its being brought to England
alive, where it has borne captivity quite as well as the other
members of the great family to which it belongs. While
this Handbook was passing through the press, individuals
of this species graced the Menagerie of the Zoological
Society of London, and I trust this fact may induce some
of our Australian friends to send others, for no birds would
be more highly prized. This species being closely allied
to the Black Cockatoos {Calyptorhynclii) we may reasonably
infer that these latter birds would thrive equally well, were

30 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

the experiment more extensively made, their form and habits
being very similar.

The paucity of information here given will I trust be a
sufficient hint to those vv^ho may be favourably situated for
observing the habits of this species, that by transmitting
an account of the number of its eggs or other particulars
respecting it either to myself or to any scientific journal, they
would be promoting the cause of science, and adding to the
stock of ornithological knowledge.

The sexes are readily distinguished by the marked difference
in their plumage ; both are crested, but the crest of the male
is a rich scarlet, while that of the female is grey.

The male has the forehead, crest, and cheeks fine scarlet,
the remainder of the plumage dark slate-grey ; all the feathers,
with the exception of the primaries, secondaries, and tail,
narrowly margined with greyish white — decided and distinct
on the upper, but much fainter on the under surface ; irides
blackish l^rown ; bill light horn- colour ; feet mealy black.

The general plumage of the female is dark slate-colour, the
feathers of the neck and back slightly margined with pale
grey, the remainder of the upper surface crossed with irregular
bars of greyish white ; the wings have also a sulphurous hue,
as if powdered with sulphur; the feathers of the under
surface are margined with sulphur-yellow and dull red,
changing into dull yellow on the under tail-coverts.

Genus POLYTELIS, Wagler.

This genus comprises three species, all of which are peculiar
to the southern portions of Australia. In their lengthened
form they resemble in appearance the Palaorni of India ; but
they differ from them considerably in structure, and form a
very isolated genus among the Psittacidce

The sexes are very different in colour ; the male being by
far the finest; both, however, are adorned with lengthened
and elegantly formed tails.

INSESSOaES. 31

Sp. 406. POLYTELIS BARRABANDI.

Barraband's Parrakeet.

Psittacus bmrabandii, Swains. Zool. 111., 1st ser. pi. 59.

Palaornis barrahandi, Vig. in Zool, Journ., vol. ii. p. 56.

Pohjtelis barrabandi, Wagl. Mon. Psitt. in Abhand., pp. 489 and 519.

Scarlet-breasted Parrot, Lath. Gen. Sj^n,, vol. ii. p. 121.

PalcEornisl rosaceus, Vig. in Zool. Journ., vol. v. p. 274; female.

Platycercus barrabandi, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p. 287.

Barrabandius rosaceus, Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., torn. i. p. 2, Barra-

bandius, sp. 1.
Psittacus swainsoni, Desm.
Platycercus rosaceus, G. R. Gray List, of Spec, of Birds in Brit. Mus.,

part iii. sec. ii., Psittacidce, p. 9.
Psittacus sagittifer barrabandi et rosaceus, Bourj. de St.-Hil. Supp. to

Le Vaill. Hist. Nat. des Perr., pis. 4 et 6.
Green-leek of the Colonists of New South Wales.

Polytelis barrabandi, Gould, Bii'ds of Australia, foL, vol. v. pi. 15.

In the great family of Parrots, few species are more ele-
gant in form or more exquisitely coloured than the present,
which is a native of the interior of New South Wales, and
Victoria. Living individuals are frequently brought down to
Sydney by the draymen of the Argyle county, where it appears
to be a common species. When we know more of its history
I expect it will be found to inhabit similar localities, and
enjoy a similar range to the F. melanura, and that the two
species as closely assimilate in their habits and economy as
they do in form. It is somewhat singular, that the females of
this and the succeding bird should have been described by
the late Mr. Vigors as distinct species from the males.

From the length of its wings and the general contour of its
body, we may be assured that its power of flight is very
great, and that it doubtless removes from one part of the con-
tinent to another whenever nature prompts it so to do.

The female, though equally as graceful in form as the male,
is nevertheless much inferior to him in the coloiu-ing of her

32 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

plumage ; the green of the wings and body being less brilliant,
and the rich hues of the crown and cheeks being entirely
wanting; a similar kind of plumage also characterizes the
male during the first year.

The male has the forehead, cheeks and throat rich gam-
boge-yellow ; immediately beneath the yellow of the throat a
crescent of scarlet ; back of the head, all the upper and under
surface grass-green ; primaries, secondaries, spurious wing and
tail dark blue tinged with green ; thighs in some scarlet, in
others grass-green ; irides orange-yellow ; bill rich red ; feet
brown.

The female has the face dull greenish blue ; chest dull rose-
colour ; thighs scarlet ; the remainder of the body grass-
green ; primaries bluish green ; central tail-feathers uniform
green, the remainder bluish green, with the inner webs for
their entire length fine rosy red ; irides brown ; bill pale
reddish orange ; feet dark brown.

Sp. 407. POLYTELIS ALEXANDRA, Gould.
The Princess of Wales' Parrakeet.
Polytelis alexandrce, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, 1863, p. 232.

I feel assured that the discovery of an additional species
of the lovely genus Polytelis will be hailed with pleasure by
all ornithologists, and that they will assent to its bearing the
specific name of alexandrcdy in honour of that Princess who,
we may reasonably hope, is destined at some future time to
be the Queen of these realms and their dependencies, of which
Australia is by no means the most inconspicuous.

The Polytelis alexandrcB is in every respect a typical Poly-
telis, having the delicate bill and elegantly striped tail charac-
teristic of that form. It is of the same size as P. harrahandi,
but differs from that species in having the crown blue and the
lower part of the cheeks rose-pink instead of yellow.

For my knowledge of this new species I am indebted to the

INSESSORES. 33

Board of Governors of the South Austrahan Institute, who
hberally forwarded for my inspection a selection from the orni-
thological collection made by Mr. Frederick G. Waterhouse
during Mr. Stuart's late Exploratory Expedition into Cen-
tral Australia. The locality on the label attached to the spe-
cimens is Howell's Ponds, Central Australia, 16° 54' 7" S.

Forehead delicate light blue ; lower part of the cheeks, chin,
and throat rose-pink ; head, nape, mantle, back, and scapu-
laries olive-green ; lower part of the back and rump blue ;
shoulders and wing-coverts pale yellowish green; external webs
of the principal primaries dull blue ; breast and abdomen olive-
grey; thighs rosy red; upper tail-coverts olive, tinged with
blue ; two centre tail-feathers bluish olive green ; the two next
on each side olive-green on their outer webs and dark brown on
the inner ones ; the remaining tail-feathers tricoloured, the cen-
tral portion being black, the outer olive-grey, and the inner
deep rosy red ; bill coral-red ; feet mealy brown.

Total length 14 inches ; bill J ; wing 7 ; tail 9 ; tarsi ^.

Sp. 408. POLYTELIS MELANURA.

Black-tailed Parrakeet.

Palceornis melanura, Vig. in Lear's 111. Psitt., pi. 28, male.

anthopeplus, Vig. in lb., pi. 29, female.

Polytelis melanura, Gould in Syn. Birds of Australia, Part IV.

Psittacus Sagittifer melanura et anthopeplus, Bourj. de St-Hil. Perr.,

tab. 5 et 7.

Platycercus melanurus, G. R. Gray, Gen of Birds, vol. ii. p. 408.

Barrabandius melanurus, Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., torn. i. p. 2, Barra

bandius, sp. 2.
It
Wouk-un-ga, Aborigines of Western Australia.

Jul-u-up, Aborigines of King George's Sound.

Mountain Parrot, Colonists of Western Australia.

Polytelis melanura, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. v. pi. 16.
So little is known of the habits and economy of this beau-

VOL. II. D

34 BIRDS OP AUSTRALIA.

tiful Parakeet, which has hitherto only been found on the
southern portion of the continent of Austraha, that the pre-
sent paper must necessarily be brief. It is strictly an inha-
bitant of the interior, over which it doubtless enjoys a wide
range. Sir George Grey procured it in the dense scrub to the
north-west of Adelaide, and Gilbert encountered it in the
white-gum forests of the Swan River settlement. Captain
Sturt at page 188 of the second volume of the narrative of
his journeys into the interior, says, " I believe I have already
mentioned that, shortly after we first entered the Murray,
flocks of a new Paroquet passed over our heads, apparently
emigrating to the N.W. They always kept too high to be
fired at, but on our return, hereabouts, we succeeded in killing
one. It made a good addition to our scanty stock of objects
of natural history."

Gilbert remarks that, in Western Australia, it is met with
in small families of from nine to twelve in number, feeding on
seeds, buds of flowers and honey gathered from the white
gum-tree. Its flight, as indicated by its form, is rapid in the
extreme.

The male has the head, neck, shoulders, rump, and all the
under surface beautiful jonquil-yellow ; upper part of the
back and scapularies olive ; primaries and tail deep blue ;
several of the greater wing-coverts dull scarlet, forming a con-
spicuous mark on the centre of the wing ; irides bright red ;
bill scarlet ; feet ash-grey.

The female has the head, sides of the face, back of the neck,
upper part of the back and scapulars dull olive-green ; tlu-oat,
all the under surface, rump and wing-coverts yellowish green,
the latter passing into deep green on the centre of the
shoulder ; primaries, some of the secondaries, and spurious
wing deep blue-black, margined externally with yellowish
green ; the remainder of the secondaries and a few of the
greater coverts deep red ; two centre tail-feathers deep green,
the remainder green at the base, passing into black on the

INSESSORES. 35

inner webs ; the five lateral feathers on each side margined on
their inner webs and tipped with rosy red, which is broadest
and most conspicuous on the two outer feathers; bill scarlet;
feet ash-grey.

Genus APROSMICTUS, Gould.

One species only of this form inhabits Australia ; others
are found in New Guinea and the neighbouring islands.
They are distinguished from the Platt/cerci by the possession
of a well-developed os furcatorium, a bone which is entirely
wanting in the members of that genus ; in their habits the
Aprosmicti are mainly arboreal, and in their disposition
morose and sullen.

Sp. 409. APROSMICTUS SCAPULATUS.

King Lory.

Psiitacus scapulatus, Bechst., Kuhl, Nova Acta, p. 56.

Psittacus tabuensis, var. /3, Lath. Ind. Orn., p. 88.

La Grande Perruche a collier et croupion bleu, Le Vaill. Hist, des

Perr., pis. 55 and 56.
Tabuan Parrot, White's Journ., pi. in p. 168, male, and p. 169, female.
Platycercus scapulatus, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv.

p. 284.
Psittacus cyanopygius, Vieill., 2nde edit, du Nouv. Diet. d'Hist, Nat.,

torn. XXV. p. 339.
Scarlet and Green Parrot, Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. ii. p. 116.
Platycercus scapulaj-is. Swains. Zool. 111., 2nd Ser. pi. 26.
Aprosmictus scapulatus, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., part x. p. 112.
Wellat, Aborigines of New South Wales.

Aprosmictus scapulatus, Grould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. v.
pi. 17.

This very showy and noble species appears to be extremely
local in its habitat ; I have not seen it from any other portion
of Australia than New South Wales, in which country it
appears to be almost exclusively confined to the brushes, par-

D 2

■id BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

ticularly such as are Ioav and humid, and where the large
CasuarincB grow in the greatest profusion. All the brushes
stretching along the southern and eastern coast appear to be
equally favoured with its presence, as it there finds a plenti-
ful supply of food, consisting of seeds and berries. At the
period when the Indian corn is becoming ripe it leaves its
umbrageous abode and sallies forth in vast flocks, which
commit great devastation on the ripening grain. It is rather
a dull and inactive species compared with the members of the
restricted genus FlatycercuB ; it flies much more heavily, and
is very different in its disposition, for although it soon becomes
habituated to confinement, it is less easily tamed and much
less confiding and familiar; the great beauty of the male,
however, somewhat compensates for this unpleasant trait, and
consequently it is highly prized as a cage-bird.

I was never so fortunate as to find the eggs of this species,
neither could I gather any information respecting this part of
the bird's economy ; and I am inclined to look with suspi-
cion on the account of its breeding given by Mr. Caley in the
Linnean Transactions : in my opinion it must have reference
to some other bird.

When fully adult the sexes differ very considerably in the
colouring of the plumage, as will be seen by the following
descriptions.

The male has the head, neck and all the under surface scar-
let ; back and wings green, the inner webs of the primaries
and secondaries being black ; along the scapularies a broad
line of pale verdigris green ; a line bounding the scarlet at
the back of the neck, the rump and upper tail-coverts rich
deep blue ; tail black ; pupil large and black ; irides narrow
and yellow ; bifl scarlet ; legs mealy brown.

The female has the head and all the upper surface green ;
throat and chest green tinged with red ; abdomen and under
tail -coverts scarlet ; rump dull blue ; two centre tail-feathers
green ; the remainder green, passing into bluish black ; and

INSESSORES. 37

with a rose-coloured spot at the extremity on the under
surface.

The young male for the first two years resembles the
female, which is doubtless the cause why so few birds are
seen in the bright red dress, compared with those having a
green head and chest.

Genus PTISTES, Gould.

The birds for which I propose the above generic appellation
are, in my opinion, sufficiently different in form and colouring
to warrant their being separated from Aprosviictus, and formed
into a new genus. At present three species are known to me,
two of which are Australian ; the third is the Ptistes vulne-
ratuSy figured in the voyage of the Astrolabe as Psittacus
erythropterus^ and said to be from Timor. They have a very
laboured flight, consequent on the great size of their wings,
which has suggested the generic name of Ptistes, i. e. winnower.

Sp. 410. PTISTES ERYTHROPTERUS.

Red-winged Lory.

Psittacus erythropterus, Gmel. Syst., vol. i. p. 343.

melanotuS) Shaw, Nat. Misc., pi. 653.

Crimson-winged Parrot, Lath. Gen. Syn., vol. i. p, 399; and Supp.,

p. 60.
Platycercus erythropterus, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv.

p. 284.
Aprosmictus erythropterus, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, part x. p. 112.

Aprosmictus erythropterus, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. v.
pi. 18.

The extensive belts of Acacia pendula which diversify the
plains of the eastern portion of Australia are tenanted by this
bird, either in small companies of six or eight, or in flocks of
a much greater number. It is beyond my power to describe
the extreme beauty of the appearance of the Red-winged Lory

38 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

when seen among the silvery branches of the Acacia, particu-
larly when the flocks comprise a large number of adult males,
the gorgeous scarlet of whose shoulders offers so striking a con-
trast to the surrounding objects. It is rather thinly dispersed
among the trees skirting the rivers which intersect the Liver-
pool Plains, but from these towards the interior it increases
in number. Being naturally shy and wary, it is much more
difficult of approacli than the generality of the Parrakeets : and
it seldom becomes tame or familiar in captivity.

Its flight is performed with a motion of the wings totally
different from that of any other member of the great family
of PsiUacidcB I have seen, and has frequently reminded me
of the heavy flapping manner of the Pewit, except that the
motion was even slower and more laboured. While on the
wing, it frequently utters a loud screeching cry.

Its food consists of berries, the fruit of a species of Loran-
thus, and the pollen of flowers, to which is added a species of
scaly bug-like insect, that infests the branches of its favourite
trees ; and in all probability small caterpillars, for I liave found
them in the crops of several of the Platycerci. It breeds in the
holes of the large Eucalypti growing on the banks of rivers ;
the eggs, which are white, being four or five in number, about
an inch and an eighth long by seven-eighths broad.

The sexes differ very considerably in the colouring of their
plumage ; and the young males during the first two years
resemble the female.

The male has the head and back of the neck verditer
green ; throat, all the upper surface, edge of the shoulder,
and upper tail-coverts bright yellowish green ; back black ;
rump lazuline blue ; wing-coverts deep rich crimson-red ;
scapularies dark green, tipped with black ; primaries black at
the base, with the external webs and the apical portion of the
inner webs deep green ; secondaries black, edged with deep
green, and one or two with a tinge of red at the tip ; tail
green above, passing into yellow at the tip, the extreme end

INSESSORES. 39

fringed with pink ; under surface of the tail black, tipped
with yellow and pink as above ; irides reddish orange in
some, scarlet in others ; bill rich orange-scarlet ; feet olive-
brown.

The female has the head and upper surface dull green ;
under surface dull yellowish green ; a few of the wing-coverts
crimson-red, forming a stripe down the wing; rump pale
verditer blue ; tail-feathers more largely tipped with pink than
in the male ; irides olive-brown ; bill light horn-colour.

Sp. 411. PTISTES COCCINEOPTERUS, Gould.
Crimson-winged Lory.

If ornithologists will compare the Crimson-winged Lories
of Port Essington and the adjacent north-western portions of
Australia with the Red-winged birds from the east coast, I
think but little doubt will remain on their minds that they
are distinct from each other. The former are smaller than the
latter in all their admeasurements, except in the bill, which is
rather larger ; and the adult males are more richly coloured,
both in the green of the body and the red on the wing, which,
moreover, has a crimson hue, and is not so extensive as in
P. erythrojiterus ; in all other respects the colouring of the
two species is very similar.

I propose for this new species the trivial name of Crimson-
winged Lory, and the scientific one of Ptistes coccineojiterus.

The female so nearly resembles the same sex of P. erythrop-
terus and the extra Australian species P. vulneratus that it is
difficult to distinguish them. I may add that of the last-
mentioned bird I have not yet seen a male with red shoulders,
and if this conspicuous mark never occm's, the two sexes are
alike in colour.

Total length of the adult male 12 inches ; bill f ; wing 7| ;
tail 5f ; tarsi f .

Splendid adult examples of the three species above men-
tioned are contained in the national collection.

40 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

Genus PLATYCERCUS, Vigors.

All the members of this very well defined genus are
extremely ornamental ; they have very ample tails, and the
power of displaying them in a manner to show off the
beautiful colours with which this organ is adorned. The
species are very widely spread, for they are found from
Tasmania in the south to Port Essington in the north.
None of them, I believe, have an os furcatorium, the absence
of which would seem to have some influence on their flight,
for they seldom employ their wings further than as a means
of transport from places where they obtain an abundant
supply of the grass-seeds upon which they mainly subsist, to
the nearest trees of the neighbouring forest ; very unlike,
indeed, is their flight to that of Ptistes, which passes high in
the air from one part of the country to another.

Bonaparte, who has subdivided the Plati/cerci still farther
than I have done here, places the three species with stouter
bills and less ample tails (P. harnardi, P. semitorqiiatus, and
P. zonarius) in a genus by themselves, under the name of
Barnardius ; but as I conceive such terms objectionable when
employed generically, and the differences alluded to unimpor-
tant, I think I shall be excused for not separating these birds
from Platycercus.

Sp. 412. PLATYCERCUS BARNARDI.

Barnard's Parrakeet.

Barnard's Parrot, Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. ii. p. 121.

Platycercus barnardi, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p. 283.

Barnardivs tijpicus, Bonap. Rev. et Mag. de Zool., 1854, p. 153.

Platycercus bamardii, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. v. pi. 21.

To see Barnard's Parrakeet in perfection, and to observe
its rich plumage in all its glory, the native country of the
bird must be visited, its brooks and streamlets traced ; for it

INSESSORBS. 41

is principally on the banks of the latter, either among the
"high-flooded gums" or the larger shrub-like trees along the
edges of the water that this beautiful species is seen, and
where the brilliant hues of its expanded wings and tail show
very conspicuously as it passes from tree to tree amidst the
dark masses of foliage.

The range of Barnard's Parrakeet extends throughout the
interior from South Australia to New South Wales, but it
seldom appears within the boundary of the latter colony ; I
never met with it nearer than the Liverpool Plains, from
which northwards towards the interior its numbers increased,
and it doubtless inhabits the banks of the Darling and all
other rivers which disembogue into Lake Alexandrina; and in
confirmation of this opinion I may state that I found it abund-
ant in the Great Murray scrub of South Australia. It is ge-
nerally met with in small companies of from five to ten in
number, sometimes on the ground among the tall grasses, at
others among the high trees, particularly the Eucalypti.

The sexes differ but little in colour ; the males are, how-
ever, at all times the largest and finest in plumage.

I did not succeed in obtaining the eggs of this species,
although it was breeding in all the large trees of the different
parts of the country T visited.

Forehead red ; crown, cheeks, chest, abdomen, central
portion of wing, and rump verditer-green ; occiput crossed
by a band of brown, succeeded by a crescent-shaped mark of
yellow ; back bluish grey ; centre of the abdomen crossed by
a broad crescent of orange; primaries and spurious wing
black; the external margin of each feather and the tip of
the shoulder rich deep blue; two central tail-feathers deep
green, passing into deep blue at the tip ; the lateral feathers
deep blue at the base, gradually fading into bluish white at
the tip ; bill horn colour ; feet brown.

43 BIRDS ®F AUSTRALIA.

Sp. 413. PLATYCERCUS SEMITORQUATUS.
Yellow-collared Parrakeet.

Psittacus semitorquatus, Quoy etGaim. Voy. de FAstrol. Zool., pi.
Barnardius semitorquatus, Bonap. Rev. et Mag. de Zool. 1854, p. 153.
Duw-arn, Aborigines of the lowland districts of Western Australia.
Dum-ul-uk, Aborigines of the mountain districts of Western Australia.
Twenty-eight Parrakeet, Colonists of Swan River.

Platycercus semitorquatus, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. v.
pi. 19.

This noble Parrakeet is abundantly dispersed over the
greater portion of Western Australia, where it inhabits almost
every variety of situation, sometimes searching for food upon
the ground, and at others on the trees ; its chief food being
either grass-seeds or the hard-stoned fruits and seeds peculiar
to the trees of the country in which it lives. It is equally as
abundant at King George's Sound as it is at Swan River ; I
have not been so fortunate as to obtain any precise information
as to the extent of its range over the continent, the only parts
of the country from which I have received specimens being the
two localities mentioned above.

While on the wing its motions are rapid, and it often utters
a note, which from its resemblance to those words has pro-
cured for it the appellation of " twenty-eight " Parrakeet from
the colonists ; the last word or note being sometimes repeated
five or six times in succession.

The Platycercus semitorq^iiatus begins breeding in the latter
part of September or beginning of October, and deposits its
eggs in a hole in either a gum- or mahogany-tree, on the soft
black dust collected at the bottom ; they are from seven to
nine in number and of a pure white. In most instances these
eggs have a pinky blush before being blown.

This is the largest species of ground Parrakeet that has yet
been discovered in Australia.

INSESSORES. 43

The sexes may be distinguished by the smaller size of the
female, and by her markings being much less distinct.

Forehead crossed by a narrow band of crimson ; head
blackish brown, passing into blue on the cheeks ; back of the
neck encircled by a band of bright yellow ; back and upper
surface generally deep grass-green, passing into pale green on
the shoulders ; primaries and spurious wing blackish brown,
the external w^ebs of each feather deep blue ; two central tail
feathers deep grass-green, the next on each side the same,
passing into blue and ending in bluish white at the tip ; the
lateral feathers green at the base passing into blue, which gra-
dually fades into bluish white at the tip ; chest green ; under
surface light green ; irides dark brown ; bill light horn-
colour, becoming of a lead-colour on the front of the upper
mandible ; legs and feet dark brown.

Sp. 414. PLATYCERCUS ZONARIUS.

Banded Parrakeet.

Psittacus zonarius, Shaw's Nat. Misc., pi. 657.

viridis, Shaw's Gen. ZooL, vol. viii. p. 465.

haueri, Temm. in Linn. Trans., vol. xiii. p. 118.

cyanomelas, Kuhl, Consp. Psitt. in Nov. Act., vol. x. p. 53.

Bauer's Parrot, Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. ii. p. 120.

Platycercus haueri, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p. 283.

zonarius, Wagl. Mon. Psitt. in Abhand., p. 538.

Nanodes ? zonarius, Steph. Cont. of Shaw's Geu. ZooL, vol. xiv. p. 119.
Conurus caruleo-barbatus, Bourj. St.-Hil. Perr., tab. 40.
Barnardius zonarius, Bonap. Rev. et Mag. de Zool. 1854, p. 153.

Platycercus baueri, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. v. pi. 85.

Although this bird is very nearly allied to the Platycercus
semitorquatus, it possesses several characters by which it may
be distinguished from that species ; in the first place it is
much less in size, and in the next it has a brighter and more
contrasted style of plumage, the green of the under surface of
which is relieved by a gorgeous band of bright yellow across

44 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

the abdomen ; the rich band of scarlet which ornaments the
front of the P. semitorquatus is also wanting in the present
bird, or if not entirely, the slightest indication of it and that
only in the finest old males is to be seen. The only portion
of Australia from which I have received specimens of this bird
is Port Lincoln. The sexes present a similar contrast in the
lesser size and less brilliant style of colouring of the female.

Head and upper part of the neck black, the cheek-feathers
tipped with deep blue; at the back of the neck a broad
crescent of bright yellow ; chest, back, and wings dark green,
passing into verditer-green on the outer webs of the wdng-
coverts ; rump and upper tail-coverts grass-green ; two centre
tail-feathers deep green, the next on each side deep green,
tipped with bluish white, the remainder deep green at the
base, passing into bluish white, the blue on the outer margins
of the feathers being of lazuline hue ; centre of the abdomen
deep gamboge-yellow ; remainder of the under surface yellow-
ish grass-green ; primaries, secondaries, and spurious wing-
coverts black, with the base of their external webs rich deep
blue ; bill horn-colour ; feet dark brown.

Sp. 415. PLATYCERCUS PENNANTII.
Pennat^t's Parrakeet.

Psittacus pennantii, Lath. Ind. Orn., vol. i. p. 90.

gloriosus, Shaw. Nat. Misc., pi. 53.

splendidus, Shaw, Mus. Lev., pi. 7. p. 27.

Perruchs a large queue, Levaill. Hist. Nat. des Perr., pis. 78, 79.
Pennantian Parrot, Lath. Gen. Syn., Supp. vol. i. p. 61 ; vol. ii. p. 83.
Psittacus elegans, Gmel. Edit. Linn. Syst. Nat., vol. i. p. 318
Platycercus pennantii, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p, 280.
Dulang and Julang, Aborigines of New South Wales.

Platycercus pennantii, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. v. pi. 23.

This beautiful bird is very generally dispersed over New

INSESSORES. 45

South Wales, where it frequents grassy hills and brushes,
particularly those of the Liverpool range and all similar
districts : it also inhabits Kangaroo Island, but I never met
with it in the belts of the Murray, or in any of the forests
round Adelaide, in which part of the country the Platy-
cercus adelaidensis occurs abundantly. Its food consists
of berries and the seeds of various grasses, to which insects
and caterpillars are occasionally added, and to obtain which it
descends to the bases of the hills and to open glades in the
forests ; I have often flushed it from such situations ; and
when six or eight rose together with outspread tails of beau-
tiful pale blue, offering a decided contrast to the rich scarlet
livery of the body, I never failed to pause and admire the
splendour of their appearance, of which no description can
give an adequate idea ; the Flatycerci must, in fact, be seen in
their native wilds before their beautiful appearance can be
appreciated, or the interesting nature of their habits at all
understood.

Like the other members of the genus, the Plati/cercus
pennantii runs rapidly over the ground, but its flight is
not enduring. In disposition it is tame and destitute of
distrust, and as a pet for the aviary or cage few birds can
exceed it in interest or beauty ; consequently it is one of the
commonest of the living Parrakeets sent from Australia to
this country.

It breeds in the holes of the large gum-trees, generally
selecting those on the hill-sides within the brushes ; of which
situations, the cedar brushes of the Liverpool range appear
to be a favourite. The months of September, October, and
November constitute the breeding-season. The eggs, which
are white, about an inch and two lines long, eleven and a half
lines broad, and from four to seven in number, are deposited
on the rotten wood at the bottom of the hole.

The colouring of the sexes when fully adult is alike, but
much variation exists between youth and maturity ; during

46 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

the first autumn the young birds are clothed in a plumage
of a nearly uniform green ; to this succeeds a parti-coloured
livery of scarlet, blue, and green, which colouring is con-
tinually changing until the full plumage of maturity is as-
sumed ; and hence has arisen no little confusion respecting
this species in the writings of the older ornithologists, and it
is not to be wondered at that its synonyms are so numerous.
The adult male has the head, neck, all the under surface,
the rump, and upper tail-coverts rich deep crimson-red ; the
feathers of the back and scapularies black, broadly margined
with rich crimson-red ; the cheeks and shoulders coerulean
blue ; the greater wing-coverts pale blue ; the primaries and
secondaries black, with the basal half of their external webs
margined with deep blue ; the two centre tail-feathers green,
passing into blue on their margins and at the tip; the
remainder black on the inner webs for three-fourths of their
length ; deep blue for nearly the same length on their outer
webs, and largely tipped on both webs with pale blue, which
becomes still paler to the tips of the feathers; bill horn-
colour ; irides very dark brown ; feet blackish brown.

Sp.416. PLATYCERCUS ADELAIDENSIS, Gould.

Adelaide Parrakbet.

Platycercus adelaidiee, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, part viii. p. 161.
Pheasant Parrot, Colonists of South Australia.

Platycercus adelaidise, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. v. pi. 22.

This beautiful Platycercus is a native of South Australia,
and from the circumstance of my having procured some of my
finest specimens in the very streets of the city of Adelaide,
I have been induced to give it the specific name of ade-
laidensis. In all probability the bird may in a few years be
looked for in vain even in the suburbs of this rapidly increas-
ing settlement, as it is too large a species and possesses too
many attractions to remain unmolested ; indeed it was much

INSESSORES. 47

persecuted and destroyed by the newly-arrived emigrants at
the time I paid this distant land a visit.

The Plati/cercus adelaidensis at first caused me consider-
able perplexity from its close similarity in some stages of its
plumage to \k\Q P . pennantii ; as in that species, the plumage
of the young for the first season is wholly green, which colour-
ing gradually gives place to pale orange-red on the head, rump
and upper surface, the scapularies and back feathers being
margined with the same, but which soon disappears and gives
place to dull yellow on the flanks and olive-yellow on the
upper surface, the scapularies and back feathers in the mature
dress being edged with yellowish buff and violet. It was only
by killing numerous examples in all their various stages of
plumage, from the nestling to the adult, that I was enabled to
determine the fact of its being a distinct species.

When I visited the interior of South Australia, in the win-
ter of 1838, I found the adults associated in small groups of
from six to twenty in number ; while near the coast, between
Holdfast Bay and the Port of Adelaide, the young in the
green dress were assembled in flocks of hundreds ; they were
generally on the ground in search of grass-seeds, and when so
occupied would admit of a near approach : when flushed they
merely flew up to the branches of the nearest tree. It is
impossible to conceive anything more beautiful than the rising
of a flock of newly moulted adults of this species, for their
beautiful broad blue tails and wings glittering in the sun pre-
sent a really magnificent spectacle.

The fully adult male has the crown of the head, lores, sides
of the neck, breast, and centre of the abdomen scarlet, passing
into dull yellow on the flanks ; cheeks and wing-coverts light
lazuline blue ; primaries deep blue, passing into black at the
extremity ; back of the neck dull yellow ; back black, each
feather margined with yellowish buff, some of the margina-
tions tinged with blue, others with scarlet ; rump and upper
tail-coverts dull greenish yellow, the latter sometimes tinged

48 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

with scarlet ; two centre tail-feathers greenish blue ; the re-
mainder deep blue at the base, gradually becoming lighter
until almost white at the tip ; irides brown ; bill horn-colour ;
feet greyish brown.

Total length 13|^ inches ; wing 7; tail 8 ; tarsi f.

Sp. 417. PLATYCERCUS FLAVIVENTRIS.

Yellow-bellied Parrakeet.

Psittacus flaviventris, Temm. in Linn. Trans., vol. xiii. pp. 116-118.

brownii, Kuhl, Nova Acta etc., vol. x. p. 56, no. 90.

Perruche a large queue, Le Vaill. Hist. Nat. des Perr., pi. 80.
Van Diemen's Parrot, Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. ii. p. 130, no. 33.
Platycercus flaviventris,Yig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p. 281.

caledonicus, p., Wagl. Mon. Psitt., p. 532.

xanthogaster, Steph. Cont. of Shaw's Gen. Zoo!., vol. xiv. p. 120.

Green Parrot, Colonists of Tasmania.

Platycercus flaviventris, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, voL v.
pi. 24.

The Yellow-bellied Parrakeet is dispersed over all parts of
Tasmania and the islands in Bass's Straits ; but is not con-
fined to particular localities like the Platycercus exwiius, with
which it sometimes associates. It frequents every variety of
situation, from the low-crowned hills and gullies in the depths
of the forest to the open cleared lands and gardens of the set-
tlers. It runs over the ground with great facility, and when
observed in small flocks searching for seeds among the tall
grass, few birds are seen to greater advantage.

I found this species very abundant on the banks of the
Tamar, and in one instance I saw hundreds congregated at a
barn-door among the straw of some recently thrashed corn,
precisely after the manner of Pigeons and Sparrows in Eng-
land.

The sexes during the first year are not to be distinguished
from each other ; but when fully adult, the female is smaller in
size and less brilliantly coloured than the male.

INSESSORES. 49

Besides grass-seeds, the flowers of the Eucalypti with insects
and their larvae constitute a considerable portion of its food,
and it may be often seen very busily engaged about the
branches loaded with flowers in the depths of the forest far
away from any cleared lands.

If we take into consideration the kind of food upon which
this bird subsists, we might naturally conclude that its flesh
would be delicate, tender, and well-flavoured. When I visited
Tasmania it was commonly eaten by the settlers, and it was
not long after my arrival before I tested its goodness, when I
found it so excellent that I partook of it whenever an oppor-
tunity for so doing presented itself.

Holes in the large gum-trees afford this species a natural
breeding-place. The eggs, which are laid in September and
the three following months, are of a pure white colour, and
six or eight in number, one inch and two lines long by
eleven and a half lines broad. When the young are first
hatched they are covered with long, white down, and present
an appearance not very dissimilar to that of a round ball of
white cotton wool.

Forehead crimson ; crown of the head and back of the
neck pale yellow, each feather very slightly margined with
brown ; space under the eye dull crimson ; cheeks blue ;
back and shoulders dark olive-black, each feather edged with
green ; middle of the wings blue ; the basal half of the pri-
maries blue on their external edges, the remainder blackish
brown ; rump and two middle tail-feathers green, the remain-
der of the tail-feathers dark blue at the base, lighter towards
the tip ; under surface of the body yellow ; bill flesh-colour ;
feet greyish brown.

The adults of both sexes are very similar, but a consider-
able difference exists in birds of different ages, the young of
the year being greenish olive with a slight tinge of blue on the
cheeks, wings, and outer tail-feathers, and a faint indication
of the red mark on the forehead. As they advance in age

VOL. II. E

50 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

they gradually assume the plumage of the adult, which is not
fully accomplished until the second or third year.

Sp. 418. PLATYCERCUS FLAVEOLUS, Gould.

Yellow-rumped Parrakeet.
Platycercus flaveolus, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, Part V. p. 26.

Platycercus flaveolus, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. v. pi. 25.

I have no other information to communicate respecting this
beautiful Platycercus, than that it is an inhabitant of New
South Wales, and is abundant on the banks of the rivers
Lachlan and Darling. It was first sent to this country by
Captain Sturt. I also saw in the Museum at Sydney several
specimens which had been collected by Sir Thomas Mitchell
during his expeditions to the interior. In all these specimens
little or no variation in their plumage was observable — a
circumstance which induces me to suspect that, like the Rose-
hill Parrakeet, the young are clothed in a similar character
of plumage to that of the adults, or if not, that they gain the
full colouring at a very early age : the sexes offer no external
differences.

Forehead crimson ; cheeks light blue ; crown of the head,
back of the neck, back, rump, upper tail-coverts, and all the
under surface pale yellow, the feathers of the back being black
in the centre and pale yellow on their outer edges ; middle of
the wing pale blue ; spurious wing and the outer web of the
basal portion of the primaries deep violet -blue, the remainder
of the primaries dark brown ; two central tail-feathers tinted
with green at the base, passing into blue towards the tip ; the
remaining feathers have the basal portion of their outer webs
deep blue, passing into very pale blue towards their tips ; the
inner webs brown for a greater or less portion of their length,
the extreme tips of all being white ; bill light horn-colour \
feet dark brown.

Total length 13^ inches ; wing 7 ; tail 1\ ; tarsi f .

INSESSORES. 51

Sp. 419. PLATYCERCUS PALLICEPS, Vig.

Pale-headed Parrakeet.

Platycercus palliceps, Vig. in Lear's III. Psitt., pi. 19.
Moreton Bay Rose-hill, Colonists of New South Wales.

Platycercus palKceps, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol, vol. v. pi. 26.

This elegant species of Flatycercus is a native of the eastern
portions of Australia, and is tolerably numerous at Moreton
Bay, where all the specimens I have seen were procured. It is
known in Sydney by the name of Moreton Bay Rose-hill, an
appellation bestow^ed on it from its near alliance to the Flaty-
cercus eximius. The specific name of jyalliceps has been ap-
plied to this bird from the light colouring of the head, which
amounts in some specimens to a total absence of colour :
this, however, I think, may be attributed to the effects of ex-
posure to light, since, in recently moulted birds, there is always
a delicate tinge of yellow pervading the crown ; the pale blue
of the cheeks also appears to be affected by the same cause,
though not to so great an extent.

It bears confinement remarkably well, and is very docile
and familiar, which, added to its very elegant plumage, ren-
ders it a general favourite.

The sexes differ in no respect in outward appearance, with
the exception of a slight superiority of size in the male.

Crown of the head either wholly white or pale gamboge-
yellow ; in some specimens also there is a fine line of
scarlet crossing the forehead, and the lower part of the
cheeks is deep blue ; feathers of the nape, back, and scapu-
laries black, broadly margined with gamboge-yellow; rump
in some instances greenish blue, in others this part is strongly
tinged with gamboge-yellow ; primaries and secondaries
blackish brown, with the base of their external webs deep
blue ; • greater and lesser wing-coverts, and the shoulders,
both above and below, beautiful blue ; that part of the wing

e2

52 BFRDS OF AUSTRAfJA.

nearest the body black ; all the under surface verditer-blue,
with the exception of the under tail-coverts, which are scarlet ;
two middle tail-feathers greenish blue ; the basal half of the
remainder being blackish brown on their internal webs, rich
deep blue on their outer webs, and the terminal half delicate
pale blue, passing into white at the tip ; bill horn-colour ;
irides blackish brown ; feet dark mealy brown.

Sp. 420. PLATYCERCUS CYANOGENYS, Gould.
Blue-cheeked Parrakeet.

Platycercus cyanogenys, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, part xxiii. pp.

165, 166.
amathusia, Bonap. in Cab. Journ. fiir Orn. 1857.

Platycercus cyanogenys, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol.. Supple-
ment, pi.

The presence of so many of the beautiful Flatycerci adds a
peculiar charm to the country of Australia, and gives to it a
tropical character at once striking and novel ; the emigrant
must, however, greatly extend his roaming before this bird
comes under his notice, for it has only as yet been found at
the distant peninsula of Cape York. It was there that the
single specimen now in the British Museum was shot by Mr.
Macgillivray, on the 7th of October 1848.

The Plafj/cercus cyanoge^iys is very nearly allied to P.
palliceps, but differs in the greener tone of the colouring of
the body, and in the rich blue cheeks, which suggested the
specific name.

Crown of the head pale sulphur-yellow ; cheeks coerulean
blue ; feathers of the nape, back, and scapularies black,
broadly margined with sulphur-yellow, and stained with
green on the lower part of the back; rump and upper tail-
coverts greenish-yellow, with an extremely narrow fringe of
black at the tip of the feathers ; shoulder and greater wing-
coverts deep blue ; lesser coverts black, bordered with deep

INSESSORES. 53

blue; primaries and secondaries blackish-brown, the basal
half of their external webs deep blue, the apical half pale
blue ; tertiaries black, broadly margined with greenish yellow ;
breast pale greenish yellow ; abdomen light greenish blue ;
all the feathers of the under surface slightly fringed with
black; under tail-coverts scarlet, narrowly margined with
yellow ; two middle tail-feathers greenish blue ; the next on
each side blue, slightly tipped with pale blue ; the remainder
blackish brown at the base of their internal webs, and deep
blue externally, their apical portions being beautiful pale
blue.

Total length 13 inches ; wing 6J; tail 7 ; tarsi J.

Sp. 421. PLATYCERCUS VENUSTUS.

Beautiful Parrakeet.

Psittacus venustus, Kuhl, Nov. Acta, vol. x. p. 52.

brownii, Temm. in Linn. Trans., vol. xiii. p. 119.

Brown's Parrot, Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. ii. p. 139.

Platycercus brownii, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p. 282.

venustus, Kuhl, Mon. Psitt. in Abhand., p. 529.

Mo'Sn-dm^k, Aborigines of Port Essington.
Smutty Parrot, Residents at ditto.

Platycercus brownii, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. v. pi. 31.

This is a very abundant species on the northern and north-
western coast of Australia, where it inhabits grassy meadow-
like land and the edges of swamps, and mostly feeds upon
the seeds of grasses and other plants, sometimes it is seen
in pairs, but more frequently in families of from ten to
twenty in number. It frequently utters a rapid succession
of double notes resembling ' trin-se trin-se.' Its flight is low,
somewhat rapid and zigzag, seldom farther prolonged than
from tree to tree. Specimens of this bird, given me by my
friends Sir George Grey and Mr. Bynoe, from the north-west
coast, differ somewhat in plumage from those killed on the

54 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

Coboiirg Peninsula ; the concentric bands on the breast are
much finer, the extreme margins only of the feathers being
black ; I have one specimen also with the whole of the crown
of the head of a deep blood- red, and others with more or less
of this colour. That this kind of plumage is unusual is
proved by the fact of numerous specimens from Port Essington
not exhibiting it, and had I not seen others from the north-
west with black crowns (with the exception of the band across
the forehead), I should have regarded as specific what I now
look upon as a mere local variety, or possibly a very old bird.

Crown of the head, lores, and ear-coverts deep black ;
cheeks snow-white, bounded below with blue; breast and
rump pale yellow, each feather slightly fringed with black ;
feathers of the back deep black, with a broad margin of pale
yellow ; wing-coverts, outer webs of the secondaries, and base
of the primaries rich blue, inner webs of the primaries and
secondaries deep black; under tail-coverts scarlet; centre
tail-feathers green at the base, passing into blue on the
margins and at the tip; lateral feathers deep blue at the
base of the outer webs, brown at the base of the inner webs,
and then pale blue, terminating in white, with black shafts ;
irides blackish brown ; bill light horn-colour, passing into
blue at the base ; legs and feet blackish brown.

Young birds are similar in colour, but have all the markings
dull and indistinct ; as the individual approaches to maturity
the breast becomes ornamented with a number of crescent-
shaped markings of black and pale yellow, and as the bird
advances in age the yellow increases in extent and the black
nearly disappears.

Hitherto this bird has been known to ornithologists as the
the Flatycercus browni, a specific appellation applied to it in
honour of the celebrated botanist ; but which, I regret to say,
must give place to the prior one of venmtus.

INSESSORES. 55

Sp. 422. PLATYCERCUS EXIMIUS, Vig. and Horsf.

Rose-hill Parrakeet.

Psittacus eximius, Shaw, Nat. Misc., pi. 96.
Perruche omnicolore, Le Vaill., Hist. Nat. des Perr., p. 29, pi. 28.
Nonpareil Parrot, Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. ii. p. 138, No. 41.
Platycercus eximius, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p. 281.

Ignitus, Leadb. in Proc. of Zool., part v. p. 8, abnormal colouring.

Psittacus capitatus, Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. viii. p. 466.
Rose-hill Parrakeet, Colonists of New South Wales.

Platycercus eximius, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. v. pi. 27.

Although the Rose-hill Parrakeet is one of the commonest
birds of New South Wales and Tasmania, it is very local, a
river frequently constituting the boundary of its habitat, over
which it so rarely passes, that I never saw the bird on the
south side of the Derwent ; while in the forests of the opposite
shore, not more than a quarter or half a mile distant, it was
very numerous. I believe it is never seen in the forests cloth-
ing the borders of D'Eutrecasteaux' Channel on the south,
or of the River Tamar on the north of the island, those dis-
tricts being inhabited by the Flatycercus Jlaviventris, whose
greater size and olive-green plumage are in beautiful accor-
dance with those vast and but little explored forests of ever-
green Eucalypti. The Platycercus eximius resorts to the open
parts of the country, undulating grassy hills and plains bor-
dered and studded here and there with large trees or belts
of low acacias or banksias, among the branches of which,
particularly those of the acacias, this beautiful bird may be
seen in small companies, the rich scarlet and yellow of their
breasts vieing with the lovely blossoms of the trees ; in a word,
districts of a sandy nature, small plains, open spots among the
hills, and thinly timbered country where grass abounds, con-
stitute the peculiar and natural habitat of this bird. Like the
Sparrow in England, this beautiful Parrakeet may constantly
be seen resorting to the public roads, and upon being dis-

56 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

turbed by the passer-by will merely fly off to the nearest tree,
or to the rails of the wayside fences. Scenes like these fill the
mind with sensations of no ordinary description, and excite
the greatest astonishment in those who have recently arrived
in the country; the novelty, however, soon wears off, and
a caged lark, linnet, or blackbird from the land of their birth
are highly cherished and valued, while the beautiful produc-
tions of the island are passed by unheeded, except to deal out
destruction among them, with no sparing hand, for some
slight injury they may have inflicted upon the rising corn.
The above remarks refer more particularly to Tasmania, but
apply with equal force to New South Wales, where the bird
inhabits all situations similar in character to those above re-
ferred to. It is found in great numbers in the district of
the Upper Hunter, and was formerly very numerous at Para-
matta, particularly in the neighbourhood of Rose Hill, whence
its name. It breeds abundantly both in Tasmania and New
South Wales, during October and the three following months,
and lays from seven to ten beautiful white eggs, one inch and
an eighth long by seven-eighths of an inch broad, in the
hollow of a gum-tree.

The natural food of this bird consists of seeds of various
kinds, particularly those of different grasses, and occasionally
of insects and caterpillars.

Its flight is short and undulating, and is rarely extended to
a greater distance than a quarter of a mile, as the bird fre-
quently alights on a leafless branch, always flying a little
below it and rising again just before it settles.

Its note is a somewhat pleasing whistling sound, which is
very frequently uttered.

The sexes are alike in plumage, and the young assume the
bright colouring from the nest ; the birds of the year, although
they may have attained their full size, are not so brilliant as the
adult, and may always be distinguished by the bill and nos-
trils being of a delicate gamboge-yellow.

INSESSORES. 57

Crown of the head, back of the neck, chest, and under tail-
coverts scarlet ; cheeks white ; feathers of the back black,
margined all round with rich yellow ; rump, upper tail-coverts,
and lower part of the belly pale green ; centre of the belly
yellow ; shoulders and middle of the wing rich blue ; exter-
nal edges of the primaries blue, the remainder of these
feathers dark brown ; two middle tail-feathers green, passing
into bluish green at the tip, the remainder of the tail-feathers
dark blue at the base, passing into light blue, and tipped
with white ; bill horn-colom^ ; feet brown ; irides brown.

Specimens from Tasmania are rather larger in size, and
have the markings of the upper surface of a greener
yellow, and altogether less brilliant than those from New
South Wales.

Sp. 423. PLATYCERCUS SPLENDIDUS, Gould.

Splendid Parrakeet.
Platycercus splendidus, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, Part XIII. p. 105.

Platycercus splendidus, Gould,Birds of Australia, fol., vol. v. pi. 28.

The lovely species here described was killed by Gilbert
in the newly-located district to the northward of the Darling
Downs in New South Wales. In beauty it even exceeds
the common Rose-hill Parrakeet, and is consequently one of
the finest species of the genus yet discovered. It differs
from that bird in having the centre of the breast, only, of
a rich scarlet, the sides being gamboge-yellow ; in the lower
part of the abdomen and the upper tail-coverts being verditer
instead of grass-green, and in the feathers of the back being
broadly margined with rich gamboge instead of greenisli yellow.
In the youthful state it very much resembles the F. palliceps,
from which however it differs in having the head yellow in-
stead of pale yellowish white, and the breast yellow instead
of pale blue ; the breast also has indications of the rich scarlet

58 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

of maturity, of which colour no trace is at any time perceptible
in the P. palliceps.

Head, sides of the neck and centre of the breast scarlet ;
cheeks white, faintly tinged with blue ; feathers of the back
and scapularies black, broadly margined with gamboge-yellow ;
lower part of the back and upper tail-coverts pale green ; on
the shoulder a patch of black ; wing-coverts pale blue ; pri-
maries black with the exception of the basal portion of the
external web, which is rich deep blue ; two central tail-feathers
dark green at the base, passing into deep blue on the apical
half of the external web and tipped with black j the next on
each side is black on the internal web, green at the base of
the external web, blue for the remainder of its length, and
slightly tipped with white ; the remainder of the tail-feathers
are deep blue at the base of the external, and black at the base
of the internal web, the remaining portion of both webs being
pale delicate blue, passing into white at the tip j sides of the
breast and the abdomen bright gamboge-yellow; vent pale
green in some, in others pale bluish green ; under tail- coverts
scarlet; irides dark brown; bill horn-colour; feet mealy brown.

Total length 12 inches; billf ; wings 6; tail 7 ; tarsi f.

Sp. 424. PLATYCERCUS ICTEROTIS, Wagl. '
Yellow-cheeked Parrakeet.

Psittacus icterotis, Temm. in Linu. Trans., vol. xiii. p. 120.
Platycercus stanleyii, Vig. in Zool. Journ., vol. v. p. 273.

icterotis, Wagl. Mon. Psitt. in Abhand. p. 530.

icterodes, Bourj. St.-Hil. Supp. to Le Vaill. Hist. Nat. des Perr.,

pi. 30.
Go'otd-un-gootd-un, Aborigines of the lowland, and
Moy-a-duk, Aborigines of the mountain districts of Western Australia.
Rose-hill of the Colonists of Swan River.

Platycercus icterotis, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. v. pi. 29.
From the little that is known of the history of this species

IN8ESS0RES. 59

it would appear that its range is very limited, the colony of
Swan River in Western Australia being the only locality in
which it has yet been seen in a state of nature ; there, how-
ever, it is one of the most common birds of the country, and,
except in the breeding-season, may always be seen in large
flocks, which approach so near to the houses of the settlers as
frequently to visit their gardens. It generally feeds on the
ground, on the seeds of various kinds of grasses, and not un-
frequently attacks ripe fruit of the garden, especially if it be
left unprotected.

Like most other members of the genus, the Flatycercus
icterotis does not differ in the colouring of the sexes of the
same age. During the first year they are green, which gra-
dually gives place to the fine colouring of maturity.

Its flight is of short duration, and consists of a series of
rather rapid undulating sweeps.

Its note is a feeble, piping kind of whistle, which is occa-
sionally so much varied and lengthened as almost to assume
the character of a song.

The eggs, which are white and six or seven in number, are
eleven lines long and nine and a half lines broad ; they are
deposited in the holes of large trees without any nest.

Crown of the head and back of the neck, chest, and all the
under surface scarlet ; cheeks and thighs yellow ; feathers of
the back black, bordered with green, yellow, and in some
instances scarlet; rump and upper tail-coverts yellowish
green ; shoulders and outer edges of the primaries blue, the
inner webs and tips of the latter blackish brown ; two middle
tail-feathers green ; the remaining feathers light blue tipped
with white, with the basal portion of a darker blue tinged
with green; bill light horn-colour; feet and legs duU ashy
brow ; irides blackish brown.

The young birds of both sexes are nearly of a uniform
green, becoming parti-coloured as they advance in age ; the
scarlet of the crown and abdomen and the yellow of the

60 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

cheeks gradually taking the place of the green colouring of
youth.

Genus PURPUREICEPHALUS, Bonaparte.

Only one species of this form is at present known — the Pur-
pureicephalus pileatus, which differs so much in the colouring
of its plumage from every other species of the great family of
Parrots, as to render it one of the most remarkable yet dis-
covered; in the form and structure of the bill it deviates
from the true Flatycerci, and it will probably be found that
its habits are peculiar.

Sp. 425. PURPUREICEPHALUS PILEATUS.
Red-capped Parrakeet.

Platycercus pileatus, Vig. in Zool. Journ., vol. v. p. 274.

Psittacus purpureocephalus, Quoy et Gaira. Voy. de 1' Astrolabe, pi. 22.

Conurus purpureocephalus, Bourj. de St.-Hil. Perr. tab. 39.

Purpureicephalus pileatus, Bonap. Rev. et Mag. de Zool. 1854, p. 153.

Platycercus rufifrons, Less. Traite d'Orn., p. 208 ?

Pezoporus rufifrons, Bourj. de St.-Hil. Perr., tab. 9?

Djar-r ail-bur -tong. Aborigines of the lowland districts of "Western

Australia.
Blue Parrot of the Colonists.

Platycercus pileatus, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. v. pi. 32.

The Red-capped Parrakeet is an inhabitant of Western
Australia, where it is rather numerously dispersed over the
country from King George's Sound to the northern limits of
the colony. I have also received specimens from the neigh-
bourhood of Port Essington. It is usually seen in small families
feeding on the ground, but upon what kind of food it subsists
has not been ascertained. The breeding-season extends over
the months of October, November, and December. The hol-
low dead branch of a gum- or mahogany-tree is the place
usually chosen by the female for the reception of her eggs,

INSESSORES. Gl

which are milk-white and from seven to nine in number, about
an inch and an eighth long by seven-eighths of an inch broad.

The flight of this species, although swift, is not of long du-
ration, nor is it characterised by those undulating sweeps com-
mon to the members of the genus Platycercus. Its voice is a
sharp clucking note several times repeated, in which respect it
also offers a marked difference from those birds.

Forehead, crown and nape deep maroon red; cheeks
yellowish green, becoming more yellow on the sides of the
neck ; back, scapularies and greater wing-coverts deep green;
rump jonquil-yellow ; edge of the shoulder, spurious wing
and base of the outer webs of the primaries rich deep blue ;
remainder of the primaries and the secondaries deep black ;
breast and abdomen blue ; vent and under tail-coverts scar-
let ; two centre tail-feathers yellowish green, deepening into
black at the tip and crossed by indistinct bars of a darker
tint ; lateral feathers green at their base, passing into black
on their inner webs, and into pale blue on the outer, both
webs becoming blue towards the extremity of the feather, and
fading into white at the tip ; irides dark brown ; bill horn-
colour ; legs and feet dull brown.

The females are never so finely marked as the males, neither
are they so large or so gracefully formed.

The young during the first year of their existence are of
nearly uniform green ; at the same time, the hues which cha-
racterize the adult are perceptible at almost any age.

Genus PSEPHOTUS, Gould.

All the members of this genus are confined to Australia,
and hold an intermediate station between the Platycerci and
the Euphemcd. They pass much of their time on the ground,
where the principal part of their food is procured, inhabit the
interior rather than the country near the coast, and are adapted
for the open plains, where they often assemble in vast flocks.

62 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

Sp. 426. PSEPHOTUS H^MATORRHOUS.
Red-vented Parrakeet.

Psephotus h(em.a tog aster, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. v. pi. 33.

htsmatoirhous, Bonap. Rev. et Mag. de Zool., 1854, p. 154.

Platycercus hamatogaster, G. R. Gray, List of Spec, of Birds in Coll.

Brit. Mus., part iii. sec. ii. p. 7.
Blue bonnet of the Colonists of New South Wales.

Psephotus hsematogaster, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. v.
pi. 33.

This species of Parrakeet is an inhabitant of the interior of
New South Wales, where it frequents the borders of the rivers
Namoi and Darling; and in all probability its range extends far
to the northward ; but, so far as is yet known, it has never
been found in Southern or Western Australia ; I met with it
in tolerable abundance in the neighbourhood of the Lower
Namoi, where it appeared to give a decided preference to
those parts of the plains which were of a loose mouldy
character, and with which the colour of its back so closely
assimilates as to be scarcely distinguished from it. Like the
other members of the family, it is mostly observed in small
flocks, feeding upon the seeds of the various grasses abound-
ing on the plains. It is only when the bird, after a short
flight, alights on the branches, that the splendid scarlet of the
abdomen, relieved by the yellow of the sides, is seen to ad-
vantage ; when thus seen, however, it is a truly beautiful object,
and is scarcely excelled by any other species of the group.

I did not ascertain any particulars respecting its nidification,
but we may easily suppose that it breeds in the districts
above mentioned, as I met with it there at Christmas — the
height of the Australian summer.

The male has the forehead and face ultramarine blue ;
crown of the head, upper surface, sides of the neck, and the
chest greyish olive-brown, washed with yellow on the rump
and upper tail-coverts ; lesser wing-coverts mingled verditer-

INSESSORES. 63

green and blue ; greater coverts rich reddish chestnut ; basal
half of the external webs of the primaries and secondaries
and edge of the wing rich indigo-blue ; under surface of the
shoulder light indigo-blue ; inner webs and tips of the pri-
maries dark brown ; apical half of the external web of the
primaries fringed with grey; two centre tail-feathers light
olive-green, passing into deep blue at the tip ; the remainder
deep blue at the base, largely tipped with white, the blue
gradually blending with the white on the external web ;
upper part of the abdomen and flanks primrose-yellow;
centre of the abdomen and under tail-coverts crimson-red;
irides dark brown ; feet mealy brown ; bill horn-colour.

The female differs in being smaller, and less brilliant in all
her markings.

Sp. 427. PSEPHOTUS XANTHORRHOUS, Gould.
Yellow-vented Parrakeet.

Platycercus heematog aster, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, part v. p. 89 ;

Birds of Australia (cancelled), part ii. pi. 7.
Psephotus xanthorrhous, Gould, Bonap. Rev. et Mag. de Zool., 1854,

p. 154.
Platycercus xanthorrhous, G. R. Gray, List of Spec, of Birds in Coll.

Brit. Mus., part iii. sec. ii. p. 7.

In the introduction to the folio edition I remarked that I
had reason to believe that the specific term hcsmatogaster had
been inadvertently applied to two distinct species, both of
which have the centre of the abdomen red, but differ from
each other in the colouring of the centre of the wing and of
the under tail-coverts ; a further investigation of the subject
having convinced me that this is the case, it becomes necessary
to take some steps for the correction of the error. With this
view, therefore, I have to state that my description of P.
hcdmatog aster, published in the ' Proceedings of the Zoological
Society ' above quoted, and the figure, with the same name
attached, which appeared in the second of the two parts of

04 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

the ' Birds of Australia/ published prior to my visit to that
country, and cancelled on my return, have reference to the
present species, which has bright yellow under tail-coverts and
a lengthened patch of saffron-yellow on the centre of the wing,
while the P. hcBmatog aster of the folio edition (vol. v. pi. 33) is
the other species, with red under tail-coverts and a patch of
red on the wing. The late Prince Charles Bonaparte and my-
self agreed that it would be well to abolish the term hcemato-
gaster, and call the former bird xanthorrhous and the latter
hcEmatorrhous, a course which I here adopt, and trust orni-
thologists will agree in its propriety.

On reference to my account of P. h(Bmatorrhous it will be
seen that the native habitat of that bird is the interior of New
South Wales, while the present ranges more to the westward,
having been found in abundance by Captain Sturt at the
Depot, and by Mr. White, of Adelaide, at Cooper's Creek.
There can be no mistake on this point, for I have specimens
from both those gentlemen now before me. Captain Sturt's
are a little darker on the upper surface than those transmitted
by Mr. White.

Forehead and face ultramarine blue; crown of the head,
upper surface, ear-coverts, and chest delicate yellowish grey,
the yellow tint becoming deeper on the rump and upper tail-
coverts ; edge of the shoulders, above and beneath, light
greenish blue ; anterior portion of the greater wing-coverts
and basal portion of the external webs of the primaries and
secondaries rich deep blue ; remainder of the primaries and
secondaries dark blackish brown with whitish margins, the
hinder portion of the greater coverts and the tertiaries deep
saffron-yellow, forming a patch along the centre of the wing ;
flanks and under tail-coverts rich primrose-yellow, with specks
of red on the tips of some of the latter; centre of the
abdomen rich scarlet ; base of the two central tail-feathers
light olive-green, tinged with oil-green, merging into dark
blue at the tips, the remaining feathers deep blue at the base,

INSESSORES. 69

gradually passing into white at the tip ; bill liglit horn-
colour ; feet nearly brown.

Total length 12 inches; wing 5 ; tail7j; tarsi

Sp. 428. PSEPHOTUS CHRYSOPTERYGIUS, Gould.

GOLDEN-SHOULDEUED PaURAKEET.

Psephotus chrysoptei-t/(/ius, Gould in Proc, of Zool. Soc, part xxv.
p. 220.

Psephotus chrysopterygius, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, Supple-
ment, pi.

One of the greatest pleasures enjoyed by the late celebrated
botanist Robert Brown, during the last thirty years of his life,
was now and then to show me the drawing of a Parrakeet
made by one of the brothers Bauer, from a specimen pro-
cured somewhere on the north coast of Australia, but of
which no specimen was preserved at the time, and none had
been sent to England, until several were brought home
by Mr. Elsey, a year or two prior to Mr. Brown's death.
On comparing these with the drawing made at least forty
years before, no doubt remained on my mind as to its
having been made from an example of this species. This,
then, is one of the novelties for which we are indebted to the
explorations of A. C. Gregory, Esq. ; and I trust it may not
be the last I shall have to characterize through the re-
searches of this intrepid traveller. Mr. Elsey, wdio, as is well
known, accompanied the expedition to the Victoria River,
obtained three examples — a male, a female, and a young bird
— all of which are now in our national collection. In the
notes accompanying the specimens, Mr. Elsey states that they
were procured on the 14th of September, 185G, in lat. 18° S.
and long. 141° 33' E., and that their crops contained some
monocotyledonous seeds.

This bird, which is in every respect a true Psrp//of/fs, is
allied both to the P . pulcJierrimus and P. multicolor, but differs

VOL. II. F

66 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

from them, among other characters, in the rich yellow mark
on the shoulder.

The male has a band across the forehead, extending above
the eye to its posterior angle, of a very pale yellow; on the
centre of the crown a patch of black ; sides of the head, cheeks,
neck, throat, upper portion of the abdomen, lower part of the
back, rump, and upper tail-coverts verditer blue, tinged with
green on the cheeks and upper tail-coverts ; immediately
below the eye a wash of yellow ; back of the neck, back, and
scapularies light greyish brown, slightly tinted with green ;
shoulder and lesser wing-coverts fine yellow ; primaries and
secondaries black, margined externally with blue ; feathers of
the lower part of the abdomen, vent, and under tail-coverts
light scarlet, margined with greyish green ; two centre tail-
feathers dark green at the base, passing into deep blue
towards the extremity, and tipped with dull black ; the re-
maining tail-feathers light green crossed by an irregular oblique
band of dull bluish black, beyond which they become of a
paler glaucous green, until they end in white ; but each has a
dark stain of bluish green on the outer margin near the tip ;
irides brown ; bill and nostrils bluish horn-colour ; feet mealy
grey.

Total length 1 1 inches ; bill f ; wing 4 J ; tail 7 ; tarsi ^,

The female is similar to the male in colour, but all the hues
nmch paler, and the markings much less strongly defined.

In the young state the whole of the head, all the upper sur-
face, wing-coverts, throat, and breast are of a pale glaucous
green ; the rump and upper tail-coverts and the tail similar to
the same parts in the male, but not so bright ; and the lower
part of the abdomen is greyish white, with faint stains of
scarlet.

INSESSORES. 67

Sp. 429. PSEPHOTUS PULCHERRIMUS, Gould.

Beautiful Parrakeet.

Platycercus pulcherrimus, Gould in Ann. and Mag. of Nat. Hist,,
vol. XV. p. 114.

Psephotus pulcherrimus, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. v.
pi. 34.

The graceful form of this Parrakeet, combined with the
extreme brilliancy of its plumage, renders it one of the most
lovely of the PsittacidcB yet discovered; and in whatever light we
• regard it, whether as a beautiful ornament to our cabinets or
a desirable addition to our aviaries, it is still an object of no
ordinary interest.

Little more is at present known respecting this bird than
that it is an inhabitant of the upland grassy plains of Queens-
land. Specimens were procured by Gilbert on the Darhng
Downs, where it was observed in small families feeding on the
seeds of grasses and other plants growing on the plains ; the
stomachs of those examined were fully distended with grass
seeds exclusively.

The sexes are much alike in plumage ; but the female is
less brilliantly coloured and somewhat smaller than the male.

Band across the forehead scarlet, fading around the eyes,
lores, and cheeks into pale lemon-yellow, which again gra-
dually blends with the green of the under surface j crown
of the head and nape blackish brown ; sides of the neck
to the shoulders verdigris-green with yellowish reflexions ;
back greyish brown ; rump and upper tail-coverts verditer-
blue, the longer coverts with a band of black at their
extreme tip ; primaries and secondaries black, edged with
bluish green ; shoulders with a spot of rich vermilion ; under
wing-coverts and edges of the pinions verditer-blue ; two
middle tail-feathers olive brown at the base, gradually passing
into greenish blue at the tip with olive reflexions ; the three

F 2

88 BIRDS 01' AUSTRALIA.

outer feathers on each side with a narrow zigzag band of
black at about half their length from the base, then greenish
blue to the tip, the inner webs fading into white near the
extremity ; throat and chest yellowish emerald-green, each
feather tipped with verditer-blue ; middle of the breast and the
sides verditer-blue ; abdomen and under tail-coverts scarlet ;
irides dark brown ; bill horn-colour, becoming blackish grey
at the base ; legs and feet yellowish brown.

Total length 12 inches; bill^; wingSJ; tail7i; tarsi f.

Sp. 430. PSEPHOTUS MULTICOLOR.

Varied Parrakeet.

Psittacus multicolor, Teram. in Linn. Trans., vol. xii. p. 119.

Varied Parrot, Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. ii. p. 182.

Platijcercus multicolor, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p. 283.

Psephotus multicolor, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. v. pi. 35.

The natural home of this bird is the interior of Australia,
where it is abundant, particularly on the plains bordering the
Lachlan, the Upper Murray and the Darling. It is a true
Psephotus, and is closely allied to P. licBmatonotus, but differs
from that and the other species of the genus in the bands of
colour which ornament the head, wings and rump ; it is a
species I did not meet with myself, and of which no informa-
tion has been given by those travellers who have visited its
habitat.

Much variation is found to exist in the colouring of this
bird; some individuals having the band across the wing-
coverts bright yellow, while in others the same part is tinged
with red.

The adult male has the forehead and shoulders sulphur-
yellow ; under tail-coverts citron-yellow ; rump crossed by
three distinct bands of yellowish green, dark green and
reddish chestnut ; occiput reddish chestnut ; base of the
primaries, secondaries and spurious wing, and the under wing-

INSESSORES. 09

coverts rich deep blue ; lower part of the abdomen and thighs
scarlet ; middle tail-feathers blue ; the outer ones bluish green,
passing into very pale blue at their tips ; all the tail-feathers,
except the four middle ones, crossed by a band of black near
the base ; remainder of the plumage deep grass-green ; bill
horny brown ; legs wood-brown.

The female is attired in a similar style of colours, but is
much less brilliant, has the throat and breast yellowish brown,
and only an indication of the bands on the occiput and wing-
coverts.

Sp. 431. PSEPHOTUS H^MATONOTUS, Gould.

Red-rumped Parrakeet.
Platycercus kcematonotus, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, part v. p. 151,

Psephotus hsematonotus, G-ould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. v.
pi. 36.

This species inhabits the interior of the south-eastern divi-
sion of the Australian continent ; it is abundantly dispersed
over the Liverpool Plains, and all the open country to the
northward as far as it has yet been explored ; it also inhabits
similar tracts of country in Victoria and South Australia ; on
the plains around Adelaide it is seldom seen, but as the tra-
veller advances towards the interior every succeeding mile
brings him in contact with it in greater numbers. It is more
frequently seen on the ground than among the trees ; and it
evidently gives a decided preference to open grassy valleys and
the naked crowns of hills, rather than to the wide and almost
boundless plain. Diu-ing winter it associates in flocks, varying
from twenty to a hundred in number, which trip nimbly
ever the ground in search of the seeds of grasses and other
plants, with which the crops of many that were shot were
found to be distended. In the early morning, and not unfre-
quently in other parts of the day, I have often seen hundreds
perched together on some leafless limb of a Eucalyptus, sitting

70 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

in close order along the whole length of the branch, until
hunger prompted them to descend to the feeding-ground, or
the approach of a hawk caused them to disperse. Their
movements on the ground are characterized by much grace
and activity, and although assembled in one great mass run-
ning over the ground like Plovers, they are generally mated
in pairs, — a fact easily ascertained by the difiference in the
colouring of the sexes ; the rich red mark on the rump of the
male appearing, as the bright sun shines upon it, like a spot

of fire.

This bird has a pleasing whistling note, almost approach-
ing to a song, which is poured forth both while perching on
the branches of the trees and while flying over the plains. The
eggs, which are white and five or six in number, eleven lines
long by eight and a half lines broad, are deposited without any
nest in the spouts and hollows of the gum-trees.

Crown of the head, back of the neck, cheeks and chest eme-
rald-green, which is lightest on the forehead and cheeks ; back
brownish green ; rump scarlet ; tip and under svu-face of the
shoulder, spurious wing, and the outer edge of the basal half
of the primaries rich ultramarine blue ; the blue of the shoulder
above passing into sulphur-yellow, and forming a conspicuous
spot of the latter colour in the centre of the shoulder ; greater
and lesser wing-coverts and secondaries bluish green ; upper
tail-coverts and two centre tail-feathers green, passing into
blue towards the tip, which is blackish brown ; the remainder
of the tail-feathers green at the base gradually passing into
delicate greyish white on the inner webs and the tips ;
centre of the abdomen yellow ; thighs dull bluish green ;
under tail-coverts greyish white ; bill horn-colour ; feet
brown ; irides pale brown.

The young male of the year differs from the adult in having
those parts delicate greenish grey which in the latter are
emerald-green ; in being destitute of the red colouring of the
rump, and of the yellow on the centre of the abdomen ; and

INSESSORES. 71

in having the bases of the secondaries and some of the prima-
ries white.

Total length 11 inches; wing 5 ; tail 6J; tarsi f.

Genus EUPHEMA, Waaler.

The members of this genus are exclusively Australian,
and appear to be confined to the extra-tropical parts of the
country, no species having yet been seen from the north coast,
while the seven species known are abundantly distributed
over the southern portions of the continent, and two of them
over Tasmania.

Sp. 432. EUPHEMA CHRYSOSTOMA.

Blue-banded Grass-Parrakeet.

Psittacus chrysostomus, Kuhl, Consp. in Psitt. in Nova Acta, vol. x.

p. 58, pi. 1.
Psittacus venustus, Teram. in Linn. Trans., vol. xiii. p. 121.
Blue-banded Parrakeet, Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. ii. p. 188.
Nanodes venustus, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans, vol. xv. p. 274.
Euphema chrysostoma, Wagl. Mon. Psitt. in Abhand., vol. i. pp. 492,

544, and 707.
Conurus chrysostomus, Bourj. de St.-Hil. Perr., tab. 10.

Euphema chrysostoma, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. v.
pi. 37.

This bird is a summer resident in Tasmania, arriving in
September and departing again in February and March.
During its sojourn it takes up its abode in such open and
thinly-timbered localities as are favourable for the growth of
various kinds of grasses, upon the seeds of which it almost
solely subsists. Among the places in which I observed it to
be most abundant were Bruni Island, Sandby Bay imme-
diately adjoining Hobart Town, New Norfolk, Spring Hill
in the interior, the banks of the Tamar, and on Flindcr's
Island in Bass's Straits. As a matter of course it is also

72 BIRDS 01^ AUSTllALIA.

found in Victoria, that country being in the direct hue of its
migration.

The Bhie-banded Grass-Parrakeet is one of the most beau-
tiful and interesting of the PsittacidcB ; for whether perched
on the small dead branches of a low bush, or resting upon
the stronger grasses, there is grace and elegance in all its
actions. It runs over the ground and threads its way among
the grasses with the greatest facility, and the little flocks are
usually so intent upon gathering the seeds, as to admit of
your walking close up to them before they will rise ; the
whole will then get up simultaneously, uttering a feeble cry
and settling again at a short distance, or flying off" to some
thickly- foliaged tree, where they sit for a time and again
descend to the ground.

The breeding-season is at its height in October and No-
vember ; the eggs are usually deposited in the holes of Euca-
lypti, but occasionally in the hollow trunks of fallen trees:
they vary from five to seven in number, and are perfectly
white.

The sexes present no observable difference ; but the young,
like those of the Platycerci, have the bill and nostrils of a
delicate yellow, and the band on the forehead less conspicuous.

A conspicuous band of deep indigo-blue across the fore-
head, bordered above by a narrow edging of light metallic
blue ; lores, and a stripe behind the eye, rich yellow ; crown
of the head, back, rump, upper tail-coverts, throat, chest, and
flanks broAvnish olive-green ; shoulders and wing-coverts deep
blue ; primaries black, the outer edges of the first three or
four slightly tinged with bluish green ; centre of the abdomen
und under tail-coverts yellow ; four middle tail-feathers
greenish blue ; the basal portions of the remainder beautiful
blue on their outer edges, and largely tipped with fine
yellow ; irides, biU, and feet brown.

INSESSORES. 73

Sp. 433. EUPHEMA ELEGANS, Gould.

Elegant Grass -Pauhakeet.

Nanodes elegans, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, part v. p. 25.
Gool-ye-der-ung, Aborigines of the lowlands of Western Australia.
Ground Parrakeet of the Colonists.

Euphema elegans, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. v. pi. 38.

Although closely resembling in size and form the Blue-
banded Grass-Parrakeet, this species differs from it in several
minor particulars. The green colouring of its plumage is of
a more golden hue, and the blue frontal band extends behind
the eye, while in the former it reaches no farther than the
front : the difference in the colouring of the wing of the two
species is also strongly marked, being wholly blue in one,
while in the other the shoulders and the part near the scapu-
laries are green.

As far as I could learn, the present species is never seen
in Tasmania, while the Blue-banded is a constant summer
visitant to that island ; neither is it common in New South
Wales, its visits to that country being apparently accidental.
Its proper home is Western- Australia, over which country it
is generally dispersed.

It appears to prefer the barren and sandy belts bordering
the coast, but occasionally resorts to the more distant in-
terior. Elocks were constantly rising before me while tra-
versing the salt-marshes, which stretch along the coast from
Holdfast Bay to the Port of Adelaide ; they were feeding
upon the seeds of grasses and various other plants, which
were there abundant : in the middle of the day, or when dis-
turbed, they retreated to the thick Banksias that grow on the
sandy ridges in the immediate neighbourhood, and in such
numbers, that I have seen those trees literally covered with
them, intermingled with the orange-breasted species {E. aurmi^
Ha), which, however, was far less numerous. When they rise,

74 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

they spread out and display their beautiful yellow tail-feathers
to the greatest advantage.

Gilbert informed me that, in Western Australia, "the elegant
Grass-Parrakeet inhabits every variety of situation, but parti-
cularly vi^here there is an abundance of grass, the seeds of
which are its favourite food : it may be generally observed in
small families, but at Kojenup, where there are several pools,
and no other water for many miles round, I saw these birds in
myriads ; but although I shot a great many, they were nearly
all young birds. Its flight is rapid and even, and frequently
at considerable altitudes. The breeding-season is in Septem-
ber and October ; the eggs being from four to seven in
number," of a pure white, eleven lines long by eight and a
half lines broad.

The sexes differ but little in their outward appearance;
but the female is never so bright in her colouring, neither is
she so large as the male.

A bar of deep indigo-blue across the forehead, bordered
above by a narrow edging of light metallic blue, which is
continued over the eye ; lores rich yellow ; head, cheeks,
scapularies, back, and upper shoulders greenish blue ; second-
aries deep blue, edged with lighter ; primaries black, the first
three or four edged externally with greenish blue ; tail-coverts
golden olive-green ; throat and chest greenish yellow, passing
into bright yellow on the abdomen and under tail-coverts ;
the centre of the abdomen tinged with orange ; two middle
tail-feathers greenish blue, the remainder blue at the base, and
largely tipped with yellow ; irides very dark brown ; bill dark
brown, lighter on the under side ; legs and feet dull brown.

Total length 9 inches ; wing 4f ; tail 5:j ; tarsi ^.

INSESSORES. 75

Sp. 434. EUPHEMA AURANTIA, Gould,
Orange-bellied Grass-Parrakeet.

Euphema pulchella, p. Wagl. Mon. Psitt. p. 543.

aurantia, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, part viii. p. 148.

ckrysogaster, R. G. Gray, List of Spec, of Birds in Brit. Mus,,

part iii. sec. 11^ Psittacida, p. 16.

Euphema aurantia, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. v. pi. 39.

Athough the present bird is not so elegant in form, nor
graced with so brilliant a frontal band as several others of the
group, it has received an ample compensation in the rich orange
mark that adorns the under surface, a character by which
it may be distinguished from every other known species.
Like the Euphema cUrysostoma, it is a summer visitant to
Tasmania. I observed it sparingly dispersed in the neigh-
bourhood of Hobart Town and New Norfolk, but found it in
far greater abundance on the Actseon Islands, at the entrance
of D'Entrecasteaux Channel. These small and uninhabited
islands are covered with grasses and scrub, intermingled with
a species of Barilla, nearly allied to Atrijplex halimus; and
almost the only land-bird that enlivens these solitary spots, is
the present beautiful Parrakeet : I frequently flushed small
flocks from among the grass, when they almost immedi-
ately alighted on the Barilla bushes around me, their spark-
ling orange bellies forming a striking contrast with the green
of the other parts of their plumage and the silvery foliage of
the plant upon which they rested. I made many unsuccessful
attempts to discover their breeding-places ; as, however, these
islands are destitute of large trees, I am induced to believe
that they lay eggs in holes on the ground, or among the
stones on the shore. On visiting South Australia in winter, I
there found it equally abundant on the flat, marshy grounds
bordering the coast, especially between the Port of Adelaide
and Holdfast Bay.

76 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

It may be a casual visitor to New South Wales and Swan
River, but I have not yet seen it in any collections from those
parts of Australia.

Frontal band blue, margined before and behind with a very
faint line of greenish blue ; crown of the head and all the
upper surface deep grass-green ; shoulders, many of the
secondaries, and outer edges of the primaries deep indigo-
blue ; lores, cheeks, and breast yellowish green, passing into
greenish yellow on the abdomen and under tail-coverts, the cen-
tre of the abdomen being ornamented with a large spot of rich
orange ; two centre tail-feathers green ; the next on each side
blackish brown on the inner, and green on the outer webs ;
the remainder blackish brown on their inner and green on their
outer webs, and largely tipped with bright yellow ; irides
very dark brown ; bill dark brown, becoming lighter on the
under side ; legs and feet dull brown.

Total length 8^ inches ; wing 4^ ; tail 4 J ; tarsi J.

The female possesses the orange spot in common with the
male, although, in her case, it is neither so extensive nor so
brilliant.

Sp. 435. EUPHEMA PETROPHILA, Gould.

Rock-Parrakeet.

Euphema petrophila, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, part viii. p. 148.
Rock Parrakeet, Colonists of Swan River.

Euphema petrophila, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol.,vol. v. pi. 40.

I have received specimens of this bird from Port Lincoln,
in South Australia, but its principal habitat appears to be the
western coast, where it occurs in great numbers on Rottnest
and other islands near Swan River : " Here," says Gilbert,
" it breeds in the holes of the most precipitous chfFs, choosing
in preference those facing the water and most difficult of
access ; and hence it required no slight degree of exertion to

INSESSORES. 77

procure examples of the eggs, which, according to the testimony
of the natives, are white, and seven or eight in number.

" Its flight is extremely rapid, and at times it mounts to a
great height in the air."

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

Frontal band deep indigo-blue, bounded before and behind
with a very narrow line of dull verditer-blue ; lores and
circle surrounding the eye dull verditer-blue ; all the upper
surface yellowish olive-green ; under surface the same, but
lighter, and passing into yellow, tinged with orange on the
lower part of the abdomen ; under surface of the shoulder
indigo-blue; a few of the wing-coverts greenish blue; pri-
maries brownish black on their inner webs, and deep indigo-
blue on the outer ; two centre tail-feathers bluish green ; the
remainder of the feathers brown at the base on the inner
webs, green at the base on the outer webs, and largely tipped
with bright yellow ; irides very dark brown ; upper mandible
dark reddish brown ; sides of the under mandible light yellow,
the tip bluish grey ; legs and feet dark brownish grey.

Total length 8 inches ; wing 4J- ; tail 4^ ; tarsi J.

Sp. 436. EUPHEMA PULCHELLA.

Chestnut-shouldered Grass-Parrakeet.

Psittacus pulchellus, Shaw, Nat. Misc., pi. 96.

[Conurus) pulchellus, Kuhl, Consp. Psitt., pp. 8, 50.

La Perruche Edwards, Levaill. Hist, des Perr., p. 68, female.
Psittacus chrysogaster, Lath. Ind. Orn., vol. i. p. 97 ?
Oraiige-hellied Parrot, Latb. Gen. Syn., Supp. p. 62.
Orange-bellied Parrakeet, Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. viii. p. 468.
Psittacus edwardsii, Bechst. in Lath. Uebers. der Vog., p. 74.
'N anodes pulchellus, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p. 277.
Lathamus azureus. Less. Traite d^Orn., p. 205.
Euphema pulchella, Wagl. Mon. Psitt. in Abhand., pp. 493, 542.

Euphema pulchella, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. v. pi. 41.
All those who have traversed the " bush " in New South

78 BIRDS OP AUSTRALIA.

Wales will recognize in this lovely species an old favourite,
for it must have often come under their notice ; during my
own rambles in that country my attention was constantly at-
tracted by its beautiful outspread tail and wings as it rose
before me. Its sole food being the seeds of grasses and of
the smaller annuals, it spends much of its time on the ground,
and appears to evince a greater partiality for stony ridges than
for the rich alluvial flats. When flushed it flies off to a short
distance between the trees, perches on some dead branch and
remains there until hunger impels it to return to the ground.
I have never seen this bird congregated in large flocks like
the Euphema chrysostoma and B. elegans ; but usually met with
it in small companies of six or eight in number.

I did not succeed in finding a nest of this species, though I
doubt not that it was breeding in the district of the Upper
Hunter at the time I visited it. Mr. Caley states, on the au-
thority of the natives, that it lays eight white eggs in the hole
of a tree.

The sexes diff'er so little in colour, that dissection must be
resorted to to distinguish them.

Forehead, stripe over the eye, cheeks, shoulders, and lesser
wing-coverts rich metallic greenish blue ; crown of the head,
back of the neck, upper surface, and flanks bright olive-green ;
a bright spot of chestnut-red at the insertion of the wings,
primaries and secondaries deep blue on their outer webs,
and blackish brown on the inner ; chest, centre of the abdo-
men, and under tail-coverts rich yellow; four middle tail-
feathers green, the remainder green at the base and largely
tipped with yellow ; bifl and feet dark brown.

In size the Euphema pulchella is about the same as the
Rock-Parrakeet, whose admeasurements are given on the pre-
ceding page.

INSESSORES. 79

Sp. 437. EUPHEMA SPLENDIDA, Gould,

Splendid Gkass-Parrakeet.
Euphema splendida, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, Part VIII. p. 147.

Euphema splendida, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. v. pi. 42.

It is a source of much regret to me, that I am unable to
give more than a very slight notice of this beautiful bird. The
specimen from which my description was taken came into my
possession in 1840, unfortunately without any other informa-
ation accompanying it than that it was a native of Swan River ;
from that period no other example occurred until 1845, when
several were transmitted to me by the late Johnson Drummond,
who had killed them near Moore's River in Western Australia.
Captain Sturt obtained a male during one of his journeys into
the interior of South Australia, and Mr. J. Gardner informs me
that he has procured examples in the Murray scrub near the
north-west band of that river, and has been told that it is
found in the country bordering the head of St. Vincent's Gulf;
he adds that it is of a very shy disposition, and nowhere very
numerous.

The Splendid Grass-Parrakeet has many characters in
common with the E. pulchella, but differs from that species
in the entire absence of the chestnut mark on the shoulders,
in the more intense blue of the face, and in the gorgeously
rich scarlet colouring of the chest ; and is rendered remark-
ably conspicuous by the brilliant display of the three primi-
tive colours — blue, red and yellow — on its face, breast, and
abdomen.

The male has the face and ear-coverts deep indigo-blue,
becoming paler on the latter ; all the upper surface grass-
green ; upper wing-coverts beautiful lazuline blue ; under
wing-coverts deep indigo-blue; primaries and secondaries
black ; the first three or four primaries slightly margined with
green ; two centre tail-feathers dark green ; the remaining

80 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

tail-featliers black on the internal webs, green on the external
webs and largely tipped with bright yellow, which increases in
extent as the feathers recede from the centre ; chest rich deep
scarlet ; under surface yellow, passing into green on the sides
of the chest and flanks.

Total length 8 inches ; wing 4 J ; tail 4^ ; tarsi -J.

The female differs in having the face and wing-coverts, both
above and beneath, of a pale lazuline blue, and in the chest
being green instead of scarlet.

Sp. 438. EUPHEMA BOURKII.

Boueke's Grass-Parrakeet.
Nanodes bourkii, Mitch. Australian Expeditions, vol. i. p. xviii.

Euphema bourkii, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. v. pi. 43.

For a knowledge of this Grass-Parrakeet, we are indebted
to the late Major Sir T-. L. Mitchell, who discovered it on
the banks of the River Bogan, during one of his expeditions
into the interior of New South Wales. It is particularly
interesting, as exhibiting, in the crescentic form of the mark-
ings on the back, an approach to the style of colouring ob-
servable in the single species of the genus MelojjsiUacus
{M. undulatas) ; at the same time, in its structure it so closely
assimilates to the form of the genus Eiijphema, that I have
been induced to place it in that group.

I did not meet with it during my own expedition, nor could
I gain any information whatever respecting it ; it is therefore
another of those Australian birds to which I would direct the
attention of the travellers who may hereafter visit the interior,
over which it will doubtless prove to be widely spread, for
Captain Sturt found it in abundance at the Depot in Central
Australia.

Band across the forehead, shoulders above and beneath,
secondaries and base of the primaries deep blue ; flanks and

INSESSORES. 81

under tail-coverts turquoise-blue ; all the upper surface dark
olive-brown, the feathers of the wings edged with greyish white;
centre of the abdomen salmon-red ; cheeks and the remainder
of the under surface brown, strongly tinged with salmon-red;
six middle tail-feathers deep brown, the external webs tinged
with blue ; the three outer ones on each side brown at the
base, with their external webs blue and the tips white ; bill
dark horn-colour; legs and feet brown.

Genus MELOPSITTACUS, Gould.

The only known species of this form is strictly gregarious,
assembles in vast flocks, and is admirably adapted for plains
and downs covered with grasses, upon the seeds of which it
entirely subsists.

Sp. 439. MELOPSITTACUS UNDULATUS.

Warbling Grass-Parrakeet.

Psittacus undulatus, Shaw, Nat. Misc., pi. 673.
Undulated Parrot, Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. ii. p. 179, pi. 26.
Nanodes undulatus, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p. 277.
Euphema undulata, Wagl. Mon. Psitt. in Abhand., &c., pp. 493, 545,

and 707.
Psittacus {Conurus) undulatus, Wag\. Mon. Psitt., pp. 8, 49.
Sagittifer minor undulatus, Bourj. de St.-Hil. Perr., tab. 8.
Canary Parrot of the Colonists of New South Wales.
Betcherrygah of the Natives of the Liverpool Plains.

Melopsittacus undulatus, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. v.
pi. 44.

Among the numerous members of the Psitiacidce inhabit-
ing Australia, this lovely little bird is preeminent both for beauty
of plumage and elegance of form, which, together with its ex-
treme cheerfulness of disposition and sprightliness of manner,
render it an especial favourite with all who have had an op-
portunity of seeing it alive ; the more so as this animated dis-

VOL. U. V,

82 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

position is as conspicuous in confinement as in its native
wilds.

In all probability it is generally dispersed over the central
parts of Australia ; in the whole of the southern portion it is
migratory, appearing in large flocks in spring, when the grass-
seeds are plentiful, and retiring again after the breeding-
season is over to more northern latitudes.

On arriving at Brezi, to the north of the Liverpool Plains,
in the beginning of December, I found myself surrounded by
numbers, breeding in all the hollow spouts of the large Euca-
lypti bordering the Mokai ; and on crossing the plains between
that river and the Peel, in the direction of the Turi Mountain,
I saw them in flocks of thousands. Their flight is remarkably
straight and rapid, and is generally accompanied by a screech-
ing noise. Diu"ing the heat of the day, when flocks of them
are sitting motionless among the leaves of the gum-trees,
they are with difficulty detected.

The breeding-season is at its height in December, and by
the end of the month the young are generally capable of pro-
viding for themselves. The eggs are three or four in number,
pure white, nine lines long by seven lines in diameter, and are
deposited in the holes and spouts of the gum-trees without
any nests.

As cage-birds they are as interesting as can possibly be
imagined ; for, independently of their highly ornamental ap-
pearance, they are constantly coquetting, squabbling, and
assuming every variety of graceful position. Their inward
song, which cannot well be described, is unceasingly warbled
forth from morn to eve, and is even continued throughout
the night if they are placed in a room where an animated
conversation is carried on ; indeed I am unacquainted with
any Australian species which has been brought to England,
that has contributed so much to the pleasure of those who
keep living birds. I believe I was one of the first who intro-
duced living examples to this country, having succeeded in

INSESSORES. 83

bringing home several on ray return in 1840. Since that
period nearly every ship coming direct from the southern
parts of Australia has added to the numbers of this bird in
England ; and I have more than once seen two thousand at a
time in a small room at a dealer's in Wapping.

The bird has also bred here as readily as the Canary ; still
it is one which cannot be naturalized in a wild state, our
climate not having the requisite degree of warmth, nor the
country producing the kind of food suited to it.

In a state of nature they feed exckisively upon grass -seeds,
with which their crops are always found crammed : in con-
finement they thrive equally well upon canary seed.

The sexes are precisely alike in the colouring and marking
of their plumage ; but the female is somewhat smaller than the
male, and has the colouring round the nostrils of a lighter
tint.

The adults have the forehead and crown straw yellow ; the
remainder of the head, ear-coverts, nape, upper part of the
back, scapularies and wing-coverts pale greenish yellow, each
feather having a crescent-shaped mark of blackish brown near
the extremity, these marks being numerous and minute on the
head and neck ; wings brown ; the outer webs of the feathers
deep green, margined with greenish yellow ; face and throat
yellow, ornamented on each cheek with a patch of rich blue,
below which are three circular drops or spots of bluish black ;
rump, upper tail -coverts, and all the under surface bright
green ; two centre tail-feathers blue ; the remaining tail-fea-
thers green, crossed in the middle by an oblique band of
yellow ; irides straw white ; nostrils bright blue in some,
greenish blue and brown in others ; legs pale bluish lead-
colour.

The young are distinguished from the adults by the crown
of the head, which is yellow in the adult, being crossed by
numerous fine bars of brown, and by the absence of the deep
blue spots on the throat.

G 2

84 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

Genus CALOPSITTA, Lesson.

Like Melopsittacus, there is only one species known of this
genus. It is strictly Australian, and will doubtless hereafter
be found to be universally distributed over that vast country ;
it is equally well adapted for the plains as the last-mentioned
species, and the two birds are frequently found associated.

Sp. 440. CALOPSITTA NOV^-HOLLANDI^E.

Cockatoo-Parrakeet.

Psiitacus nova-hollandia, Lath. Ind. Orn., vol. i. p. 102.
PalcEornis nova-hollandia, Vig. in Lear, 111. Psitt. PI. 27.
NympMcus nova-hollandia, Wagl. Mon. Psit. in Abhand., pp. 490^ 522.
Leptolophns auricomis, Swains. Zool. 111. 2nd Ser. PI. 112.
Calopsitta guy, Less., 111. Zool. PI. 49.
novce-hollandicB, G. R. Gray, List of Gen. of Birds, 1855, p. 85.

Nymphicus novae-hoUandiae, Gould, Birdsof Australia, foL, vol. v.
pi. 45.

The range of this beautiful species extends over the whole
of the southern portion of the country, and the bird being
strictly migratory it makes a simultaneous movement south-
ward to within one hundred miles of the coast in September,
arriving in the York district of Western Australia precisely
at the same time that it appears on the Liverpool Plains in
the eastern portion of the country. After breeding and rear-
ing a numerous progeny, the whole again retire northwards in
February and March, but to what degree of latitude towards
the tropics they wend their way I have not been able satis-
factorily to ascertain. It M^ould appear to be more numerous
in the eastern division of Australia than in the western.
During the summer of 1839 it was breeding in all the apple-
tree {A7i(/opJiord) flats on the Upper Hunter, as well as on all
similar districts on the Peel, and other rivers which flow to the
north-west. I have seen the ground quite covered by them

INSESSOBES. 85

while engaged in procuring food, and it was not an unusual cir-
cumstance to sec hundreds together on the dead branches of
the gum-trees in the neighbourhood of water, a plentiful sup-
ply of which would appear to be essential to their existence.

The flight of the Cockatoo-Parrakeet is even and easy, and
is capable of being long protracted. When it rises from the
ground it flies up into the nearest tree, almost uivariably
selecting a dead branch, upon which it frequently perches
lengthwise. It is by no means a shy bird ; and from the
circumstance of its being excellent eating, many are killed for
this purpose by persons leading a bush life.

It breeds in the holes of gum and other trees growing in the
neighbourhood of water. The eggs are white, five or six in
number, one inch long by three quarters of an inch broad.

Considerable diff'erence exists in the plumage of the sexes,
the tail-feathers of the male being entirely destitute of the
transverse bars which adorn those of the other sex.

The male has the forehead, crest and cheeks lemon yellow ;
ear-coverts rich reddish orange ; back of the neck, two centre
tail-feathers, and the external margins of the primaries
brownish grey ; back, shoulders, all the under surface and
outer tail-feathers greyish chocolate brown, the shoulders and
flanks being the darkest ; a white mark extends from the
shoulders lengthwise down the centre of the wing ; irides dark
brown ; bill bluish lead-colour, light on the under side of the
lower mandible ; legs and feet bluish grey.

The female diff'ers from the male in the colour of the face
and crest being of a dull olive yellow, the latter becoming still
darker at its extremity ; in having the throat greyish brown,
and the back lighter than in the male ; the lower part of the
abdomen, upper tail-coverts, yellow ; four middle tail-feathers
grey, the remainder yellow, the whole transversely and irregu-
larly barred with lines of brown, with the exception of the
outer web of the outer feather on each side, which is pure
vellow.

86 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

Genus PEZOPORUS, Illiger.

Of this terrestrial form but one species is known, which is
very generally distributed over the temperate portions of Au-
stralia, the islands in Bass's Straits, and Tasmania.

Sp. 441. PEZOPORUS PORMOSUS.

Ground-Parrakeet.

Psittacus formosus, Lath. Ind. Orn., vol. i. p. 103.

terrestris, Shaw, Mus. Lev., p. 217, pi. 53.

{Conurus) formosus, Kuhl. Consp. Psitt.,'^pp. 7, 43.

Perrucke ingambe, Le Vaill. Hist. Nat. des Perr., torn. i. p. 66, pi. 32.

Pezoporus formosus, 111. Prod. Syst. Mamm. et Av., p. 201.

rufifrons, Bourj. de St.-Hil. Supp. to Le Vaill. Hist. Nat. des

Perr., pi. 9.
Boo-run-dur-dee, Aborigines northward of Perth in Western Australia.
Djar-doon-gi^r-ree, Aborigines ai'ound Perth.
Djul-hat-la, Aborigines southward of Perth.
Ky-lor-ing, Aborigines of King George's Sound.
Goolingnang, Aborigines near Sydney, New South Wales.
Swamp-Parrakeet, Colonists of Tasmania.
Ground-Parrakeet, Colonists of New South Wales and Western

Australia.

Pezoporus formosus, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. v. pi. 46.

The Ground-Parrakeet is diffused over the whole of the
southern portions of Australia, including Tasmania, wherever
localities exist suitable to its habits. I also procured both
adults and young on Plinder's Island, where I found them
breeding on the grassy plains which cover the greater portion
of that island. So far as I could learn, it is everywhere a
stationary species. Having very frequently met with it in a
state of nature, I am enabled to state that in its actions it
differs from every other known species of its family. Whether
the power of perching is entirely denied to it or not I am un-
certain, but I never saw it fly into a tree, nor could I ever

INSESSORES. 87

force it to take shelter on the branches. It usually fre-
quents either sandy sterile districts covered with tufts of
rank grass and herbage, or low swampy flats abounding with
rushes and the other kinds of vegetation peculiar to such
situations. From its very recluse habits and great powers
of running it is seldom or ever seen until it is flushed, and
then only for a short time; as it soon pitches again and runs
off" to a place of seclusion. On the approach of danger it
crouches on the earth or runs stealthily through the grasses,
and, from the strong scent it emits, dogs road and point as dead
to it as they do to ordinary game-birds ; consequently, when
shooting over swampy land in Australia, the sportsman is
never certain whether a parrakeet, a quail, or a snipe will rise
to the point of his dog. It flies with great rapidity, fre-
quently making several zigzag turns in the short distance of
a hundred yards, which it seldom exceeds without again
pitching to the ground. Its flesh is excellent, being delicate
in flavour, and equaUing, if not surpassing, that of the quail
and snipe. Its five or six white eggs, are deposited on the
bare ground.

Plumage of the upper surface dark grass-green, each feather
crossed by irregular bands of black and yellow ; feathers
of the crown and nape with a broad streak of black down
the centre ; forehead scarlet ; throat, neck, and breast pale
yellowish green, passing into bright greenish yellow on the
abdomen and under tail-coverts, crossed by numerous irregular
waved blackish bands ; primaries and spurious wings green
on their outer webs and dark brown on the inner, each of the
latter with a triangular spot of pale yellow near the base ;
four centre tail-feathers green, crossed by numerous narrow
bars of yellow ; lateral tail-feathers yellow, crossed by nume-
rous bars of deep green ; irides black, with a fine ring of
light grey ; feet and legs bluish flesh-colour ; claws very
much lengthened, and of a blackish brown.

The young assume the colouring of the adult at a very

88 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

early age, and the sexes offer no external difference by which
they can be distinguished.

Genus GEOPSITTACUS, Gould.

Of this form only a single species and a single example is
known ; notliing has at present been ascertained of its habits.

Sp. 442. GEOPSITTACUS OCCIDENTALIS, GouM.

Western Ground-Parrakeet.
Geopsittacus occidentalism Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, 1861, p. 100,

I have had in my possession for many years the skin of a
Parrakeet, which was sent to me direct from Perth, in Western
Australia, and which differs, in my opinion, both generically
and specifically from every other known species. In general
appearance, and especially in its colouring, it resembles the
Pezoporus formosus ; but, on carefully comparing it with that
species, some remarkable differences are apparent. In Pezo-
poriis the proportions of the head, bill, body, wings, and tail
are evenly balanced, the legs are especially adapted for running
over the ground, and the claws, particularly that of the outer
hind toe, are remarkably long; while, in the bird under
consideration, the head is disproportionately large, the man-
dibles short and robust, the nostrils high and round, the tarsi
and toes short and delicate, and the nails unusually diminu-
tive when compared with those of other Parrakeets ; to com-
plete the differences seen in this anomalous bird, the wings
are large and long, while the tail is very short. The whole
contour of JPezoporus is graceful and elegant ; the present
bird, on the other hand, is short and dumpy, and much
reminds me of a diminutive Stri(/ops.

I need scarcely add how desirable it is that additional ex-
amples of this bird should be procured by those who may
have favourable opportunities for so doing.

INSESSORES. 89

I have considered it advisable to give this bird a generic
appellation distinct from Pezoporus ; ornithologists can adopt
it or not as they please.

All the upper surface grass-green, each feather crossed by
irregular bands of black and greenish yellow ; feathers of the
crown and nape with a streak of black down the centre ;
throat and breast yellowish green, passing into sulphur-
yellow on the abdomen ; spurious wings brown -, primaries
and secondaries brown, narrowly fringed with a greenish hue
on their external webs, with the exception of the first three ;
the primaries and secondaries have also an oblique mark of
yellow near their bases, which mark increases in breadth and
in depth of colour as the feathers approach the body ; two
centre tail-feathers dark brown, toothed on the edge of both
webs with greenish yellow; the next on each side dark
brown, toothed on the other web only with brighter and
longer marks of yellow ; the remainder dark brown, crossed
by bands of yellow, which in some cases are continuous across
both webs, and in others alternate ; under tail-coverts sulphur-
yellow, crossed on their outer webs with narrow oblique and
irregular bands of blackish brown ; bill horn ; feet fleshy.

Total length 1 0 inches ; bill J ; wing 5^ ; tail 5 ; tarsi f .

Genus LATHAMUS, Lesson.

The single species known of this form has been assigned to
a different genus by almost every writer on ornithology,
Vigors and Horsfield placing it in their genus Nanodes,
Wagler in his genus Euphema ; but Lesson, perceiving that it
did not belong to either of those forms, made it the type of
his genus Lathamus.

Having had ample opportunities of observing the bird in a
state of nature, I concur in the propriety of separating it into
a distinct genus ; in its whole economy it is most closely allied
to the Trichi(^lossi, and in no degree related to the Euphemce.

90 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

Sp. 443. LATHAMUS DISCOLOR.

Swift Lorikeet.

Psittacus discolor, Shaw, in White's Voy., pi. in p. 263.
Red-shouldered Parrakeet, Phill. Bot. Bay, pi. in p. 209.
Psittacus humeralis, Kuhl. Consp. Psitt. in Nova Acta, vol. x. p. 47.
Psittacus australis, Ibid., p. 48.

Lathami, Bechst. Lath. U.ebers. der Vog. p. 81.

Perruche Banks, Le Vaill. Hist, des Perr., p. 104, pi. 50.
Nanodes discolor, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p. 276.
Euphema discolor, Wagl. Mon. Psitt. in Abhand., vol. i. pp. 492 and

545.
Psittacus hanksianus, Vieill. Nouv. Diet. d'Hist. Nat., torn. xxv. p. 342.
Lathamus ruhifrons, Less. Traite d'Orn., p. 205.

La Perruche Latham, Le Vaill. Hist, des Perr., p. 123, pi. 62, young.
Psittacus discolor, Kuhl, Consp. in Nov. Acta, vol. x. p. 48, young.
Trichoglossus discolor, G. R. Gray, List, of Spec, of Birds in Brit.

Mus. part iii. sec. ii. p. 63.
Swift Parrakeet, Colonists of Tasmania.

Lathamus discolor, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. v. pi. 47.

This elegant Lorikeet is a migratory species, passing the
summer and breeding-season only in the more southern parts
of the Austrahan continent and Tasmania, and retiring north-
ward for the remainder of the year. During September and
the four following months, it is not only abundant in all the
gum-forests of Tasmania, but is very common in the shrub-
beries and gardens at Hobart Town. It is frequently to be
seen on the gum-trees bordering the streets, within a few feet
of the heads of the passing inhabitants, and so intent upon
gathering the honey from the fresh-blown flowers which daily
expand, as almost entirely to disregard their presence. The tree
to which it is so eagerly attracted is the Eucalyptus gibbosus,
cultivated specimens of which appear to have finer blossoms
than those in their native forests. It is certainly the finest
of the Eucalypti I have ever seen, and when its pendent
branches are covered with thick clusters of pale yellow bios-

INSESSORES. 91

soms, presents a most beautiful appearance ; these blossoms
are so charged with saccharine matter, that the birds soon fill
themselves with honey, even to their very throats : several of
those I shot, upon being held up by the feet, discharged from
their mouths a stream of this liquid to the amount of a
dessert-spoonful. Small flocks of from four to twenty in
number are also frequently to be seen passing over the town,
chasing each other, like the Swift of Eiu-ope, whence in all
probability has arisen its colonial name. Sometimes these
flights appear to be taken for the sake of exercise, or in the mere
playfulness of disposition, while at others the birds are passing
from one garden to another, or proceeding from the town to
the forests at the foot of Mount Wellington, or vice versa.
Their plumage so closely assimilates in colour to the leaves of
the trees they frequent, and they moreover creep so quietly
yet actively from branch to branch, clinging in every possible
position, that were it not for their movements and the
trembling of the leaves, it would be difficult to perceive them
without a minute examination of the tree upon which they
have alighted. I found them breeding about midway between
Hobart Town and Brown's River, but was not fortunate
enough to obtain their eggs, in consequence of their being
laid in holes of the loftiest and most inaccessible trees ; they
are said to be two in number, and perfectly white.

The only part of New South Wales in which I have ob-
served this bird was the district of the Upper Hunter, through
which it periodically passes during the months of February
and March.

In its actions and manners it is closely allied to the Tri-
choglossi, but differs from them in some few particulars, which
are more perceptible in captivity than in a state of nature ;
it has neither the musky smell nor the jumping motions of
the Triclioglossi. I have never observed it to alight upon
the ground, or elsewhere than among the branches.

The sexes are very similar in colour, but the female may

92 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

always be distinguished from the male by being much smaller
in size and less brilliant in all her markings. The young at
an early age assume the plumage of the adult, after which
they undergo no change.

Face scarlet, with a spot of yellow at the gape ; crown of
the head deep blue ; all the upper and under surface green,
the latter being somewhat the lightest; shoulders, under
wing- and under tail-coverts scarlet ; secondaries and wing-
coverts bluish green ; primaries deep blackish blue, finely
margined with yellow ; tail deep blue, tinged with red, passing
into black at the extremity; irides rich hazel-yellow; feet
flesh-brown ; bill horn-colour.

Genus TRICHOGLOSSUS, Vigors and Horsfield.

This arboreal group of Honey-eating Lorikeets, if not so
numerous in species as the seed-feeding Parrakeets, is indi-
vidually as abundant, and more universally dispersed, being
found in every part of the country yet visited. Other members
of the genus are found also in New Guinea and the Moluccas.

In their structure, habits, food, and mode of nidification,
no two groups of the same family can be more widely different
than these forms ; the pencilled tongue, diminutive stomach,
thick skin, tough flesh, and foetid odour of the Triclioglossi
presenting a decided contrast to the simple tongue, capacious
crop and stomach, thin skin, delicate flesh, and freedom from
odour of the Flati/cerci : besides which, the Triclioglossi
possess a strong os furcatorium, which bone is wanting in the
Flatycerci ; hence, while the Triclioglossi are powerful, swift,
and arrow-like in their flight, the Platgcerci are feeble, pass
through the air in a succession of undulations near the
ground, and never fly to any great distance. The mode in
which the two groups approach, alight upon, and quit the
trees is also remarkably diff'erent; the Trichoglossi dashing

INSRSSORES. 93

among and alighting upon the branches simultaneously, and
with the utmost rapidity, and quitting them in like manner,
leaving the deafening sound of their thousand voices echoing
through the woods ; while the Plati/cerci rise to the branch
after their undulating flight, and leave them again in a quiet
manner, no sound being heard but their inward piping note.
The eggs of the Triclioglossi are from two to fom' in
number ; those of the Plati/cerci are more numerous.

Sp. 444. TRICHOGLOSSUS MULTICOLOR.
Blue-bellied Lorikeet.

Psittacus nova-koUandue, Gmel. Edit. Linn. Syst. Nat., torn. i. p. 316.

mvJticolor, Gmel. lb., p. 328.

semicollaris, Lath. Ind. Orn., torn. i. p. 103.

cyanogaster, Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. viii. p. 413.

{Conurus) heematopus, Kuhl, Consp. Psitt., pp. 6, 34.

hamatopus, Hahn. Papag., tab. 3.

haematodus, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p. 289.

Trichoglossus multicolor, Wagl. Mon. Psitt., p. 553.

swainsonii, Jard. and Selby, 111. Orn., pi. 112.

hamatopuSf Steph. Cont. of Shaw's Gen. Zool., vol. xiv. p. 129.

Australasia novcE-hollandice, Less. Traite d'Orn., p. 209.
Blue-bellied Parrot, White's Voy., pi. in p. 140.
War-rin, Aborigines of New South Wales.

Trichoglossus swainsonii, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. v.
pi. 48.

This beautiful Lorikeet, so far as is yet known, is almost
exclusively an inhabitant of that portion of the Australian
continent lying between South Australia and Moreton Bay ;
at least I have never heard of its existence in any part west-
ward of the former or northward of the latter. It also occurs
in Tasmania, but its visits to that island do not appear to be
either regular or frequent.

The flowers of the various species of Eucalj/pti furnish this
bird with an abundant supply of food, and so exclusively is it

94 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

confined to the forests composed of those trees, that I do not
recollect to have met with it in any other. However graphi-
cally it might be described, I scarcely believe it possible to
convey an idea of the appearance of a forest of flowering gums
tenanted by Tnchoglossi ; three or four species being frequently
seen on the same tree, and often simultaneously attacking the
pendant blossoms of the same branch. The incessant din
produced by their thousand voices, and the screaming notes
they emit when a flock of either species simultaneously leave
the trees for some other part of the forest, is not easily de-
scribed, and must be seen and heard to be fully comprehended.
So intent are they for some time after sunrise upon extracting
their honey-food, that they are not easily alarmed or made to quit
the trees upon which they are feeding. The report of a gun
discharged immediately beneath them has no other eff'ect than
to elicit an extra scream, or cause them to move to a neigh-
bouring branch, where they again recommence feeding with
avidity, creeping among the leaves and clinging beneath the
branches in every variety of position. During one of my
morning rambles in the brushes of the Hunter, I came
suddenly upon an immense Eucalyptus, which was at least
two hundred feet high. The blossoms of this noble tree had
attracted hundreds of birds, both Parrots and Honey-suckers ;
and from a single branch I killed the four species of the former
inhabiting the district, viz. Trichoylossus multicolor and T. cJdo-
rolepidotus, Glossopsitta australis, and G. j^usilla. I mention
this fact in proof of the perfect harmony existing between
these species while feeding ; a night's rest, however, and the
taming effect of hunger doubtless contributed much to this
harmonious feeling, as I observed that at other periods of the
day they were not so friendly.

Although the T. multicolor is so numerous in New South
Wales, I did not succeed in procuring its eggs ; the natives
informed me that they are two in number, and that they are
deposited in the .holes of the largest Eucalyj^ti, the period of
incubation being from September to January.

INSESSORES. 95

Head, sides of the face, and throat blue, with a Hghter
stripe down the centre of each feather ; across the occiput a
narrow band of greenish yellow ; all the upper surface green,
blotched at the base of the neck with scarlet and yellow;
wings dark green on their outer webs ; their inner webs
black, crossed by a broad oblique band of bright yellow ; tail
green above, passing into blue on the tips of the two central
feathers ; under surface of the tail greenish yellow ; chest
crossed by a broad band, the centre of which is rich scarlet,
with a few of the feathers fringed with deep blue, and the
sides being rich orange-yellow, margined with scarlet ; under
surface of the shoulder and sides of the chest deep blood-red ;
abdomen rich deep blue, blotched on each side with scarlet
and yellow ; under tail-coverts rich yellow, with an oblong
patch of green at the extremity of each feather ; bill blood-
red, with the extreme tip yellow; nostrils and bare space
round the eye brownish black ; irides reddish orange, with a
narrow ring of dark brown next the pupil ; feet olive.

The sexes resemble each other so closely both in size and
colouring that they cannot be distinguished with certainty.

Sp. 445. TRICHOGLOSSUS RUBRITORQUIS,

Vi^. and Horsf.

Red-collaeed Lorikeet.

Trichoglossus ruhritorquis, Vig. and Horsf. in Linu. Trans., vol. xv.
p. 291.

Trichoglossus rubritorquis, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. v.
pi. 49.

This lovely Trichoglossus inhabits the northern coasts of
Australia, and is as beautiful a representative of its near ally,
the T. multicolor of the south coast, as can well be imagined.
In their habits and economy also the two birds so closely
approximate that a description of one will serve for both.
Independently of the richer blue of the head, the red nuchal

96 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

collar and dull blackish olive mark on the abdomen are marks
by which it may readily be distinguished.

Gilbert remarks, that " this species is abundant in all parts
of the Cobourg Peninsula and the adjacent islands, and is an
especial favourite with the natives, who carefully preserve the
heads of all they kill, for the purpose of ornamenting their
persons by slinging them to the arm a little above the elbow.
It is generally seen in large flocks, feeding on the summits of
the loftiest trees. Its flight is rapid in the extreme. Like
the other Trichoglossi, its food consists of honey and the buds
of flowers.

The sexes present very little difference in appearance.

Head and cheeks resplendent blue; throat and abdomen
deep olive-green ; chest crossed by a broad band of orange-
red ; a narrow band of the same colour across the occiput,
below which band is a broader one of deep blue, the basal
portion of the feathers being red ; back, wings, tail, and
under tail-coverts grass-green ; basal half of the inner webs
of the primaries yellow; irides red, with a narrow ring of
yellowish round the pupil ; bill vermilion ; tarsi silken green
in front ; inside of the feet and back of the tarsi ash-grey.

Sp. 446. TRICHOGLOSSUS CHLOROLEPIDOTUS.

Scaly-breasted Lorikeet.

Psittacus chlorolepidotus, Kuhl, Consp. Psitt. in Nov. Acta, vol. x. p. 48.
Trichoglossus matbni, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p. 293.
chlorolepidotus, Wagl. Mon. Psitt. in Abhand., p. 550.

Trichoglossus chlorolepidotus, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol,,
vol. V. pi. 50.

The present Lorikeet inhabits New South Wales. To give
any detailed account of its habits and mode of life woidd be
merely repeating what I have said respecting the Trichoglossus
multicolor, with which it frequently associates and even feeds

INSESSORES. 97

on the same branch ; it is, however, not so numerous as that
species, nor so generally distributed over the face of the
coimtry. The brushes near the coast, studded here and there
with enormous gums, towering high above every other tree
by which they are surrounded, are the locahties especially
resorted to by it.

Its principal food is honey, gathered from the cups of the
newly expanded blossoms of the Eucalypti, upon which it feeds
to such an excess, that on suspending a fresh-shot specimen by
the toes a large teaspoonful of liquid honey will flow from the
mouth. A proper attention to the diet of these birds by
supplying them with food of a saccharine character, would
doubtless enable us to keep them as denizens of our cages
and avaries, as well as the other members of the family.

Among other places, the Scaly-breasted Lorikeet breeds in
all the large Eucalypti near Maitland on the Hunter, but I
regret to say I did not procure its eggs.

The sexes are so closely alike as not to be outwardly dis-
tinguished.

All the upper surface, wings, and tail rich grass-green ; a
few feathers at the back of the neck and all the feathers of
the under surface bright yellow, margined at the tip with a
crescent of grass-green, giving the whole a fasciated appear-
ance ; under surface of the shoulder and base of the primaries
and secondaries rich scarlet ; bill beautiful blood-red, inclining
to orange at the tip ; cere and orbits olive ; irides in some
specimens scarlet with a circle of buff round the pupil, in
others buffy yellow.

As far as I am aware, this is the only species of Tricho-
^lossiis that has the bases of the feathers of the under sur-
face yellow ; those feathers are, however, fringed round with
green, imparting that scale-like appearance to the breast of
the bird which suggested its specific appellation. In size
this species is intermediate between the larger Trichoylossi
and the succeeding species, Ftilosclera versicolor.

VOL. II. H

98 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

Genus PTILOSCLERA, Bonaparte.

This term has been proposed by Bonaparte for the Tricho-
glossus versicolor of Vigors ; I think the separation a judicious
one, and beheve that other species of the form will be found
to inhabit the islands lying to the northward of Australia.

Sp. 447. PTILOSCLERA VERSICOLOR.
Varied Lorikeet.

Trichoglossm versicolor, Vig. in Lear's 111. Psitt., pi. 36.
Psitteuteles versicolor , Bonap. Rev. et Mag. de Zool., 1854, p. 157,
Ptilosclera versicolor, Bonap. Compt. Rend, de PAcad. Sci., 1857.
Conurus lori scintillatus, Bourj. de St.-Hil. Perr., tab. 52.
Coriphilus versicolor, G. R. Gray, List of Spec, of Birds in Coll. Brit.

Mus., part iii. sec. ii. p. 59.
We-ro-ole, Aborigines of Port Essington.

Trichoglossus versicolor, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. v.
pi. 61.

There is no Austrahan species of the little honey-feeding
Lorikeets yet discovered with which the present could be con-
founded ; it is at once rendered conspicuously distinct from
all its allies by the narrow stripe of yellow down the centre of
the feathers of the upper and under surface. The red of the
crown and the varied tints of blue and yellow about the sides
of the face and ear-coverts render it remarkably different from
all other Lorikeets ; the red patch on the chest also is an
additional feature by which it is distinguished from them ; for
although red on this part of the body is not unusual, in no
other instance are the feathers streaked down the centre with
yellow.

The northern coast is the only part of the country in which
it has as yet been discovered ; it is particularly abundant at
Port Essington, where its suctorial mode of feeding leads it,
like the other members of the genus, to frequent the flowery

INSESSOUES. 99

Eucalypti. Gilbert informed me that it " congregates in
immense numbers ; and when a flock is on the wing their
movements are so regular and simultaneous it might easily be
mistaken for a cloud passing rapidly along, were it not for
the utterance of the usual piercing scream, which is frequently
so loud as to be almost deafening. They feed on the topmost
branches of the Eucalypti and Melaleucce. I observed them
to be extremely abundant during the month of August on all
the small islands in Van Diemen's Gulf.

"The stomach is membranous and extremely diminutive
in size. The food consists of honey and minute portions of
the blossoms of their favourite trees."

Could this species be transmitted to Europe, and a kind of
food suitable to it be discovered, it would form one of the
most delightful cage-pets that has ever been introduced.

The male has the lores and crown of the head rich deep
red ; round the neck a collar of deep caerulean blue ; back
brownish green ; wings green ; rump and upper tail-coverts
light yellowish green ; across the chest a broad band of pur-
plish red ; under surface of the shoulder, abdomen, flanks and
under tail-coverts light yellowish green ; all the feathers of the
upper surface with a narrow stripe of yellowish green ; the
stripes, being more yellow at the occiput, almost form a band ;
ear-coverts yellow; all the feathers of the under surface with
a narrow line of bright yellow down the centre ; on each side
of the abdomen and down the inside of the thighs stained
with patches of purplish red ; primaries black, margined ex-
ternally with deep green, with a fine line of yellowish green
on the extreme edge of the feathers ; tail deep green, all but
the two middle feathers greenish yellow on their internal webs ;
irides bright reddish yellow, with a very narrow ring of dark
red next the pupil ; bill scarlet ; cere and naked space round
the eyes greenish white ; tarsi and feet light ash-grey.

The female resembles the male, but is much less brilliant

in all her markings.

H 2

100

BIRDS 0¥ AUSTRALIA.

Genus GLOSSOPSITTA, Bonaparte.

Of this form three species inhabit Australia, and others New
Guinea and the adjacent islands ; they have many habits in
common with the typical Tric/ioj/Zossi, but they somewhat differ
from them in size and in the colouring of their plumage.

Sp. 448. GLOSSOPSITTA AUSTRALIS.

MUSK-LORIKEET.

Psittacus australis, Lath. Ind. Orn., vol. i. p. 104.

concinnus, Shaw, Nat. Misc. pi. 87.

Pacific Paroquet, Phil. Bot. Bay., pi. iu p. 155.
Psittacus pacificus, Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. viii. p. 419.

rubrifrons, Bechst. Uebers. der Vog. Lath., S. 84. no. 99.

Trichoglossus concinnus, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv.

p. 292.
Lathamus concinnus. Less. Traite d^Orn., p. 206.
Trichoglossus australis, Wagl., Mon. Psitt. in Abhand., torn. i. pp. 493

and 549.
Psittacus velatus, Vieill. Nouv. Diet. d'Hist. Nat., torn. xxv. p. 373.
Glossopsitta australis, Bonap. Rev. et Mag. de Zool., 1854, p. 157.
Coolich, Aborigines of New South Wales.
Musk Parrakeet, Colonists.

Trichoglossus concinnus, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. v.
pi. 52.

This species inhabits Tasmania, New South Wales and
South Australia, and is very generally distributed over all
parts of those countries. I have never heard of its occur-
ing either in the western or northern portions of Australia,
whence I infer that its habitat is restricted to the south and
south-eastern divisions of the continent. Like every other
species of Lorikeet, the present bird is always to be found
upon the Eticali/^ti, whose blossoms afford it a never-failing
supply of honey, one or other of the numerous species of that
tribe of trees being in Hower at all seasons of the year. It is

INSESSORES. 101

stationary in New South Wales, but I am not certain that it
is so in the more southern country of Tasmania, where it is
known by the name of the Musk-Parrakeet, from the pecuUar
odour it emits.

It is a noisy species, and with its screeching note keeps up
a perpetual din around the trees in which it is located. Dur-
ing its search for honey it creeps among the leaves and smaller
branches in the most extraordinary manner, hanging and
clinging about them in every possible variety of position. It
is so excessively tame that it is very difficult to drive it from
the trees, or even from any particular branch. Although
usually associated in flocks, it appears to be mated in pairs,
which at all times keep together during flight, and settle side
by side when the heat of the sun prompts them to shelter
themselves under the shade of the more redundantly leaved
branches.

The eggs, which are dirty white and two in number, are of
a rounded form, one inch in length and seven-eighths of an
inch in breadth. Those I obtained were taken from a hole in
a large Eucali/ptus growing on the Liverpool range.

The sexes present no difference in colour, and the young
assume the plumage of the adult at a very early age.

Forehead and ear-coverts deep crimson red ; at the upper
part of the back a broad patch of light chestnut brown ; the
remainder of the plumage grass-green ; on the flanks a spot
of orange ; primaries and secondaries black, broadly margined
on the external webs with grass- green; base of all but the
inner webs of the lateral tail-feathers deep red at the base,
passing into yellow and tipped with grass-green ; bill blackish
brown, passing into reddish orange at the tip ; cere and orbits
olive-brown ; irides buff, surrounded by a narrow circle of
yellow.

102 BIRDS 01' AUSTRALIA.

Sp. 449. GLOSSOPSITTA PORPHYROCEPHALUS.

Porphyry-crowned Lorikeet.

Psittacus purpurea , Diet. Phil. Mag. 1832, vol. xi. p. 387.

purpureus, Wagl. Mon. Psitt. in Abhand., vol. x. p. 747.

Trichoglossus porphyroceplialus, Diet. Trans. Linn. Soc. vol. xvii.

p. 553.
Psittacula florentis, Bourj. de St.-Hil., Supp. Le Vaill. Hist, des Perr.,

pi. 84.
Glossopsitta porphxjrocephalus, Bonap. Rev. et Mag. de Zool., 1854,

p. 157.
Kow-ar, Aborigines of Western Australia.

Trichoglossus porphyrocephalus, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol.,
vol. V. pi. 53.

This handsome little bird is abundant in South Aus-
tralia, is equally numerous at Swan River, and in all pro-
bability is dispersed over the whole of the intermediate
country. It is the only true honey-feeding Lorikeet I have
seen from Western Australia, a circumstance which cannot be
accounted for, since the face of the country is covered with
trees of a character so conducive to the well-being of the other
members of the group.

Most of the specimens I collected were shot during the
months of June and July in the neighbourhood of Adelaide,
and some of them in the town itself. It appears to arrive in
this district at the flowering season of the Eucalypti, in com-
pany with Tnchoylossm multicolor, Glossopsitta australis and G.
pusilla, all of which may frequently be seen on the same tree
at one time. As this tribe of birds depends solely for its
subsistence upon the flowers of the gum-trees, their presence
in any locality would be vainly sought for at any season when
those trees are not in blossom.

The sexes are precisely alike in size and in the colour of
their plumage.

Forehead, lores and ear-coverts yellow, intermingled with

tNSESSORES. 103

scarlet ; crown of the head deep pui'ple ; back of the head and
neck yellowish green ; wmg-coverts and rump grass-green ;
shoulder light blue ; under surface of the wing crimson ; pri-
maries blackish brown, margined externally with deep green,
the extreme edge being greenish yellow ; tail green above,
golden beneath ; throat and under surface greenish grey,
passing into golden green on the flanks and under tail-coverts ;
bill black ; irides in some dark brown, in others light reddish
brown, with a narrow ring of orange round the pupil ; feet
bluish flesh-colour.

Sp. 450. GLOSSOPSITTA PUSILLA.

Little Lorikeet.

Psittacus pusillus, Shaw in White's Journ., pi. in p. 263.

nuchalis, Bechst. Uebers. der Vog., p. 81.

{Conurus) pusillus, Kuhl. Consp. Psitt., pp. 8, 47.

Perruche a face rouge, Le Vaill. Perr., torn. i. p. 124, pi. 62.

Small Parrakeet, Lath. Gen. Syn,, vol. ii. p. 88.

Small Parrot, Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. ii. p. 194.

Trichoglossus pusillus, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p. 293.

Lathamus pusillus. Less. Traite d'Orn., p. 206.

Glossopsitta pusilla, Bonap. Rev. et Mag. de Zool., 1854, p. 157.

Jerry ang, Aborigines of New South Wales.

Trichoglossus pusillus, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. v. pi. 54.

This familiar species, the least of the Australian Fsitlacida,
enjoys a range of habitat precisely similar to that of the Glos-
sopsitta australis, being dispersed over the whole of New
South Wales, South Australia and Tasmania ; it is, however,
more sparingly diffused over the latter country. I found it
tolerably abundant, and killed several specimens on Maria
Island, near the entrance of Storm Bay. On the continent of
Australia it is not only to be found in the same districts and
at the same seasons of the year as G. australis, but it is more
frequently observed in company with that species than alone ;
flocks of each often occupying the same tree, and even the

104 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

same branch, all busily engaged in extracting their nectarine
food. It creeps about under and among the leaves with the
greatest facility, and, like the other members of the group, ap-
pears to be always associated in pairs. As might be expected
from the structure of its wing, which is admirably adapted for
rapid progression, it flies through the air with arrow-like swift-
ness.

I succeeded in finding the breeding-places of this species,
and on the 11th of October 1839, procured four eggs from a
hole in a small branch of a lofty Eucalyptus, growing on the
flats at Yarrundi on the Upper Hunter. They were white
and of an oval form, nine lines and a half long by seven lines
and a half broad.

The sexes are similar in plumage, and differ but little in size;
the female is, however, rather more diminutive than the male.

Face deep red ; back of the neck brown ; all the remainder
of the plumage grass -green; primaries, secondaries and greater
coverts black, margined externally with grass-green; two
centre tail-feathers and outer webs of the remainder grass-
green ; the inner webs of the lateral feathers fine red at the
base, passing into greenish yellow towards the tip ; bill black;
cere and orbits dark olive-brown ; irides orange, surrounded
by a narrow line of yellow.

RASORES. 105

Order RASORES.

If we were to remove the Columbid(B (or Pigeons) from the
Masores, Austraha would indeed be meagrely supplied with
the members of this Order ; for how sparingly do its varied
forms occur therein ! No bird like the gorgeous Peacock of
India ; no Pheasant, as in ancient Colchis ; no true Galliis,
the bird that from all time has supplied the wants of man ;
no Grouse or Partridge to herald in a season of sport or
pastime : a few Turnices, a Quail, and an apology for our
Perdix cinerea in the St/noicus australis are nearly all the
birds of this Order to which she can lay claim ; but on the
other hand, among the few she does possess, she can boast
of her TaleffaUus, her Leipoa, and her Megapodius, as birds
whose extraordinary habits and economy compensate for the
paucity of Gallinaceae.

Family COLUMBID^.

The members of this important family are distributed over
every portion of the globe, in no part of which are they more
numerous than in Australia, since that country is inhabited
by more than twenty species, which, like the Psittacidcd,
comprise several well-marked and distinct genera, and appear
to be naturally divided into two great groups, the one arboreal,
the other terrestrial; the Ptilinopi, Carpo'pliagcB, and Lopho-
laimus, with their expansive gullets and broad hand-like feet,
forming part of the former, and the members of the genera
Phaps, Geophaps, and Geopelia, the latter. The Ptilinopi
and other allied forms are, in consequence of the peculiar
character of the vegetation, confined, without a single excep-
tion, to the eastern and northern coasts.

100 BIRDS 01' AUSTRALIA.

Genus PTILINOPUS, Swainson,

The species of this genus, the most brilliant and highly-
coloured of the ColumbidcB, range over Australia, New Guinea,
the Moluccas, the Celebes, and Polynesia.

Sp. 451. PTILINOPUS SWAINSONII, Gould.

Swainson's Fruit-Pigeon.

Ptilinopus purpuratus, var. regina, Swains. Zool. Journ., vol. i. p. 474?
Columha purpurata, Jard. and Selb. 111. Orn., vol. ii. pi. 70.
Ptilinopus swainsonii, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, part x. p. 18,
Ptilopus swainsoni, Bonap.Coup d'CEil desPig.,Compt. Rend.dePAcad.
Sci., torn, xxxix et xl. 1854, 1855.

Ptilinopus swainsonii, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. v. pi. 55.

The specimens from which my description of this species
was taken are from the brushes of the river Clarence, in
which district and in many parts of Queensland it is tolerably
abundant, the dense and luxuriant brushes affording it. a con-
genial habitat and breeding-place ; but as I have never myself
seen this bird in a state of nature, I am unable to give any
account of its habits or economy. The sexes are so nearly
alike in colouring that dissection alone can distinguish them
with certainty.

Forehead and crown deep crimson-red, surrounded except
in front with a narrow ring of light yellow ; back of the neck
greyish green ; all the upper surface bright green tinged with
yellow, the green becoming deep blue towards the extremities
of the tertiaries, which are broadly margined with yellow;
primaries slaty grey on their inner webs and green on the
outer, very slightly margined with yellow ; tail-feathers deep
green, largely tipped with rich yellow ; throat greenish grey,
stained with yellow on the chin in some specimens and
greyish white in others ; breast dull green, each feather forked
at the end and with a triangular silvery-grey spot at each

RASORES. 107

extremity ; flanks and abdomen green, with a large patch of
oransre-red in the centre of the latter : under tail-coverts
orange yellow ; thighs green ; irides reddish orange ; bill
greenish black and horn-colour at tip ; feet olive brown.
Total length 9 inches ; bill f ; wing 5 J ; tail 3f ; tarsi f .

Sp. 452. PTILINOPUS EWINGII, Gould.

Ewing's Pruit-Pigeon.

Ptilinopus ewingii, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, part x. p. 19.
Ptilopus ewingi, Bonap. Coup d'CEil des Pig., Compt. Rend, de I'Acad.
Sci., torn, xxxix et xl. 1854, 1855.

Ptilinopus ewingii, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. v. pi. 56.

This lovely species, which is a native of the Coburg Penin-
sula, and doubtless ranges over the northern coast of Australia
generally, differs from the preceding, Ptilinopus swainsonii,
in being much smaller in all its admeasurements, in the colour
of the crown being rose-pink instead of crimson-red ; in the
breast being pale greenish grey instead of dull green ; in
having the centre of the abdomen rich orange instead of lilac ;
and also in having the tail-feathers tipped with greenish
yellow instead of clear rich yellow.

In naming the second Australian species of this beautiful
form after the Rev. Thomas J. Ewing, D.D., I am actuated
by a desire to pay a just compliment to one who has devoted
considerable attention to the literature of ornithology ; I feel
assured, therefore, that however objectionable the naming of
species after persons may be under ordinary circumstances,
it will not in this instance be deemed an inappropriate mode
of evincing my sense of the many admirable qualities of a
highly esteemed friend.

Forehead and crown of the head rose-pink, bordered with
a narrow line of yellow, except in front ; back of the head
and neck greenish grey ; all the upper surface bright green.

108 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

passing into deep blue on the tertiaries ; primaries, seconda-
ries, and tertiaries slightly margined with yellow ; tail largely
tipped with yellow, tinged with green, particularly on the two
centre feathers ; chin pale yellow ; sides of the neck greenish
grey ; chest pale greenish grey, each feather forked at the end
and tipped with grey ; below the chest an indistinct band of
sulphur-yellow ; flanks and lower part of the abdomen green ;
centre of the abdomen rich orange, in the middle of which is
a lunar-shaped mark of lilac ; under tail-coverts orange ;
thighs and tarsi green ; irides orange ; feet olive.

Total length 7f inches ; bill | ; wing 4f ; tail ^ ; tarsi f .

Genus LAMPROTRERON, Bonaparte.

This genus was established for the Columha superha of
Temminck, and two other species — C. porphi/rea and C.holo-
scricea. Whether the latter two birds are really of the same
form as the first I am unable to say ; but the present species
is the type of the genus, and the only one found in Australia.

Sp. 453. LAMPROTRERON SUPERBUS.

Superb Eruit-Pigeon.

Columba superba, Temm. Les Pig., fol. 2nd fam., p. 75, pi. 33.
Ptilinopus superbus, Steph. Cont. of Shaw's Gen. Zool., vol. xiv. p. 279.
Lamprotreron superba, Bonap. Coup d'OEil des Pig. Compt. Rend, de
I'Acad. Sci., torn, xxxix et xl. 1854, 1855.

Ptilinopus superbus, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol, vol. v. pi. 57.

This lovely species was originally figured and described in
the splendid work on the Pigeons by Madame Knip and
Temminck as an inhabitant of one of the islands of the
Pacific Ocean ; and it aff'ords me much pleasure to be enabled
to include it in the Fauna of Australia, specimens having been
procured by Mr. Bynoe on Booby Island, which lies off" the
north coast ; since then it has, I beheve, been found on the

RASORES. 109

mainland. In all probability it enjoys an extensive range
over the islands of New Guinea. The specimens procured
by Mr. Bynoe were fortunately male and female : the latter
sex exhibits in its plumage traces of immaturity ; but whether
the rich colouring of the crown of the head is at all times
absent is a point yet to be ascertained, a knowledge of which
would greatly tend to clear up the confusion which reigns
throughout this gorgeously-coloured group of Pigeons.

The specific term superhus is a most appropriate designation
for this charming little Pigeon, which must be seen in its native
wilds before a just conception can be formed of its beauty ; for
the hues of no other feathered creature can surpass those of
newly moulted individuals of this bird.

The male has the crown of the head of a very deep rich
purple ; sides of the head and occiput olive-green ; sides and
back of the neck bright rufous ; shoulders very dark bluish
black ; all the upper surface and wings deep yellowish green,
tinged with rufous ; the scapularies and tertiaries with a spot
of deep green near the extremity ; primaries and secondaries
black, slightly margined externally near the tip with pale
yellow ; tail grey at the base, to which succeeds a broad band
of black, glossed particularly on the central feathers with
green ; beyond this the tips are white, all but the outer ones
washed with green ; chin white ; breast grey, below which a
band of black; abdomen and under tail-coverts white, the
latter with a stripe of olive down the centre ; band crossing
the flanks and another crossing the thighs olive-green ; feet
orange ; bill dark horn-colour.

The female has the crown of the head and all the upper
surface yellowish green, with a small spot of deep blue near
the tips of the scapularies ; primaries and secondaries black,
slightly edged with yellow ; at the occiput a large patch of
deep green ; chin grey ; centre of breast greenish grey ;
flanks green ; centre of abdomen straw-yellow.

110 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

Genus MEGALOPREPIA, Reichenhach.

The species of this genus are widely dispersed over Eastern
Austraha, New Guinea, and the adjacent islands. Strictly
arboreal in their habits, and feeding entirely upon fruits,
berries, and seeds, they frequent the towering fig-trees when
their fruit is ripe, and the lofty palms for the sake of their
large round seeds. Their short tarsi and dilated feet are
admirably adapted for clasping the branches. Two species
inhabit Australia.

Sp. 454. MEGALOPREPIA MAGNIFICA.

Magnificent Eruit-Pigeon.

Columha maynifica, Temm. in Linn. Trans., vol. xiii. p. 125.
Carpophaga magnifica, Selby in Nat. Lib. Orn., vol. v. Pigeons, p. 115.
Megaloprepia magnifica, Reich. Syst. Av., tab. 33. figs. 1299, 1300.

Carpophaga magnifica, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. v. pi. 58.

This splendid bird, the finest of the Pigeons yet discovered
in Australia, is abundant in all the brushes on the south-east
portion of that country, but is less numerous in the Illawarra
district than in the neighbourhood of the rivers Macquarrie,
Clarence, and Macleay ; how far its range may extend from
thence to the northward has yet to be ascertained ; I did not
observe it in any of the brushes clothing the ranges of the
interior. Its chief food is the wild fig and the nut-like fruit
bf the large palms. It is rather a shy bird, and from its
quiet habits is not easily discovered, unless it betrays its
presence by the hoarse, loud, and monotonous note, which is
frequently uttered by the male during the pairing-season.
This note is so extraordinary, and so unlike that of any other
bird, that it causes the utmost surprise and wonderment as
to what it can proceed from, in the minds of those persons
who hear it for the first time.

RASORES. 1 1 1

The sexes present no external difference, but the smaller-
sized individuals may generally be regarded as females.

Head and neck pale grey ; all the upper surface and wings
rich golden green ; the greater coverts and the tertiaries with
a patch of light yellow near the base of the outer webs, forming
an irregular oblique band across the wing ; primaries green ;
under surface of the wing brown, passing into cinnamon-
brown at the base of the feathers; tail rich deep bronzy
green ; line down the centre of the throat, and the whole of
the breast and abdomen rich deep purple ; under surface of
tlie shoulder, the thighs, and vent deep gamboge-yellow ; under
tail-coverts greenish grey, washed with gamboge-yellow.

Sp. 455. MEGALOPREPIA ASSIMILIS, Gould.

Allied Fruit-Pigeon.

Catyophaga assimilis, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, 1850, p. 201.
Megaloprepia assimilis, Bonap. Coup d'CEil des Pig., Conipt. Reud. de
I'Acad. Sci., torn, xxxix et xl. 1854, 1855.

Carpophaga assimilis, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, Supple-
ment, pi.

I am not surprised that an additional Fruit-Pigeon should
have been discovered in the north-eastern parts of Australia,
since in every degree nearer the tropics palm-trees, among
which these birds are principally found, become more abundant.

There exists in New Guinea another nearly alUed species,
to which the name ofpuella has been given by Lesson. This
bird is still smaller than the present one, and has the yellow
markings at the tips of the wing-coverts in the form of round
spots instead of oval blotches ; its face and neck are more
grey, and its back less golden or sulphur-green, than in
M. assimilis.

Numerous specimens of this bird were collected on the
Cape York Peninsula by Mr. Macgillivray and the officers of
Her Majesty's Ship Rattlesnake.

112 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

The only outward differences between the sexes consist in
the somewhat smaller size and less brilliant colouring of the
female.

Head, throat, and ear-coverts grey ; all the upper surface,
wings, and tail sulphur-green ; each of the wing-coverts with
an oblong mark of rich yellow at the tip, forming an oblique
band across the shoulder ; line down the centre of the throat,
chest and abdomen rich purple ; under wing-coverts, vent,
thighs, and under tail-coverts rich orange-yellow ; basal por-
tion of the inner webs of the primaries and secondaries
cinnamon.

Total length 14 inches ; bill 1 ; wing 7 ; tail 6 ; tarsi f .

Genus LEUCOMiELANA, Bonaparte.

Bonaparte places the next species in his division PalmnbecBy
but keeps it distinct from the other genera of the section.
Although a bird of large size, it is certainly of a very delicate
structure, and in this respect differs from the other members
of the family.

Sp. 456. LEUCOMEL^NA NORFOLCIENSIS. '

White-headed Fruit-Pigeon.

Columha noi-folciensis, Lath, Ind. Orn., Supp. p. Ix.

leucomela, Temm. in Trans. Linn. Soc, vol. xiii. p. 126.

leucomelana, Wagl. Syst. Av., Columba, sp. 56.

Carpophaga norfolciensis, Gray, List of Spec, of Birds in Coll. Brit.

Mus., part iii. p. 5.
Alsocomus leucomela, Blyth.

Myristicivora norfolciemis, Eeich. Syst. Av., t. ccxxix. figs. 1280-82.
Leucomelana norfulciensis, Bouap. Coup d^CEil des Pig., Compt. Rend

de I'Acad. Sci., torn, xxxix et xl. 1854, 1855.

Carpophaga leucomela, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. v. pi. 59.

This fine species of Pigeon is an inhabitant of those vast
primaeval forests of New South Wales to which the colonists

RASORES. 113

have applied the name of Brushes. I found it very numerous
on Mosquito and the other low islands near the mouth of the
river Hunter, as well as in the cedar brushes of the Liverpool
range ; I believe that it breeds in both those districts ; and
that it never quits these luxuriant forests for other parts of the
country is more than probable, as a plentiful supply of fruits
and berries is furnished by the various trees at every season
of the year ; the wild fig, the palm-nut, and the wild grape
constitute a considerable portion of its food. The slender
branches are often borne down by its weight, particularly
when it clings to the extreme end of the spray to obtain
the best and ripest fruit; in this mode of clinging and in
many of its actions it far more resembles the larger Honey-
eaters and Parrots than the Pigeons ; the structure of its
foot is beautifully adapted for the duties it is intended to
perform.

The powers of flight of this species are very great, its
voluminous wing enabling it to pass from one part of the
forest to another in a comparatively short space of time ; hence
flocks may frequently be observed passing over the tops of
the trees, forsaking a locality they have exhausted of its
supplies, and in search of another where food is more
abundant.

The nest of this species, like those of other Pigeons, is a
slight flat structure formed of small sticks and twigs ; the
eggs are frequently only one, and never more than two in
number, of a pure white.

The sexes may be distinguished by the smaller size of the
female, and by her colours being less strongly contrasted
than those of the male, the yellowish white of the head
and breast blending into the darker colouring of the other
parts.

The male has the head, neck, and breast white, washed
with buff, particularly on the crown ; all the upper surface,
wings, and tail greyish black ; all the feathers of the back,

VOL. II. I

114 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

rump, and lesser wing-coverts bordered with bronzy-purple in
some, and greenish purple in others ; flanks slate-colour ;
abdomen dingy buff; bill for two-thirds from the base beau-
tiful pink-red, covered with a mealy substance ; tip of the bill
yellowish white, tinged with lilac ; irides large and of a rich
yellowish hazel in some specimens, reddish orange in others ;
naked skin of the orbits mealy pink-red ; feet buff, with the
scales pink-red and the nails white.

Genus MYRISTICIVORA, Reichenlach

A genus of fruit-eating Pigeons, whose range extends from
the Philippines, through the Indian Islands, to Australia. The
general plumage of these birds is white or cream-white, with
markings of black on the tail and wings.

Sp. 457. MYRISTICIVORA SPILORRHOA, G. R. Gray.
White Nutmeg-Pigeon.

Carpophaga spilorrhoa, G. R. Gray in Proc. of Zool. Soc. XXVI. p. 186.
M(i-koitt, Aborigines of Fort Essington.

Carpophaga luctuosa, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. v. pi. 60.

This bird arrives in the Cobourg Peninsula at the be-
ginning of November, and departs again in April or May,
It is strictly arboreal in its habits, living among the branches
of the highest trees, and feeding upon various fruits and
berries. Gilbert's notes respecting it are as follows : — " This
Pigeon may generally be seen in great numbers wherever the
wild nutmeg is to be found, and so exclusively does it confine
itself to the trees in search of food, that during the whole
time I was in the country I never saw one rise from the
ground, nor did I meet with any person in the settlement who
had. It flies very rapidly, and generally mounts up to so great
a height as to be beyond the range of a gun. The only time

RASORES. 115

at which I could succeed in procuring specimens was the
evening, when it resorts to the mangroves on the small islands
lying off the shore, or to the dense thickets a short dis-
tance inland ; at this time it may be seen arriving in small
flocks of from ten to fifteen to roost for the night. Its note,
like that of the other pigeons, is a coo, but at times, particu-
larly when it has paired, it is much louder and deeper than
that of any other species I ever heard.

" It pairs and commences breeding immediately after its
arrival in November, and I have obtained eggs as late as the
middle of January. The nest is formed of a few sticks laid
across one another in opposite directions, and is so shght a
structure that the eggs may usually be seen through the inter-
stices from beneath, and it is so flat that it appears wonderful
how the eggs remain upon it when the branch is waving
about in the wdnd ; it is usually built on the horizontal
branch of a mangrove, and it would seem that it prefers for
this purpose a branch overhanging water. That it never lays
more than one egg appears to me without a doubt, for upon
visiting Table Head Kiver on the eastern side of the harbour
of Port Essington I found no less than twenty nests, all of
which contained either a single egg or a single young bird."
Mr. Elsey found it on the Victoria River ; and out of Australia
it has been met with in the Aru Islands, whence Mr. Wallace
brought specimens.

Mr. G. R. Gray states that this bird, which I had con-
sidered to be identical with C. luctuosa of Temminck, " is
distinguished by the feathers of the thighs and under tail-
coverts being spotted near the margins and the outer tail-
feathers, with the greater part of the outer web and tip black,
while in C. luctuosa the feathers of the thighs and under tail-
coverts end in deep black, and the outer tail-feathers in white
throughout, except on the outer web nearest the base,"

The whole of the plumage buffy white, with the exception of
the primaries, secondaries and greater wing-coverts, which are

I 3

116 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

greyish black, and the tips of the tail-feathers, which are black,
the black becoming of less extent as the feathers recede from
the centre of the tail, until the outer feather is only slightly
tipped ; this feather is also broadly margined with black on
the outer web for three-fourths of its length from the base ;
the under tail-coverts also have an irregular band of black
near the tip of each feather ; irides dark brown ; bill dark
greenish grey, except the tip, which is light yellow.

Genus LOPHOLAIMUS, G. R. Gray.

The single species of this genus is strictly a fruit-eating
Pigeon, and is, so far as we yet know, confined to Australia.

Sp. 458. LOPHOLAIMUS ANTARCTICUS.

Top-knot Pigeon.

Columba antarctica, Shaw, Zool. of New Holl., pi. 5.

dilopha, Temm. in Linn. Trans., vol. xiii. p. 124.

Lophorhynchus dilophus, Swains. Class, of Birds, vol. ii. p. 348.

antardicus, G. R. Gray, List of Gen. of Birds, 1st Edit., p. 58.

Lopholaimus antardicus, G. B. Gray, Ibid., App. to 2nd Edit., p. 12.
Top-knot Pigeon of the Colonists of New South Wales.

Lopholaimus antarcticus, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. v.
pi. 61.

Although the specific term of antarcticus is not an appro-
priate appellation for this noble Pigeon, it cannot, I think, be
sunk into a synonym, since it was first applied to it in a work
exclusively on the zoology of New Holland, as will be seen on
reference to the synonyms above cpioted. I feel assured that
Temminck was either unacquainted with the publication alluded
to, or that the circumstance of its having been previously de-
scribed and figured had escaped his memory, when he cha-
racterized this bird in the thirteenth volume of the " Linnean
Transactions," and subsequently figured it in his " Planches
Coloriecs," under the name of Columba dilopha.

RASORES. 117

I have not yet seen specimens of this Pigeon from the
northern or western coast, and it appears to be exchisively
confined to the rich and kixuriant districts of the southern
and eastern portions of Austraha ; being particularly abundant
in the brushes of Illawarra, the Hunter, the Clarence, &c.,
where there are trees which furnish it at all seasons with a plen-
tiful supply of food. So entirely, arboreal are its habits, that
I never once saw it descend to the ground, or even to the Ioav
shrub-like trees. It is strictly gregarious, often traversing the
forests in flocks of many hundreds in search of those trees
most laden with its favourite fruit ; upon discovering which
the entire flock alight simultaneously, often bearing down
the smaller twigs and branches with their weight.

Among other substances found in the stomachs of those
specimens I dissected, were the wild-fig and the large round
berries of the cabbage-palm ; in all probability it also feeds
upon fruits of a still larger size, as its bill and throat are ca-
pable of being dilated to a great extent.

Its flesh is not so good as that of many other members of
its family, being coarse and dry-eating.

I had no opportunity of observing its nidification, neither
could I obtain any information on the subject.

The sexes are alike in plumage.

Frontal crest, sides of the head, neck, breast, and under
surface silvery grey, the feathers of the neck and breast
being hackled, and admitting the darker colouring of their
bases to be perceived through the interstices ; elongated
occipital plumes rust-red; from the eye to the occiput
a line of black, which, meeting behind, is continued for
a short distance down the back of the neck : all the upper
surface dark slate-grey ; primaries, secondaries, and edge of
the wing black; tail light grey at the base, black for the re-
mainder of its length, crossed by an irregular band of buffy
grey about an inch from the extremity ; irides fiery orange,
surrounded by a lash of pink-red, and seated in a bare mealy

118 BIRDS Ol'" AUSTRALIA.

space of the same colour, but hardly so bright ; bill bright
rose-red, inclining to lilac at the tip ; fleshy part covering the
nostrils and at the base of the lower mandible greenish lead-
colour in the male, and lead-colour in the female ; feet pur-
plish red ; back of the tarsi and sole of the feet greyish brown.

Genus CHALCOPHAPS, Gould.

A genus of Brush Pigeons, which seek their food on the
ground and live on the fallen seeds and berries they find there.
Two species inhabit Australia, one of which is confined to the
eastern and the other to the northern coast ; other species are
found in Java, Sumatra, and on the continent of India, the
whole forming a group well worthy of investigation.

Sp. 459. CHALCOPHAPS CHRYSOCHLORA.
Little Green Pigeon.

Colomba javanica, Temm. Les Pig., pi. 26, but not the description

(Bonaparte).
chrysochlora, Wagl. Syst. Av. Coluniba, sp. 79, but not the

habitat (Bonaparte).

Chalcophaps chrysochlora, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. v.
pi. 62.

The Little Green Pigeon is sparingly dispersed in all the
brushes of New South Wales, both those clothing the moun-
tain ranges as well as those near the coast ; how far it may
proceed northwards has not yet been ascertained. The brushy
districts are the localities peculiarly adapted to it, and these
I believe it never leaves for the more open parts of the country;
hence it is but little known to, and seldom seen by, the colo-
nists, a circumstance the more to be regretted, as the beauty
and brilliancy of its plumage and the neatness of its form ren-
der it one of the prettiest of the Australian birds. When
flushed, it flies very quickly through the scrub, but to no great

RASORES. 119

distance, and readily eludes pursuit by pitching suddenly to
the ground, and remaining so quiet that it can rarely be dis-
covered.

I never met with its nest, nor could I obtain, either from
the natives or settlers, any particulars respecthig its nidifica-
tion.

The sexes differ considerably in colour, and the female is
somewhat smaller than the male.

The male has the crown of the head, face and aU the under
surface deep vinaceous ; nape and back of the neck dark grey;
edge of the shoulder snow-white ; centre of the back, wing-
coverts and outer webs of the tertiaries shining greenish cop-
per-colour ; rump and upper tail-coverts slaty-black, crossed
by three indistinct bands of grey ; primaries and secondaries
brown, largely margined with ferruginous on the base of their
inner webs ; tail black, except the two outer feathers on
each side, which are light grey, crossed by a broad band of
black near the tip ; under tail-coverts black ; apical half of
the bill blood-red, basal half plum-colour ; feet dull reddish
plum-colour ; orbits dark grey ; eyelash lilac-red ; irides lila-
ceous lead-colour.

The female has the head and neck dark cinnamon-brown,
approaching to chocolate ; the wing-coverts much more green
than in the male ; face and all the under surface cinnamon-
brown, with merely a wash on the breast of the vinaceous
tint ; upper tail-coverts brown ; four centre tail-feathers
brown ; the two next on each side chestnut-brown, and the
outer one on each side grey; all but the four middle ones
crossed near the tip with a broad band of black ; and the soft
parts similar, but less brilliant than in the male.

Sp. 460. CHALCOPHAPS LONGIROSTRIS, Gould.
Long-billed Green Pigeon.

As the bird of this form inhabiting the country in the neigh-

120 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

bourhood of Port Essington differs from those inhabiting New
South Wales in the much greater length of the mandibles. I
have named it Chalcophaps longirostris. Its colouring is
similar to that of C. chrysocldora^ but is more brilliant, and
the bands across the rump are more distinct.

Genus LEUCOSARCIA, Gould.

A genus proposed by me for the reception of the Wonga-
Wonga Pigeon of the Australian Brushes, a bird having many
peculiar habits. Its flesh being white, and extremely delicate,
it is one of the best birds for the table inhabiting Australia,
or indeed any other country.

The colour of the flesh suggested the generic term I have
assigned to it.

Sp. 461. LEUCOSARCIA PICATA.

WONGA-WONGA.

Columha picata et melanoleuca, Lath. Ind. Orn. Supp., p. lix.

armiJlaris, Temm. Les Pig., p. 13, pi. 6.

jamiesonii, Quoy et Gaim. Voy. Zoolog., p. 123.

Colomhe Goad-gang, Temm. Les Pig., p. 118.

Phajjs picata, G. R. Gray, Gen. of Birds, vol. ii. p. 477, Phnps, sp. 4.

Wonga-wonga, Aborigines of New South Wales.

White-fleshed and Wonga-wonga Pigeon, Colonists of New South Wales.

Leucosarcia picata, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. v. pi. 63.

This Pigeon must always be an object of interest, from
its large size and the whiteness of its flesh rendering it a
great delicacy for the table ; in which respect it is second
to no other member of its family, the only one at all ap-
proximating to it being the Geop/iaps scripta. It is to be
regretted that a bird possessing so many qualifications should
not be generally dispersed over the country, but such is not
the case. To look for it on the plains or in any of the open
hilly parts would be useless ; no other districts than the

RASORES. 121

brushes which stretch along the line of coast of New South
Wales, or' those clothing the sides of the hills of the interior,
being favoured with its presence. The same kind of situa-
tions that are suited to the Brush Turkey {Talcg alius lathami),
the Menura and the Satin -bii'd are equally adapted to those
of the Wonga-wonga ; its distribution, therefore, over Aus-
tralia mainly depends upon whether the surface of the country
be or be not clothed with that rich character of vegetation
common to the south-eastern portion of the continent. As
the length of its tarsi would lead one to expect, it spends
most of its time on the ground, where it feeds upon the seeds
and stones of the fallen fruits of the towering trees under
whose shade it dwells, seldom exposing itself to the rays of
the sun, or seeking the open parts of the forest. While tra-
versing these solitudes, the explorer is frequently startled by
the sudden rising of the Wonga-wonga, the noise of whose
wings is not very different from that made by the rising of a
Pheasant. Its flight is not of long duration, this power being
merely employed to remove it to a sufficient distance to avoid
detection by again descending to the ground, or mounting to
the branch of a neighbouring tree. I had frequent oppor-
tunities of personally observing it at Illawarra, on the low
islands at the mouth of the river Hunter, and in the cedar-
brushes of the Liverpool range. During my encampment in
each of these parts, it was always secured whenever an oppor-
tunity occurred, for the purpose of eating.

Of the uidification of this valuable bird I could gain no
precise information.

The sexes present no external difference in the markings
of their plumage, but the female is somewhat inferior to the
male in size.

Lores black ; forehead and chin white ; all the upper sur-
face, wings, and tail deep slate-grey ; primaries brown ; the
three lateral tail-feathers on each side tipped with white;
sides of the head light grey, gradually passing into the greyish

122 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA,

black of the breast, which latter colour is interrupted on each
side by a broad line of white which passes obliquely down,
and meets on the centre of the breast near the lower margin
of the greyish black ; feathers of the abdomen and flanks
white, the latter with a triangular black spot near the ex-
tremity of each feather ; under tail-coverts dark brown, largely
tipped with buff, particularly on the inner webs ; irides very
dark brown, surrounded by a narrow pink-red lash ; tip of the
bill purplish black ; base of the bill and the fleshy operculum
covering the nostrils pink-red ; legs and feet bright pink-red.

Genus PHAPS, Selhy.

The species of the genus Fhaps, a form which I believe to
be confined to Australia, are more widely dispersed than those
of any other section of the family, being universally distri-
buted over the entire country from north to south and from
east to west ; even the parched deserts of the interior are
visited by them if a supply of water sufficient for their exist-
ence be within reach of their evening flight, which is per-
formed with the most extraordinary rapidity and power.

Sp. 462. PHAPS CHALCOPTERA.

Common Bronze-wing.

Columba chalcoptera, Lath. Ind. Orn., vol. ii. p. 604.

Bronze-winged Pigeon, Lath. Gen. Syn. Supp. vol. ii. p. !266.

Peristera chalcoptera, Swains. Class, of Birds, vol. ii. p. 349.

Phaps chalcoptera, Selby, Nat. Lib. Orn., vol. v. Pigeons, p. 195, pi. 21.

Oo-da, Aborigines of Western Australia.

Ar-a-wa'r-ra-wa, Aborigines of Port Essington.

Bronze Pigeon, Colonists of Swan River.

Peristera chalcoptera, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. v. pi. 64.

The Bronze-winged Pigeon is so generally distributed over
all parts of Australia, that, without a single exception, the

KASOilES. 1-23

colonists of every settlement have found the surrounding
country inhabited by this fine bird. Specimens from Port
Essington, Swan River, Tasmania, and New South Wales
differ so little from each other, either in their size or mark-
ings, that they nmst all be regarded as one and the same
species. At Swan River it is said to be migratory, and to
be met with in the interior of that part of the country in large
flocks. At Port Essington, on the contrary, it would seem
to be stationary.

It is a plump, heavy bird, weighing when in good condition
fully a pound ; and is constantly eaten by every class of
persons resident in Australia. Its amazing powers of flight
enable it to pass in an incredibly short space of time over
a great expanse of country, and just before sunset it may
be observed swiftly winging its way over the plains or
down the gullies to its drinking-place. During the long
drought of 1839-40, when I was encamped at the northern
extremity of the Brezi range, I had daily opportunities
of observing the arrival of this bird to drink ; the only
water for. miles, as I was assured by the natives, being that in
the immediate vicinity of my tent, and that merely the
scanty supply left in a few small natural basins in the rocks,
which had been filled by the rains of many months before.
This peculiar situation aflbrded me an excellent opportunity
for observing not only the Bronze-wing, but many other birds
inhabiting the neighbourhood : few if any of the true insecti-
vorous or fissirostral birds came to the water-holes ; but, on
the other hand, those species that live upon grain and seeds,
particularly the Parrakeets and Honey-eaters {Trichoglossi d^\^
Meliphagi), were continually rushing down to the edges of
the pools, utterly regardless of my presence, their thirst quite
overcoming their sense of danger ; seldom, if ever, however,
did the Bronze-wing make its appearance during the heat
of the day, but at sundown it arrived with arrow-like swift-
ness, either singly or in pairs. It did not descend at once

124 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

to the edge of the pool, but dashed down to the ground at
about ten yards' distance, remained quiet for a short time,
then walked leisurely to the water, and, after drinking,
winged its way to its roosting-place : with a knowledge, there-
fore, of the habits of this bird, the weary traveller may always
know when he is in the vicinity of water ; and, however arid
the appearance of the country may be, if he observes the Bronze-
wing wending its way to a given point, he may be certain
to procure a supply of water. When rain has fallen in abun-
dance, and the rivers and lagoons are filled; the case is mate-
rially altered ; then the Bronze-wing and many other birds
are not so easily procured.

It has been supposed that a partial exodus of this species
takes place from time to time, a circumstance which I think
is very probable, as its numbers are sometimes suddenly in-
creased. After the breeding season is over, both the adults
and young resort to the stubble-fields of the settlers, when
from twenty to thirty brace may be killed in a day. Although,
as I have before stated, the Bronze-wing is an excellent article
of food, it must yield the palm in this respect to the Wonga-
wonga Pigeon [Leucosarcia picatd) and the Partridge Bronze-
wing {Geophaps scripta), whose flesh is white and more deli-
cate in flavour.

The Bronze-wing feeds almost entirely on the ground, where
it finds the various kinds of leguminous seeds that constitute its
food. It breeds during August and four following months, and
often rears two or more broods ; the eggs are white and two
in number, one inch and three-eighths long and one inch broad.

Its nest, which is very similar to that of the other members
of the family, is a frail structure of small twigs, rather hollow
in form, and is usually placed on the horizontal branch of an
apple- or gum-tree near the ground, those trees growing on
flat meadow land near water being evidently preferred. This
species is very frequently seen in confinement, both in its
native country and in England.

UASORES. 125

Forehead in some deep buff, in others buffy white ; line
under the eye and the chin yellowish white ; crown of the
head and occiput dark brown, bounded on the sides with
pluni-colonr ; sides of the neck grey ; back of the neck and
all the upper surface brown, each feather margined with tawny
brown ; wings brown, with paler edges ; each of the coverts
with an oblong spot of rich lustrous coppery bronze on the
outer web near the base, the outline of which towards the
extremity of the feather is sharply defined ; tip of each of the
coverts grey, fading into white on the extreme tip ; two or
three of the tertiaries with an oblong spot of lustrous green
on their outer webs at the base, bounded by a narrow line of
buff; two centre tail-feathers brown; the remainder deep
grey, crossed by a band of black near the tip ; under surface
of the wing and inner edges of the primaries and secondaries
ferruginous ; breast deep vinaceous, passing into greyish on
the centre of the abdomen and under tail-coverts ; irides dark
reddish brown ; bill blackish grey ; legs and feet carmine-red.

Sp. 463. PHAPS ELEGANS.

Brush Bronze-wing.

Columba eleyans, Temm. Les Pig., fol., p. 56, pi. 22.
Opaline Pigeon, Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. viii. p. 33.
Columba lawsonii, Sieber, Isis, No. Q7.
Oo-da, Aborigines of Western Australia.
Little Bronze Pigeon, Colonists of Swan River.

Peristera elegans, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. v. pi. 65.

This species is neither so plentiful nor so widely distributed
as the Common Bronze-wing {Phaps clialcopterd) ; it is, how-
ever, tolerably abundant in Tasmania, the islands in Bass's
Straits, and the whole of the southern portion of the Australian
continent, from Swan River on the west to Moreton Bay on
the east. In Tasmania it is very numerous, from Circular
Head to the north-eastern corner of the island. It affects

12G BIROS or AUSTRALIA.

the most scrubby localities, giving preference to such as are low
and swampy ; and I have never seen it perch on the branches
of trees. When flushed it rises very quickly with a loud
burring noise similar to that made by the rising of a Partridge.
The shortness of its wings and tail, and the extreme depth of
its pectoral muscle, render its appearance more plump and
round than that of the generality of Pigeons. It is a very
difficult bird to shoot, from its inhabiting the denser parts
of the scrub, from which it is not easily driven. It flies
but Uttle, rarely for a greater distance than to cross a gully
or top a ridge before it again abruptly descends into the
scrub.

Its food consists of seeds and berries of various kinds,
particularly in Tasmania of a plant there called Boobyaller.

I believe it never migrates, but merely removes from one
locality to another, as food may be more or less abundant.

Its note, more lengthened than that of the Common
Bronze-wing, is a low and mournful strain, and is more often
repeated towards the close of the evening than at any other
time. As an article of food it is by no means to be despised.
On a comparison of this species with the Phaps chalcoptera^
the two birds will be found to differ materially in structure ;
the wings of the present species being shorter, and the tail
comprising a smaller number of feathers, than that of the
other.

The sexes differ so little in the colouring of their plumage
that dissection is requisite to distinguish them.

In Western Australia it has been observed to breed some-
times on the ground, and in a fork of the Xanthorrhoea or
grass-tree ; the nest being formed of a few small sticks, and
the eggs as usual being white and two in number, fifteen
lines long by eleven lines broad.

Forehead light chestnut ; lores black ; crown of the head
and nape dark grey ; a broad line of rich deep chestnut
commences at the posterior part of the eye and unites at the

RASORES. 127

occiput ; on the throat a small gorget-shaped mark of reddish
chestnut; all the upper surface rich deep lustrous chestnut,
becoming gradually paler on the rump and upper tail-coverts ;
primaries dark brown, with pale edges, and broadly margined
on the base of their external webs with ferruginous ; a few of
the wing-coverts with an oblong spot of rich lustrous coppery
bronze on the outer web near the base, the outline of which
towards the extremity of the feather is sharply defined and
bounded by a line of whitish grey ; others of the coverts are
similarly ornamented with a spot of golden-green, and others
with deep bluish green, bounded by a more conspicuous line
of white ; four central tail-feathers brown ; the remainder
grey at the base and tipped with brown, the two colours
separated by a broad band of dull black, w^hich band is
continued, but is much less apparent upon the central feathers ;
sides of the neck and all the under surface grey, which
becomes paler on the abdomen and under tail-coverts ; irides
very dark brown ; feet bright pink-red.

Sp. 464. PHAPS HISTRIONICA, Gould.
Harlequin Bronzewing.

Columha [Peristera] histrionica, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, part viii.
p. 114.

Peristera histrionica, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. v. pi. 66.

I first met with this new and beautiful Pigeon on the
2nd of December 1839, while encamped on the banks of the
Mokai, a river which rises in the Liverpool range, and falls
into the Namoi.

I was strolling beside the stream at sunrise, when one of
these birds rose from the water's edge, flew to the distance of
forty yards, and again alighted on the ground, where it
assumed much of the air and actions of a Sand-Grouse
(Pterocles) . A fortnight after this I descended about one hun-
dred and fifty miles down the Namoi, and while traversing the

128 BIRDS OF AUSTUALIA.

extensive plains, studded here and there with patches of trees
that skirt the Nundawar range, I was suddenly startled by
an immense flock of these birds rising before me, and again
alighting on the ground at a short distance ; finding they
would not admit of near approach, I secreted myself, and
desired my aboriginal companion Natty to go round and turn
the flock towards me : the whole simultaneously rose as before
with a loud burring noise, so closely packed, that had they
not passed me at a considerable distance, many must have
fallen to my shot ; as it was I succeeded in obtaining four,
two of which were males. About a week afterwards, while
retm-ning from a kangaroo hunt on a distant part of the same
plain, we approached a small group of Myalls {Acacia pendula),
and Natty suddenly called out, " Look, massa ;" in an instant
the air before us seemed literally filled with a dense mass of
these birds, which had suddenly risen from under the trees at
his exclamation ; we had scarcely time to bring our guns to
the shoulder before they were seventy or eighty yards off;
our united discharge, however, brought down eight additional
specimens, all of which, being merely wdnged and fluttering
about, attracted the attention of our kangaroo dogs, and it
was with the greatest difficulty they could be prevented from
tearing them to pieces ; in the midst of the scramble, a Kite,
with the utmost audacity, came to the attack, and would
doubtless have carried ofi" his share, had not the contents of
my second barrel stopped his career. This was the last time
I met with the Harlequin Bronzewing. I took every oppor-
tunity of making inquiries respecting it of the natives of the
interior, and of the stockmen at the out stations, both of
whom assured me 'they had never observed it before the
present season. If this assertion be correct, and there seems
to be no reason for doubting it, whence had this fine bird
made its appearance ? May we not reasonably suppose that it
.had migrated from the central regions of this vast continent,
which has yet much in store for future discovery ? The great

RASORES. 129

length of wing which this bird possesses admirably adapts it
for inhabiting such districts as those of which the far interior
is generally imagined to be composed, since by this means it
may readily pass over a vast extent of territory ; this great
power of flight is also a highly necessary qualification to enable
it to traverse the great distances it is probably often necessi-
tated to do in search of water.

On dissecting the specimens obtained, I found their crops
half filled with small hard seeds, which they procured from the
open plains, but of what kinds I was unable to determine.

Forehead, stripe from behind the eye, forming a circle
round the ear-coverts, and a crescent-shaped mark across the
throat snow-white ; the remainder of the head, throat, and
ear-coverts jet-black ; all the upper surface, wing-coverts,
flanks, and two centre tail-feathers deep cinnamon-brown ;
edge of the shoulder dull white ; spurious wing bluish grey,
slightly margined with white ; primaries brownish grey, mar-
gined on their outer web with rufous at the base, largely
marked with the same on the inner web, forming a conspicuous
patch on the under surface of the wing, and with an oval spot
of white at the tip of each feather ; secondaries crossed by a
beautiful deep crimson bronze on the outer webs near the tip ;
lateral tail-feathers bluish grey at the base, passing into black
towards the extremity, which is white ; breast and centre of
the abdomen bluish grey; under tail-coverts light buff; nos-
trils and bill black ; bare skin surrounding the eye purplish
black ; irides dark brown ; frontal scales of the legs and feet
lilac-red ; hind part flesh-red.

Total length 10^ inches; bill 1; wing 8; tail 3^; tarsi 1.

The female has only a faint indication of the markings
which adorn the male, and is altogether much less brilliant in
her appearance.

"This beautiful Pigeon," says Captain Sturt, "is an in-
habitant of the interior. It lays its eggs in February, depo-
siting them under any low bush in the middle of the open

VOL. II. K

130 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

plains. In the latter part of March and the beginning of April
they collect in large flocks, and live on the seed of the rice-
grass, which the natives also collect for food. During the
short period this harvest lasts the flavour of this Pigeon is
most delicious, but at other times it is indifferent. It flies to
water at sunset, but, like the Bronze-wing, only wets the bill.
It is astonishing, indeed, that so small a quantity as a bare
mouthful should be sufficient to quench its thirst in the
burning deserts it inhabits. It left us in the beginning of
May, and I think migrated to the N.E., for the further we
went to the westward the fewer did we see of it."

Gilbert observed this species in vast flocks on the plains in
latitude 19° S.

Mr. Elsey only observed it on the Victoria in April and May.

Mr. White, of Adelaide, informs me that he saw great
numbers of this species round Lake Hope in October and a
part of November; the birds were then travelling south-
ward in large flocks.

Genus GEOPHAPS, Gould.

The members of this genus are peculiar to Australia ; they
are more terrestrial in their habits than any other form of
Pigeons inhabiting that country ; incubate on the ground ;
inhabit the plains and open downs ; have white pectoral
muscles ; and are excellent food for man.

Sp. 465. GEOPHAPS SCRIPTA.

Partridge Bro:nze-wing.

Columba scripta, Temm. PI. Col. 187.

inscripta, Wagl. Syst. Av., Columba, sp. 59.

Peristera scripta, Swains. Class, of Birds, vol. ii. p. 349.

Geophaps scripta, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. v. pi. 67.
This Pigeon has more than ordinary claims to the attention

RASORES. 131

both of the ornithologist and the epicure, since to the first it
is of interest as being a typical example of a minor group of
the ColumbidcB, whose habits and economy are very peculiar,
and to the second as a most delicate viand for the table. It
is unquestionably one of the very best birds I ate while in
Australia ; and, in my opinion, it is second to none in any
other part of the world ; for, as in the Wonga-wonga, both
the upper and under pectoral muscles are white, juicy and de-
licately flavoured. It is to be regretted that a bird pos-
sessing such high qualifications as an article of food should
be so exclusively a denizen of the plains of the interior that it
is available to few except inland travellers ; for it would be of
especial interest to the sportsman from its offering a closer
resemblance to the GallinacecB than any other Pigeon.

I sometimes observed it in pairs, but more frequently in
small flocks of from four to six in number, which, when ap-
proached, instead of seeking safety by flight, ran off" with
exceeding rapidity in an opposite direction, and crouched down,
either on the bare plain or among any scanty herbage that
appeared to offer the best shelter, and where they often
laid until all but trodden upon. It was not unfrequently
killed by bullock-drivers with their whips, while passing along
the roads with their teams. When it does rise, it flies with
extreme rapidity, making a loud burring noise with the wings
and generally spinning off to another part of the plain, or to
the horizontal branch of a tree, on which it immediately
squats in the same line with the limb, from which it is not
easily distinguished or driven off.

I met with this bird on the Liverpool Plains, whence
as far as I proceeded on the Lower Namoi its numbers ap-
peared to increase. I have also heard that it is equally abun-
dant on all the plains and banks of the rivers between New
South Wales and the Murray in South Austraha ; and Mr.
Elsey informed me that the Squatter or Partridge Bronze-
wing is numerous on the Lower Burdekin and in the scrubs

k2

132 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

of the Suttor and Dawson ; but I have never yet observed it
in collections either from the northern or western portions of
the continent.

The eggs are two in number, and are deposited on the bare
ground without any nest. The young both run and fly
strongly when they are only as large as a quail, as I satisfac-
torily ascertained by killing one which rose before me ; but
at what bird I had fired I had not the slightest conception
until I picked it up.

In speaking of this bird as an inhabitant of the plains, I
must not fail to mention that it was far more abundant on such
as were intersected by rivers and waterholes ; in fact, water
seemed to be essential to its existence. Its chief food is the
seeds of various grasses and other small plants, to which are
added at some seasons insects and berries.

There is so little difference in the plumage of the sexes,
that it is necessary to resort to dissection to distinguish the
male from the female.

Head, all the upper surface and chest light brown, the ex-
tremities of the wing-coverts and the edges of the primaries
being much paler ; the outer webs of several of the greater
coverts with a speculum of greenish purple obscured,
barred with a darker tint ; chin and throat, a broad stripe
from the lower mandible to beneath the eye, another stripe
from the posterior angle of the eye down the side of the neck,
and a spot on the side of the neck snow-white, the interspaces
being jet-black, the latter colour surrounding the eye, and also
forming a crescent across the lower part of the throat ; abdo-
men grey ; flanks white ; all but the two centre tail-feathers
greyish brown at the base and largely tipped with black ; bill
black ; irides black ; naked skin surrounding the eye bluish
lead-colour ; the corners immediately before and behind the
eye mealy vinous red ; feet and frontal scales dark purplish
vinous red.

RASORES. 133

Sp. 466. GEOPHAPS SMITHII.

Smith's Partridge Bronze-wing.

Columba smithii, Jard. and Selb. 111. Orn., vol. iii. pi. 104.
Man-ga, Aborigines of the Coburg Peninsula.
Partridge Pigeon, Residents of Port Essington.

Geophaps smithii, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. v. pi. 68.

This species is in every respect a true Gcophcq^s^ and
the accompanying notes by Gilbert show that it closely
assimilates in its habits and economy to the type of the genus.
It appears to be abundant on the north coast of Australia,
which is the only part of the country from which I have yet
received it : —

*' Like the G. scripta this bird, which at Port Essington is
termed the Partridge, differs considerably from its congeners
in its general habits, flight, voice, mode of incubation, and the
character of its newly hatched young. It is rather abundant
in all parts of the Peninsula, is mostly seen in small families
and always on the ground, unless when disturbed or alarmed;
it then usually flies into the nearest tree, generally choosing
the largest part of a horizontal branch to perch upon. When
it rises from the ground its flight is accompanied with a
louder flapping or burring noise than I have observed in any
other Pigeon.

" Its note is a coo, so rolled out that it greatly resembles
the note of the Quail, and which, like that bird, it scarcely ever
utters but when on the ground, where it frequently remains
stationary, allowing itself to be almost trod upon before rising.
Its favourite haunts are meadows covered with short grass
near water, or the edges of newly burnt brush. It would
seem that this species migrates occasionally from one part of
the country to another ; for during the months of September
and October not a single individual was to be seen, while at
the time of my arrival and for a month after they were so

134 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

abundant that it was a common and daily occurrence for per-
sons to leave the settlement for an hour or two and return
with several brace ; in the latter part of November they again
appeared, but were not so numerous as before ; and in the
January and February following they were rarely to be met
with, and then mostly in pairs inhabiting the long grasses
clothing the moister parts of the meadows.

" It incubates from August to October, making no nest, but
merely smoothing down a small part of a clump of grass and
forming a slight hollow, in which it deposits two eggs, which
are greenish white, one inch and a quarter long by seven-
eighths of an inch in breadth. The young bird on emerging
from the egg is clothed with down like the young of the
Quail."

Eyes surrounded with a large naked space of a bright
reddish orange colour ; head and all the upper surface olive-
brown ; throat white, the tips of the last feathers grey, form-
ing a surrounding margin of that colour ; on the cheeks a
large brownish grey spot, nearly insulated by the large space
of the eyes being surrounded by a narrow band of white, the
feathers of which are tipped with black ; chest reddish brown ;
on the centre of the breast a few of the feathers are clear grey,
margined at the tip with black ; breast and abdomen purplish
olive-brown ; flanks white ; lower part of the abdomen and
vent buflf ; primaries and secondaries dark brown, margined
with pale brown ; the outer webs of the three or four last
secondaries and one or two greater coverts for two thirds of
of their length from the base rich purple with greenish wavy
reflexions ; two centre tail-feathers olive-brown, the remainder
deep slate-grey at base and black at the extremity ; under
tail-coverts dark brown margined with light brown ; irides of
three colours, first a narrow ring of red next the pupil, then a
broader ring of pure white, and lastly a narrow one of grey ;
bill blackish grey ; legs and feet bluish grey ; back of the
tarsi and inner side of the feet yellowish grey.

RASORES. 135

Genus LOPHOPHAPS, Reichenhach

The birds of tins form are apparently destined to inhabit
the most arid, heated plains ; thus even the desert has a pe-
culiar kind of bird-life, and in this instance one of a highly
ornamental character, for there are scarcely any birds more
graceful than these little plumed Pigeons.

Sp. 4G7. LOPHOPHAPS PLUMIFERA, GoiM
Plumed Bronze-wing.

Geophaps plumifera, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, part x. p. 19.
Lophophaps plumifera, Reichenhach.

Geophaps plumifera, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. v. pi. 69.

I have traced this elegant species from South Australia
through the intervening country to Victoria River. The
far west is evidently inhabited by the succeeding species of
this form.

" It was on the return of my party from the eastern extrem-
ity of Cooper's Creek," says Captain Sturt, " that we first
saw and procured specimens of this beautiful little bird. Its
locality was entirely confined to about thirty miles along the
banks of the creek in question ; it was generally perched on
some rock fully exposed to the sun's rays, and evidently taking
a pleasure in basking in the tremendous heat. It was very
wild and took wing on hearing the least noise. In the after-
noon it was seen running in the grass on the creek side, and
could hardly be distinguished from a quail. It never perched
on the trees; when it dropped after rising from the ground, it
could seldom be flushed again, but ran with such speed through
the grass as to elude our search."

From Gilbert's journal I extract the following passage : —

" Lat. 17° 30', March 6. I was fortunate enough to kill
for the first time Lopliopha^s plumifera. Tiie iridcs are bright
orange, the naked skin before and surrounding the eyes

136 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

bright crimson ; the bill dark greenish grey ; the scales of
the legs and toes greenish grey ; skin between scales light
ashy grey. I only saw the specimen I killed, but afterwards
learnt that one of my companions had seen a flock rise
precisely like Geojjhaps scripta."

Mr. Elsey, writing from the Victoria, informed me that
" this lovely little bird was abundant on the Victoria, especially
about rocky holes and exposed hot gullies and on the hot
sandy beds of the broad rivers of the Gulf, where it was strut-
ing about in the full glare of the sun, with its crest erect. I
have shot six or eight at a time on those rivers. To my fancy
this is one of the most graceful and harmoniously coloured
birds I have ever seen."

To this I may add that Mr. Bynoe found it in the country
bet\teen Cape Hotham and the Island of Depuch.

Bill olive-black ; irides yellow ; lores and bare skin round
the eye either crimson or orange red, bounded above and
below by a narrow line of black ; forehead and a line above the
black one over the eye grey ; centre of the crown and
lengthened crest-plumes delicate cinnamon ; chin and lower
part of the neck black ; centre of the throat and upper part of
the ear-coverts white; lower part of the ear-coverts grey;
chest very rich cinnamon bounded below by a crescentic band
of white, to which succeeds a narrow one of black ; centre of
the abdomen snow-white ; flanks cinnamon ; under tail-co-
verts brown, edged with greyish white ; under side of the
wings delicate cinnamon ; inner parts of the upper portion of
the primaries cinnamon, their outer webs and tips brown ; a
beautiful oblong bronzy-purple metal-like mark on three of
the secondaries ; back of the neck and mantle alternately
rayed with cinnamon and brown, the latter hue not so distinct
as the former ; the feathers of the upper portion of the wings
rayed with cinnamon, blackish brown and grey, the tips of the
feathers being cinnamon, their centres blackish-brown and
their bases grey ; rump and upper tail-coverts cinnamon-

RASORES. 137

brown j basal half of the tail-feathers cinnamon-brown, the
apical half black ; legs greenish grey inclining to purple.

Total length 8^ inches ; bill f ; wing 4f ; tail 3 ; tarsi | ;
longest crest-plume 2^.

I have lately seen at Mr. Ward's, in Vere Street, some very
fine specimens of this bird, which were procured in the inte-
rior of Australia by Mr. Galbraith, of Machrihanish Station,
South Australia, and which are now in the possession of his
sister, Mrs. E. F. M. Craufiurd, of Budleigh Salterton, Devon.

Sp. 468. LOPHOPHAPS FERRUGINEA, Gould.

RuST-COLOURED BrONZE-WING.

For a knowledge of this species we are indebted to the
researches of T. E. Gregory, Esq., a gentleman whose name, like
that of his brother, A. T. Gregory, Esq., will ever be associated
with Australia as one of its most successful explorers.

The habitat of the Lophophaps ferruginea is the extreme
western part of that great country opposite Sharks' Bay and
Dirk Hartog's Island.

The following brief note is all I am able to offer to ornitho-
logists respecting this highly interesting bird. It is from the
pen of Mr. Gregory, and accompanied the specimen he kindly
sent me : —

" I found this species in large numbers on the Gascoigne
River. It almost invariably frequents rocky ground near
water, and in such situations I have occasionally seen more
than five hundred come down to drink in less than half-an-
hour. On the wing it exactly resembles the common Partridge,
but it is not quite so plump in the body, and does not appear
ever to fly in coveys. Its eggs, which are two in number, are
generally laid during the months of July and August."

Both the present and the preceding species are about the
size of a Quail, and when their crest-plumes are carried erect
must have a very sprightly air and appearance.

138 BIRDS OP AUSTRALIA.

Having seen but a single example of this species, I am un-
able to say if there be any outward diflPerence in the sexes. I
suspect there is not, and I am led to this conclusion from an
examination of numerous examples of both sexes of its near
2My Lojjhophaps plumifera, in which no variation occurs; in
all probability, both sexes of the species of this genus are
similarly coloured. If we may judge from analogy, we may
also infer that the young of these little ground Bronze-wings
do not remain callow and helpless for any length of time, but
that, like the young of the GallinacecB generally, they are able
to trip over the ground soon after exclusion from the Q^g.

The L. ferriiginea differs from L.plumifera in the nearly
uniform rust-red colouring of its body and in the absence of
the broad white pectoral band so conspicuous in the latter.

Bill olive-black ; irides yellow ; lores and bare skin round
the eye either crimson or orange-red, bounded above and
below by a narrow line of black ; forehead and a line above
the black one over the eye grey ; centre of the crown and the
lengthened crest-plumes cinnamon -, chin and lower part of
the neck black ; centre of the throat and upper part of the
ear-coverts white, lower part of the ear-coverts grey, all the
under surface deep rust-red ; on each side of the chest two
or three narrow crescentic bars of black, the longest of
which nearly meet in the centre ; under tail-coverts brown,
edged externally with white ; under sm-face of the wing deep
cinnamon ; basal portion of the primaries rust-red, their apices
brown ; a beautiful oblong bronzy-purple metal-like mark on
three of the secondaries ; back of the neck and mantle alter-
nately rayed with rust-red and dark brown ; the feathers of the
upper portion of the wings rayed with rusty red, blackish-
brown and grey, the tips being rust-red, the centre black and
the base grey ; rump and upper tail-coverts rusty brown -,
basal half of the tail-feathers rusty brown, the apical half black ;
legs greenish grey inclining to pm'ple.

Total length 8 inches ; bill } ; wing 4 ; tail 2| ; tarsi J,

RASORES. 139

Genus OCYPHAPS, Gould.

A genus consisting of a single species whose natural habitat
is the interior of Australia, over the vast expanse of vi'hicli its
long pointed wings enable it to pass at pleasure from one
district to another whenever a scarcity of food prompts it so
to do : although mainly terrestrial in its habits, it is more fre-
quently seen on the trees than the members of the genus
Phaps.

Sp. 469. OCYPHAPS LOPHOTES.

Crested Bronze-wing.

Columba lophotes, Temm. PI. Col. 142.

The Crested Pigeon of the Marshes, Start's two Exp. to the interior of

Southern Australia, vol. i. pi. in p. 24.
Turtur ? lophotes, Selby, Nat. Lib. Orn., vol. v. Pigeons, p. 174, pi. 18.

Ocyphaps lophotes, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. v. pi. 70.

The chasteness of its colouring, the extreme elegance of its
form, and the graceful crest which flows from its occiput, all
tend to render this Pigeon one of the most lovely members of
its family, and it is therefore to be regretted that, owing to its
being exclusively an inhabitant of the plains of the interior,
it can never become an object of general observation.

As might be supposed, this bird has attracted the notice of
all the travellers who have crossed the " Blue Mountains ;"
Captain Sturt mentions it as being numerous on the plains of
Wellington valley, and in the neighbourhood of the Morum-
bidgee. The locality nearest the coast-line that I know it to
inhabit is the country near the bend of the river Murray in
South Australia, where it is tolerably abundant ; it abounds on
the banks of the Namoi, and is occasionally seen on the Liver-
pool Plains. It frequently assembles in very large flocks, and
when it visits the lagoons or river-sides for water, during the

140 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

dry seasons, generally selects a single tree, or even a parti-
cular branch, on which to congregate before descending simul-
taneously to drink.

Its flight is so rapid as to be unequalled by those of
any member of the group to which it belongs ; an impetus
being acquired by a few quick flaps of the wings, it goes
skimming off" apparently without any further movement
of the pinions. Upon ahghting on a branch it elevates its
tail and throws back its head, so as to bring them nearly
together, at the same time erecting its crest and showing itself
ofl" to the utmost advantage.

I met with the nest of this species in a low tree, on the
great plain near Gundermein on the Lower Namoi, on the
23rd of December 1839 ; like that of the other species of
Pigeon, it was a slight structure of small twigs, and contained
two white eggs, which were one inch and a quarter long and
nearly an inch broad, upon which the female was then sitting.

Head, face, throat, breast, and abdomen grey ; lengthened
occipital plumes black ; back of the neck, back, rump, flanks,
upper and under tail-coverts light olive-brown ; the upper
tail-coverts tipped with white ; sides of the neck washed with
pinky salmon-colour; feathers covering the insertion of the
wing deep buff, each crossed near the tip with a line of deep
black, giving this part of the plumage a barred appearance ;
greater wing-coverts shining bronzy green, margined with
white; primaries brown; the third, fourth, and fifth finely mar-
gined on the apical half of their external web with brownish
white, the remainder with a narrow line of white bounding
the extremities of both webs ; secondaries brown on their
inner webs, bronzy purple on their outer webs at the base,
and brown at the extremity, broadly margined with white ;
two centre tail-feathers brown, the remainder blackish brown,
glossed with green on their outer webs, and tipped with
white ; irides buffy orange ; orbits naked, wrinkled, and of a
pink-red ; bill olive-black ; legs and feet pink-red.

RASORES. 141

Genus PETROPHASSA, Gould.

So little is known respecting the single species of this Aus-
tralian genus that I am unable to say more than that it inha-
bits rocky situations near the sea-coast.

Sp. 470. PETROPHASSA ALBIPENNIS, Gould.

White-quilled Rock-Pigeon.
Petrophassa albipennis, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, part viii. p. 173,

Petrophassa albipennis, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. v.
pi. 71.

This highly singular species of Pigeon is an inhabitant of
the most rugged and sterile districts of the north-west coast
of Australia. Specimens were sent me by one of the Officers
of the ' Beagle,' but, I regret to say, were unaccompanied by
any particulars respecting their history. Writing to me from
the Victoria River, Mr. Elsey states that it is common among
the sandstone cliffs of the ranges. The form of the wing
would lead us to imagine that in many parts of its economy
this species much resembles those of the members of the
genus Geophaps ; but on these points nothing can be ascer-
tained with certainty, until the productions of those remote
parts of Australia have been carefully investigated, a period
which, from the inhospitable character of the country, I fear,
is far distant.

Crown of the head and neck greyish brown, margined with
sandy brown ; all the upper surface, chest, and tail rufous
brown, the centre of each feather inclining to grey ; lores
black ; abdomen and under tail-coverts chocolate brown ;
throat clothed with small feathers, white at the tip, black at
the base ; primaries dark brown at their tips, the basal half
pure white ; bill and irides blackish brown ; feet reddish
brown.

Total length 10 J inches ^ bill |; wing 5J; tail 5; tarsi f.

142 BIRDS OP AUSTRALIA.

Genus ERYTHRAUCHiENA, Bonaparte.

Few birds are more delicate or elegant in form than the
one to which the above generic appellation has been given,
and which is the only species known to inhabit Australia.

Sp. 471. ERYTHRAUCH^.NA HUMERALIS.

Barred-shouldered Dove.

Columba humeralis, Temm. PI. Col. 191.

erythrauchen, Wagl. Syst. Av., Columba, sp. 98.

Erythrauchana humeralis, Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., torn. ii. p. 93.

Geopelia humeralis, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. v. pi. 72.

There are reasons for believing that the Erythanchcsna hume-
r«/2<9 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. 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 some-
times perched within two yards of the spot where I was
sitting ; extreme thirst and a scanty supply of water may, how-
ever, have rendered them more tame or bold than they
otherwise would have been.

Gilbert states that at Port Essington "this Dove is ex-
tremely 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.

RASORES. 143

It may often be seen among the mangroves in flocks of several
hundreds, and hence its colonial name of Mangrove Dove.
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 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 re-
semble those of the Common Dove 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, but, as is the case with all
Doves, the female is smaller than the male.

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 appear-
ance ; 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 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.

144 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

Genus GEOPELIA, Sivainson.

A form very generally distributed over the Indian Islands
and Australia, and of which two species are peculiar to the latter
country ; grassy hills, flats, and extensive plains are the situ-
ations these birds affect, consequently in Australia they are
almost exclusively confined to the interior ; they pass over the
ground in a quiet and peaceful manner, and when disturbed
fly to some neighbouring tree, descend again almost imme-
diately, and search about for the minute seeds of annuals and
other plants, upon which they principally subsist.

Sp. 472. GEOPELIA TRANQUILLA, Gould.
Peaceful Dove.

Geopelia tranquilla, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. v. pi. 73.

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.

It is 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.

The only observable difiierence 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

UASORES. 145

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.

Total length 8f inches; billf ; wing 4; tail 4f ; tarsi f.

Sp. 473. GEOPELIA PLACIDA, Gould.

Placid Dove.

Geophelia placida, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. i. Introd.
p. Ixxi.

This bird is abundantly and equally distributed over all
parts of the Cobourg 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.

The Placid Ground -Dove is nearly one-third less than the
G. tranquilla, but is so precisely the same in colouring that a
description of it is quite unnecessary.

It may not be out of place to mention that many other
species of this form of little Ground-Doves occur in the islands
immediately to the northward of Australia, in Java, Sumatra,
and the Malayan Peninsula ; where they form a considerable
article of commerce, many of them being caged and sent to
Singapore, and, according to Mr. Jerdon, to the bazaars at
Calcutta ; examples are also frequently brought to England.
No bird being more tranquil in confinement, it is everywhere
a favourite.

VOL. II. L

146 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

Genus STICTOPELIA, Reichenbach.

I consider that Dr. Reichenbach was warranted in making
the elegant Colmnha cuneata the type of a new genus ; it is
the only one of the form at present known.

Sp. 474. STICTOPELIA CUNEATA.

Little Turtle-Dove.

Columba cuneata, Lath. Ind. Orn., Supp. p. 61.

macquarie, Quoy et Gaim. Voy. de PUranie, Ois.^ t. 3L

spiloptera, Vig. in Zool. Journ., vol. v. p. 275.

Geopelia cuneata, G. R. Gray, List of Brit. Mus. Coll., part iii. p. 11.
Stictopelia cuneata, Reich. Syst. Av., tab. 250. figs. 1387-1389.
Men-na-hrun-ka, Aborigines of Western Australia.
Turtle Dove, Colonists of Swan River.

Geopelia cuneata, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. v. pi. 74.

I have seen specimens of this elegant little Dove from
every one of the Australian colonies. It is rarely met with
on the seaside of the mountain ranges, but occurs in con-
siderable numbers on the plains of the interior.

" All that we read or imagine of the softness and innocence
of the Dove," says Captain Sturt, " is realized in this beautiful
and delicate little bird ; it is common on the Murray and the
Darling, and was met with in various parts of the interior.
Two remained with us at the Depot, in latitude 39° 40',
longitude 142°, during a great part of the winter, and on one
occasion roosted on the tent-ropes near the fire. Its note is
exceedingly plaintive."

The little Turtle-Dove is more frequently observed on the
ground than among the trees ; I sometimes met with it in
small flocks, but more often in pairs. 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

RASORES. 147

nearest tree, and tliere remains motionless among the branches.
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 Doves. One sent me from Western
Australia is " composed," says Gilbert, " of a small species of
knotted everlasting-like plant {Composifa), and was placed on
the overhanging grasses of the XantJiorrhoea. During my
first visit to this part of the country only two situations were
known as places of resort for this species, and T 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 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

l2

148 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

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.

Genus MACROPYGIA, Swainson.

A genus the members of which are distributed over India,
Java, New Guinea, Ceram, the Moluccas, and Australia.
Only one species, M. phasianeUa, has yet been characterized
from the last-mentioned country.

Sp. 475. MACROPYGIA PHASIANELLA.

Large-tailed Pigeon.
Columba phasianeUa, Temm. PI. Col. 100.

Macropygia phasianeUa, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. v.
pi. 75.

The interior of the dense brushes are the favourite haunts
of this bird, but it occasionally resorts to the crowns of the
low hills and the open glades of the forest, where it searches
for its food on the ground ; on being disturbed it flies to the
branches of the nearest tree, spreading out its broad tail at
the moment of alighting. 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. While travers-
ing the brushes I frequently saw this bird busily engaged

RASORES. 149

searching on the ground for fallen seeds and berries.
Rarely were more than four or five seen 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. As its
lengthened tarsi would lead us to imagine, it spends much of
its time on the ground ; and when flushed in the depths of
the forest it merely flies to the branch of some low tree, and
there remains with little appearance of fear.

Its note is loud, mournful, and monotonous.

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

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.

Family MEGAPODID^.

The habits and economy of the birds comprised in this
family are both curious and extraordinary, nor are they less
singular in their structure, and in my opinion no group of
birds is more isolated. By one of our best ornithologists
one of the species was classed with the Vultures ; another
placed it with Meleagris; and a third considered it to be
allied to the members of the genus Rallus. From the colonists
of Australia the three species inhabiting that country have
received the trivial names of Brush-Turkey, Native Pheasant,
and Jungle-Fowl ; but to none of these birds are they in any

160 BIRDS OV AUSTBALIA.

way allied. In general appearance the Me(japodid(B offer a
certain degree of alliance to the GallinacecB ; but in the pecu-
liar odour, shape, and colouring of their eggs, and in the
niode in which they are incubated, they are totally different,
and in some of these respects offer a resemblance to the
Tortoises and Turtles. Three species, pertaining to different
genera, inhabit Australia, others exist in New Guinea and
the neighbouring islands, and extend as far north as the Phi-
lippines.

Genus TALEGALLUS, Lesson.

The eastern portion of Australia is the habitat of the solitary
species of this form of mound-raising bird.

Sp. 476. TALEGALLUS LATHAML

Wattled Talegallus.

New Holland Vulture, Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. i. p. 33.
Genus Alectura, Lath. Ibid., vol. x. p. 455.
Aledura lathami, Gray, Zool. Misc., No. 1. p. 3.
Cathetu7'us australis, Swains. Class, of Birds, 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.

Talegalla lathami, G-ould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. v. pi. 77.

This singular bird was originally described and figured
by Latham in the first volume of his ' Genera] History of
Birds,' under the name of Neiv Holland Vulture ; but, subse-
quently, he conceived himself in error in classing it with the
VidturidcB, and at the end of the tenth volume of the same
work placed it among the GallinacecB, with the generic
appellation of Alectura : the species was afterwards dedicated
to that venerable ornithologist by Dr. Gray, in his ' Zoological
Miscellany,' as Alectura lathami.

The generic and specific terms, Catheturus australis, were

RASORES. 151

subsequently applied to it by Swainson, who, in both volumes
of his * Classification of Birds,' replaces it among the VulturidcB,
in order, apparently, to establish his own views respecting that
family.

The term Aledura having been previously employed for a
group of Flycatchers, Lesson's genus TalegalluSy which was
published prior to Swainson's Catheturus, is necessarily the one
adopted.

How far the range of the Wattled Talegallus may extend
over Australia is not yet satisfactorily ascertained ; it is known
to inhabit various parts of New South Wales, from Cape Howe
to Moreton Bay, and Mr. Macgillivray informed me that he had
killed it as far up the east coast as Port Molle ; the assaults
of the cedar-cutters and others, who frequently hunt through
the brushes of lUawarra and Maitland, had, however, nearly
extirpated it from those localities when I visited the colony
in 1838, and it probably does not now exist there; but I
believe it is still 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 when I found it in the Liverpool brushes and in the
scrubby gullies and sides of the lower hills that branch ofi"
towards the interior.

It has often been asserted that Australia abounds in ano-
malies, and in no instance is the truth of this assertion more
fully exemplified than in the history of this very singular bird,
respecting the situation of which in the natural system much
diversity of opinion, as above noticed, had hitherto prevailed.
It was consequently one of the birds which demanded my
utmost attention during my visit to Australia ; and, imme-
diately upon its remarkable habits becoming known to me, I
published an account of them in the first volume of the ' Tas-
manian Journal' for 1840. The remarks therein contained,
and which are recapitulated below, comprise all that is knoAvn

152 BIRDS 01' AUSTRALIA.

respecting them, nothing of importance having since been
discovered.

The most remarkable circumstance connected M^ith the
economy of this species is the fact of its eggs not being incu-
bated in the manner of other birds. At the commencement of
spring the Wattled Talegallus scratches together an immense
heap of decaying vegetable matter as a depository for the
eggs, and trusts to the heat engendered by the process of fer-
mentation for the development of the young. The heap em-
ployed for this purpose is collected by the birds during several
weeks previous to the period of laying ; it varies in size from
two to many cart-loads, and in most instances is of a pyra-
midal form. The construction of the mound is either the
work of one pair of birds or, as some suppose, the united
labours of several ; the same site appears to be resorted to for
several years in succession, the birds adding a fresh supply of
materials each succeeding season.

The materials composing these mounds are accumulated
by the bii'd grasping a quantity in its foot and throwing it
backwards to one common centre, the surface of the ground
for a considerable distance being so completely scratched over
that scarcely a leaf or a blade of grass is left. The mound
being completed, and time allowed for a sufficient heat to be
engendered, the eggs are deposited in a circle at the distance of
nine or twelve inches from each other, and buried more than
an arm's depth, with the large end upwards ; they are covered
up as they are laid, and allowed to remain until hatched. I
have been credibly informed, both by natives and settlers
living near their haunts, that it is not an unusual event to
obtain half a bushel of eggs at one time from a single mound ;
and I have myself seen a native woman bring to the encamp-
ment in her net half as many as the spoils of a foraging ex-
cursion to the neighbouring scrub. Some of the natives state
that the females are constantly in the neighbourhood of the
mound about the time the young are likely to be hatched, and

RASORES. 153

frequently uncover and cover them up again, apparently for the
purpose of assisting those that may have appeared; while others
have informed me that the eggs are merely deposited, and the
young allowed to force their way unassisted. One point has
been clearly ascertained, namely, that the young from the
hour they are hatched are clothed with feathers, and have
their wings sufficiently developed to enable them to fly on to
the branches of trees, should they need to do so to escape
from danger ; they are equally nimble on their legs ; in fact,
as a moth emerges from a chrysalis, dries its wings, and flies
away, so the youthful Talegallus, when it leaves the egg, is
sufficiently perfect to be able to act independently and
procure its own food. This we know from personal obser-
vation of the bird in a state of captivity ; several old birds
having constructed mounds, in which their eggs have been
deposited and their young developed, in the Gardens of the
Zoological Society in the Regent's Park. I shall always look
back with pleasure to the fact of my being the first to make
known these singular habits. Although, unfortunately, I was
almost too late for the breeding-season, I nevertheless saw
several of these hatching-mounds, both in the interior of New
South Wales and at Illawarra ; in every instance they were
placed in the most retired and shady glens, and on the slope
of a hill, the part above the mound being scratched clean,
while all below remained untouched, as if the birds had
found it more easy to convey the materials down than to
throw them up. The eggs are perfectly white, of a long
oval form, three inches and three-quarters long by two
inches and a half in diameter.

When disturbed, the Wattled Talegallus 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, it springs upon the lowermost bough
of some neighbouring tree, and by a succession of leaps from
branch to branch ascends to the top, and either perches there

154 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

or flies off to another part of the brush. It is 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 destruc-
tion ; for, like the Ruffed Grouse of America, when assembled
in small companies, they will 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 this singular species — an event much
to be regretted, since, independently of its being an interesting
object for the aviary, it is an excellent bird for the table.

While stalking about the woods the Talegallus frequently
utters a rather loud clucking noise ; but whether this sound
is uttered by the female only I could not ascertain ; still I
think such is the case, and that the spiteful male, who appears
to delight in expanding his richly -coloured fleshy wattles and
unmercifully thrashing his helpmate, is generally mute.

In various parts of the brush I observed depressions in the
earth, which the natives informed me were made by the birds
in dusting themselves.

The stomach is extremely muscular, and the crop of one
dissected was filled with seeds, berries, and a few insects.

The adults, which are nearly the size of a female Turkey
have the whole of the upper surface, wings, and tail blackish
brown ; the feathers of the under surface blackish brown at
the base, becoming silvery grey at the tip ; skin of the head
and neck deep pink red, thinly sprinkled with short hair-like
blackish-brown feathers ; wattle bright yellow, tinged with
red where it unites with the red of the neck ; bill black ;
irides and feet brown.

The female, which is about a fourth less than the male in
size, is so closely the same in colour as to render a separate
description unnecessary. She also possesses the wattle, but
not to so great an extent.

RASORES. 155

Genus LEIPOA, Gould.

As in the case with Talegallus, the only species of this form
that has yet been discovered is strictly confined to Australia.

Sp. 477. LEIPOA OCELLATA, Gould.

OCELLATED LeIPOA.

Leipoa ocellata, Gould iu Proc. of Zool. Soc, part viii, p. 126.
NgoWf Aborigines of the lowland ; Ngow-oOy of the mountain districts

of Western Australia.
Native Pheasant, Colonists of Western Australia.

Leipoa ocellata, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. v. pi. 78.

This remarkable bird is among the most important of the
ornithological novelties which the exploration of Western and
Southern Australia has unfolded to us.

Like the Wattled Talegallus, it is rendered highly interesting
from the circumstance of its not hatching its own eggs, which,
instead of being incubated in the usual way, are deposited in
mounds of mixed sand and herbage, and there left for the
heating of the mass to develope the young, which, when ac-
complished, force their way through the sides of the mound
and commence an active life from the moment they see the
light of day.

The Ocellated Leipoa appears to be more peculiarly suited
for a plain and open country than for the tangled brush ; and
it is most curious to observe how beautifully the means em-
ployed by Nature for the reproduction of the species is adapted
to the situations it is destined to inhabit. The following
sketches of its economy, as far as it has yet been ascertained,
were sent me by Gilbert and Sir George Grey, and are here
given in their own words : —

" Wongan Hills, Western Australia, September 28, 1842.

" This morning I had the good fortune to penetrate into
the dense thicket I had been so long anxious to visit in search

156 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

of the Leipoa's eggs, and had not proceeded far before the
native who was with me told me to keep a good look-out, as
we were among the JSgou-ods hillocks ; and in half-an-hour
after we found one, around which the brush was so thick that
we were almost running over it before seeing it. So anxious
was I to see the hidden treasures within, that in my haste I
threw aside the black fellow and began scraping off the upper
part of the mound ; this did not at all please him, and he be-
came very indignant, at the same time making me understand
' that as I had never seen this nest before I had better trust
to him to get out the eggs, or I should, in my haste and im-
patience, certainly break them.' I therefore let him have his
own way, and he began scraping off the earth very carefully
from the centre, throwing it over the side, so that the mound
very soon presented the appearance of a huge basin ; about
two feet in depth of earth was in this way thrown off, when
the large ends of two eggs met my anxious gaze ; both these
eggs were resting on their smaller apex, and the earth round
them had. to be very carefully removed to avoid breaking the
shell, which is extremely fragile when first exposed to the atmo-
sphere. About a hundred yards from this first mound we
came upon a second, rather larger, of the same external form
and appearance ; it contained three eggs. Although we saw
seven or eight more mounds, only these two contained eggs :
we were too early ; a week later and we should doubtless have
found many more. To give you an idea of the place these
birds choose for their remarkable mode of rearing their young,
I will describe it as nearly as I can : — The Wongan Hills are
about thirteen hundred feet above the level of the sea, in a
north-north-east direction from Drummond's house in the
Toodyay : their sides are thickly clothed with a dense forest
of Emalypti ; and at their base is a thicket, extending for se-
veral miles, of upright-growing and thick bushy plants, so
high in most parts that we could not see over their tops, and
so dense, that if we separated only for a few yards, we were

RASORES. 157

obliged to cooey, to prevent our straying from each other ;
this thicket is again shadowed by a very curious species of
dwarf Eucaly2)his bearing yellow blossoms, and growing from
fifteen to thirty feet in height, known to the native as the
spear-wood, and of which they make their spears, digging-
sticks, dowaks, &c. ; the whole formation is a fine reddish
ironstone gravel, and this the Leipoa scratches up from several
yards around, and thus forms its mound, to be afterwards
converted into a hot-bed for the reproduction of its offspring.
The interior of the mound is composed of the finer particles
of the gravel mixed with vegetable matter, the fermentation
of which produces a warmth sufficient for the purpose of
hatching. Mr. Drummond, who had been for years accus-
tomed to hot-beds in England, gave it as his opinion that the
heat around the eggs was about 8 9°. In both the nests with eggs
the White Ant was very numerous, making its little covered
galleries of earth around and attached to the shell, thus
showing a beautiful provision of Nature in preparing the
necessary tender food for the young bird on its emergence ;
one of the eggs I have preserved shows the White Ants' tracks
most beautifully ; the largest mound I saw, and which ap-
peared as if in a state of preparation for eggs, measured forty-
five feet in circumference, and if rounded in proportion on the
top would have been full five feet in height. I remarked in
all the mounds not ready for the reception of eggs the inside
or vegetable portion was always wet and cold, and I imagine,
from the state of others, that the bird turns out the whole of
the materials to dry before depositing its eggs and covering
them up with the soil ; in both cases where I found eggs the
upper part of the mound was perfectly and smoothly rounded
over, so that any one passing it without knowing the singular
habit of the bird might very readily suppose it to be an ant-hill:
mounds in this state always contain eggs within, while those
without eggs are not only not rounded over, but have the
centres so scooped out that they form a hollow. The eggs

158 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

are deposited in a very different manner from those of the
Megapodius ; instead of each being placed in a separate ex-
cavation in different parts of the mound, they are laid directly
in the centre, all at the same depth, separated only by about
three inches of earth, and so placed as to form a circle. I
regret we were so early; had we been a week later, the
probability is I should have found the circle of eggs com-
plete. Is it not singular that all the eggs were equally
fresh, as if their development was arrested until the full
number was deposited, so that the young might all appear
about the same time? No one considering the immense
size of the egg can for a moment suppose the bird capable of
laying more than one without at least the intermission of a day,
and perhaps even more. Like those of the Megapodius, they
are covered with an epidermis-like coating, and are certainly as
large, being three inches and three quarters in length by two
and a half in breadth ; they vary in colour from a very light
brown to a light salmon. During the whole day we did not
succeed in obtaining sight of the bird, although we saw nume-
rous tracks of its feet, and many places where it had been
scratching ; we also saw its tracks on the sand when crossing
the dried beds of the swamps at least two miles from the
breeding-thicket, which proves that the bird, in procuring its
food, does not confine itself to the brushes around its nest, but
merely resorts to them for the purpose of incubating. The
native informed us that the only chance of procuring the bird
was by stationing ourselves in sight of the mound at a little
distance, and remaining quiet and immovable till it made its
appearance at sundown ; this I attempted, and, with the
native, encamped within twenty yards of the mound about an
hour before sunset, taking the precaution to conceal ourselves
well with bushes from the quick eye of the bird, but leaving
just a sufficient opening to get a fair sight with my gun ; in a
half-sitting, half-crouching position, I thus remained in breath-
less anxiety for the approach of the bird I had so long wished to

EASORES. 159

see, not daring to move a muscle, for fear of moving a branch
or making a noise by crushing a dead leaf, till I was so
cramped I could scarcely bear the pain in my limbs ; the bird
did not however make its appearance, and the native, with the
fear of wading through the thicket in darkness (for there was
no moon), became so impatient, that he started up and began
to talk so loud, and make so much noise, that T was compelled
to give up all hopes of seeing the bird that night ; however,
just as we were passing the mound we started the bird from
the opposite side, but, from the denseness of the thicket
and the darkness closing around us, I had no chance of getting
a shot at it. Mr. Roe, the Surveyor-General, who examined
several mounds during his expedition to the interior in the
year 1836, found the eggs nearly ready to hatch in the month
of November, and invariably seven or eight in number ; while
another authority has informed me of an instance of fourteen
being taken from one mound."

In a subsequent letter Gilbert states that the flavour of the
egg is very similar to that of the Tortoise or Tm'tle, and that
when mixed with tea its similarity to the peculiar roughness
and earthy flavour of that of the Hawk's-bill Turtle is very re-
markable.

" Government House, Adelaide, December 12th, 1842.

" My dear Mr. Gotjld, — I have lately returned from the
Murray, where I have been studying the habits and manners
of the Leipoa ocellata, which is very plentiful in the sandy
districts of the scrub. The eyes of the living bird are of a
bright, light hazel ; its legs and feet dark brown ; whilst the
bare parts of the head and face are of a very delicate and clear
blue. The gizzard is very large and muscular; the inner
coats peculiarly horny and hard. Its food consists chiefly of
insects, such as Phasmidce and a species of Cimex ; it also
feeds on the seeds of various shrubs. The entire lungs and
intestines of the one which I dissected were full of Tccnio'idcs.
I have never seen any other animal infested with them to any-

160 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

thing like the same extent ; and yet the bird was perfectly
healthy. It possesses the power of running with extraordi-
nary rapidity ; it roosts at night on trees, and never flies if it
can avoid so doing.

" The mounds they construct are from twelve to thirteen
yards in circumference at the base, and from two to three
feet in height ; the general form being that of a dome. The
sand and grass are sometimes scraped up for a distance of from
fifteen to sixteen feet from its outer edge.

" The mound appears to be constructed as follows: — A nearly
circular hole, of about eighteen inches in diameter, is scratched
in the ground to the depth of seven or eight inches, and filled
with dead leaves, dead grass, and similar materials ; and a
large mass of the same substances is placed all round it upon
the ground. Over this first layer a large mound of sand,
mixed with dried grass, &c., is thrown, and finally the whole
assumes the form of a dome, as I have before stated.

" When an egg is to be deposited, the top is laid open and
a hole scraped in its centre to within two or three inches of the
bottom of the layer of dead leaves. The egg is placed in the
sand just at the edge of the hole, in a vertical position, with
the smaller end downwards. The sand is then thrown in
again, and the mound left in its original form. The egg
which has been thus deposited is therefore completely sur-
rounded and enveloped in soft sand, having from four to six
inches of sand between the lower end of the egg and the layer
of dead leaves. When a second egg is laid it is deposited in
precisely the same plane as the first, but at the opposite side
of the hole before alluded to. When a third egg is laid it is
placed in the same plane as the others, but, as it were, at the
third corner of a square. When the fourth egg is laid, it is
still placed in the same plane, but in the fourth corner of the
square, or rather of the lozenge, the figure being of this
form : — o°o ; the next four eggs in succession are placed in the
interstices, but always in the same plane, so that at last there

RASORES. 161

is a circle of eight eggs all standing upright in the sand, with
several inches of sand intervening between each. The male
bird assists the female in opening and covering up the mound;
and, provided the birds are not themselves disturbed, the
female continues to lay in the same mound, even after it has
been several times robbed. The natives say that the females
lay an egg every day.

" Eight is the greatest number I have heard of from good
authority as having been found in one nest ; but I opened a
mound which had been previously robbed of several eggs, and
found that two had been laid opposite to each other in the
same plane, in the usual manner ; and a third deposited in a
plane parallel to that in which the other two were placed, but
4^ inches below them. This circumstance led me to imagine
it was possible that there might be sometimes successive cir-
cles of eggs in different planes.

" I enclose three sketches, which will convey to you a com-
plete idea of the form of the mound, and of the manner in
which the eggs are placed in it. These sketches were drawn
by Mr. Knight, from a rude one of mine, and are very ac-
curate.

No. 1.

This sketch represents a section through the mound after the sand has
been cleared out in such a manner that the eggs could all be removed, and
the bottom of the nest of leaves be laid bare. It shows the form of the
opening the natives make in the mound when they rob it of its eggs ; this
opening has, however, been continued below where the eggs are placed, in
order to show the form of the interior nest.

The pale tint represents that portion which is made of sand ; the darker
tint the part which is made of leaves, &c.

VOL. II. M

103

BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

No. 2.

Vk

lii!!i':;iiiiiiiiiiinii.i.

^^f:'

This sketch represents a. section through the mound in its undis-
turhed state : the pnle tint in(hcatcs the portion of sand, tlie darker tint the
leaves, &c.

Xo. 3.

This sketch shows a hird's-eye view of the mound, as seen from above ;
the sand is supposed to have been so far thrown out as to leave the tops
of the eggs exposed, and to show them standing upright in their relative
positions.

RASORES. 163

" One of the mounds of these birds which had been robbed
of its eggs on the 11th of November, some of which were
quite fresh, had two fresh eggs laid in it on the 27th of the
same month, and the birds were seen at the nest on the
morning of the 28th, apparently for the purpose of laying,
when the male bird was shot.

" Sometimes several of these mounds are constructed close
to one another. I found two within 200 or 300 yards ; and
have seen five within the distance of four or five miles. They
were built in precisely the same situations that I have seen
them in other parts of the continent, that is, in a sandy
scrubby country, the site of the mound being in some little
open glade, in the very thickest part of the scrub.

" The eggs are of a light pink, the colour being brightest
and most uniform when freshly laid. As the time of hatching
approaches they become discoloured, and marked in places
with dark spots.

" The greatest length of these eggs is about
„ breadth „

" Circumference in direction of length . . .
„ „ breadth . .

" The temperature of the nests I have examined has always
been warm; not so much so, however, as I should have
thought necessary for the purpose of hatching eggs.

" There are two great peculiarities about these eggs ; the
first is, that both ends are of nearly the same size, which
form is peculiarly adapted to the position in which they are
always placed ; the egg being compressed in every part as
nearly as possible towards the axis, in which the centre of
gravity lies, there is the least possible tendency to its equili-
brium being destroyed when it is placed in a vertical posi-
tion. A second peculiarity is the extreme thinness of the
shell, and its consequent fragility. This is so great, that,
unless the egg is handled with the greatest care, it is snre to
be broken ; and every effort which has been made to hatch

M 2

q 6

inches

9 2

>>

10

>>

7 2

' 10

>>

104 BIRDS OF AUSTIlAlilA.

these eggs under domestic fowls has failed, the egg having in
every instance been broken by the bird under which it was
placed.

" The native name for the bird on the Murray River is
Marrah-ho or Marra-ko ; in Western Australia the name of
the bird is Nyouc-o or Ncjow. The name in Western Australia
is given from the tuft on its head, Ngoweer meaning a tuft of
feathers.

" I have found this bird in different parts of that portion
of Australia included between the 26th and 36th parallels of
south latitude, and the 113tli and 141st parallels of east
longitude, and I think that there is every probability that it
inhabits a much wider range. It is found in all the scrubby
districts of South Australia.

" The farthest point north at which I have seen the breed-
ing-places of this bird is Gantheaume Bay. The natives of
King George's Sound say the bird exists in that neighbour-
hood. I have never fallen in with its nests but in one de-
scription of country, viz. where the soil was dry and sandy,
and so thickly wooded with a species of dwarf Leptospermiim,
that if you stray from the native paths, it is almost impossible
to force your way through.

" Yours truly,

" G. Grey."

" December 14th.

" P.S. — I have, by cross-examination of several natives,
elicited the following account of this bird : —

" There is only one male and one female to each mound :
they repair an old mound, and do not build a new one ; both
assist in scratching the stmd to the nest. The female com-
mences laying about the beginning of September, or when
the spear-grass begins to shoot. Both sexes approach the
nest together when the female is about to lay, and they take
an equal share in the labour of covering and uncovering the
mound. After every sunrise the female lays an egg, and lays

RASORES. 1(35

altogether from eight to ten. If the natives rob the mound,
the female will lay again in the same nest, but she will only-
lay the full number of eggs twice in one summer. From the
commencement of building, until the last eggs are hatched,
four moons elapse (this would give a very long period of time
before the eggs were hatched). The young one scratches its
way out alone ; the mother does not assist it. They usually
come out one at a time ; occasionally a pair appear toge-
ther. The mother, who is feeding in the scrub in the vicinity,
hears its call and runs to it. She then takes care of the young
one as a European hen does of its chick. When the young
are all hatched, the mother is accompanied by eight or ten
young ones, who remain with her until they are more than
half-grown. The male bird does not accompany them. The
two sexes have different calls : that of the female is constantly
uttered while she walks about in the scrub with her young
ones.

" The natives frequently find the eggs and nests, but they
seldom see the old birds, which are very timid and quick-
sighted. They run very fast, like the Emu, roost on trees,
and live for a long time without water, but drink when it
rains. The natives state that the Entozoa which I found in
the bird mentioned above were unusual, and that it must
have been in ill health.

" It is a remarkably stout, compact bird, and appears,
when alive, to have as large a body as the female Turkey, but
it is shorter on the legs."

Besides the above valuable notes by Gilbert and Sir George
Grey, Mr. Richard Schomburgk has kindly sent me a copy of
the ' Leopoldina,' Haft iii., October 1862, containing a com-
munication from him respecting this bird, which, in the main,
agrees with the above statements ; but he has been led to
believe that an interval of three or four days elapses between
the laying of the eggs by one female ; he also particularly
remarks upon the base of the mound being sunk in the

166 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

ground to the depth of twenty or twenty-four inches, and the
cavity filled with leaves of the Eucalijjdi, on the top of and
surrounding which the mound of sand and mixed herbage is
raised. Mr. Schomburgk also states that an egg he took
home and placed under a domestic hen vv^as hatched the next
day, and the young bird appeared covered with feathers and
capable of at once obtaining its own food.

The Ocellated Leipoa is altogether a more slender and
elegantly formed bird than the Wattled Talegallus, and
moreover differs from that bird in having the head and neck
thickly clothed with feathers, and in being adorned with a
beautifully variegated style of colouring.

Head and crest blackish brown ; neck and shoulders dark
ash-grey ; the fore part of the former, from the chin to the
breast, marked by a series of lanceolate feathers, which are
black, with a white stripe down the centre ; back and wings
conspicuously marked with three distinct bands of greyish
white, brown, and black near the tip of each feather, the
marks assuming an ocellate form, particularly on the tips of
the secondaries ; primaries brown, their outer webs marked
with zigzag lines of darker brown ; rump and upper tail-
coverts brownish grey, the feathers of the latter transversely
marked with two or three zigzag lines near their tip ; all the
imder surface light buff, the tips of the flank-feathers barred
with black; tail blackish brown, broadly tipped with buff;
bill black ; feet blackish brown.

Total length 24 inches ; bill 1^ ; wing 12 ; tail 8 J ; tarsi 1\.

The female so nearly resembles the male in the colouring
and general markings of her plumage, that a separate de-
scription is quite unnecessary ; I may remark, however, that
she is somewhat smaller in size.

RASORES. 167

Genus MEGAPODIUS, Qmy et Gaimard,

The members of this genus inhabit many of the Indian and
PhiHppine Islands, and one species is found in AustraHa. It
is said that the females of some species associate in bands
during the night and deposit their eggs in the sand of the
sea-shore to the depth of two or three feet ; that the suc-
cessive deposits of eggs amount to a hundred, or more, and are
left to be hatched by the solar rays.

Sp. 478. MEGAPODIUS TUMULUS, Gould.
Australian Megapode.

Megcqwdius tumulus, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, part x. p. 20.
Oooregoorga, Aborigines of the Cobourg Peninsula.
Jungle-fowl, Colonists of Port Essington.

Megapodius tumulus, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. v. pi. 79.

The discovery of a species of Megapodius in Australia is no
more than might have been expected, considering that New-
Guinea and the adjacent islands are the great nursery of this
extraordinary tribe of birds.

When the Megapodius tumulus first came under my obser-
vation I conceived it to be the M. rubripes of Temminck, and
it was not until I had examined specimens of that species in
the Museums of Paris and Ley den that I was satisfied of its
being distinct. Its much greater size and more than propor-
tionately powerful legs are among the specific differences
which will be observable by those who may feel disposed to
institute a comparison. Interesting as this bird must be to
every naturalist, to myself it is peculiarly so, since the
valuable notes on its habits and economy, which happily I am
enabled to give, fully confirm all that I had previously asserted
respecting the extraordinary mode of incubation of the Tale-
gallusj verifying the opinion I have before expressed, that

168 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

Me^ajjodiiis, Talegalliis, and Leipoa are most nearly allied
genera, forming part of a great family of birds, whose range
will be found to extend from the Philippines through the
islands of the Indian Archipelago to Australia.

The Megapodius tumulus is rather numerously spread over
the whole of the Cobourg Peninsula on the north coast of the
Australian continent; future research will doubtless require
us to assign to it a much wider range, probably over many
of the islands lying off the east coast.

The following account of its habits is taken from Gilbert's
notes ; and, novel and extraordinary as those of Talegallus
and Leipoa may have been considered, this will be read with
even greater interest : —

" On my arrival at Port Essington my attention was
attracted to numerous immense mounds of earth, which were
pointed out to me by some of the residents as the tumuli of
the aborigines ; on the other hand, I was assured by the
natives that they were formed by the Megapode for the
purpose of incubating its eggs : their statement appeared so
extraordinary, and so much at variance with the general
habits of birds, that no one in the settlement believed them
or took sufficient interest in the matter to examine the
mounds, and thus to verify or refute their accounts ; another
circumstance which induced a doubt of their veracity was the
great size of the eggs brought in by the natives as those of
this bird. Aware that the eggs of Leipoa were hatched in a
similar manner, my attention was immediately arrested by
these accounts, and I at once determined to ascertain all I
possibly could respecting so singular a feature in the bird's
economy ; and, having procured the assistance of a very
intelligent native, who undertook to guide me to the different
places resorted to by the bird, I proceeded on the sixteenth
of November to Knocker's Bay, a part of Port Essington
Harbour comparatively but little known, and where I had
been informed a number of these birds were always to be

RASORES. 169

seen. I landed beside a thicket, and had not proceeded far
from the shore ere I came to a mound of sand and shells, with
a slight mixture of black soil, the base resting on a sandy
beach, only a few feet above high-water mark ; it was
enveloped in the large yellow-blossomed Hibiscus, was of a
conical form, twenty feet in circumference at the base, and
about five feet in height. On pointing it out to the native
and asking him what it was, he replied ' Ooorcgoorga
Rambal,' Megapode's house or nest. I then scrambled up
the sides of it, and to my extreme delight found a young bird
in a hole about two feet deep ; it was lying on a few dry
withered leaves, and appeared to be only a few days old. So
far I was satisfied that these mounds had some connexion
with the bird's mode of incubation ; but I was still sceptical
as to the probability of these young birds ascending from so
great a depth as the natives represented ; and my suspicions
were confirmed by my being unable to induce the native, in
this instance, to search for the eggs, his excuse being that
' he knew it would be useless, as he saw no traces of the
old birds having recently been there.' I took the utmost
care of the young bird, intending to rear it if possible ; I
therefore obtained a moderately- sized box, and placed in it a
large portion of sand. As it fed rather freely on bruised
Indian corn, I was in full hopes of succeeding ; but it proved
of so wild and intractable a disposition that it would not
reconcile itself to such close confinement, and effected its
escape on the third day. During the period it remained in
captivity it was incessantly occupied in scratching up the
sand into heaps ; and the rapidity with which it threw the
sand from one end of the box to the other was quite sur-
prising for so young and small a bird, its size not being
larger than that of a small Quail. At night it was so restless
that I was constantly kept awake by the noise it made in its
endeavours to escape. In scratching up the sand it only used
one foot, and having grasped a handful as it were, the sand

170 BIRDS or AUSTRALIA.

was thrown behind it, with but little apparent exertion, and
without shifting its standing position on the other leg ; this
habit seemed to be the result of an innate restless disposition
and a desire to use its powerful feet, and to have but little
connexion with its feeding ; for although Indian corn was
mixed with the sand, I never detected the bird in picking any
of it np while thus employed.

" I continued to receive the eggs without having an oppor-
tunity of seeing them taken from the mound until the 6th of
February, when on again visiting Knocker's Bay I had the
gratification of seeing two taken from a depth of six feet, in
one of the largest mounds I had then seen. In this instance
the holes ran down in an oblique direction from the centre
towards the outer slope of the hillock, so that, although the
eggs were six feet deep from the summit, they were only two or
three feet from the side. The birds are said to lay but a
single egg in each hole, and after the egg is deposited the
earth is immediately thrown down lightly until the hole is
filled up ; the upper part of the mound is then smoothed and
rounded over. It is easily known when a Megapode has
been recently excavating, from the distinct impressions of its
feet on the top and sides of the mound, and the earth being
so lightly thrown over, that with a slender stick the direction
of the hole is readily detected, the ease or difficulty of thrusting
the stick down indicating the length of time that may have
elapsed since the bird's operations. Thus far it is easy
enough ; but to reach the eggs requires no little exertion and
perseverance. The natives dig them up with their hands
alone, and only make sufficient room to admit their bodies,
and to throw out the earth between their legs ; by grubbing
with their fingers alone they are enabled to follow the direction
of the hole with greater certainty, which will sometimes, at a
depth of several feet, turn off" abruptly at right angles, its
direct course being obstructed by a clump of wood or some
other impediment. Their patience is, however, often put to

RASORES. 171

severe trials. In the present instance the native dug down
six times in succession to a depth of at least six or seven feet
without finding an egg, and at the last attempt came up in
such a state of exhaustion that he refused to try again ; but
my interest was now too much excited to relinquish the op-
portunity of verifying the native's statements, and by the offer
of an additional reward I induced him to make another effort :
this seventh trial proved successful, and my gratification was
complete, when the native with equal pride and satisfaction
held up an egg, and after two or three more attempts pro-
duced a second ; thus proving how cautious Europeans should
be of disregarding the narratives of these poor children of
nature, because they happen to sound extraordinary or different
from anything with which they were previously acquainted.

" I revisited Knocker's Bay on the 10th of February, and
having with some difficulty penetrated into a dense thicket of
cane-like creeping plants, I suddenly found myself beside a
mound of gigantic proportions. It was fifteen feet in height
and sixty in circumference at the base, the upper part being
about a third less, and was entirely composed of the richest
description of light vegetable mould ; on the top were very
recent marks of the bird's feet. The native and myself im-
mediately set to work, and after an hour's extreme labour,
rendered the more fatiguing from the excessive heat, and the
tormenting attacks of myriads of mosquitoes and sand-flies, I
succeeded in obtaining an egg from a depth of about five feet ;
it was in a perpendicular position, with the earth surrounding
and very lightly touching it on all sides, and without any other
material to impart warmth, which in fact did not appear neces-
sary, the mound being quite warm to the hands. The holes in
this mound commenced at the outer edge of the summit, and
ran down obliquely towards the centre : their direction there-
fore is not uniform. Like the majority of the mounds I have
seen, this was so enveloped in thickly foliagcd trees as to pre-
clude the possibility of the sun's rays reaching any part of it.

172 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

" The mounds differ very much in their composition, form,
and situation : most of those that are placed near the water's
edge were formed of sand and shells without a vestige of any
other material, but in some of them I met with a portion of
soil and decaying w^ood ; when constructed of this loose ma-
terial they are very irregular in outline, and often resemble a
bank thrown up by a constant heavy surf. One remarkable
specimen of this description, situated on the southern side of
Knocker's Bay, has the appearance of a bank, from twenty-five
to thirty feet in length, with" an average height of five feet ; an-
other even more singular is situated at the head of tlie harbour,
and is composed entirely of pebbly iron-stone, resembling a
confused heap of sifted gravel ; into this I dug to the depth of
two or three feet without finding any change of character ; it
may have been conical originally, but is now without any
regularity, and is very extensive, covering a space of at least
a hundred and fifty feet in circumference. These remarkable
specimens would, however, seem to be exceptions, as by far
the greater number are entirely formed of light black veget-
able soil, are of a conical form, and are situated in the densest
thickets. Occasionally the mounds are met with in barren,
rocky and sandy situations, where not a particle of soil similar
to that of which they are composed occurs for miles round :
how the soil is produced in such situations appears unac-
countable ; it has been said that the parent birds bring it
from a great distance ; but as we have seen that they readily
adapt themselves to the difference of situation, this is scarcely
probable : I conceive that they collect the dead leaves and other
vegetable matter that may be at hand, and which decomposing
forms this particular description of soil. The mounds are
doubtless the work of many years, and of many birds in suc-
cession ; some of them are evidently very ancient, trees being
often seen growing from their sides ; in one instance I found
a tree growing from the middle of a mound which was a foot
in diameter. I endeavoured to glean from the natives how

RASORES. 173

the young effect their escape ; but on this point they do not
agree ; some asserting that they find their way unaided ;
others, on the contrary, affirmed that the old birds, knowing
when the young are ready to emerge from their confinement,
scratch down and release them.

" The natives say that only a single pair of birds are ever
found at one mound at a time, and such, judging from my
own observation, I believe to be the case ; they also affirm
that the eggs are deposited at night, at intervals of several
days, and this I also believe to be correct, as four eggs taken
on the same day, and from the same mound, contained young
in diff'erent stages of development ; and the fact that they are
always placed perpendicularly is established by the concurring
testimony of all the different tribes of natives I have questioned
on the subject.

" The Megapode is almost exclusively confined to the
dense thickets immediately adjacent to the sea-beach ; it
appears never to go far inland, except along the banks of
creeks. It is always met with in pairs or quite solitary, and
feeds on the ground, its food consisting of roots, which its
powerful claws enable it to scratch up with the utmost facility,
and also of seeds, berries, and insects, particularly the larger
species of coleoptera.

"It is at all times a very difficult bird to procure ; for
although the rustling noise produced by its stiff" pinions when
flying may be frequently heard, the bird itself is seldom to be
seen. Its flight is heavy and unsustained in the extreme ;
when first disturbed it invariably flies to a tree, and on
alighting stretches out its head and neck in a straight line
with its body, remaining in this position as stationary and
motionless as the branch upon which it is perched ; if, how-
ever, it becomes fairly alarmed, it takes a horizontal but
laborious flight for about a hundred yards, with its legs hang-
ing down as if broken. I did not myself detect any note or
cry ; but, from the natives' description and imitation of it, it

174 BIRDS OV AUSTRALIA.

much resembles the clucking of the domestic fowl, ending
with a scream like that of the Peacock.

" I observed that the birds continued to lay from the latter
part of August to March, when I left that ])art of the country ;
and, according to the testimony of the natives, there is only
an interval of about four or live months, the dryest and hot-
test part of the year, between their seasons of incubation.
The composition of the mound appears to influence the co-
louring of a thin epidermis with which the eggs are covered,
and which readily chips off, showing the true shell to be
white ; those deposited in the black soil are always of a dark
reddish brown, while those from the sandy hillocks near the
beach are of a dirty yellowish white ; they differ a good deal
in size, but in form they all assimilate, both ends being equal ;
they are three inches and five lines long by two inches and
three lines broad."

The following interesting account of the breeding-places of
this remarkable bird has been transmitted to me by Mr, John
Macgillivray as the result of his observations on Nogo or
Megapodius Island in Endeavour Straits. It will be seen that
its range is more extensive than I had assigned to it : —

" The most southern locality known to me for this singular
bird is Haggerston Island (in lat. 12° 3' south), where I observed
several of its mounds of very large size, but did not see any
of the birds. During the survey of Endeavour Straits in
H.M.S. ' Bramble,' 1 was more fortunate, having succeeded
in procuring both male and female on the island marked
' Nogo ' upon the chart, where I resided for several days for
that sole purpose. On this small island, not more than half
a mile in length, rising at one extremity into a low rounded
hill densely covered with jungle (or what in New South Wales
would be called ' brush '), three mounds, one of them appa-
rently deserted before completion, were found. The two
others were examined by Mr. Jukes and myself. The most
recent, judging from the smoothness of its sides and the want

RASORES. 175

of vegetable matter, was situated upon the crest of the hill,
and measured 8 feet in height (or 13 J from the base of the
slope to the summit) and 77 feet in circumference. In this
mound, after several hours' hard digging into a well-packed
mass of earth, stones, decaying branches and leaves and other
vegetable matter, and the living roots of trees, we found nu-
merous fragments of eggs, besides one broken egg containing
a dead and putrid chick, and another whole one, which proved
to be addled. All were imbedded at a depth of six feet from
the nearest part of the surface, at which place the heat pro-
duced by the fermentation of the mass was considerable. The
^gg' 3^ by 2|- inches, was dirty brown, covered with a kind
of epidermis, which easily chipped off, exposing a pure white
surface beneath. Another mound, situated at the foot of the
hill close to the beach, measured no less than 150 feet in cir-
cumference ; and to form this immense accumulation of mate-
rials the ground in the vicinity had been scraped quite bare
by the birds, and numerous shallow excavations pointed out
whence the materials had been derived. Its form was an
irregular oval, the flattened summit not being central as in
the first instance, but situated nearer the larger end, which
was elevated 14 feet from the ground, the slope measuring in
various directions 18, 21^, and 24 feet. At Port Lihou, in
a small bay a few miles to the westward, at Cape York and at
Port Essington, I found other mounds which were compara-
tively low, and appeared to have been dug into by the natives.
The great size the tumuli (which are probably the work of
several generations) have attained on Haggerston and Nogo
Islands arises doubtless from those places being seldom visited
by the aborigines. I found several eggs of large size in the
ovarium of a female shot in August, while the condition of the
oviduct showed that an egg had very recently passed ; hence
it is probable that, in spite of their great comparative size, one
bird lays several ; but whether each mound is resorted to by
more than one pair, I had not the means of ascertaining.

176 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

" Few birds are more wary and less easily procured than
the MegapGdius : it inhabits the belts of brush along the
coast, and I never found the tumulus at a greater distance
from the sea than a few hundred yards. When disturbed it
seldom rises at once, unless on the margin of a thicket, but
runs off to some distance and then takes to wing, flying
heavily, but without any of the whirring noise of the true
GallinacecB. It seldom takes a long flight, and usually perches
on a tree, remaining there in a crouching attitude with out-
stretched neck, but flying off again upon observing any mo-
tion made by its pursuer ; and it is only by cautiously sneak-
ing up under cover of the largest trees that it can be ap-
proached within gun-shot. As an example of its shyness, I
may mention that a party of three persons, scattered about in
a small jungle on Nogo Island, for the purpose of shooting the
Megapodius, did not see a single bird, although they put up
several, one of which came towards me and perched, uncon-
scious of my presence, within twenty yards. At Port Essing-
ton I have shot this bird among mangroves, the roots of
which were washed by the sea at high water ; and Capt. F. P.
Blackwood killed one while running on the mud in a similar
locality, in both histances close to a mound. I never wit-
nessed the escape of the young from the mound ; but one, as
large as a quail, and covered with feathers, was brought to
Lieut. Ince by a native, who affirmed that he had dug it out
along with several eggs.

" Iris yellowish brown ; stomach a complete gizzard, being
thick and muscular, containing small quartz pebbles, small
shells {Helix and Bulimus), and black seeds ; intestine 34
inches in length, of the size of a goose-quifl, and nearly uni-
form in thickness, much twisted and contracted at intervals ;
csecum slender, dilated at the extremity, and 4f inches in
length."

The late Mr. Elsey informed me that " the mounds of this
bird were observed in the dense bottle-scrubs of the lower

RASORES. 177

Burdekin ; always in localities vvlierc I could not examine
them; never in open ground. They abound in the scrubs
about the stations on the Dawson and Mackenzie."

Head and crest very deep cinnamon-brown ; back of the
neck and all the under surface very dark grey ; back and wings
cinnamon-brown ; upper and under tail-coverts dark chestnut-
brown ; tail blackish brown ; irides generally dark brown,
but in some specimens light reddish brown ; bill reddish
brown, with yellow edges ; tarsi and feet bright orange, the
scales on the front of the tarsi from the fourth downwards
and the scales of the toes dark reddish brown.

The size of this bird is about that of a hen Pheasant {Pha-
sianus colchicus).

ramHy TURNICID^.

In outward appearance the Tiirnices are seemingly allied to
the Quails and Partridges, but no real affinity exists between
them ; neither are they, in my opinion, allied to the Tinamous,
with which they have been associated. Those persons who
have seen much of these birds in a state of natm*e cannot
have failed to notice their many singular actions and manners,
while their mode of nidification, the number and colour of
their eggs, must have no less interested them. Although, of
course, they must be placed with the GaUinacca, we cannot
shut our eyes to their Plover-like economy.

Genus TURN IX, Bonnaterre.

However widely the members of this genus are dispersed,
inhabiting, as one or other of them do, most of the Indian
Islands, the Peninsula of India, Europe, and Africa, in
Australia we find the species more numerous than elsewhere ;
they not only inhabit every part of the continent that has yet
been explored, but they extend their range to the islands
adjacent to the coast and even to Tasmania ; some species

VOL. II. N

178 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

enjoy a wide range across the country from east to west,
while others are very local ; grassy plains and stony ridges
thinly interspersed with scrubs and grasses are the situations
they frequent ; their eggs are invariably four in number, and
rather pointed in form ; their only nest is a few grasses placed
in a hollow on the ground.

Sp. 479. TURNIX MELANOGASTER, Gould.
Black-breasted Turnix.

Hemipodius melanog aster, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, part v. p. 7 .

Hemipodius melanogaster, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. v.
pi. 81.

I regret that, never having seen this species in a state of
nature, I am unable to render any account of its habits and
economy. It is a native of the eastern portion of Australia ; and
the specimens in my collection were all procured at Moreton
Bay. The sexes present considerable difference in their size
and markings, the male being the smallest and being destitute
of the black colouring which distinguishes the female. It is
about half the size of an English Partridge, and is the largest
species of the genus yet discovered.

Crown of the head, ear-coverts, throat and centre of the
abdomen black; over each eye extends a line of feathers
having each a small white spot at the tip ; this line extends to
the nape, which part is also thickly spotted with white on a
black and chestnut-coloured ground ; feathers on the sides of
the chest and flanks black, having a large crescent-shaped
marking of white near the tip ; mantle and upper part of the
back rich chestnut brown, each feather having a spot of white
and a stripe of black on each side, and barred with black at or
near the tip ; shoulders, greater and lesser wing-coverts rufous
brown, each feather having a white spot surrounded with a
black line ; primaries dark brown ; thighs and upper and

RASORES. 179

under tail-coverts brown, freckled and crossed with black ;
bill light brown ; feet flesh-colour.

Total length 8^ inches ; bill 1 ; wing 4^ ; tail f ; tarsi l^.

Sp. 480. TURNIX VARIUS.

Varied Turnix.

Perdix varia, Lath. Ind. Oru., Supp. p. Ixiii.

New Holland Partridge, Lath. Gen. Syu. Supp., vol. ii. p. 283.

Varied Quail, Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. viii. p. 344, no. 88,

Hemipodius varius, Teinm. PI. Col., 454. f. 1.

Turnix varius, Vieill. 2nd Edit, du Nouv. Diet. d'Hist. Nat.,

torn, xxxiv.
Moo-ro-lum, Aborigines of the lowland districts of Western Australia.
Painted Quail, Colonists of Tasmania and Swan River.

Hemipodius varius, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. v. pi. 82.

Among the game birds of Australia the Varied Turnix
plays a rather prominent part, for although its flesh is not so
good for the table as that of the little Partridge and Quail,
Synoicus australis and Coturnix pectoralis, it is a bird which
is not to be despised when the game-bag is emptied at the
end of a day's sport, for it forms an acceptable variety to its
contents. Although it does not actually associate with either
of the birds mentioned above, it is often found in the same
districts, and all three species may be procured in the course
of a morning's walk in many parts of New South Wales,
Victoria and South Australia, where it frequents sterile stony
ridges, interspersed with scrubby trees and moderately thick
grass.

It is also very common in all parts of Tasmania suitable to
its habits, hills of moderate elevation and of a dry stony
character being the localities preferred ; it is also numerous
on the sandy and sterile islands in Bass's Straits. Specimens
from Western Australia, which at first sight appear to be
identical with the bird here figured, are found to be smaller

180 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

in size and to differ in their markings, and they will probably
prove to be a distinct species. Tasinanian specimens, having
an average weight of five onnces each, are rather larger than
those of New South Wales ; no difference, however, occurs
in their markings, and I consider them to be mere local
varieties : no example has yet come under my notice from
the north coast, and the range of the species doubtless does
not extend to within several degrees of that latitude.

It runs remarkably quick, and when flushed flies low, its
pointed wings giving it much the appearance of a Snipe or
Sandpiper. When running or walking over the ground the
neck is stretched out and the head carried very high, which
together with the rounded contour of the back give it a very
grotesqnc appearance. The breeding-season commences in
August or September and terminates in January, during
which period at least two broods are reared. The eggs are
invariably four in number, and are either deposited on the
bare ground or in a slightly constructed nest of grasses,
placed in some shallow depression, not unfrequently under the
lee of a stone or at the foot of a tuft of grass ; they are more
pointed than those of other gallinaceous birds, are of a very
pale buff, very minutely and thickly spotted and freckled
with reddish brown, chestnut, and purplish grey, and are
one inch and a quarter long by one inch broad.

The note of the Varied Turnix is a loud and plaintive
sound, which is often repeated, particularly during the pairing-
season.

One very remarkable feature connected with this bird, and
indeed with all the species of the genus, is the large size of
the female when compared with that of the male ; no difference
however exists in their colour and markings.

The young run as soon as they are hatched, and their
appearance then assimilates so closely to that of the young
Partridges and Quails that they can scarcely be distinguished.
The pretty downy coat with which they are then covered soon

RASORES. 181

gives place to feathers, whose markings and colours resemble,
but are less brilliant than those of the adult.

The food of this species consists of insects, grain, and
berries ; of the former many kinds are eaten, but locusts
and grasshoppers form the principal part; a considerable
quantity of sand is also found in the gizzard, which is very
thick and muscular.

The adults have the crown of the head, nape, and forehead
rich brown, spotted with white, and transversely rayed with
large markings of brown ; feathers of the cheeks and a stripe
over'each eye white, slightly fringed with black at theii- tips ;
throat greyish white ; back and sides of the neck and mantle
lich rufous brown ; feathers of the back, rump, and upper
tail-coverts transversely rayed with chestnut-red and black,
the former and the scapularies striped laterally with black
and white ; wings rufous, each feather spotted with white,
which is bounded posteriorly with an irregular spot of black ;
primaries brown ; chest and flanks olive, each feather having
a triangular yellowish- white spot at the tip; centre of the
abdomen and under tail-coverts yellowish white; bill brown,
with a bluish tinge ; irides bright reddish orange ; legs and
feet orange ; claws white.

Sp. 480. TURNIX SCINTILLANS, Gould.

Speckled Turnix.
Hemipodius scintillans, Gould in Proc. of Zool, Soc, part xiii. p. G.2.

Hemipodius scintiUans, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. v. pi. 83.

This very beautiful species is an inhabitant of the Ilout-
man's Abrolhos, a group of islands lying off the western coast
of Australia, and is tolerably abundant on two of them named
East and West Wallaby Islands, where it is principally met
with among the limestone crags.

In its general appearance and the style of its markings it

182

BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

much resembles the Turnicc varius, but on comparison will be
found to be but little more than half the size of that species ;
besides which, its colouring is much hghter, more varied, and
sparkling, the white margins of the back-feathers are more
numerous and conspicuous, and the markings of the throat
and breast of a crescentic instead of an elongated form.

Nothing whatever is known of its habits and economy, but
they doubtless closely resemble those of the other species of
the genus.

The whole of the upper surface is light chestnut-red, each
feather crossed by broad bars of brownish black, and margined
with grey, within which are two narrow lines of black and
white ; wing-coverts and tertiaries light chestnut-red, crossed
by irregular zigzag bars of black, the interspaces of the outer
margins greyish white ; chin and sides of the face white, with
a narrow crescent-shaped mark of brown at the tip of each
feather ; sides of the chest chestnut, each feather tipped with
white, within which is an indistinct mark of deep black ;
chest and under surface pale buffy white, the feathers of the
chest with a row of dark grey spots on each margin, giving
that part a speckled appearance ; primaries brown, narrowly
edged with white ; irides reddish yellow ; bill greenish grey,
darkest on the culmen, and becoming ashy grey beneath ; legs
and feet orange-yellow.

Male. — Total length 5 inches ; bill y^ ; wing 3^ ; tarsi \^.

Female. ,, 6 „ | „ 3^ „ J.

Sp. 481. TURNIX MELANOTUS, Gould.

Black-backed Turnix.

Hemipodius melanotiLS, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, part v. p. 8.
Tiirnix melanotus, Gould in Grey's Trav. App., vol. ii. p. 419, note.

Hemipodius melanotus, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. v. pi. 84.

Several years have now elapsed since 1 described this
species from a specimen received from Moreton Bay ; since

RASORES. 183

then I have obtained other examples from the eastern and
northern parts of Australia; but have not obtained any in-
formation respecting its habits and economy.

The female is a larger bird than the male, in which respect
only do the sexes differ in outward appearance.

Crown of the head black, each feather fringed with brown
at the tip ; space between the bill and the eye, stripe over
the eye and cheeks, light yellowish brown, the feathers of the
latter shghtly tipped with black; back of the neck rich
chestnut-red ; scapularies deep chestnut-red, with a large
transverse black mark in the centre of each feather, and a
longitudinal stripe of fawn-yellow on their outer edges ; rump
and upper tail-coverts black, each feather freckled with fine
markings of brown, with indistinct spots of buff on the
external edges of the upper tail-coverts ; greater and lesser
wing-coverts bufF-yellow, each feather having a spot of black
in the centre ; primaries brown ; throat whitish ; front of
the neck and chest deep buff; sides of the neck and flanks
light bufi", with an oblong spot of black transversely disposed
in the centre of each feather ; centre of the abdomen and
under tail-coverts buffy white ; bill and feet brown.

Total length 6 J inches ; bill | ; wing 3 J ; tail f ; tarsi }.

Sp. 482. TURNIX CASTANOTUS, Gould.

Chestnut-backed Turnix.

Hemipodius castanotus, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, part vii. p. 145.
Win-do-loom, Aborigines of Port Essington.
Thick-hilled Quail, Colonists.

Hemipodius castanotus, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. v.
pi. 85.

The Chestnut-backed Heraipode inhabits the northern and
north-western portions of Australia ; specimens from the
latter have been forwarded to me by Mr. Bynoe and by Mr.

184 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

Driiig of ILM.S. ' Beagle/ Gilbert also found it at Port Es-
singtou, and his notes respecting it I here transcribe : —

" This species inhabits the sides of stony hills in coveys of
from fifteen to thirty in number; which, when disturbed,
seldom rise together, but run along the ground, and it is
only upon being very closely pursued tliat they will take wing,
and then they merely fly to a short distance : while running
on the ground their heads are thrown up as high as their
necks will permit, and their bodies being carried very erect, a
waddling motion is given to their gait, which is very ludicrous.
'J^he stomachs of those dissected were very muscular, and con-
tained seeds and a large proportion of pebbles."

Head, neck, and chest olive-grey, the feathers of the head
and neck spotted with fawn-white at the tip, and those of the
chest having a spatulate mark of the same colour down the
centre ; centre of the abdomen and the under tail-coverts pale
buff; a narrow stripe over each eye, back, shoulders, and tail
rich chestnut ; the feathers on the back and shoulders spotted
with white, the white spots bounded anteriorly with black ;
primaries brown, edged with buff; irides gamboge-yellow;
bill Hght ash-grey; naked skin round the eye smoke-grey;
tarsi and feet king's-yellow.

Total length 7 inches ; bill ^ ; wing 3^ ; tarsi 1.

Sp. 483. TURNIX VELOX, Gould.

Swift-flying Turnix.

Hemipodius velox, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, part viii. p. 150.
Kar-a-du7ig, Aborigines of the mountain districts of Western Australia.
Little Quail of the Colonists.

Hemipodius velox, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. v. pi. 87.

I found this interesting species of Tiirnioc abundant in
various parts of New South Wales, and ascertained that it is
strictly migratory, by finding it in those places in summer

KASORKS. 185

which I had previously visited in winter, when no appearance
of one was to be seen.

It appears to give preference to low stony ridges thinly
covered with grasses, for it was in such situations that I gene-
rally found it, though on some occasions I started it from
among the rank herbage clothing the alluvial soil of the bot-
toms. It lies so close as to be nearly trodden upon before it
will rise, and when flushed flies ofi" with such extreme rapidity,
as, when its small size and the intervention of trees combine, to
render it a most difficult shot to the sportsman. On rising
it flies to the distance of one or two hundred yards within
two or three feet of the surface, and then suddenly pitches to
the ground. As might be expected, it lies well to a pointer,
and it was by this means that I found many which I could
not otherwise have started.

In addition to the districts above named, I observed it,
although rarely, in the interior of the country north of the
Liverpool Plains. Before I left Sydney a single specimen was
sent me from South Australia, and in a collection from Swan
River I found both the bird and its eggs; these circumstances
proving that it possesses a range extending from one side of
the continent to the other, and in all probability it inhabits a
great portion of the interior. In Western Australia it is
stated to frequent clear open spots of grass, and may
occasionally be met with in the thick scrub, but its most
favourite retreat is the grassy valleys of the interior adjacent
to water.

Pleased as I was at making acquaintance with this little
bird, I was still more gratified at finding its nest and eggs.

It breeds in September and October. The nest is slightly
constructed of grasses placed in a shallow depression of the
ground under the shelter of a small tuft of grass : the eggs
are four in number, of a dirty white, very thickly blotched all
over with markings of chestnut, eleven lines and a half long
by nine lines broad : eggs from Western Australia are much

180 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

much lighter m colour, and have the chestnut blotchings
more minute.

The stomach is extremely muscular, and the food consists
of grasshoppers and other insects, seeds, &c.

One of the most singular circumstances connected with the
history of this and the following species is the great difference
in the size of the sexes, the males being but little more than
half the size of the females.

Head, ear-coverts, and all the upper surface chestnut-red ;
the crown of the head in some specimens has a longitudinal
mark of buff down the centre ; the feathers of the back, rump,
scapularies, and sides of the chest margined with buff, within
which is a narrow line of black running in the same direction;
the feathers of the lower part of the back are also crossed by
several narrow irregular bands of black; primaries light brown,
margined with buff on their internal edges ; throat, chest, and
flanks sandy buff, passing into white on the abdomen ; bill
horn-colour ; irides straw-white ; legs and feet yellowish white.

Total length 5 J inches ; bill \ ; wing 3 ; tarsi

The above is the description of a female : the male has the
feathers on the sides of the chest conspicuously margined
with buff.

Sp. 484. TURNIX PYRRHOTHORAX, Gould.

Red-chested Turnix.

Hemipodius pyrrhothorax, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, part viii.
p. 150.

Hemipodius pyrrohothorax Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. v.
pi. 86.

But little is known respecting the Swift-flying Turnix,
and even less information has been obtained respecting the
history of the present species, which, although assimilating to
the former in some of its characters, differs from it in the
markings of the face and neck, and in the rufous colouring of

RASORES. 187

the fore part of the throat and chest: it is also somewhat more
slender and elegant in its proportions. It first came under
my notice while traversing the flats near Aberdeen, on the
Upper Hunter, where I obtained a single example of the
female ; since then, however, Mr. Coxen has kindly sent me
examples of the opposite sex, and I have seen others in col-
lections from the east coast.

The female has the crown of the head dark brown, with a
line of buff down the centre ; feathers surrounding the eye,
ear-coverts and sides of the neck extremely small, white, edged
with black ; back and rump dark brown, transversely rayed
with bars and freckles of black and buff ; wings paler, edged
with buff, within which is a line of black running in the same
direction ; primaries brown, margined with buff ; throat, chest,
flanks and under tail-coverts sandy red, passing into white on
the centre of the abdomen ; bill horn-colour ; irides straw-
yellow ; feet yellowish white.

Total length 6^ inches ; bill -j^ ; wing 3 ; tarsi f .

The male has a similar character of markings on the upper
surface, but the colouring of his throat and flanks is much
paler, and he is fully a third smaller in size.

Genus PEDIONOMUS, Gould.

Allied to Turnix, but diff'ering in having a small hind-toe.
A single species only of this curious form has yet been dis-
covered.

Sp. 485. PEDIONOMUS TORQUATUS, Gould.

Collared Plain-Wanderer.

Pedionomus torquatus, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, part viii. p. 114.

micronrus, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, part x. p. 20.

Turnix youldiana, 0. des Murs. (Bonaparte).

Pedionomus torquatus, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. v. pi. 80.
The structure of this singular little bird is admirably adapted

18S BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

for inhabiting those extensive and arid plains which charac-
terize the central portions of Australia ; and we may reason-
ably suppose, that whenever the vast interior of that country
shall be explored, other species of this form will be discovered.

The lengthened and courser-like legs of the Collared Plain-
Wanderer are admirably suited for running, while its short,
round and concave wings are as little adapted for extensive
flight. Its general contour suggests the idea of a diminutive
Bustard. As is the case with the Turnices^ the sexes differ
considerably both in size and markings, the female being by
far the largest and richest in colour. On its native plains
this bird has many singular habits, particularly that of secret-
ing itself among the scanty herbage or of remaining quiet on
the bare ground until it is nearly trodden upon before it will
rise, and when it does take wing its flight is more contracted
than that of any bird with which I am acquainted. In a state of
captivity it becomes less shy and assumes, as the following notes
by Sir George Grey will testify, many sprightly actions : —

"We have had several of these birds in confinement at diff'e-
rent times ; they eat pounded wheat, raw and boiled rice, bread
and flies ; the latter appear to be their favourite food. They
soon become perfectly tame ; the three now in our possession
we have had for upwards of four months.

" These birds are migratory ; they appear at Adelaide in
June, and disappear about January ; where they go has not
yet been ascertained. They never fly if they can avoid so
doing, and are often caught by dogs ; when disturbed, they
crouch down and endeavour to hide themselves in a tuft of
grass. While running about they are in the habit of raising
themselves in a nearly perpendicular position on the extremi-
ties of their toes, so that the hinder part of the foot does not
touch the ground, and of taking a wdde survey around them.
The Emu sometimes stands in a similar position. I have not
yet ascertained anything respecting their nests, eggs, or time
of breeding. The call of those we have in confinement pre-

RASORES. 189

cisely resembles that of the Emu, not the whistle, but the
hollow-sounding noise like that produced by tapping on a cask,
which the Emu utters, but is of course much fainter."

Strange sent me a fully developed egg of this bird which he
took from the ovarium of a female ; in general character it
resembles those of the Tiirnices ; it is somewhat* suddenly con-
tracted at the smaller end, the ground-colour is stone-white
sprinkled with small blotches of umber-brown and vinous
grey, the latter colour appearing as if beneath the surface of
the shell, the sprinkled markings predominating at the larger
end ; the length of the egg is one inch and one-eighth by
seven- eighths in breadth.

The male has the crown of the head, back, and upper sur-
face mottled with black, brown and fawn-colour, the latter
occupying the external edge of the feathers, and the black and
brown forming alternate circular markings on each feather ;
throat, neck, chest and flanks dull fawn-colour, the feathers of
the neck and chest blotched with brown ; flanks marked with
the same colour, assuming the form of bars ; tail-feathers
almost invisible ; centre of the abdomen and under tail-coverts
buffy-white ; irides straw-yellow ; feet greenish yellow.

Total length 4^ inches ; bill ^b" ; wing 3 J ; tarsi f .

The female has the crown of the head reddish brown,
speckled with black ; sides of the head and neck light buff,
speckled with black ; neck surrounded by a broad band of
white, thickly spotted with black; all the upper surface
reddish brown, each feather having several transverse crescent-
shaped marks in the centre, and margined with buff; tail
buff, crossed by numerous narrow brown bars ; centre of the
breast rufous, the remainder of the under surface buff; the
feathers on the breast marked in a similar manner to those on
the upper surface, and the flanks with large irregular spots of
black; irides straw-yellow; bill yellow, passing into black at
the point ; feet greenish yellow.

Total length 7 inches ; bill J ; wing 3f ; tail If ; tarsi -J.

190 151RDS Ol<' AU8THALLA.

Family PERDI0ID-3S.

Genus COTURNIX, Mahring.

One true Quail is all that has yet been described in Aus-
tralia ; this, as might be expected, is a denizen of the plains,
and of all the open districts of any extent where grass-lands
occur; but it also resorts to the arable districts in great
abundance. Another species occurs in New Zealand and
others in India, Africa, and Europe, but not in America.

Sp. 486. COTURNIX PECTORALIS, Gould.

Pectoral Quail.

Coturnix pectoralis, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, part v. p. 8.
Stubble Quail of the Colonists of Tasmania.

Coturnix pectoralis, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. v. pi. 88.

The present species is very abundant in Tasmania, South
Austraha, and New South Wales ; I have also received speci-
mens from Western Australia and a single example from the
north coast, from both of which localities the specimens are
smaller, and have a more bufFy tint pervading the under sur-
face ; I am not, however, prepared to affirm that they are
specifically distinct. Open grassy plains, extensive grass flats,
and the parts of the country under cultivation, are situations
favourable to the habits of the bird ; in its economy and mode
of life, in fact, it so closely resembles the Quail of Europe
{Coturnix communis) that a description of one is equally de-
scriptive of the other. It powers of flight are considerable,
and when flushed, it wings its way with arrow-like swiftness
to a distant part of the plain ; it lies well to a pointer, and
has from the first settlement of the colony always afforded
considerable amusement to the sportsman. It is an excellent
bird for the table, fully equalling in this respect its European

KASORES. lUl

representative. During my rambles in the districts resorted
to by this bird, I frequently found its nest and eggs ; they
bear a strong resemblance to those of our own Quail ; but
much variation exists in their colouring, some being largely
blotched all over with brown on a straw-white ground,
while from this to a finely spotted marking every variety
occurs ; the number of eggs in each nest varies from eleven
to fourteen. The situations chosen for the nest are much
diversified ; sometimes it is placed among the thick grass of
the luxuriant flats, while at others it is artfully concealed by a
tuft of herbage on the open plains. The chief food of this
species is grain, seeds and insects, the grain, as a matter of
course, being only procured in cultivated districts ; and hence
the name of Stubble Quail has been given to it by the colonists
of Tasmania, from the great numbers that visit the fields after
the harvest is over.

September and the three following months constitute the
breeding-season ; but it is somewhat later in Tasmania than
in South Australia and New South Wales.

The average weight of the male is four ounces and a half ;
the female, which rarely equals the male in size, may at all
times be distinguished by the total absence of the black mark-
ings on the chest, and by the throat being white instead of
buff".

The male has the lores, ear-coverts and throat buff; crown
of the head and back of the neck deep brown ; over each eye
two parallel lines of yellowish white ; a similar line down the
centre of the head from the forehead to the nape ; back of the
neck brown, each feather marked down its centre with a lan-
ceolate mark of yellowish white, blotched on each side with
black ; mantle, back and upper tail-coverts brown, trans-
versely rayed with zigzag markings of black, and striped down
the centre with lanceolate markings of yellowish white ; wings
brown, transversely rayed with zigzag lines of grey and black;
primaries and centre of the chest black ; sides of the chest

192 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

brown ; abdomen white, each feather marked down its centre
with black ; flanks rich brown, the centre of each feather white,
bounded on either side by a fine Une of black ; bill black ;
irides hazel ; feet pearly vinous white.

Total length 6f inches ; bill ^ ; wing 3| ; tarsi f.

The female differs in being destitute of the black marks on
the chest, in the throat being white instead of buif, and in the
bill being olive instead of black.

Genus SYNOICUS, Gould.

The similarity in the habits and economy of these birds
to those of the true Partridges, particularly of our well-known
species the Perdix cinerea, allies them more nearly to that
genus than to the true Quails {CoUirnix).

The various species move about in small coveys, and when
flushed fly but a short distance before they again alight. As
an article of food they are all that can be wished.

Every part of Australia, from Port Essington to Tasmania,
is inhabited by one or other member of the genus. The
species are extremely difficult to distinguish from each other,
and all of them may not yet have been described.

I may remark that these birds assume an infinite variety of
markings ; but whether these markings are subject to any
law I know not. It would be desirable to ascertain if the fully
adult mated sexes are alike in colour, or if the female be
darker or lighter than the male, and if those with strongly-
marked bars of black on the upper surface be birds of the
year.

The markings of the eggs of the various species differ as
much as those of the plumage, some being of a uniform
creamy-white, while others are thickly dotted all over with
minute specks of brown.

RASORES. 193

Sp. 487. SYNOiCUS AUSTRALIS.

Swamp-Quail.

Perdix australis, Lath. Ind. Orn., Supp. p. Ixii,

Cuturnix aust rails, Temm. Pig. et Gall. 8vo, torn. iii. pp. 474 and 740.
New Holland Quail, Lath. Gen. Syn. Supp., vol. ii. p. 283.
Moo-reete, Aborigines of the lowland districts of Western Australia.
Brown Quail, Colonists of Swan River and Tasmania.

Synoicus australis, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, voL v. pi. 89.

Although this bird and its allies are ordinarily known in
Australia under the trivial name of Quails {Cotarmx), they
are really more nearly allied to the Common Partridge
{Perdix cinerea) of the British Islands, so renowned for
the goodness of its flesh, and for the healthy pastime it an-
nually affords to all who follow the sports of the field.
Although mucli more diminutive in size, the Australian bird
offers in many points of its economy a great similarity to its
antipodean ally. The Synoicus australis is distributed over
the whole of New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasma-
nia, the localities most suited to its habits being thick grassy
flats and humid spots overgrown with herbage, by the sides
of rivers and water-holes. Its call is very similar to that of
the Common Partridge, and like that bird it is found in coveys
of from ten to eighteen in number, which simultaneously rise
from the ground and pitch again within a hundred yards of
the spot whence they rose. It sits so close, that it will often
admit of being nearly trodden upon before it will rise. Pointers
stand readily to it, and it offers perhaps better sport to the
sportsman than any other bird inhabiting Australia. Its
weight is about four ounces and three quarters, and its flesh
is delicious.

The Swamp-Quail breeds on the ground, where it con-
structs a slight nest of grass and leaves ; the eggs, which are
of large size, and from ten to eighteen in number, are some-

VOL. II. o

194 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

times uniform bluish white, at others minutely freckled all
over with buff.

Forehead, space between the bill and the eye, and the throat
greyish white, with a tinge of buff; all the upper surface ir-
regularly marked with beautiful transverse bars of grey, black
and chestnut, each feather on the back having a fine stripe
down the centre ; shoulders greyish brown, the remainder of
the wing marked with obscure transverse lines of grey, brown
and black ; primaries brown, mottled on the external edges
with greyish brown ; all the under surface buffy grey, each
feather having numerous zigzag markings of black, and many
of them having a very fine line of white down the centre ; bill
blue, deepening into black at the tip ; irides orange ; feet dull
yellow.

Sp. 488. SYNO'iCUS DIEMENENSIS, Gould.

Tasmanian Swamp-Quail.

Syndicus diemenensis, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, part xv. p. 33.
Greater Brown Quail of the Colonists.

Synoicus diemenensis, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. v. pi. 90.

The Tasmanian Swamp-Quail is fully a third larger than the
8j/noiciis australis, and has the markings of the upper surfaces
more numerous and varied ; the situations it affects appear to
be low marshy grounds covered with dense masses of herbage.
The eggs I procured were found in the swamps immediately
below New Norfolk ; they are more green than those of S.
australis, are sprinkled all over with minute spots of brown,
and are from twelve to eighteen in number, one inch and seven-
sixteenths long by one inch and an eighth broad.

Eorehead, lores and chin greyish white tinged with buff;
crown of the head dark brown, with a line of buff down the
centre ; all the upper surface irregularly marked with beauti-
ful transverse bars of grey, black and chestnut, each feather
with a fine stripe of greyish white dow^n the centre ; primaries

RASORES, 195

brown, mottled on their external edges witli greyish brown ;
all the under surface greyish buff, each feather with numerous
regular somewhat arrow-shaped marks of black, and many of
them with a very fine line of white down the centre ; bill
blue, deepening into black at the tip ; irides orange ; feet dull
yellow.

Total length 8^ inches ; bill f ; wing 4 J ; tarsi 1|-.

Sp. 489. SYNOiCUS SORDIDUS, Gould.

Sombre Swamp-Quail.
Syno'icus sordidus, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, part xv. p. 33.

Synoicus sordidus, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. v. pi. 91.

This species differs from its congeners in the absence of
any variety in the markings of its plumage, in lieu of which all
the feathers of the upper surface have a broad bluish-grey
stripe down the middle.

Two specimens are all that have come under my notice ; both
of which were received from South Australia,

Its habits doubtless resemble those of the other members
of the genus, but nothing is at present known respecting
them.

General plumage dark brown, minutely freckled with black,
each feather of the upper and under surface with a broad
stripe of bluish grey down the centre ; feathers of the head
and back of the neck with a spot of blackish brown at the tip,
those down the centre of the head and a few of the back-
feathers with white shafts ; chin buff; flank-feathers with an
arrow-head-shaped mark of black near the tip.

Total length 7 inches ; bill f ; wing 3f ; tarsi f .

Sp. 490. SYNOICUS CERVINUS, Gould.
Northern Swamp-Quail.

As I have before remarked, the Swamp-Quails of Australia

o 2

106 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

must either bo regarded as constituting but one or several
species — a point which must be left for future investigation,
and which can only be determined by persons resident in the
colony, or by a careful examination and comparison of a much
larger number of examples than are at present to be found in
this country. I have enumerated three species which appear
to possess tangible specific characters, and I now venture to
describe a bird commonly found in the neighbourhood of
Port Essington, as distinct from those of the southern
portions of the continent: it is one of the smallest members
of the genus, and distinguished by a more delicate and sandy
buff colouring.

The eggs of this species, like those of the other members
of the genus, vary from ten to fourteen in number, and are
usually deposited in a depresssion of the ground lined with a
few grasses or other herbage. Some examples, received direct
from Port Essington, are cream-white, without markings of
any kind ; their average length is one inch and a sixteenth,
and their breadth seven-eighths of an inch.

Lores, sides of the head, and throat buff; all the upper
surface marked with transverse bars of black, grey, and
chestnut-brown, with a fine stripe of bufiy white down the
centre of each of the feathers of the back ; shoulders greyish
brown, remainder of the wing marked with obscure spots and
freckles of brown and black ; primaries brown, mottled
externally with greyish brown ; all the under surface buff,
washed with grey, each feather with several zigzag transverse
lines of black, and many with a fine line of white down the
centre ; bill blue, darkening into black at the tip ; irides
orange ; feet dull yellow.

Total length of the male G J inches ; bill -^ ; wing 3-| ;
tail 1 i ; tarsi 1.

RASORES. 197

Genus EXCALFATORIA, Bonaparte.

Three or four species of this well-defined genus inhabit
India, China, the Indian Islands, and Australia ; while others,
equally typical, are found in Africa. They are among the
most diminutive of the Gallinacecd, if not the least of any of
that extensive group of birds.

Sp. 491. EXCALFATORIA AUSTRALIS, Gould.
Least Swamp-Quail.

Synoicus? chinensis, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. v. pi. 92.

In separating this species from the old Ferdix chinensis
of authors, I have no desire to add my own name to the end
of a specific term; but I find there are several species of
this form, and not one only, as was formerly supposed.
The Australian bird is altogether smaller than the Indian
specimens wdth which I have compared it, has a somewhat
more delicate bill, shorter tarsi, a much darker upper sur-
face, and the black blotches on the back much more con-
spicuous.

This is one of the species of Australian birds I have
not personally seen in a state of nature, which is the more
singular as I have received skins from nearly every loca-
lity. I have ascertained, however, that at some seasons it
is very numerous in such low and humid districts as are
clothed with dense and luxuriant grasses and other vege-
table productions ; but, beyond this, nothing is known of its
history.

The male has the crown of the head and upper surface
brown, irregularly blotched with black, some of the feathers
with a narrow stripe of buff" down the centre ; wings brown,
the coverts broadly margined with brown ; sides of the head,
breast, and flanks fine blue grey ; throat black ; within the

198 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

black on eacli side an oblong patch, and on its lower part a
cresccnt-sliapcd mark of white; abdomen and mider tail-
coverts deep rich chestnut-red ; irides hazel ; bill black ; feet
yellow.

Total length 4|- inches ; bill -j^ ; wing 2f ; tarsi f .

The female has a broad stripe over each eye sandy buflF; crown
of the head and all the upper surface dark brown, crossed by
fine bars of lighter brown, and each feather, particularly those
of the back and rump, with a line of buff down the centre ;
throat and centre of the abdomen buff; breast, sides of the
neck, flanks, and under tail-coverts sandy buff, crossed by
numerous crescentic marks of blackish brown ; irides dark
brown ; bill black ; feet yellow.

Mr. Wallace sent to this country a new species of this
form, so diminutive in size that I question if it be not the
smallest gallinaceous bird yet discovered. A fine male of this
species, bearing the name of Excalfatoria minima, Gould,
now graces the national collection, and a second specimen is
contained in my own.

GRALLATORES. 199

Order GRALLATORES.

The birds comprised in this Order are very fairly repre-
sented in Australia. Among the forms peculiar to that
country are the genera Dromaius, Cladorhpichm, Trihoni/x,
and Eulabeornis, while among those also found in dther
countries are Casuarius, Otis, Ardea, Egretta, Ardeola, Lobi-
vanellus, Strepsilas, Squatarola, Ckaradrius, HamatopuSy
Eiidromias, HimantopuSy SchcEniclus^ Terekia, Gallinago, Re-
curvirostra, Limosa, Rhynchceay Numenius, Mgcteria, Parra,
Ballus, and Porzana.

I have not failed to remark that wherever similar physical
conditions exist similar forms of birds generally occur : thus
the marshes of Australia have the usual accompaniment of
Herons, Rails, and Snipes ; the plains their Bustard, and
the strands of the sea-shore their Sandpipers and Plovers.
Still there are some remarkable exceptions to this rule in
Australia : for she has no Pterocles among her Rasorial Birds,
or Cursorius among her Grallatores, for both of which forms
the country would seem to be well adapted ; neither has she a
PhcBnicopterus, like Africa.

Family STRUTHIONID^.

Time was when many parts of our globe were inhabited by
enormous birds of this family, evidence of which is afforded
by their semi-fossilized remains found in Madagascar, New
Zealand, and elsewhere. These great Struthiones have still
their representatives; for America has two, if not three,
species of Bhea; Africa, its Ostrich; New Guinea and the
neighbouring islands, their Cassowaries ; Australia, its Emus ;
and the islands of New Zealand, two or three species of dimi-
nutive Apteryges.

200 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

Genus DROMAIUS, Vieillot.

At least two species of this form inhabit Australia, to
which country and Tasmania they are restricted. Structurally
they differ from the Ostrich in having three toes instead of
two,- and from the Rheas and Cassowaries in other particulars.
The sexes are alike in colouring, and the male takes upon
himself the task of incubating the eggs.

Sp. 492. DROMAIUS NOV^-HOLLANDI^.

Emu.

New Holland Cassowary, Phill. Bot. Bay, pi. in p. 271,

Southern Cassowary, Shaw, Nat. Misc., pi. 99.

Emu of New South Wales, Collin's Voy., vol. ii. pi. in p. 307.

Casuarius novce-hollandicB, Lath. Ind. Orn., vol. ii. p. 665.

Casoare de la Nouvelle Hollande, Peron, Voy. aux Terr. Aust., torn. i.

p. 467, pis. 36 and 41.
Dromaius ater, Vieill. Gal. des Ois., torn. ii. pi. 226.
The Emeu, Benn. Gard. and Menag. of Zool. Soc, Birds, p. 192.
Van Diemen's Land Cassowary, Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. viii. p. 384,

pi. cxxxviii.
Drumiceus australis. Swains. Class, of Birds, vol. ii. p. 346.
emu, Steph. Cont. of Shaw's Gen. Zool., vol. xi. p. 439, and vol.

xiv. p. 307, pi. 39.
Dromaius nova-hollandia, G. B. Gray, List of Gen. of Birds, 2nd edit.

p. 82.

Dromaius novae-hollandiae, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol, vi.
pl.l.

This well-known bird was first described and figured
under the name of the New Holland Cassowary in Governor
Phillip's 'Voyage to Botany Bay,' published in 1789, and
it has been included in all ornithological works of a general
nature that have appeared since that date ; but by far the
most accurate account of it is that given by the late Mr.
Bennett in the * Gardens and Menagerie of the Zoological

GllALLATORES. 201

Society delineated.' " In size and bulk the Emu is exceeded
by the African Ostrich alone. Its average measiu'ement may
be estimated at between five and six feet in height. In form
it closely resembles the Ostrich, but is lower on the legs,
shorter in the neck, and of a more thick-set and clumsy make.
At a distance its feathers have more the appearance of hair than
of plumage, their barbs being all loose and separate. As in
the Ostriches, they take their origin by pairs from the same
shaft. The wings are so extremely small as to be quite in-
visible when applied to the surface of the body. They are
clothed with feathers exactly similar to those of the back,
which divide from a middle line and fall gracefully over on
either side."

Its flesh has been compared to coarse beef, which it re-
sembles, according to Mr. Cunningham, " both in appearance
and taste, and is good and sweet eating ; nothing indeed can
be more delicate than the flesh of the young ones. There is
but little fit for culinary use upon any part of the Emu, except
the hind-quarters, which are of such dimensions that the
shouldering of two hind-legs homewards for a mile distance
once proved to me as tiresome a task as I ever recollect to
have encountered in the colony." I may remark that its flesh
proved of the greatest service to Dr. Leichhardt and his
intrepid companions during their overland route from More-
ton Bay to Port Essington, in the course of which, but more
particularly between the head of the Gulf of Carpentaria and
Port Essington, the sight and capture of the Emu was almost
a daily occurrence ; so abundant in fact was it, that he states
he saw in the short space of eight miles at least a hundred,
in flocks of three, five, ten, and even more, at a time. Dr.
Leichhardt mentions that the natives on killing an Emu in-
variably break the wings — why, he was at a loss to conceive,
as they could but slightly assist the animal in making its
escape, should it survive ; some curious practices also exist
with respect to this bird among the natives, the particulars of

202 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

which I have not been able to learn, but I may mention that
the young men and boys are not allowed to feed upon it.

The range of the present species is still unknown ; but in
all probability it extends from Tasmania through the whole
of the eastern division of Australia to its most northern
limits. And now a word to the Australians, particularly to
those who are interesting themselves about acclimatizing
animals from other countries — wishing for things they have
not and neglecting those they possess. At what cross pur-
poses are we playing both in Europe and Australia ! — in
England a price is put upon the head of the Sparrow, while
in Australia rewards are offered for its introduction ; but on
this subject any remarks would be out of place here, and I must
content myself by praying that protection may be afforded to
that noble bird, the Emu, in order that it may not be extir-
pated from the continent, as it nearly has been from Tasmania,
where, I hear, it would require a month's search, in the most
remote parts of the island, before one could see any of the
few that are still living thereon. How much will the loss of
this fine bird be regretted by every right-minded person who
claims Tasmania as his father-land !

On the continent of Australia the Emu was formerly abun-
dant about Botany Bay and Port Jackson Harbour, but is
now only to be seen on the plains of the interior, over whose
solitudes it still roams in great numbers, and where it breeds,
depending upon the strength and swiftness of its legs to
avoid the pursuit of the stockmen and their dogs. Further
and further back, however, will it be driven until it be
extirpated, unless some law be instituted to check its wanton
destruction. That it might easily be preserved is evident
from the readiness with which it breeds in confinement ; and
surely I have here said sufficient to induce the Australian
authorities to give a thought to its protection, as well as that
of the great red and grey Kangaroos and other interesting
native birds and quadrupeds.

GRALLATORES. 203

The note of the Emu is a low booming or pmnping noise,
which we know is produced in the female by means of the
expansion and contraction of a large membranous bag, sur-
rounding an oblong opening through the rings of the trachea ;
but whether this peculiarity of structure is also to be found
in the male I am not aware.

They pair with tolerable constancy, and the male bird
appears to take a lage share in the task of incubation.

The eggs, which are merely placed in a cavity scooped in the
earth, generally in a sandy soil, are six or seven in number,
of a beautiful dark green, resembling shagreen in appear-
ance ; five inches and three-quarters in length by three inches
and three-quarters in breadth. They are held in much esteem
by the natives, who feed upon them whenever they can be
procured.

Little or no difference of colour is observable in the
sexes; but I believe the female is always smaller than the
male.

The entire plumage is of a dull brown, mottled, particularly
on the under surface, with dirty grey ; the feathers of the
head and neck becoming gradually shorter, and so thinly
placed that the purplish hue of the skin of the throat and
round the ears is perfectly visible ; irides brown ; bill and legs
dusky black.

The young on first quitting the shell have a very elegant
appearance, ^e ground-colour being greyish white, with two
longitudinal broad black stripes along the back, and two
others on each side, each subdivided by a narrow middle
line of white ; these stripes being continued along the neck
without subdivision and broken into irregular spots on the
head ; two other broken stripes pass down the fore-part of
the neck and breast and terminate in a broad band across the
thighs.

204 BIRUS OF AUSTRALIA.

Sp. 493. DROMAIUS IRRORATUS, Barilett.

Spotted Emu.
Dromceus irroratus, Bartl. in Proc. of Zool. Soc, part xxvii. p. 205.

At the scientific meeting of the Zoological Society of Lon-
don, held on the 24th of May, 1859, Mr. Bartlett, Super-
intendent of the Society's Gardens in the Regent's Park,
exhibited a specimen of an Emu which had been obtained
with several others in the interior of South Australia, and
remarked that —

" It differs from DromcBus nov(B-hollandicB in having the
whole of the feathers of the body distinctly marked with
narrow transverse bars of light grey and dark brownish black.
The feathers of the back and sides are broader, longer, and
less silky in texture than those of the common species, the
latter difference being quite evident to the touch ; the upper
part of the head and neck is nearly black, and the feathers
appear thicker than those of the same parts in the other
bird.

" The specimen to which these remarks refer was one of
three examined by me, two of which were adult and one a
young bird about one-third grown. The latter exhibited the
transverse bars on its plumage as distinctly as the adult bird,
and the broad longitudinal stripes were clearly to be seen.
Judging from the skins I have seen, I am inclined to consider
that this new bird is smaller than the common species. I beg
to propose provisionally the name of Bromcsm irroratus for
this supposed new species."

Having seen adult and youthful examples of this Emu, all
bearing the characters which suggested its specific name, I
have no doubt of its being distinct from the D. ?iovcb Itollandicc.
I am almost equally certain that it is confined to the western
division of Australia, and that it represents there the Emu
of the eastern. Whether the two species inosculate in South

GRALLATORES. 2 05

Anstralia, and if the present bird extends its range to the
north and north-western coast, future research must deter-
mine.

In some remarks on the StrutJiionida read at the scientific
meeting of the Society, on the 24th of April, 1860, Dr. Sclater,
referring to this new Emu, says, " I have lately had the
pleasure of examining two specimens in Holland. One of
these, now in the Gardens of the Zoological Society of Amster-
dam, was brought from Albany in Western Australia, and thus
renders it probable that the Spotted Emu is the Western re-
presentative of the D. novcd-hoUa7i(IicB. The second, now in
the Zoological Gardens at Rotterdam, I have obtained by ex-
change for this Society. The Emu of Western Australia may,
as was pointed out by Mr. Bartlett when he first described it,
be easily distinguished from the well-known Eastern bird by
its spotted plumage. On comparing the feathers of the two
species together, the mode in which this spotting is produced
is clearly apparent. The feathers of D. irroratus are barred
alternately with silky white and darkish grey throughout their
length, terminating in a black tip margined posteriorly with
rufous. Those of D. novcB-liollandicB are uniform blackish grey
from the base to the extremity, which is black with a black
terminal band of rufous. On comparing the two living birds
we find B. irroratus generally of a much more slender habit.
The tarsi are longer and thinner, the toes longer and much
more slender, and the tarsal scutes smaller. The irides are
pale hazel, instead of reddish brown, as in I). novcB-hoUandia
As Mr. Bartlett's original skin of I), irroratus was obtained
in the interior of Southern Australia, the range of this Emu
may be supposed to extend over the western portion of Au-
stralia into the latter colony, where it probably inosculates
with D. nov(s-lLollandi(B. Two additional specimens of the
Spotted Emu (both immature) have been lately received by the
Society from Swan River. In this state of })lumage the bird
is decidedly darker than its near ally, B. novcd-hollandia!'

206 BIRDS OP AUSTRALIA.

Genus CASUARIUS, Linnaeus.

New Guinea and tlie adjacent islands are the countries in
which the birds of this form principally exist ; and it is more
than probable that one species is found in Australia. They
appear to be the remnant of a great group of Struthious birds
closely alligd to the Ostriches and Emus, and perhaps still more
intimately to the extinct Dinornithes, the remains of which
are almost daily being exhumed from the morasses of New
Zealand.

Sp. 494. CASUARIUS AUSTRALTS, Wall.
Australian Cassowary.

Casuarius australis, Wall, Illustrated Sydney Herald, June 3, 1854;
Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc.^ part xxv. p. 270.

Although no specimen of this bird has been brought before
the scientific world, we cannot, I think, doubt that a species of
this form does really exist in the northern part of Austraha ;
but whether it be identical with some previously described
species inhabiting New Guinea and the neighbouring islands,
or entirely new, must remain for the present an open question.
All that we at present know on the subject is comprised in
the following extract from the ' Illustrated Sydney Herald,'
above quoted : — " A specimen of this bird was procured by the
late Mr. Thomas Wall, naturalist to the expedition commanded
by Mr. Kennedy. It was shot near Cape York, in one of
those almost inaccesssible gullies which abound in that part
of the Australian continent. This Cassowary, when erect,
stands about five feet high ; the head is without feathers, but
covered with a blue skin, and, like the Emu, is almost without
wings, having mere rudiments ; the body is thickly covered
with dark brown wiry feathers ; on the head is a large pro-
minence or helmet of a bright red colour, and to the neck are
attached, like bells, six or eight round fleshy balls of bright

GRALLATORES. 207

blue and scarlet, which give the bird a very beautiful appear-
ance. The first and indeed the only specimen obtained
of the Australian Cassowary was unfortunately left at Wey-
mouth Bay, and has not been recovered. Mr. Wall, being-
most anxious for its preservation, had secured it in a canvas
bag and carried it with him to the spot where, unfortunately
for science, it was lost. In the ravine where the bird was
killed, as well as other deep and stony valleys of that neigh-
bourhood, it was seen running in companies of seven or eight.
On that part of the north-eastern coast, therefore, it is probably
plentiful, and will be met with in all the deep gullies at the base
of high hills. The flesh was eaten, and found to be delicious ;
a single leg afforded more substantial food than ten or twelve
hungry men could dispose of at a single meal. The bird
possesses great strength in its legs, and makes use of it in the
same manner as the Emu. Its whole build is more strong
and heavy than the latter bird. It is very wary, but its pre-
sence may be easily detected by its utterance of a peculiarly
loud note, which is taken up and echoed along the gullies ;
and it could be easily killed with a rifle."

The above account was furnished by Mr. Thomas Wall's
brother, Mr. William Sheridan Wall, Curator of the Austrahan
Museum.

FamHy OTIDIDiE.

A country better adapted than Australia for the members
of this family can scarcely be imagined ; yet, singularly
enough, only one species has yet been found there. Africa
is the country where the species are most numerous.

Genus CHORIOTIS, Bonaparte.

The Choriotis edwardsi, of the plains of Upper India, and
the C. ausfralis are beautiful representatives of each other in
their respective countries.

208 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

Sp. 495. CHORIOTIS AUSTRALIS.

Australian Bustard.

Otis australis, Gray in Griff. Anim. King., vol. iii. p. 30.5.

• australasittnus, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, part viii. p. 176.

Churiotis australis, Bonap. Compt. Rend, de I'Acad. Sci., torn, xliii.

Be-bil-yu, Aborigines of Western Australia.
Turkey, Colonists of New South Wales.
Native Turkey, Colonists of Swan River.

Otis australasianus, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. vi. pi. 4.

In size this species exceeds the European Bustard {Otis
tarda), standing higher upon its legs, and having a longer
neck ; and, when seen at freedom slowly stalking over its
native plains, no Australian bird, except the Emu, is so
majestic, or assumes in its carriage so great an air of
independence. The male, whose weight is from thirteen to
sixteen pounds, considerably exceeds the female in size, and,
from the greater length of the plumes of the neck and
occiput, is much more stately in appearance.

I am of opinion that it is merely a summer visitant to all
the southern parts of Australia, but to determine this point
requires a longer residence than the nature of my visit
permitted. I frequently encountered and killed it both on
the plains of the Lower Namoi and also in South Australia,
and Gilbert met with it in Western Australia, Leichardt
within the region of the tropics, and Sturt around the Depot
in the desert; its range over the country, therefore, is
probably universal. Within the precincts of the colony of
New South Wales, as might be expected, a bird of so large a
size is much persecuted, and has consequently become very
shy. I met with it upon several occasions on the downs near
Scone, the fiats in the neighbourhood of Aberdeen, and other
similar situations in the Upper Hunter district. It flies
heavily, with its long neck stretched out to the utmost ; but
it is capable of sustaining flight for a considerable distance.

GRALLATORES. 200

As an article of food its flesh is delicate and weli-flavourcd,
and in every respect equals that of its well-known prototype
of Europe.

Its food consists of seeds, vegetables, grasses, lizards, mol-
lusks, insects, &c.

It breeds in the latter part of September; the situation
chosen for the purpose being a clear spot in a valley, or on
the side of a grassy hill : the eggs are usually deposited on
the bare ground ; occasionally, however, a few grasses are
spread for them to lie upon. They are two in number, three
inches long by two inches and two lines broad, and are of an
olive-colour, stained with longitudinal dashes of brown.

Crown of the head and occiput black ; sides of the head,
the neck, and breast greyish white, each feather crossed by
numerous fine zigzag bands of brown, giving those parts a
freckled appearance ; wing-coverts black, largely tipped with
white ; all the upper surface, wings, and upper tail-coverts
brown, very minutely freckled with reddish brown ; some of
the feathers towards the hinder parts of the body tinged with
grey ; tail grey, crossed near the centre by an interrupted
band of white, minutely frecked with white, margined with
brown, and slightly tipped with white ; chest crossed by an
irregular band of black, beyond which the under surface is
white ; under tail-coverts greyish black, tipped with white ;
irides greenish white ; eyelash pale olive-yellow ; bill straw-
white, with olive and black culmen ; legs and feet straw-
yellow.

Total length 40 inches ; bill 4 ; wing 25 ; tail 10 ; tarsi 7 J.

VOL. II.

210 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

Family CHAKADRIAD-ffi.

I should suppose that there is no country on the entire
face of the globe, except, perhaps, the antarctic land, that is
not inhabited by some species of this family. From Arctic
America, through the course of the Andes, to Cape Horn
species occur; while from Siberia, through India and its
islands, to the southern portions of Tasmania they are also
found, and also in Polynesia and New Zealand. Australia is
tolerably furnished with members of this group, since she has
many genera and species, ranging from the great (Edicnemi
to the little Hiaticulcs inclusive.

Genus CEDICNEMUS, Temminck.

Species of this form are very generally dispersed over
Africa, India, and Europe ; in Australia there are one or two,
and, I believe, the same number is found in South America.

These birds are allied on the one hand to the Bustards,
and on the other to the Plovers ; a more complete union of
the characters of both could not, indeed, be found ; but,
perhaps, they are most nearly allied to the latter.

Sp. 496. CEDICNEMUS GRALLARIUS.

Southern Stone-Plover.

Charadrius grallarius, Lath. Ind. Orn., Supp. p. Ixvi.

frenatus, Lath. lb., p. Ixvii.

High-legged Plover, Lath. Gen. Syn. Supp., vol. ii. p. 319.

CEdicnemus longipes, Geoff, in Mus. Paris.

Bridled Plover, Lath. Gen. Syn. Supp., torn. ii. p. 320.

CEdicnemus grallarius, List of Birds in Brit. Mus. Coll., part iii. p. 59.

Charadrius longipes, Wagl. Syst. Avium, Charadrius, sp. 4.

Burhinus grallarius, Bonap. Compt. Bend, de I'Acad. Sci., torn. xhii.

Wee-lo, Aborigines of Western AustraHa.

CEdicnemus grallarius, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. vi. pi. 5.
This is the largest species of its genus yet discovered, its

GRALLATORES. 211

body being nearly the size of that of a hen Pheasant, and it
has also longer legs than any of the others. I have seen
specimens from Swan River, South Australia, and New South
Wales, in all of which countries it is equally common, wherever
districts occur suitable to its habits and mode of life. Sandy
plains, the crowns and sides of grassy hills, and flats between
the mountain ridges, particularly those that are of a rough
and stony character, are the situations it usually frequents,
and where it is mostly met with in pairs, but is occasionally
seen in small companies of from eight to ten or more in
number ; it is at all times a shy bird, and it requires some
degree of stratagem to approach it within gunshot. It runs
with great facility, and when not disposed to take wing
squats on the ground by the side of a stone or a prostrate
log of wood, and there remains so close as almost to admit of
being trodden upon before it will rise. Upon an intruder
approaching the vicinity of its young, it employs many
enticing actions to attract his notice to itself, and if possible
lead him away from the spot ; at one moment assuming
lameness to such an extent as to appear incapable of walking,
at other times hanging down its wings as if escape by flight
was impossible, yet withal is so wary that I never knew one
captured by the hand, or obtained by any other means than
by shooting it. While walking about the plains, it is a
stately and imposing bird ; and, when on the wing, it mounts
high in the air with a quick, rather laboured motion of the
wings, does not fly to any great distance, but usually pitches
again in some clear place among the trees, and seeks safety
by running ofi" and secreting itself among the bushes or
squatting on the ground. On the approach of evening and
during the early part of the night, its loud, harsh, and
peculiar cry, resembling the words tvee-lo two or three times
repeated, is often heard. It chiefly feeds at night upon
insects of various kinds and berries.

The eggs are invariably two in number, and are deposited

212 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

on the bare ground during September and the four following
months. They vary considerably in colour, as well as in the
form of their markings ; their usual ground-colour is pale
buff, thickly blotched all over with umber-brown ; they are
about two inches and a quarter long by one inch and five-
eighths broad.

The markings and general appearance of the two sexes are
so similar, that it is scarcely possible to distinguish the male
from the female without the aid of dissection.

Crown of the head, back of the neck, and back grey, each
feather with a line of brownish black down the centre ; space
surrounding the eye white, bounded in front and below with
a narrow streak, which, as well as the ear-coverts and a broad
stripe down each side of the neck, is dark brown ; lores and
chin white ; scapularies blackish brown, margined at the base
with grey ; the upper rows of wing-coverts brown, the lower
ones white, tipped with brown, all with a broad stripe of
black down the centre ; primaries brownish black, crossed
towards the extremities by a broad irregular band of white ;
tertiaries light brown, with a dark stripe down the centre,
and margined with white ; tail brown, crossed by several
bands of white and dark brown, and largely tipped with
black ; breast and abdomen buffy white, with a broad stripe
of brownish black down the centre of each feather ; lower
part of the abdomen white ; bill black ; irides yellow ; eye-
lash black ; legs sickly yellowish olive, gradually passing into
the brown of the feet.

It has for a long time appeared to me that a second species
of this form exists on the northern coast, since I have received
specimens from thence which have longer tarsi and shorter
wings. If this be the case, the species is undescribed ; but
if these birds be identical with the present, then the range is
greater than I have stated.

GRALLATORES. 213

Genus ESACUS, Lesson.

Of this genus two species are known, one of which inhabits
India, the other Austraha. The form is nearly alHed to CEdi-
cnemus; still the members of these genera perform different
offices, and inhabit different situations. The bill of Esacus
is admirably adapted for gathering Crustaceans on the oozy
mud-banks and flat sea-shores, while that of (Edictiemus is
fitted for seizing the slugs, worms and insects which it finds
on sterile grassy hills.

Sp. 497. ESACUS MAGNIROSTRIS.

Large-billed Shore Plover.

(Edicnemus magnirostris, Geoff. — Tenim. PI. Col. 387.
Burhinus mac/nirostris, 111. Prod. Syst. Mamm. et Av., p. 250.
Esacus magnirostris, G. R. Gray, List of Gen. of Birds, 2nd edit. p. 83.
Wee-lo, Aborigines of Port Essington.

Esacus magnirostris, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. vi. pi. 6.

This fine species is tolerably abundant along the northern
and north-western parts of Australia, where it gives a pre-
ference to the low flat shores of the sea, and feeds on crabs,
marine insects, worms and various kinds of mollusks. At
night it is said to utter a loud scream or cry, resembling the
word wee-lo, whence its aboriginal name : it is somewhat
singular that the same name is applied to the Q^diciiemus
grallarius by the natives of Western Australia, where the pre-
sent bird has not as yet been seen ; the cry of the two birds
being similar is doubtless the cause of their both being knSwii
to the natives of those distant parts of the country by the
same appellation, as it is not unusual for them to name birds,
after the sound they utter.

The sexes bear a general resemblance to each other, and
the young of the first autumn is only distinguished by its
feathers being margined with grey.

214 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

I was favoured with an egg of this fine bird by the late Com-
mander J. M. R. Ince, R.N., who obtained it at Port Essing-
ton. Its ground-colour was cream-white, streaked and marked
all over with dark olive-brown, some of the markings being
large and bold without assuming any regular form, and others
mere blotches about an eighth of an inch in diameter ; while
many of the streaks were as fine as a hair, and were of a
crooked or zigzag form : it was two inches and a half long
by one inch and three-quarters broad ; judging from analogy,
I may venture to assert that two are laid at a time.

Above and below the eye a broad mark of white, which is
continued down the side of the head, the eye and the white
marks being surrounded by a large patch of dark blackish
brown ; at the angle of the lower mandible is a small patch of
blackish brown ; throat and sides of the face dull white ; head
and all the upper surface light brown, the feathers of the head
and neck with a narrow line of dark brown down the centre ;
lesser wing-coverts dark brown, the last row crossed with
white near the tip, forming a line along the wing ; remainder
of the coverts grey, deepening into brown on the tertiaries ;
first three primaries dark brown at the base and tip, and
white in the centre, the remainder white stained with brown
near the tip ; tail grey, crossed with white near the tip, which
is dark brown ; fore-part of the neck like the head, but paler;
breast brownish grey ; abdomen and under tail-coverts buffy
white ; irides pale yellow ; eyelids primrose-yellow ; base of
the bill sulphur-yellow, which colour is continued along the
sides of the upper mandible above the nostrils ; remainder of
the bill black ; tibiae lemon-yellow ; tarsi and feet wine-yellow;
the upper ridge of the scales of the toes lead-colour.

GRALLATORES. 215

Genus HiEMATOPUS, Linnceus.

I believe there is no country in the world of any extent
the shores of which are not inhabited by one or other of the
numerous species of this genus ; but it would seem that all
those which exist in the southern hemisphere are totally differ-
ent from those of the northern. Two species inhabit Au-
stralia.

These birds inhabit the sea-shores, particularly those that
are rocky, and where every receding tide leaves masses of kelp
and corallines, among which they obtain mollusks and other
marine animals. During the breeding-season they sometimes
ascend rivers and deposit their two eggs on the shingle above
high- water mark. Some of the species are subject to a slight
seasonal change of plumage, particularly in the colour of the
throat. The sexes are alike in external appearance.

Sp. 498. HJEMATOPUS LONGIROSTRIS, Vieillot.

White-breasted Oyster-catcher.

Hcematopus longirostris, Vieill., 2nd Edit, du Nouv. Diet. d'Hist. Nat.,
torn. XV. p. 410.

picatus, Vig. App. to King's Voy. to Australia.

australasianus, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, part v. p. 155.

Hsematopus longirostris, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. vi.
pi. 7.

This species is so generally dispersed over the southern
coast of Australia, that to particularize localities where it may
be found would be superfluous, but I may state that it is more
abundant in Tasmania and the islands in Bass's Straits than
elsewhere. As is the case with the European species, low
muddy flats under the influence of the tide, sandy bays on the
sea-shore, estuaries, the mouths of rivers and marshes are its
natural places of resort. During the greater part of the year
it may be observed in small companies of from three to ten or

21G BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

more in number, associating with IIcBmatopus fidiginosus and
other shore birds, such as Curlews, Whimbrels, Stints, Sand-
pipers, &c., that seek their food on beaches and sand-banks,
whereon each receding tide leaves numerous mollusks and
other marine animals, which afford a plentiful repast to my-
riads of birds of the order of which the present species forms
a part. In its appearance it is very handsome and attractive,
the white feathers of the wings and breast showing very con-
spicuously as it nimbly trips over the sands. During the
breeding-season, which lasts from September to January, it
leaves the shores and resorts to small islands and rocky pro-
montories for the purpose of rearing its young. The eggs,
which are two or three in number, are usually deposited on
the bare ground near the water's edge ; they are of a buffy
stone-colour, marked all over with large irregular blotches of
dark chestnut-brown, approaching to black ; two inches and a
quarter long by one inch five-eighths broad. The young are
soon capable of running, and in case of danger secrete them-
selves behind a stone or in a crevice of the rocks, while the
adults keep flying backwards and forwards, uttering their
loud and clamorous cries with the view of decoying away
the intruder — a stratagem often resorted to by other birds.

The sexes present no external difference whatever. The
young, from the time they are half-grown until they have
arrived at maturity, have the same kind of plumage, but
differ from the adults in having each black feather of the back
and wings strongly edged with brown, forming circular marks
and bars on nearly the whole of the upper surface.

Head, neck, breast, back, wings and tail-feathers for three
parts of their length from the tip, deep greenish black ; the
tips of the wing-coverts, abdomen, rump, upper and under
tail-coverts, and the bases of the tail-feathers pure white ;
irides crimson ; bill and eyelash deep orange-scarlet ; feet
light brick-red.

GRALLATORES. 217

Sp. 499. H^MATOPUS FULIGINOSUS, Gould.

Sooty Oyster-catcher.

Mur-roo-wa-da-ree, Aborigines of Port Essington.
Black Red-bill, Colonists of Western Australia.

Black Oyster- catcher, Colonists of New South Wales^ Tasmania, and
Port Essin2:ton.

Hsematopus faliginosus, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. vi.
pi. 8.

After a careful examination and comparison of the Black
Oyster-catchers of the Cape of Good Hope, Cape Horn, and
Australia, I find them to differ so much from each other,
that I can come to no other conclusion than that they are so
many distinct species, and hence I have been induced to
characterize the Australian bird under the appellation of H.
fuliginosus, from the sooty colour of its plumage.

Tasmania, the islands in Bass's Straits, and the southern
coast of the Australian continent generally are the princi-
pal resorts of this species. Like its near ally, it is equally
abundant wherever situations occur suited to its habits and
economy, low sandy beaches at the mouths of rivers, spits of
land running into the sea and small islands being its favour-
ite places of abode ; and so universally is it dispersed, that,
as I have stated with regard to the H. longirostns, it is quite
unnecessary to point out particular localities where it may be
found ; in fact, every small island and every mile of the coasts
of the countries I have mentioned are more or less visited by
it. It is a strictly stationary species, breeding in the places
of its usual resort ; or if any change in this respect takes
place, it is that, for the sake of safety and freedom from in-
trusion, the bird leaves the main shore and betakes itself to
small rocky islands, such as those in Bass's Straits, where,
exempt from annoyance of every kind, it may rear its brood
in safety.

The present species is a stout-built and powerful bird.

218 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

but from the sombre colouring of its plumage it is not so con-
spicuous and attractive as tlie White-breasted Oyster-catcher.

Its eggs are two in number, two inches and three quar-
ters long by one and three-quarters broad, of a light stone-
colour, blotched all over with large irregular markings of dark
brown, some of which appear as if beneath the surface and
of a purplish hue.

It becomes exceedingly clamorous if its nest be intruded
upon, frequently uttering a loud shrill call while flying back-
wards and forwards near its breeding-place.

The entire plumage of a uniform sooty black, slightly
glossed on the neck and under surface with green ; bill and
eyelash extremely rich orange-yellow ; irides red ; legs and
feet dull brick-red.

Total length 15 inches ; bill 3 ; wing 9^; tail 4 ; tarsi 2^.

Genus LOBIVANELLUS, Strickland.

Two species of this beautiful form inhabit Australia, one
the northern and the other the southern parts of the country ;
I believe they are both confined to this portion of the globe.
Other species are found in India and Africa.

Sp. 500. LOBIVANELLUS LOBATUS.

Wattled Plover.

Tringa lohata, Lath. Ind. Orn., Supp. p. Ixv.
Wattled Sandpiper, Lath. Gen. Syn. Supp., vol. ii. p. 313.
Vanellus lobatus, Vieill. Ency. Meth. Orn., part iii. p. 1075.
Charadrius lobatus, Wagl. Syst. Av., sp. 51.

Vanellus nova-hollandice, Steph. Cont. of Shaw's Gen. Zool., vol. xi.
p. 516.

gallinaceus, Jard. and Selby, 111. Orn., vol. iii. pi. 84.

Kalloo-nagh, Aborigines of New South Wales.
Alarm-bird of the Colonists.

Lobivanellus lobatus, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. vi. pi. 9.
This species is common in most parts of New South Wales,

GRALLATORES. 219

and on some of the islands in Bass's Straits, particularly on
Green Island, where it was breeding at the period of my visit
in January 1839. I did not observe it in Tasmania, but
it is not improbable that it will hereafter be found to be an
inhabitant of that country as well as of those above mentioned.
It has not yet been seen in Western Australia, neither
have I heard of its occurrence on the northern coast of the
continent. It is an attractive and showy bird, and when
unmolested approaches sufficiently close to the dwellings of
the settlers to permit its actions and manners to be minutely
observed. Among other places where I noticed this species, I
may mention that I saw it in flocks on the edge of the small
ponds immediately adjoining the house of C. Throsby, Esq.,
at Bong Bong, on the fine estate of James Macarthm% Esq.,
at Camden, and at Yarrundi on the Upper Hunter. Open flats
and high dry grounds appeared to be equally suitable to its
existence; for nothing could be more sterile and parched than
the islands in Bass's Straits, when compared with the humid
flats of the Upper Hunter, covered as they are with grasses and
rank vegetation; yet in both these situations I observed it
at nearly the same season of the year. Its food consists of
insects and worms. While on the ground it has much of the
carriage of the common European Pewit (Vanellus cristatus),
but a decided difference is observable in its mode of run-
ning, and in its bold and attractive manners. The more
lengthened form of its wings also induces a considerable dif-
ference in its flight, which has less of the flapping laboured
action so conspicuous in that of the Pewit.

In some parts of New South Wales this ornamental bird
has obtained the name of the Alarm-bird from its rising
in the air, flying round and screaming at the approach of
an intruder, causing not only all of its own species to follow
its example, but every other animal in the district to be
on the alert. This fact I had ample opportunities of veri-
fying on the islands in Bass's Straits, where I had scai'cely

220 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

stepped from the boat before every creature was made ac-
quainted with my presence — no small annoyance to me, whose
object was to secure the wary cereopsis and eagle, which with
thousands of petrels and many other kinds of water-birds
tenant these dreary islands.

The sexes are scarcely to be distinguished from each other,
either in size or plumage; both possess the spur on the
shoulder, but it is much more developed in the male than in
the female ; the beautifvd primrose-coloured wattle, with which
the colouring of the bill and the bold eye closely assimilate,
the pinky vermilion hue of its legs, and the strongly contrasted
colours of its plumage, render it one of the most beautiful
of the Plovers yet discovered.

Head, back of the neck, and sides of the chest black ;
back, wing-coverts, and scapularies dark greyish brown in-
clining to cinnamon; primaries black; tail white, crossed
near the extremity by a broad band of black ; sides of the
face, throat, and all the under surface white ; eye rich prim-
rose-yellow ; wattles primrose-yellow ; bill pale yellow, with
a horn-coloured tip ; tarsi purplish red ; scales black ; spur
yellow.

Sp.501. LOBIVANELLUS PERSONATUS, Gould.

Masked Plover.

Lohivanellus personatus, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, part x. p. 113.
Al-ga-ra-ra, Aborigines of Port Essington.
Wattled Plover, Residents of Port Essington.

Lohivanellus personatus, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. vi.
pi. 10.

This Plover, which is as abundant in the northern parts of
AustraUa as the Wattled Pewit is in the eastern, is more
elegantly formed than that species, being of the same size in
the body, but with more lengthened legs ; the fleshy wattles
surrounding the eyes are much more extensively developed;

GRALLATORES. 221

the crown of the head only in the present species is black,
while in the Wattled Plover the sides of the chest and upper
part of the back are of the same colour. It is a very common
bird in the Cobourg Peninsula, inhabiting swamps, the borders
of lakes, and open spots among the mangroves, and, like its
near ally, is mostly seen associated in small families. It is
rather a noisy species, frequently uttering a note, which is
not unlike its native name, both while on the wing and on
the ground.

T. P. Gregory, Esq., informs me that he found this beautiful
little wader at Breaker Inlet ; where it frequented the sand-
banks in pairs, and was very shy; that the hood or membranous
sheath which covers more than half the head is of the clearest
gamboge-yellow, and, when the bird is alive, resembles the petal
of a flower; and that it lies close over the feathers, and protects
them when the beak is plunged into the sand in search of food ;
the eye is also bright yellow ; that the spine at the shoulder
is used very vigorously and with advantage when attacked by
birds of prey. The body is slight, very elegantly proportioned,
and the general appearance of the bird is very graceful.

The stomach of the Masked Plover is very muscular, and
its food, while living in the marshes, consists of aquatic
coleoptera and small crustaceous animals, but when on the
plains of the interior it readily accommodates itself to the
kind of insect-food it may find there.

The task of incubation is performed during the months of
August and September, the eggs, which are two or three in
number, being laid in a hollow on the bare ground at the
edge of a flat adjoining a salt-marsh ; they are of a dull olive-
yellow, dashed all over with spots and markings of blackish
brown and dark olive-brown, particularly at the larger end ;
they are one inch and five-eighths long by one inch and three-
sixteenths broad, somewhat pointed at the smaller end.

Crown of the head and occiput jet-black ; sides of the face,
back of the neck, rump, and all the under surface pure white ;

222 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

back and scapularies light brownish grey ; wing-coverts grey ;
primaries deep black ; secondaries white at the base on their
inner webs, cinnamon-grey on their outer webs, and largely
tipped with black ; tail white at the base, largely tipped with
black, the extreme ends of the feathers being cinnamon-grey,
particularly the two centre ones ; irides primrose-yellow ;
wattles lemon-yellow ; bill lemon-yellow at the base, black at
the tip ; legs and feet carmine-red ; the scales in front
blackish green.

Total length 12 inches ; bill If ; wing 8f ; tail 4 ; tarsi 2 J.

Genus SARCIOPHORUS, Strickland.

A genus nearly allied to the last, and of which a single
species inhabits Australia.

Sp. 502. SARCIOPHORUS PECTORALIS.

Black-breasted Plover.

Charadrius pecioralis, Cuv. iu Mus. Par. — Wagl. Syst. Av., sp. 8.

■ tricolor, Vieill. 2ude Edit, du Nouv. Diet. d'Hist. Nat., torn, xxvii.

p. 147.
vanello'ides, Peale.

Sarciophorus pectoralis, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. vi.
pi. 11.

This species is known to inhabit Tasmania, South Australia,
and New South Wales, but over what other portions of the
Australian continent its range is extended has not yet been
ascertained, I have never seen it in collections either from
the western or northern shores. Its favourite localities are
open sterile downs, thinly covered with grasses or other kinds
of vegetation ; but it is occasionally to be met with on the
grassy flats in the neighbourhood of rivers. It is much more
tame in its disposition than the Wattled Plover, and permits
a near approach before taking alarm. It trips very quickly

GRALLATORES. 223

over the ground, much after the manner of the true Pewits,
and when flushed generally flies off in a straight line. I have
never seen it mount in the air like the Common Lapwing, or
perform during flight those sudden turns and dips so fre-
quently exhibited by that species. So far as 1 have observed,
it goes in pairs, or at most in companies of three. Nearly
full-grown young were obtained in the month of November,
from which we may infer that it is a very early breeder.

The eggs are three or four in number, and are deposited
on the bare ground without any nest ; they are one inch and
a half long by one inch and an eighth broad ; ground-colour
light olive-grey, very thickly blotched and stained with brown,
so as nearly to cover the surface, particularly at the larger
end.

The sexes are alike in colour, but the female has the lobe
before the eye much smaller than in the male.

Crown of the head, line running from the angle of the
mouth beneath the eye, and down the sides of the neck, and
a broad crescent-shaped band across the breast jet-black;
line from the eye to near the occiput, chin, throat, flanks,
abdomen, upper and under tail-coverts white ; back light
brown ; primaries brownish black ; wing-coverts bronzy
brown, passing into black towards the tip of each feather,
and tipped with white ; a few of the outer secondaries white,
margined on the extremities of their outer webs with black,
then a few entirely white, and the last two marked like the
coverts, but largely margined with white; scapularies and
lower part of the back bronzy brown ; rump dark olive, with
bronzy reflexions ; tail white, crossed near the tip by a broad
irregular band of black ; tip of the upper mandible horn-
colour ; the remainder of the bill beautiful primrose-yellow ;
naked parts of the thigh and knees dark pink ; tarsi and toes
blackish brown, the latter inclining to pink-red ; irides yellow,
surrounded by a rim of deep primrose extending in an obhque
direction to the fleshy protuberance at the base of the upper

224 BIEDS OP AUSTRALIA.

mandible, wliich is blood-red in the male, much lighter or
flesh-red in the female.

Genus SQUATAROLA, Cuvier.

The single species of this genus inhabits Europe, Asia,
North America, and occasionally occurs in Australia. It
differs from Charadrius in having a small hind-toe.

Sp. 503. SQUATAROLA HELVETICA.

Grey Plover.

Tringa helvetica, Linn. Syst. Nat., vol. i. p. 250.

Vanellus helveticus, Briss. Orn., vol. v. p. 106, tab. 10. fig. 1.

Charadrius hypomelas, Pall. Reise, vol. iii. p. 699.

Swiss Sandpiper, Lath. Gen. Syn., vol. v. p. 167.

Tringa squatarola, Linn. Faun. Suecica, No. 186.

Vanellus griseus, Briss. Orn., vol. v. p. 100, tab. 9. fig. 1.

melanogaster, Bechst. — Temm. Man. d^Orn., vol. ii. p. 345.

Vanneau Pluvier, Buff. PI. Enl., 854.

Squatarola helvetica, Cuv. — G. R. Gray, List of Birds in Brit. Mus.

Coll., part iii. p. 62.
, var. b, Bonap. Compt. Rend, de I'Aead. Sci., torn, xliii.

seance du 2 Aout 1856.
Greg Plover and Grey Sandpiper of British authors.

Squatarola helvetica, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. vi. pi. 12.

I have compared specimens of this bird killed in Australia
with others obtained in India, North America, and Europe,
and find the vrhole of them identical. I have never seen an
Australian specimen with the rich black colouring of the
under surface which renders Asiatic, American, and European
specimens so conspicuous in the breeding-season, hence we
may infer that it is only the young birds that wander so
far to the southward as Australia. The specimens I possess
are from different parts of the country, some being from the
eastern and others from the western colonies.

GRALLATORES. 225

The Grey Plover affects the low muddy shores of the sea-
coast and the mouths of large rivers, and feeds upon worms,
various kinds of insects, and their larvae.

Crown of the head, upper surface, and wings light olive,
mottled with white ; primaries blackish brown, with the
basal portion of their inner webs and the apical half of their
shafts white ; rump white ; tail white, crossed by broad bars
of light olive ; face and all the under surface white, with
numerous brown striae, and a wash of buff on the sides of the
neck and across the breast ; irides blackish brown ; bill and
feet blackish olive.

Genus CHARADRIUS, Linnaeus.

The Australian fauna comprises a single species of this
genus, the representative of the C. pluviaUs of Europe, from
wliich it differs in having brown axillaries.

Sp.504. CHARADRIUS ORIENTALIS.

Australian Golden Plover.

Charadrius pluvialis orientalis, Temm. et Schleg. Faun. Jap., p. 104,
tab. 62.

Charadrius xanthocheilus, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. vi.
pi. 13.

Although nowhere very abundant, this bird is generally dis-
persed over all the colonies from Tasmania to the extreme north
of the continent of Australia. In all probability it is the same
bird that is found in the island of Java, and more than
probably the species inhabiting India ; its range therefore is
very extensive. I obtained several specimens on the banks
of the Derwent in Tasmania, observed it in small numbers
on the flats below Clarence Plains, and also killed examples
on one of the islands in Bass's Straits.

Its habits, manners, and general economy so closely re-

VOL. II. Q

22G BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

semble those of the Golden Plover {Charadrius j)liwialis) of
Europe, that a description of one is equally characteristic of
the other. Like that bird, it frequents open plains in the
neighbourhood of marshy lands or the sea-beach, runs with
amazing facility, and flies with equal rapidity.

Indications of the black colouring of the breast or breed-
ing plumage begin to appear early in the spring, and as the
season advances every variety of colouring occurs from the
mottled yellow of winter to the uniform black under-surface
of summer, which latter state however is but seldom seen ;
whence I am induced to doubt its remaining to breed in any
of the southern parts of Australia.

The full summer plumage is as follows : — The whole of the
upper surface and tail very dark brown, each feather with a
series of oblong yellowish and whitish spots along their mar-
gins ; primaries dark brown, with white shafts ; lores, sides
of the face, breast and all the under surface black, bounded
by a broad mark of white, which crosses the forehead, passes
over the eye, down the side of the neck and along the flanks,
where it becomes broad and conspicuous ; under wing-coverts
and the lengthened feathers covering the insertion of the wing
uniform pale silvery brown ; irides dark brown ; bill dark
olive ; legs and feet leaden grey.

In the winter season the black and white markings of the
under-surface entirely disappear, and are replaced by a buffy
tint mottled with brown, the mottled appearance being pro-
duced by a triangular spot of pale brown at the tip of each
feather.

I formerly considered the Australian Golden Plover to be
the Charadriiis xanthoclieilus of Wagler, but upon a recon-
sideration of the subject I find it is impossible to determine
to what species that name was assigned ; I believe that the
present bird is the same as the C. orienialis of Temminck and
Schlegel, and that name I therefore adopt.

GRALLATORES. 227

Genus EUDROMIAS, Boie.

Of this genus of upland Plovers two species at least are
known, viz. the U. morinellm of Eui-ope and the E. australis
of Australia.

Sp. 505. EUDROMIAS AUSTRALIS, Gould.

Australian Dottrel.

Eudromias australis, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, part viii. p. 174.
Morinellus australis, Bonap. Compt. Rend, de I'Acad. Sci., torn. 43.
seance du 2 Aout, 1856.

Eudromias australis, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. vi. pi. 15.

By the ornithologist, the bird forming the subject of the
present memoir will be looked upon with the greatest interest,
as an additional species of a genus of which hitherto oidy a
single example was known, namely the Common Dottrel
{Eudromias morinellus) of the British Islands. Nothing can
be more interesting than to observe how beautifully many of
the species of the limited groups of the northern hemisphere
are represented by others in Australia: for instance, the mem-
bers of the genera Hhnantopus, Avocetta, Glareola, &c., of
which a single species only of each has yet been discovered
in either country. For my first knowledge of this very rare
bird I am indebted to the kindness of Captain Sturt, who
sent me a young individual from the high lands near the river
Murray in South Australia ; subsequently I received numerous
examples from Victoria and South Australia.

Many years must probably elapse before anything is known
of the habits and economy of the Australian Dottrel ; for even
those of its European ally, Eudromias morinellus, are but
little understood, in consequence perhaps of its affecting loca-
lities far removed from the habitation of man. If its flesh
should be similar in flavour to that of our own highly prized

q2

228 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

bird, the time will not be far distant when it will be diligently
sought after as an equally choice viand for the table.

The Eudromias australis inhabits the low hills and plains of
the interior of Australia, a kind of habitat precisely similar to
that of its European prototype.

" This singular bird," says Captain Sturt, in the Appendix
to his account of his recent expedition into the interior of
South Australia, "made its appearance in 1841 suddenly on
the plains of Adelaide, seeming to have come from the north.
It occupied the sand-hills at the edge of the mangrove swamps,
and fed round the puddles of water on the plains. This bird
afforded my friend, Mr, Torrens, an abundant harvest, as it was
numerous round his house ; but although some few have
visited South Australia every subsequent year, they have never
appeared in such numbers as on the first occasion. It runs
very fast along the ground. Mr. Browne and I met or rather
crossed several flights of these birds in August of 1845, going
south. They were on the large open plains, and were very
wild."

Forehead and all the upper surface light sandy buff, the
centres of the feathers being brown ; primaries brownish black
with sandy buff shafts, and all but the first four broadly mar-
gined with the same ; throat buffy white, below which a
crescent-shaped mark of blackish brown ; chest, flanks, and
under surface of the wing buff, passing into reddish chestnut
on the abdomen, beyond which the vent and under tail-coverts
are white ; tail brownish black, the centre feather margined
Avith buff, the outer ones with white ; bill dark olive-brown ;
feet yellowish brown.

It will be interesting should the female of this bird prove
larger and more richly coloured than the male, as is the case
with the European Dottrel.

Total length 7-^ inches ; bill ^ ; wing b^ ; tail 2^ ; tarsi If.

GRALLATORES. 229

Genus CIRREPIDESMUS, Bonaparte.

This generic term was proposed for the Charadrius geoffroyi
of Wagler, and the C. pyrrhothoraoc of Temminck ; to which,
perhaps, must be added the C. asiaticus of Pallas ; and if so,
my C. veredus must sink into a synonym, since it is the young
of that species.

Sp. 506. CIRREPIDESMUS ASIATICUS ?

Asiatic Dottrel.

Charadrius asiaticus et caspius, Pall. ?

Cursorius isahellinus, Horsf.

Morinellus caspius, Bonap. Compt. Reud. de I'Acad. Sci., torn, xliii.

Pluvialis xanthocheilus, Bonap.

Charadrius veredus, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, 1848, p. 38.

Charadrius veredus, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. vi. pi. 14.

From the time I characterized the bird to which I gave the
name of Charadrius veredus in the ' Proceedings of the Zoo-
logical Society ' for 1848 to the present moment, it has been
a stumbling-block to all ornithologists, myself included.
Horsfield regarded it as identical with Cursorius isahellinus ;
and Bonaparte considered it to be the young of C. xantho-
cheilus, which it certainly is not. My C. veredus is a young
bird which closely resembles, in form, a specimen in fully
adult summer dress which I have direct from China, and with
which I have no doubt of its identity, whatever species the
latter may be ; I say whatever it may be, because the adult
specimen alluded to differs slightly from the C. asiaticus
of Pallas ; the difference, however, is only in its greater
size, for my specimen and the mounted one in the British
Museum, with which I have carefully compared it, are pre-
cisely alike. My C. veredus and the Chinese bird have very
thin bills and very long legs, which I deem it necessary to
mention, because there are other species of Asiatic Plovers in

230 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

the Britisli Museum with thick bills and rather shorter tarsi ;
these are doubtless distinct. Mr. Wallace brought skins of
my C. veredus from Macassar, and there is a specimen in the
British Museum from Japan, which favours the opinion that
these young birds, like the young of other species of this family,
wander far away from their true home.

A specimen of this species was procured at Port Essington
by Gilbert, and a second has been sent to me from Sydney
by Strange. Judging from its structure and the character of
its plumage, it would seem to be nearly allied to the restricted
genus Eudromias.

Crown of the head and all the upper surface brown, each
feather narrowly fringed with buff; primaries blackish brown,
the shaft of the first white ; tail brown, narrowly edged with
white, the brown colour gradually fading as the feathers re-
cede from the centre ; face, a broad stripe over the eye and
the chin buffy white ; sides and back of the neck and the breast
buffy brown ; abdomen and under surface white ; irides very
dark brown ; legs and feet brownish flesh-colour ; bill dark
brown.

Total length 8^ inches ; bill 1^ ; wing 6 J ; tail 2\ ; tarsi 2.

Genus tEGIALITES, Bote,

The little Ring-Dottrels, composing the genus jEgialiteSy
inhabit both the Old and the New World. Two species at
least are found in Europe and Asia, and three in Australia.
They are rather dumpy little birds, with large heads, generally
banded with black, and have a gorget of the same hue on the
chest ; their bills are short and pulpy, and are generally
yellow at the base, while their legs are fleshy and mostly
of this colour. The sexes are alike in their markings, and the
young attain their full plumage in the second year.

(illALLATORES. 231

Sp. 507. iEGIALITES IIIATICULA.

Ring-Dottrel.

Charadrius hiaticula, Linn. Syst. i. 253. 1.

torquatus, Briss. Orn. 5. 63. 8. t. v. f. 2.

homeyeri, Brehm.

I possess an undoubted Australian specimen of this com-
mon European species. How it wandered that far, or if
stragglers frequently visit that distant region, I cannot say.
Hitherto the British Islands, the continent of Europe, North
Africa, and Persia were considered the extent of its range, but
we must now include Australia therein. The specimen above
alhided to was killed at Port Stevens ; it is not quite adult,
still the markings of the head and breast are sufficiently ap-
parent to enable me to identify it with our own bird.

Sp. 508. iEGIALITES MONACHA.

Hooded Dottrel.

Charadrius monachus, Geoff, in Mus. Paris. — Wagl. Syst. Av., sp. 15.

ciicullatus, Vieill., Nouv. Diet. d'Hist. Nat., p. 136.

JEgialitis monachus, Gould in Syn. Birds of Austraha, part ii.
Hiaticula monacha, List of Birds in Brit. Mus. Coll., part iii. p. 70.

Hiaticula monacha, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. vi. pi. 18.

This elegant species of Ring-Dottrel is universally dispersed
over the sea-coasts of the southern parts of Australia, but
is perhaps more abundant in Tasmania and the islands in
Bass's Straits than elsewhere ; I never observed it far inland,
in which respect it differs from the habits of the Common
Dottrel of Europe, to which it is so nearly allied. I fre-
quently found its two eggs on the shingly beach, in a slight
depression hollowed out by the bird for their reception just
above high-water mark : these are so similar in appearance
to the material upon which they are deposited that they would
readily escape the attention of a casual observer ; those I

232 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

collected were of a pale stone-colour, sprinked over with
numerous small irregularly-shaped marks of brownish black,
and are one inch and a half long by one inch and an eighth
broad.

While tripping over the sandy beach, which it does with
much elegance of movement, the black head of the male shows
very conspicuously.

The male has the head, fore-part of the neck, and a band
across the upper part of the back sooty black ; back of the
neck and all the under surface white ; back, shoulders and
tertials greyish brown ; centre of the wing and the basal
portion of the internal webs of the primaries and secondaries
white, the rest black ; two middle tail-feathers black ; the
three next on each side white at the base and tip and black in
the centre, the remaining feathers wholly white ; irides yel-
lowish or orange-brown ; eyelash rich reddish orange or scar-
let ; bill rich orange at the base, passing into yellow and
black at the tip ; legs flesh-colour.

The female diflers from the male in having the crown mot-
tled with black and white, the face and throat white, and in
having only a narrow line of black at the base of the neck
behind.

Youthful birds may be known by their resembling the
female, but having the feathers of the back and upper surface
narrowly fringed with brownish black.

Sp. 509. iEGIALITES NIGRIFRONS.

Black-fronted Dottrel.

Charadrius nigrifrons, Cuv. in Mus. Paris. — Terum. PI. Col., 47. fig. 1.

melanops, Vieill. Nouv. Diet. d'Hist. Nat., torn, xxvii. p. 139.

jEyialitis nigrifruns, Gould in Syn. Birds of Australia, part ii.
Hiaticula nigrifrons, G. R. Gray, List of Birds in Brit. Mus. Coll.,
part iii. p. 71.

Hiaticula nigrifrons, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. vi. pi. 20.

The temperate latitudes of Australia constitute the true

GUALLATORES. 233

habitat of this beautiful little Dottrel ; for, so far as I have
been able to learn, it is never found in the northern part of
that country, nor can Tasmania claim it as a part of its avi-
fauna ; the climate of the latter country being less genial, and
the seas which wash its shores being too rough and boisterous
for the abode of so delicate a bird as the JEgialites nigrifrons.
Even in Australia the exposed sea-beaches seem to be
avoided, and it is most frequently found in the interior of the
country, on the margins of pools and lakes, and in the most
retired situations. It also frequents the sides of rivers which
sparingly occur in the heart of the country; I frequently
encountered it while descending the Namoi, on the lowest
part of which river I was so fortunate as to discover its eggs.
They were deposited on the ground beside the stream ; they
now grace my cabinet, and are esteemed as one of my greatest
rarities, and to which many pleasing associations are attached,
connected with my visit to the distant region in which they
were procured.

The colonies of Swan River, South Australia, and New
South Wales are equally visited by this bird ; and its range
appears to be general over those portions of Australia lying
between the twenty-eighth and thirty-seventh degrees of south
latitude.

No member of the genus is more tame than the present ;
for as it trips nimbly along the sides of the pools it will allow
of a sufficiently near approach for the observer to see the
colour of the eye, and the brilliant ring of scarlet which
encircles it ; and when forced to take wing it merely flies to
the opposite bank or to a very short distance, and then
alights again.

The two eggs above mentioned so nearly resembled the
surface of the sand-bank upon which they were deposited,
that it was by the merest chance they were not passed by
unnoticed. In form they nearly resemble the eggs of other
Dottrels, being consideraljly pointed at the smaller end ; they

234 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

are one inch and three-sixteenths long by three-quarters of
an inch broad ; of a pale stone or dirty white colour, very
numerously but minutely speckled with dark brown.

The sexes are precisely alike in the colouring of their
plumage, and nearly so in size.

Forehead, a stripe commencing at the eye, passing over the
ear-coverts and round the back of the neck, and a broad band
crossing the chest and advancing somewhat down the centre
of the breast black ; a stripe of white passes over each eye
and continues round the back of the neck, separating the
black band from the crown, which, with the back, the long
tertials, and the middle of the wing, are brown ; scapularies
deep chestnut ; tips of the greater coverts white, forming an
obscure band across the wing; primaries black; throat,
abdomen, and under tail-coverts white ; two middle tail-
feathers brown at the base and black at the tip ; the next
three on each side white at the base, gradually passing into
blackish brown, and largely tipped with white, the remainder
entirely white ; bill rich orange at the base and black at the
tip; feet orange flesh-colour in some, in others pale flesh-
colour ; irides dark brown ; eyelash bright red.

The young have a crescentic mark of a lighter colour on
the feathers of the upper surface, and have the colouring of
the plumage and soft parts less brilliant and well-defined
than the adults.

Genus ^EGIALOPHILUS, Gould.

In accordance with the spirit of minute subdivision which
now pervades all branches of natural science, I have for a
long time considered that the small Plovers hitherto comprised
in the genus uEcjialites, of which the uE. Maticula is the type,
required a further subdivision ; I therefore propose the term
above given for the ^. cantianus of Europe, and to associate
with it the ^E. ruficapiUiis of Australia. There are many

GRALLATORES. 235

other species of the form, all or nearly all of which have black
bills and long legs, and are less banded with black than the
members of the genus u.<EpaIifes. They have a different note,
are very nimble of foot, and affect situations bordering the
open sea.

Sp. 510. ^GIALOPHILUS RUFICAPILLUS.
Red-capped Dottrel.

Charadrius ruficapillus, Temm. PI. Col., 47. fig. 2.

• marginatus, Geoff, in Mus. Paris. — Less. Traite d'Orn., p. 544.

Hiaticula ruficapilla, G. R. Gray, List of Birds in Brit. Mus. Coll.,

part iii. p. 71.
Sand-Lark and Red-necked Plover, Colonists of Swan River.

Hiaticula ruficapilla, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. vi. pi. 17.

The Red-capped Dottrel is universally dispersed over every
part of the sea-shores of Australia that I have visited, and
everywhere evinces a greater preference for the shingly beach
of the ocean, and especially for deep salt-water bays, than for
the sides of rivers and inland waters ; it is very numerous in
Tasmania, on Flinders' Island, on the sand-banks at the
mouth of the Hunter in New South Wales and at Port Ade-
laide in South Australia ; and Gilbert states that it is equally
abundant in Western Australia, where it is likewise so strictly
a bird of the coast that he never saw it inland. It is usually
met with in pairs, but may be occasionally observed asso-
ciating in small companies.

I found many of its eggs on Flinders' Island, deposited in
pairs in a slight depression of the sand among the shingle
just above high-water mark ; they were very difficult to
detect, in consequence of their colouring very closely assimi-
lating to that of the material among which they were placed ;
those procured by Gilbert in Western Australia were deposited
on a small mound of sand and sea-weed on the sandy beach at
a distance of from ten to twenty yards above high-water

236 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

mark. The breeding-season comprises September and the
three or four following months.

The stomach is very muscular, and the food consists of
small mollusca of various kinds.

Like the TringcB, this bird resorts to every possible device
in order to lure an intruder from its nest : throwing itself
down upon its chest and flapping its wings as if in the agonies
of death, it will so continue until he has approached almost
near enough to place his hand upon it, when it moves along
for several yards, dragging one of its legs behind, and if still
followed up attempts to fly, and so well imitates the motion of
a bird wounded in the wing, that the intruder is easily misled,
and the eggs remain undiscovered.

The eggs, which are an inch and a quarter in length by
seven-eighths of an inch in breadth, are of a pale stone-colour,
sprinkled all over with small irregular blotches of brownish
black.

The male has the forehead crossed by a broad band of
white, which gradually diminishes to a point at the posterior
angle of the eye ; above this is another band of black, which
also diminishes to a point at the same place ; from the
angle of the mouth to the eye is a line of black, which is con-
tinued from the posterior angle of the eye down the sides of
the neck ; crown of the head, nape, and back of the neck
rich rusty red ; all the upper surface and wings pale brown,
each feather margined with a still lighter tint ; primaries
blackish brown ; the shafts and extreme edge of the inner
webs white ; four central tail-feathers dark brown, the re-
mainder white ; all the under surface white ; irides very dark
brown ; bill dark reddish brown ; naked part of the legs
above the tarsi dark greenish grey ; tarsi light grey ; feet
blackish brown.

In the female the distribution of colour is precisely the
same, but the hues are all much paler, and the marks about
the face are light brown instead of black.

GRALLATOUES. 237

Genus OCHTHODROMUS, Reichenbach.

Professor Reichenbach has instituted this genus for the
Charadrius wilsonius of America, and as the bird I have called
Hiaticida inornata is precisely of the same form, I now place
it in the same genus. There are many other species in India
and America.

Sp. 511. OCHTHODROMUS INORNATUS, Gould.
Allied Dottrel.

Hiaticula inornata, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. vi. pi. 19.

I have for some years had in my possession two examples
of this species, the uniformity of whose colouring suggested
the term of inornata as an appropriate appellation ; I have
received other examples with a brighter style of marking,
which is doubtless characteristic of the summer or breeding-
season, and which renders the above name only applicable to
the bird Avhen in the plumage of winter. It is nearly allied
to the Oclitliodromus wilsoni of North America, of which it
forms a beautiful representative in the distant country of
which it is a native.

I possess no information whatever as to the extent of the
range of this species ; Gilbert found it abundant on most
of the sandy points and bays in the neighbourhood of Port
Essington, and I believe that it also inhabits the islands in
Torres' Straits and New Guinea.

The stomachs of those dissected contained the remains of
small crustaceous animals, and a large portion of sand.

The male in summer has the forehead white, above which is
a stripe of black ; all the upper surface pale greyish brown ;
crown of the head rufous, which colour is continued on the
back and sides of the neck, and meeting on the centre of the
breast forms a pectoral band ; wings dark brown, the coverts

238 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

and secondaries margined and tipped with white ; the shafts
of the primaries are also white ; rump white ; six central
tail-feathers dark brown tipped with white ; the lateral
feathers white, tinged with brown in the centre ; lores, line
below the eye and ear-coverts black ; chin, throat and all the
under surface white ; irides dark brown ; bill blackish grey ;
tarsi light ash-grey ; feet greenish grey.

The winter plumage differs in wanting the rufous tints about
the head, neck and breast ; in the ear-coverts being brown,
and in having a brown patch like the commencement of a
band on either side of the chest.

Sp. 513. OCHTHODROMUS ? BICINCTUS.

Double-banded Dottrel.

Charadrius bicinctus, Jard. and Selb. III. Ora., vol. i. pi. 28.
Chestnut-breasted Plover, Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. ix. p. 324.
JEgialitis bicinctus, Gould in Syn. Birds of Australia, part ii.

Hiaticula bicincta, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. vi. pi. 16.

Mr. Ronald C. Gunn informs me that he has found this
fine species plentifully dispersed along the northern shores
of Tasmania, particularly at Circular Head and its neigh-
bourhood. I never but once encountered it in a state of
nature myself, and judging from the infrequency of its oc-
currence in collections from Australia, its true habitat would
seem to be but seldom visited. During my stay at George
Town, considerable numbers visited the common in the
vicinity, and appeared to be acting under some migratory
impulse, for after remaining a day or two they departed to
some other part of the country ; not, however, before I had
procured as many specimens as I required. This occurred
about the 1 5th of May, the middle of the Australian winter.
These flights consisted of birds of various ages and in diffe-
rent states of plumage, some having mere indications only of
the bands on the breast, while others had these marks well

GRALLATORES. 239

defined, which appears to be the full summer or breedmg plu-
mage. The circumstance of their assembling in large flocks,
and evincing a partiality to the green sward rather than to the
shingly beach, leads me to assign to this bird a different habit
from the more typical members of the genus, and the dark
colour and greater length of its tarsi and bill show an approach
to the more typical Plovers. It would not surprise me if it
should prove that, instead of breeding on the sandy shores,
this species resorts for that purpose to inland districts ; a point
it would be most interesting to ascertain. Of the numerous
specimens I killed at George Town, no two were alike ; con-
sequently I am uncertain whether the sexes when adult are
similarly marked or not, but, judging from other species of the
genus, I presume they are.

The Double-banded Dottrel runs over the ground with great
swiftness ; all in the flock take flight together, and mounting
high in the air, which they pass through very quickly, suddenly
wheel about, and after flying a mile or two return, and pitch
again within a hundred yards of the spot from whence they
had arisen.

In the adult state a broad stripe of white crosses the fore-
head, above which the feathers are black, which colour gra-
dually passes into the uniform pale brown which covers the
whole of the upper surface ; outer webs of the primaries black-
ish brown ; inner webs paler ; throat white, surrounded with
a narrow line of black, which commences above the upper
mandible and continues down the sides of the neck and forms
a broad band across the breast ; across and down the centre
of the abdomen a broad band of bright chestnut ; the rest of
the under surface pure white ; two centre tail-feathers greyish
brown, those on each side paler, and the exterior ones white j
irides blackish brown; eyelash scarlet; bill black, slightly
tinged with olive ; feet pale sickly yellowish white ; joints of
the knees and toes browner.

240 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

Genus ERYTHROGONYS, Gould.

The single species of this genus appears to be strictly Au-
stralian, for I have never seen examples from any other
country.

In structure, actions and economy this elegantly formed
bird is very nearly allied to the jEgialites on the one hand,
and the Schoenicli on the other.

Sp. 513. ERYTHROGONYS CINCTUS, Gould.

Red-kneed Dottrel.

Erythrogonys cinctus, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, part v. p. 155.
Vanellus rufiventris, Less.

Erythrogonys cinctus, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. vi. pi. 21.

Over v^^hat extent of country the Red-kneed Dottrel ranges
is yet to be determined ; the south-eastern portions of Aus-
tralia are the only localities from which, if I recollect rightly,
I have ever seen or received specimens.

It is a summer visitor to New South Wales, where it is
esteemed a rare bird, and where its presence is probably alto-
gether dependent upon the kind of season that may occur :
its natural habits leading it to frequent the borders of lagoons,
muddy flats and the banks of rivers ; none but wet and humid
seasons, which, it is to be regretted, are so unfrequent in
Australia, are suitable to it : I believe it is seldom or ever seen
either on or even near the sea-coast, but that it is strictly an
inhabitant of the interior. In October and November 1839, I
found it tolerably abundant on the flats near Aberdeen, and
on the upper part of the Dartbrook, a tributary of the River
Hunter, and on visiting the Mokai and Namoi in the follow-
ing month I observed it to be equally numerous on those
rivers. I seldom saw more than two together, and these were
almost always male and female : they appeared, as I have

GRALLATORES. ~41

before stated, to prefer soft muddy banks to the stony or
shingly margins of the rivers. It is a most showy and active
Uttle bird, and is so tame that I had not the slightest trouble
in shooting as many as I pleased. Its actions and manners
are very peculiar, and partake both of those of the Dottrell
and the Sandpiper ; having the stooping carriage of the
former, and the quick bobbing motion of the head and tail of
the latter : its olive-green plumage and long tertiaries also
ally it to the Sandpipers.

Those vi^ho have closely observed the motions of this bird
v^^hile running over the ground must have remarked that they
much resemble those of the Common Summer Snipe {Actitis
hypoleucus), with which, however, it cannot be generically asso-
ciated. The flight of the two birds is very different.

The sexes present no variation in the colour or marking of
their plumage, neither did I detect any difference in size by
which they might be distinguished. Although they were
probably breeding at the period of my visit to the above-men-
tioned locahties, I could never discover their eggs, nor could
the two intelligent natives accompanying me either aid or give
me any information on the subject.

Its food consists of insects of various kinds.

Head, ear-coverts, back of the neck, and chest black ; a small
patch under the eye, throat, chest, sides of the neck, centre of
the abdomen, and under tail-coverts white, the latter spotted
with dark brown ; back, centre of the wings, and tertiaries
olive, tinged with bronzy brown ; tips of the secondaries and
the inner webs of the tips of the six contiguous primaries white;
rump and two middle tail-feathers olive, the remaining tail-fea-
thers white; flanks chestnut; irides nearly black, with a narrow
black eyelash ; bill pulpy, pink-red at the base, black at the
tip ; thigh, knee, and for a quarter of an inch down the tarsus
pink-red, the remainder of the tarsus and the toes lively
bluish lead-colour.

Total length 7 inches; bill 1 ; wing 4^; tail 1|-; tarsi \\.

VOL. II. R

242 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

Genus ACTITURUS, Bonaparte.

An American form, of which the single species is the well-
known Tringa bartramia of authors, and which is evidently a
wide wanderer, examples having been killed in England, on
the continent of P]urope, and in Australia.

Sp. 514. ACTITURUS BARTRAMIUS.

Bartram's Sandpiper.

Tringa bartramia, Wilson, Am. Orn., vol. ii. p. 353, pi. 59. fig. 2

(Jardine's Edition).
Totanus bartramius, lb. (Ord's Edition), vol. vii. p. 67.
Aditurus bartramius, Bonap. Comp. List of Birds of Eur. and N. Am.,

• p. 51.
Bartramia laticuuda, Less. Traite d'Orn., p. 553.
Tringa loiigicaiida, Bechst.

Totanus variegatus, Vieill. Gal. des Ois., t. ccxxxix.
melanopygius, Vieill. 2de Edit, du Nouv. Diet. d'Hist. Nat., torn.

vi. p. 401.
campestr is, YieiW, 2de Edit, du Nouv. Diet. d'Hist. Nat. torn. vi.

p. 400.
Tringuides bartramius, Gray, Gen. of Birds, vol. iii. p. 574, Tringoides,

sp. 4.

I am indebted to the Directors of the Museum at Sydney
for the loan of a very fine example of this species, which they
kindly permitted to be sent to England for my inspection.
It was shot by an old sportsman, during the Snipe season of
1848, near the water-reservoir, in the vicinity of Sydney.
On examination it was found to be a male, and had the
stomach filled with aquatic insects.

Speaking of this species, Audubon says, "Like all ex-
perienced travellers, it appears to accommodate itself to cir-
cumstances as regards food, for in Louisiana it feeds on
cantharides and other coleopterous insects ; in Massachusetts
on grasshoppers, on which, it is said, it soon grows very fat ;

GRALLATORES. 243

in the Carolinas on crickets and other insects, as well as the
seeds of the crab-grass {Bigitaria sanguinarid) ; and in the
barrens of Kentucky often picks the strawberries. Those
which have fed much on cantharides require to be very care-
fully cleaned, otherwise persons eating them are liable to
suffer severely,"

Family GLAREOLID^.

I think Bonaparte was right when he instituted a family
name for the Pratincoles, for few groups of birds are more
isolated. Most modern ornithologists associate them with
the Plovers ; in many of their features they show an affinity
to the Swallows, Avith which group the illustrious Linnaeus
originally placed them.

Genus GLAREOLA, Brisson.

Species of this form inhabit India, the Indian Islands,
Europe, and Africa.

Sp. 515. GLAREOLA GRALLARIA, Temm.
Australian Pratincole.

Glareola grallaria, Temm. Man. d'Orn., torn. ii. p. 503.

Isabella, Vieill. Gal. des Ois., torn. ii. p. 159, pk 263.

australis, Leach in Linn, Trans., vol. xiii. p. 132, pi. 14. figs. 1, 2.

Australasian Pratincole, Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. ix. p. 366.
Stiltia grallaria, Bonap. Compt. Rend, de I'Acad. Sci., torn, xliii. seance
du 2 Aout 1856.

Glareola grallaria, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. vi. pi. 22.

This species of Pratincole possesses several remarkable
specific distinctions, the great length of the tarsi and primaries,
which, combined with the graceful contour of its body and the
small size of its head, render it the most elegant species of the
genus that has yet been discovered. The figure in Vieillot's
' Galerie des Oiseaux' is far less accurate than the description.

R 2

244 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

The bird is there portrayed with the primaries brown, whereas
they should be black ; the white of the throat is also much
less defined in the bird than it is in the drawing ; this mark,
which is so conspicuous in the other members of the genus,
being scarcely distinguishable in the present species from the
surrounding reddish-buff colouring of the head and neck.

While traversing the plains bordering the river Namoi, in
New South Wales, I once had a transient view of this
interesting bird ; it was on the wing, and so rapid and
extended was its flight, and so close did it keep to the
ground, that I had scarcely satisfied myself as to what kind
of bird it was, before it was lost in the distant horizon. I
possess, however, two specimens, both of which were collected
in the JNIoreton Bay district, the eastern portion of the con-
tinent of Australia, therefore, may be regarded as one of the
localities in which it is found, but which, from its rare
occurrence therein, can scarcely be considered its natural
habitat : in all probability the vast interior of the country is
its native home.

We may reasonably suppose that nature has destined this
bird to the same offices in Australia that are performed by the
Glareola pratincola in Europe, that insects of various kinds
constitute its principal food, and that they are taken both in
the air and on the ground, as the great development of its
wings and legs must give it peculiar facility for capturing them
in both situations ; future discovery, however, must determine
this among numerous other points now unknown respecting
the economy of the birds of that comparatively unknown
country, Australia.

The male has the head, all the upper surface, wings, and
breast light rufous, becoming nearly white on the throat ;
lores dark brown ; primaries and under surface of the wing
black ; shaft of the outer primary white for three-fourths of
its length from the base ; abdomen rich chestnut ; thighs,
upper and under tail-coverts white ; central tail-feathers black.

GIIALLATORES. 245

tipped on their outer webs with brown, and on their inner
webs with white ; lateral tail-feathers white, with an oval
spot of brown near the tip of the inner web ; the next on
each side white, crossed by a band, the inner portion of which
is black, and the outer brown ; bill red at the base, black at
the tip ; legs and feet brown.

The young during their first year have all the upper surface
light reddish brown ; the feathers of the breast with a spot of
brown in the centre ; the band across the abdomen pale
chestnut ; in other respects the colouring is similar to that
of the male.

Sp. 516. GLAREOLA ORIENTALIS, Leach.

Oriental Pratincole.

Glareola orientalis, Leach in Linn. Trans., vol. xiii. pp. 132, 187,

tab. 13. fig. 1, male, fig. 2, female.
Oriental Pratincole, Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. ix. p. 365.

Glareola orientalis, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. vi. pi. 23.

A small collection of birds presented to the Linnean Society
in the early part of 1827 by Alexander Macleay, Esq., of
Sydney, comprised a pair of these birds ; unfortunately the
whole were unaccompanied by any information as to the part
of Australia in which they had been procured, but as all the
other species were peculiar to the eastern and northern parts
of the continent, it is reasonable to infer that the present bird
was also killed in one or other of those localities. The true
habitat of the Oriental Pratincole is India and the neighbouring
islands ; it is most likely, therefore, that its visits to Australia
are only occasional.

Crown and all the upper surface olive ; primaries brownish
black; secondaries black, glossed with green ; tail-coverts and
tail white, the apical portion of the latter black ; throat white,
encircled by a broken ring of black ; chest greyish brown ;
upper part of the abdomen crossed by an indistinct band of

246 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

buff, which gradiially fades into the white of the vent and
under tail-coverts ; under surface of the wing rich deep rust-
red; bill black ; gape yellow ; feet blackish brown.

The young of the year is similar in colour, but much
paler, and has only an indication of the ring surrounding
the throat.

Family HIMANTOPODID^.

The Stilts differ so remarkably from all the other Plovers
and Sandpipers, that I have ventured to raise them to the
rank of a family. The various species inhabit many parts
both of the Old and New Worlds.

Genus HIMANTOPUS, Brisson.

Europe, India, and Africa are inhabited by one, North
America by a second, South America by a third. New Zealand
by a fourth, and Australia by a fifth species of this elegant
but singular genus.

Sp. 517. HIMANTOPUS LEUCOCEPHALUS, Gofdd.

White-headed Stilt.

Himantopus leucocephalus, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, part v. p. 26.
Djaii-jar-uk, Aborigines of the lowland districts of Western Australia

Himantopus leucocephalus, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. vi.
pi. 24.

Although the extreme length of the legs of this bird, as
compared with the small size of its body, would seem incom-
patible with easy carriage and graceful deportment, this is in
reality not the case, for I never saw a bird which combined
more grace of movement and elegance of appearance than the
White-headed Stilt, which I for the first time observed in the
month of December, near Mr. Edward Uhr's station on the
banks of the river Mokai, where it was associated in small

GRALLATORES. 247

flocks of from six to twenty in number, which, by their pic-
turesque appearance as they ran along the margin and knee-
deep in the shallows of the stream, added greatly to the beauty
of the scene. This part of the Mokai was one of the most in-
teresting localities I visited in New South Wales ; I encamped
on its banks for some time, and had no difficulty in obtaining
as many specimens of this fine bird as I desired. The flocks
were composed of both sexes, in the finest state of plumage ;
and I ascertained by dissection of numerous specimens that
the larger birds were the males. In this locality the Stilts
were feeding entirely on insects and small shelled snails,
which food was procured on the margin of the stream, or by
wading into the shallows : they ran about with great celerity,
displaying many graceful, lively actions ; their flight on the
contrary was heavy and inelegant, and their long legs stream-
ing out behind gave them a very grotesque appearance : while
on the wing they continually uttered a plaintive piping cry,
as if of distress, but which they seldom emitted when on the
ground.

I was unable to obtain any information respecting the
nidification of this bird, or to arrive at any conclusion as to
its being a stationary or migratory species. It appears to
possess an extensive range over the continent, as besides
killing it myself in New South Wales, I have received speci-
mens both from South and Western Australia. In the neigh-
bourhood of Perth it is sometimes seen in company with the
Avocet {Recurvirostra rubricoUis), feeding upon freshwater
shrimps and aquatic insects.

Back of the neck, back, and wings glossy greenish black,
the rest of the plumage pure white ; irides pink, margined
externally with a deep red ring ; bill black ; legs and feet
deep pink flesh-colour, becoming red after death.

Total length 1 5 inches ; bill 2^ ; wang 8^ ; tail 3 ; tarsi 4 ;
naked space above the knee 2^.

248 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

Genus CLADORHYNCHUS, G. /?. Gray.

The only species of this form known is peculiar to Australia,
and differs from Becttrvirostra in several minor particulars,
bat principally in the structure of the bill.

Sp. 518. CLADORHYNCHUS PECTORALIS.

Banded Stilt.

Leptorhynchus pedoralis, Dubus in Mem. Roy. Acad. Bruss., 1835.
Himantopus palmatus, Gould, Syn. Birds of Australia, part ii.
Cladorhynchus pedoralis, G. R. Gray, List of Gen. of Birds, p. 69.

Chladorhynchus pectoralis, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. vi.
pi. 26.

During the time that has elapsed since 1 described this
species in the year 1837 I have had an opportunity of ex-
amining tvro other examples, one of which was destitute of
the pectoral band on the breast ; whether this mark is merely
assumed during summer, or is distinctive of the sexes, I
regret to say that not even my visit to Australia has enabled
me satisfactorily to determine, never having had the good
fortune to meet with it in a state of nature. The Banded
Stilt is an inhabitant of the southern and western coast, where
it lives much after the manner of the Australian Avocet
{Becurvirostra rubricoUis). While at Adelaide I saw a speci-
men that had been shot in that neighbourhood ; and Gilbert,
in his Notes from Western Australia, states that he found it
on Rottnest Island, but in no other part of the colony.
Captain Sturt, who observed it in great numbers during his
journey into the interior, says : — " This singular bird, with
legs so admirably adapted by their length for wading into
the shallow lakes and sheets of water, was seen in large
flocks. It was very abundant on Lepson's Lake to the north-
ward of Cooper's Creek ; and on Strzelecki's Creek it was
sitting on the water making a singular plaintive whistle.''

GRALLATORES. 249

Body white ; breast crossed by a broad band of chestnut,
bordered anteriorly with black ; wings and centre of the
abdomen black ; bill black ; legs reddish yellow. In a spe-
cimen, which I presume may be a female, the band on the
chest was greyish brown instead of chestnut, and there was
no appearance of the black mark on the centre of the abdo-
men ; and in another the pectoral band was apparently
disappearing, from which I infer that this mark only exists
during the breeding-season.

FamHy EECTJRVIROSTRID^.

Every ornithologist must admit that the Avocets are as
singular in their habits, actions, and economy, as they are in
their structure. I have, therefore, raised them to the rank
of a family.

Genus RECURVIROSTRA, Linnmts.

This form, like that of Himatitopus, is widely distributed
over the globe, since species inhabit America, Africa, Europe,
India, and Australia, in which latter country, as in Europe,
only one species is found.

Sp. 519. RECURVIROSTRA RUBRICOLLIS, Temm.

Red-necked Avocet.
Recurvirostris rubricoUis, Temm. Man. d^Orn., part ii. p. 592.

novcE-hollandiay Vieill. 2nde Edit, du Nouv. Diet. d'Hist. Nat.,

torn. iii. p. 103?
Y'd-jin-goo-rong , Aborigines of the lowland districts of Western
Australia.

Recurvirostra rubricollis, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. vi.
pi. 27.

The western and southern portions of Australia appear to
be inhabited by this beautiful Avocet. I did not myself
meet with it during my rambles in New South Wales, but I
have now and then seen it in collections from those parts.

Like its European representative, the Red-necked Avocet

250 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

frequents the shallow parts of lakes, inlets of the sea, and the
muddy banks of rivers, often wading knee-deep in the water,
and readily swimming when necessity requires it so to do.

Its food consists of minute marine mollusca and insects,
which it gathers from the surface of the mud with its deli-
cately organized bill, the structure of which is admirably
adapted for the purpose : not less appropriate is the structure
of its feet, which, being partially webbed, enable the bird to
pass over the soft surface of the ground with far greater ease
than could be effected by any of the Sandpipers, whose toes
are divided to their base. In Western Australia the favourite
localities of this bird are the lakes in the neighbourhood of
PertJi and on Rottnest Island, where it is seen in small flocks
in company with the Himantopus leucocephalus. In South Aus-
tralia, the River Murray, and the shores of Lake Alexandrina
afford situations equally adapted for its existence.

The sexes are alike in plumage, and differ but little in size.

Head and upper half of the neck chestnut, extending down-
wards on the front of the neck ; middle of the wings, prima-
ries and part of the scapularies black, the rest of the plumage
white ; irides bright red ; bill black ; legs greyish blue ; tarsi
and feet tinged with olive.

The habits and economy of the four or five species known
of this family are very similar. In England the European
bird is called Yelper, from the peculiar noise it makes when
flying, while the extraordinary form of its upturned bill
has obtained for it the trivial names of Shoe-horn, Cobbler's
Awl, Scooper, &c. This elastic Avhalebone-like organ is
doubtless formed for the procuration of some peculiar food
which has not yet been fully ascertained. The bird is said,
however, to live on sea- worms, aquatic insects, and small
crustaceans. Its eggs, which are generally two in number,
are laid on the bare sand or among the shingle ; and doubt-
less the breeding of the Australian bird is very similar.

GRALLATORES. 251

Family LIMOSID^,

The birds of this family range between the Snipes (Scolo-
pacidfs) and the Sandpipers {Tringidcs). They are large and
powerfid in form, and differ considerably from both the
groups mentioned.

Genus LIMOSA, Brisson.

Two very distinct species of this genus inhabit Australia,
one the southern and the other the northern divisions of the
country; others occur in India, Africa, Europe, and North
America.

Sp. 520. LIMOSA MELANUROIDES, Gould.

Black-tailed Godwit.

Limosa melanuro'ides, Gould iu Pi-oc. of Zool. Soc, part xiv. p. 84.
Mun-doore-git, Aborigines of Port Essington.

Limosa melanuroides, GoTdd, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. vi. pi. 28.

On comparison the Limosa melanuroides will be found of
much smaller size than the European species, and to exhibit
other differences which, although but slight, fully satisfy me
that it is distinct : it is one of the many novelties which
rewarded Gilbert's researches in the neighbourhood of Port
Essington, and who states that it inhabits shallow muddy
swamps and lakes, and that he usually met with it in tolerably
large flocks; he also adds that its stomach was extremely
muscular, and that its food consists of aquatic insects of
various kinds.

In its habits, actions, and general economy it doubtless closely
resembles its European ally, and, in all probability, undergoes
similar changes of plumage, the dull colouring of winter
giving place to a rufous tint in summer.

252 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

The winter dress may be thus described : —
Head and all the upper surface greyish brown, with a small
streak of black down the centre of the feathers ; wings dark
brown, shafts white; base of the primaries and secondaries
and tips of the greater coverts white, forming a band when
the wing is expanded ; upper tail-coverts white, forming a
conspicuous mark ; tail black, with the exception of the two
lateral feathers on each side, which are white at the base and
black at the tip ; neck, breast, and flanks greyish brown ;
abdomen and under tail-coverts white; irides brown; bill
greenish grey, becoming paler on the sides of the upper
mandible ; legs and feet greenish grey.

Totallength 13 inches; bill 3|- ; wing 7f ; tailSj; tarsi 2f.

Sp. 521. LIMOSA UROPYGIALIS, Gould,

Barred-rumped Godwit.
Limosa uropygialis, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, 1848^ p. 38.

Limosa uropygialis, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. vi. pi. 29.

I saw this species in very great abundance, in company
with Curlews, Oyster-catchers and Sandpipers, at Pit water in
Tasmania, feeding on the extensive flats left bare by the re-
ceding tide ; I also observed it on the sandy flats in Spencer's
Gulf and on the sand-banks at the mouth of the river Hunter
in New South Wales ; and in all probability it is dispersed
over the whole of the Australian coasts.

Another instance of the law of representation, so frequently
spoken of in the course of the present work, is here most con-
spicuously shown. To a common observer this bird would be
considered identical with the Bar-tailed Godwit [Limosa ri/fa)
of Europe; but on comparing the two birds, he will find that the
Australian has at all times the lower part of the rump strongly
barred with brown, while the same part in the Limosa rufa,
when in the light-coloured dress, is snow-white. The

GRALLATORES. 253

habits, manners and economy of the two birds are so precisely
similar that I was unable to detect any difference ; various
kinds of marine insects and small-shelled moUusks are its
principal food.

Mr. Macgillivray, however, informs me that one of the
specimens sent home by him from Australia was clothed in
a rufous dress very similar to the summer plumage of the
European species.

All the upper surface brownish grey, becoming dark brown
on the centre and nearly white on the edges of the feathers ; pri-
maries brown with white shafts ; rump and upper tail-coverts
conspicuously barred with brown and white ; tail alternately
barred with brown and white ; throat and abdomen white ;
neck and breast brownish grey ; under wing-coverts and
flanks barred with brown and white ; bill white at the base,
becoming brown at the tip ; irides dark brown ; legs brownish
black.

Total length 15 inches ; bill 3^ ; wing 8f ; tail 3 J ; tarsi 2|-.

In the youthful state the feathers of the back are of a much
darker hue, and the tertiaries are conspicuously toothed with
white on their margins.

Every ornithologist is aware how difficult it is to trace our
own Bar-tailed Godwit to its breeding-place ; so great indeed is
it that its eggs are desiderata in nearly every European cabinet ;
and this want of knowledge is equally felt with regard to the
Australian species, for we have not the most remote idea
what country it resorts to during the breeding-season, and no
Australian egg has yet been collected which can with certainty
be referred to this bird ; any information, therefore, on this
point will be received by me, and I am sure by every other
ornithologist, with pleasure.

254 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

Family TRINGID-ffi.

The members of this family are ver}^ numerous, and com-
prise many distinct forms or genera.

These strand and shore birds are very generally distri-
buted over the face of the globe, there being few countries in
which they are not found. In Australia there are species
some of which closely resemble others inhabiting Europe.

Genus LIMNOCINCLUS, Gould.

The two species of this genus range over many degrees of
latitude, the Lininocinclus pedoralis of America being one of
them, the following species the other. They, or at least the
Australian bird, inhabit marshy districts and the borders of
rivers ; and run about among the grass and herbage much
after the manner of the true Snipes. Of their nidification
little or nothing has yet been recorded, and I would especially
direct the attention of Australian ornithologists to this point
so far as it regards the bird inhabiting their country.

Sp. 522. LIMNOCINCLUS ACUMINATUS.

Marsh Tringa.

Totanus acuminatus, Horsf. Lin. Trans., vol. xiii. p. 192,
Trinya australis, Jard. and Selb. IH. Orn., vol. ii. pi. 91.
Schoeniclus australis, G. R. Gray, List of Birds in Brit. Mus. Coll.,
part iii. p. 105.

SchceniclTis australis, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. vi. pi. 30.

This pretty species of Sandpiper is distributed over all parts
of AustraHa, including Tasmania. The sandy beaches of the
sea-coast and the banks of the rivers in the interior of the
country are equally visited by it ; and in all such situations it
is to be seen either in pairs or in small parties of from six to
fifteen in numl^er. It is very fearless, and will allow of the

GRALLATORES. 255

nearest approach before it will take wing. In its economy it
appeared to me to hold an intermediate station between the
Sandpipers and true Snipes. It is a bird especially fond of the
grassy sides of lagoons and open wet marshy places, where it
trips over the herbage which rests on the surface of the water,
and sometimes wades up to its body in search of insects. Its
flight resembles that of the true Snipes. Of the specimens
killed, by far the greater number were birds of the year, at
which period of their existence a rufous tint pervades the
breast and flanks ; the feathers of the back are also margined
with the same hue, except where they are varied with greenish
white, some of the feathers of the scapularies and back being
edged with this colour ; when fully adult, an almost uniform
grey pervades the upper surface, the centre of the abdomen
alone being white.

I dissected a number of specimens and found the larger
ones to be males, a somewhat unusual circumstance in this
group of birds ; the Ruff", however, may be quoted as an
instance contrary to the usual law ; several of the males were
weighed, and averaged two ounces and three-quarters.

The food consists of aquatic insects and their larvse.

All the feathers of the upper surface very dark brown in
the centre, gradually fading into grey on the margins ; crown
slightly washed with rufous ; primaries brown with white
shafts ; under surface white, washed on the breast with grey-
ish brown, and where this tint appears, each feather has a
small streak of brown down the centre ; under tail-coverts
with a conspicuous streak of dark brown down the centre ;
bill olive at the base, becoming dark brown at the tip ; legs
yellowish olive ; irides black.

The above is the description of an adult in winter plumage ;
the young of the year are similarly marked, but have the
greater portion of the feathers, and particularly those of the
crown and the tertiaries, distinctly margined with sandy red
and white ; the breast washed with buff".

256 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

Genus ANCYLOCHILUS, Kaup.

The single species of this genus inhabits Europe, America,
India, and AustraUa.

Sp. 523. ANCYLOCHILUS SUBAEQUATUS.

Curlew Sandpiper.

Scolopax subarquata, Gmel. Syst. Nat., vol. i. p. 658.

Tringa subarquata, Teram. Man. d'Orn., torn. ii. p. 609.

Pelidna subarquata, Steph, Cont. of Shaw's Gen. Zool., vol. xii. p. 96.

Schceniclus subarquatus, G. R. Gray, List of Birds in Brit. Mus. Coll.,

part iii. p. 105.
Ancylocheilus subarquatus, Bonap. Compt. Rend, de I'Acad. Sci., torn.

xliii. seance du 2 Aout, 1856.
Pygmy Curlew of British Ornithologists.

SchcBniclus subarquatus, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. vi.
pi. 32.

Some species of Australian birds are precisely identical with
those of India and Europe, and the present may be quoted as
a case in point, for I find no difference between this bird and
the Pygmy Curlew of England, except that Australian spe-
cimens are a little larger than those of Europe ; its distribution
over the shores of Australia appears to be universal, but at
the same time it is very thinly dispersed ; and there seem to
be no localities in which it can be looked for and found with
certainty at any stated time. Like the rest of the Sandpipers,
it resorts to the shingly beach of the sea-shore and the banks
of estuaries and rivers. The change from the grey to the red
livery, which renders the birds so conspicuous in the summer
season, takes place in Australia at precisely the opposite
time of the year to that in which it occurs in Europe.

Of the three specimens in my collection, one w^as killed on
Rottnest Island, another on the main-land of Western Au-
stralia, and the third at Port Macquarrie in New South Wales.

GRALLATORES. 257

In summer the upper surface is deep rufous ; wings dark
greyish brown ; upper tail-coverts white ; tail grey, barred
with black and rufous ; head mottled black and white ; all
the under surface deep rufous ; bill and legs black, slightly
tinged with olive ; irides dark brown.

In winter the rump is white, the remainder of the upper
surface greyish brown ; under surface white, except the chest,
which is slightly tinged with grey.

Young birds differ from both in having the upper surface
dark brown, each feather fringed with grey and a wash of
brown across the chest.

Genus ACTODROMAS, Kaiip.

The little Sandpipers of Europe, America, and Australia
have been separated under the above generic appellation,
with the Trinya vim/cta of authors as the type. One species
inhabits Australia.

Sp. 524. ACTODROMAS AUSTRALIS.

Little Sandpiper.

Calidris australis, Cuv. Gal. de Paris. — Less. Traite d'Orn., p. 558.
Tringa albescens^ Temm. PI. Col., 41. fig. 2.

Land Snipe and Least Sandjnper of the Colonists of Western Au-
stralia.

Schoeniclus albescens, G-ould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. vi. pi. 31.

I have received specimens of this little Sandpiper from
every one of the Australian colonies, the islands in Bass's
Straits, the Houtmann's Abrolhos off the western coast, and
Raine's Islet in Torres' Straits ; no one, therefore, of the
Australian Sandpipers is more generally dispersed. To
those who are acquainted with the Little Dunlin {Adodromas
mimitus) of Europe. I may say that the habits of the two
species so closely assimilate as to render a separate descrip-

VOL. II. s

258 BIRDS OF AUSTRAIJA.

tion unnecessary ; low flat shingly beaches frmging deep bays
and inlets of the sea, salt estuaries and spits of land at the
extremities of small islands, are its usual places of resort. In
Tasmania I observed it in hundreds at Ralph Bay Neck and
the adjoining estuary near the mouth of the Derwent ; and it
was equally plentiful at Nepean Bay and other parts of the
shores of Kangaroo Island, at the entrance of Spencer's Gulf
in South Australia. Agile and elegant in its movements, it
trips over the ground with astonishing celerity, following each
receding tide in search of such small marine insects as form
part of its diet. All the examples procured by myself were
in the winter or light-coloured dress, and had I not recently
received specimens from South Australia, which exhibit traces
of red on the breast and dark feathers on the upper surface, I
should have been led to suppose that it did not undergo the
usual changes of the other members of the genus.

Gilbert found it breeding on the Houtmann's Abrolhos in
December, its two eggs being deposited in a hollow, which it
had formed in the ridge of black deposit and salt thrown up
by the ripple of the water, and which, when the water receded,
was left high and dry at about four or five yards from the
water's edge. Gilbert also states that it assembles in large
flocks on all the lakes around Perth and on Rottnest Island,
that it utters a weak piping note when on the wing, that its
stomach is muscular, and that its food consists of small land
and aquatic insects and small mollusca. He further observes,
that at Port Essington it congregates in flocks of several
hundreds, and, like the Greenshank and other members of the
group, perches on the mangroves during the height of the
flood-tide.

In summer the crown of the head and upper surface is
greyish brown, with a patch of blackish brown in the centre
of each feather, deepening into rusty red on the margins of the
scapularies, with a slight wash of rufous ; wing-coverts tipped
with white ; primaries blackish brown with white shafts ;

GRALLATORES. 259

rump, upper tail-coverts and two centre tail-feathers blackisli
brown ; tail pale brownish white with white shafts ; forehead
and under surface white ; sides of the breast spotted with
dark brown, and stained with rusty red in the centre ; irides
brownish black ; bill blackish brown ; tarsi and feet olive-
brown.

The winter plumage is similar, but much paler, and entirely
destitute of the red markings ; the spottings of the sides of
the breast are also much less extensive.

Genus TRINGA, Linnceus.

The Knot of Europe is the type of this genus, and with
that species may be associated the T. temiirostris, although it
differs from it in the colouring of the summer plumage.

Sp. 525. TRINGA CANUTUS, LinncEus.

Knot.

Tringa canutus, Linn. Syst. Nat., torn. i. p. 251.

cinerea, Gmel. edit. Linn. Syst. Nat., torn. i. p. 673.

calidris, Linn. Syst. Nat., torn. i. p. 252.

ncevia, Gmel. edit. Linn. Syst. Nat., torn. i. p. 681.

grisea, Gmel. lb., p. 681.

ferruginea, Meyer.Tascheub. Deut., tom. ii. p. 395.

islandica, Gmel. edit. Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. p. 682.

Calidris canutus, Gould, Birds of Eur., vol. iv. pi. 324.

Of this well-known British bird I have undoubted examples
from Moreton Bay, whence they were sent by Strange. The
fact of its being found in Australia need not surprise us when
we take into consideration its great wing-powers, and how
widely it is distributed throughout Europe and North Ame-
rica. Curiously enough, however, it is so seldom met with
in India that it is regarded as one of the rarest of the birds
of that country. One of the specimens sent by Strange had
the under surface much suffused with red, with many new

2G0 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

black feathers among the grey ones on the back showing
that the bird was changing into its summer Hvery at the com-
mencement of the AustraHan spring ; for the date on the label
of the specimen now before me clearly written by Strange is,
" Female, Sept. 2, 1861 ; irides dark hazel." It will scarcely
be necessary for me to give a description of this well-known
species, as it may be fomid in every European work ; I would,
liowever, direct attention to the fact of its having been found
on the east coast of Australia, that some one may record
hereafter if its visits are regular.

Sp. 526. TRINGA TENUIROSTRIS.

Great Sandpiper.

Totanus tenuirostris, Horsf. Linn. Trans., vol. xiii. p. 192.
Schoeniclus magnus, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, 1848, p. 39.
Tringa crassirostris, Temm. et Schleg. Faun. Jap., p. 107. pi. Ixiv.

Schoeniclus magnus, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. vi. pi. 33.

This is one of the birds that I did not meet with during my
sojourn in Australia ; there are, however, many specimens in
this country ; one in the British Museum was obtained on the
north coast of Australia ; and another, procured at Swan
River, is in the possession of Lord Braybrooke, a nobleman
much attached to natural history. It is one of the most sin-
gular species of the Tringce, being in size fully equal to the
RufF.

Besides being found in Australia, this bird also inhabits
China and Japan, and beautiful figures of it in its various
stages of plumage will be found in the ' Eauna Japonica ' as
above quoted.

Crown of the head and the neck brownish grey, each feather
with a stripe of brown down the centre ; back and wings
brown, broadly margined with brownish grey ; primaries
blackish brown ; rump white, each feather tipped with brown ;
tail brownish grey ; feathers of the breast dark brown, with a

GRALLATORES. 261

crescent of white at the extremity ; abdomen and under tail-
coverts white ; flanks mottled with brown ; bill, feet and irides
olive.

Total length 9 J inches ; bill If ; wing 7 ; tail 2 J ; tarsi If.

Genus TEREKIA, Bonaparte.

Only one species of this form is known. The upward
curvature of the bill renders it remarkably different from all
other Sandpipers.

Sp. 527. TEREKIA CINEREA.

Terek Sandpiper.

Scolopax terek, Lath. Ind. Orn., vol. ii. p. 724.

cinerea, Gmel. Linn., vol. i. p. 657.

Limosa recurvirostra, Pall. Zool. Rosso-Asiat., vol. ii. p. 181.
Terek Avoset, Penn. Arct. Zool., vol. ii. p. 502.

Snipe, Lath. Gen. Syn., vol. v. p. 155.

Limosa terek, Temm. Man. d'Orn., torn. iv. p. 426.
Terek Godwit, Gould, Birds of Europe, vol. iv. pi. 307.
Totaiius Javanicus, Horsf. Linn. Trans., vol. xiii. p. 193.

sumatranus, Raff.

Fedoa terekensis, Stepli. Cont. of Shaw's Gen. Zool., vol. xii. p. 83.
Numenius cinereus, Vieill. Ency. Meth. Orn., part iii. p. 1157.
Limicula indiana, Vieill.
Terekiajavanica,Bouap. List, of Eur. and Am. Birds, p. 52.

cinerea, G. R. Gray, List, of Gen. of Birds, 2nd edit. p. 88.

Xenus cinereus, Kaup. — G. R. Gray, List of Birds in Brit. Mus. Coll.,
p. 96.

Terekia cinerea, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. vi. pi. 34.

I killed a single example of this species on the river
Mokai in New South Wales on the 12th of July 1839,
and neither before nor since have I seen another Australian
specimen ; the individual in question was very shy, and it was
with ditticulty that I got sufficiently near to shoot it. On

262 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

dissection it proved to be a male. It is a common bird in
Java and Sumatra ; its range also extends to India, China and
Europe, and probably to North Africa.

But little has been hitherto recorded respecting its habits :
Temminck states that it occurs accidentally in Europe, lives in
Russia, Siberia, the borders of the Caspian Sea, in Japan,
Sumatra, and Borneo, and that specimens from the latter
island compared with others taken in Normandy and in the
environs of Paris do not present the slightest differences ; that
it inhabits the borders of rivers, has a sonorous voice, and
feeds on worms, insects and small-shelled mollusks.

The nest according to Pallas is formed of plants, and the
eggs are four in number, of a pale olive-yellow marked
with spots of reddish brown,

" This neat-plumaged little Sandpiper," says Mr. Jerdon,
" is not very abundant in the South of India, but is met with
more frequently towards the north ; it frequents the shores of
seas, back-waters, tanks, and rivers, in small flocks. In
summer plumage its scapulars become black, edged with
brown. It breeds in Northern Asia, laying four pale olive-
yellow eggs, with brown spots. It is extensively distributed
over Europe and Asia to Australia." — Birds of India^ vol. ii.
part ii. p. 683.

Latham states that in the summer it is numerous in the
neighbourhood of the Caspian Sea, particularly about the
mouth of the River Terek, where it breeds, and that it is
usually met with in flocks in the marshes, especially on the
borders of the salt lakes.

Head, all the upper surface, wings and tail pale brown, with
a fine line of a darker tint down the centre of each feather ;
shoulders and primaries dark brown, with the shaft of the
first quill white ; secondaries white ; base of the bill orange-
brown, passing into blackish brown at the tip ; irides black ;
legs brownish orange, the brown tint predominating on the
joints.

GRALLATOEES. 263

Genus ACTITIS, Illiger.

At least two species of this form are known, one inhabiting
America, the other the Old World.

Sp. 528. ACTITIS HYPOLEUCOS.

Common Sandpiper.

Tringa minor, Ray, Syn., p. 108, A. 6.

hypoleucos, Linu. Syst. Nat., torn. i. p. 250.

leucopte7-a, Pall.

Actitis hi/poleucos, 111. Prod. Syst. Mamm. et Av., p. 263.

Totanus hypoleucos, Temm. Man. d'Orn., 2nd edit., torn. i. p. 657, et

torn. iv. p. 419.
Tringoides hypoleucos, Gray, Cat. of Gen. and Subgen. of Birds in Brit.

Mus., p. 117.
Actites hypoleucus. Bias. List of Birds of Eur. (Engl. Edit.), p. 18.
Actitis empusa, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., part xv. p. 223.
Green Sandpiper, Colonists of Port Essington.

Actitis empusa, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. vi. pi. 35.

Although I have seen specimens of this bird from every
colony, with the exception of that on the north coast, I am
unable to say in which it is most plentiful, or in which it may
be sought for at any given period with the certainty of finding
it. I did not meet with it myself in any of my various
wanderings, but Gilbert observed it both at Swan River and
at Port Essington. When speaking of Swan River, he says,
" I only saw this species once. When near the entrance of
the Swan, I noticed it flitting from rock to rock, and every
time it rested on its feet the tail was constantly moved up
and down with a shaking motion." On referring to the Port
Essington specimens, he remarks, " Although solitary in its
habits, I have seen three or four together ; they were mostly
observed inhabiting the beds of mangroves, over the roots of
which, just above the water, they were very actively engaged
in searching for their food, the tail being in constant motion :

264 BIEDS OP AUSTRALIA.

occasionally I saw solitary individuals on the margins of the
lakes inland." Those persons resident in Australia who are
conversant with our British birds will readily recognize the
well-known Summer Snipe, a bird which appears to be
almost universally distributed over the Old World.

Its food consists of aquatic insects and very small-shelled
mollusks.

It will be seen that I formerly regarded this bird as dis-
tinct from the Common Sandpiper of Europe ; but a more
careful and minute comparison induces me now to believe
that it is identical ; and, if so, the species is an inhabitant of
nearly every country of the world. It is very generally dis-
tributed over Africa from north to south ; and specimens
from China, Japan, and the Indian Islands are precisely like
those killed in the British Islands.

In Europe this species makes its slight nest in a tuft of
rushes bordering a stream, in which it deposits its four large
pointed eggs.

The sexes are precisely alike in the colour of their plumage,
and but little difference exists in their size ; the young, on
the contrary, which are met with in greater abundance than
the adults, have the brown feathers of the upper surface
barred or freckled with darker brown.

The adults have all the upper surface pale glossy or bronzy
brown, each feather crossed with irregular bars of dark brown,
bounded on either side by a narrow line of pale brown ; base
and tips of the secondaries white ; primaries very slightly
tipped with white ; centre tail-feathers pale glossy or bronzy-
brown, with a row of irregular-shaped spots of dark brown
along the margins ; lateral feathers white, crossed by irre-
gular blended bars of dark and pale brown ; under surface
white, with the exception of the sides of the chest, and the
shafts of the feathers of the front of the chest, which are pale
brown.

Total length 6;^ inches ; bill 1^ ; wing 4|^ ; tail 2|- ; tarsi I.

GRALLATORES. 265

Genus GLOTTIS, Nilsson.

The only species of tins genus found in Australia appears
to be identical with the Glottis canescens of the British
Islands.

Sp. 529. GLOTTIS GLOTTOIDES.

Greenshank.
Scolopax glottis, Linn. Syst. Nat., torn. i. p. 245.

canescens, Gmel. edit. Linu. Syst. Nat., torn. i. p. 668.

grisea, Briss.

chloropus, Nilss.

totanus, Pall.

fistulans, Bechst.

nutans, Koch.

Totanus glottdides, Vig. in Proc. of Comm. Sci. and Corr. of Zool. Soc,

part i. p. 173.

vig or si, Gray.

Glottis canescens, Bonap. Compt. Rend, de I'Acad. Sci., torn, xliii.

seance du 3 Aoiit 1856.

Glottis glottoides, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. vi. pi. 36.

This wandering species inhabits every country of the Old
World from Europe and India to the most southern part of
Australia. Although nowhere very abundant, it is so gene-
rally dispersed over Australia, that I have seen specimens
from every settlement in that vast portion of the globe ; but,
although its distribution is so general, its presence is not, I
believe, to be depended upon in any given locality ; it is, in
fact, a chance but not unfrequent visitor to all. A more
elegant bird on the sands can scarcely be imagined, and it is
as graceful in all its actions as it is in form, tripping over the
beach with a lightness and ease peculiar to itself. It some-
times leaves the sea-side for estuaries and inland lakes ; but
these localities are not so favourable to its habits as sandy
points and spits of land on the sea-shore, where it is fre-

266 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

queiitly seen in company with the Whimbrel, Curlew, and
Oyster-catcher.

It is sometimes seen in small flocks, of from seven to ten
in number, but more frequently in pairs.

Like many other members of the family to which it belongs,
this bird is subject to considerable change in its plumage,
being much darker and more blotched and spotted during
the breeding-season than at any other.

Face, all the under surface, rump, and tail pure white ; the
sides of the breast streaked with dark brown, and the tail
barred on the margins and freckled with dark blackish
brown; crown of the head and back of the neck grey,
streaked down the centre with dark brown ; shoulders and
primaries very dark brown, the outer quill with a pure white
shaft ; the remainder of the upper surface light brown, each
feather margined with grey, with a streak of dark brown
down the centre, and a series of oblong spots on the margins
of the same hue ; bill dark olive ; irides black ; feet and legs
deep olive-green.

The sexes differ so little in colour that dissection must be
resorted to, to distinguish one from the other.

The above is the description of the plumage of summer ; in
winter the colouring is similar, but much paler, and the dark
spots almost obsolete.

Genus TOTANUS, Bechstein.

Of this genus one species is all that has yet been discovered
in Australia, and this I regard as identical with the Totanus
stagnatilis of Europe ; and, if this view be correct, then the
range of the species will extend from Asia to Australia;
certain it is, that I have seen specimens, which are strictly
identical with the European bird, from all the intermediate
countries.

GRALLATORES. 267

Sp. 530. TOTANUS STAGNATILIS.

Marsh Sandpiper.
Totanus stagnatilis, Temm. Man. d'Orn., torn. iv. p. 414.

Totanus stagnatilis, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. vi. pi. 37.

I shot a specimen of this bird on the banks of the Lower
Mokai on the 16th of December 1839 : on comparing it with
Indian and European specimens, I find the whole to be iden-
tical; the Austrahan bird is, however, somewhat Ughter in
colour. The individual above mentioned was feeding on the
bank close to the water's edge : from its being the only one I
had ever seen alive, I was more desirous of procuring it than
of watching its actions, and, as no opportunity afterwards
occurred of my so doing with other individuals, T am unable
to give any particulars respecting them.

Lord Lilford, in his " Notes on Birds observed in the
Ionian Islands, &c.," published in the ' Ibis ' for 1860, says
of this species : — " Abundant in March, April, and the early
part of May, on the race-course of Corfu. Its habits closely
resemble those of the Green Sandpiper (T. ocUropus), but it is
less shy, and not so clamorous. I have had excellent oppor-
tunities of observing closely the habits of this and many
other allied species on the race-course, having sometimes seen
within a few yards of the spot where I lay hidden T, glottis,
T. stagnatilis, T. glareola, T. ochropus, Himantopus melano-
pterus, Tringa minuta, Numenius phceopus, and Glareola pra-
ti7icolay

Face, fore-part of the neck, and all the under surface white ;
crown of the head and neck grey, streaked longitudinally with
black ; upper surface grey, each feather with a lighter margin ;
wings blackish brown ; tail white, marked with diagonal bars
of brown ; forehead, rump, and all the under surface white ;
bill dark greenish olive, tipped with brown ; legs sickly ohve-
yellowj irides blackish brown.

268 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

Genus GAMBETTA, Kaup.

As in the case of the preceding genus, Totanus, there is
only one species in AustraUa ; in size and structure it is very
similar to the Redshank of the British Islands.

Sp. 531. GAMBETTA PULVERULENTUS.
Grey-rlmped Sandpiper.

Tringa glareola, Pall. (Bonaparte) .

Totanus pulverulentus, Miill. Naturk. Verhand. Land- en Volkeuk.,
p. 152.

griseojnjgius, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., 1848, p. 39.

Mul-woo-ing-a-ni'ng-e, Aborigines of Port Essington.

Totanus griseopygius, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. vi.
pi. 38.

All the specimens I have seen of this bird were killed near
the harbour of Port Essington, where it frequents the sandy
beaches and rocks just above high- water mark ; the salt-
water lakes and swamps near the settlement also afford it a
natural asylum, and there, at some seasons of the year, it may
be seen in vast flocks in company with Stints and Plovers.

The stomach is very muscular, and the food consists of
aquatic insects and their larvae and small-shelled mollusks.

But little difference exists in the colouring of the sexes.

The head, all the upper surface, rump, and tail are greyish
brown ; primaries dark brown ; line over the eye and all the
under surface white, the neck, breast, and flanks strongly
freckled with brown ; irides reddish brown ; bill blackish
brown, except the base of the under mandible, which is
scarlet ; legs and feet hyacinth-red.

In winter the upper surface is of a much lighter hue, and
the under surface is of a greyish white and destitute of the
freckles of brown.

Total length 8f inches ; bill If ; wing 6| ; tail 2f ; tarsi 1:^.

GRALLATORES. 269

It will be seen that I formerly described this bird as To-
tanus gnseopygius believing it to be undescribed, but 1 now
find that it had been previously characterized in the work
above quoted as T. pulverulentus, which specific appellation I
therefore adopt.

Genus STREPSILAS, Illlger.

If any bird may be regarded as a cosmopolite, it is the Turn-
stone, for it is found in most of the countries of the Old and
New World. Two or, at most, three species of this form are
ail that are known.

Sp. 532. STREPSILAS INTERPRES.

Turnstone.

Tringa interpres, Linn. Syst. Nat., torn. i. p. 248.
Strepsilas interpres, Leach in Cat. of Brit. Mas., p. 29.
collaris, Temm. Man. d'Orn., torn. ii. p. 553.

Strepsilas interpres, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. vi. pi. 39.

If any one bird be universally dispersed over the sea-shores
of the globe it is the Turnstone, for there are few of which it
is not an inhabitant. I find no differences whatever between
Australian and European specimens, nor do examples from
America present sufficient variation to warrant any other con-
clusion than that the whole are one and the same species.

I could never detect the breeding-place of the Turnstone in
any one of the Australian colonies, and I must not fail to add,
that in the southern parts of that continent and Tasmania
examples in the adult livery are but seldom seen, while indi-
viduals in the immature dress are very abundant; on the
contrary, most of the specimens from Raine's Islet and other
parts of Torres' Straits are mature birds clothed in the full
livery or breeding-plumage.- In all probability the northern
parts of Australia will hereafter prove to be the part of the

270 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

country in which it breeds, and that the young make an
annual migration towards the south and disperse themselves
over every part of the coasts of Southern Australia, the islands
in Bass's Straits, and Tasmania, all of which, as well as the
Houtmann's Abrolhos off the western coast, are visited by it.

The habits, manners, and economy of the bird in Australia
do not diflFer from those it exhibits in Europe ; there, as here, it
feeds on marine insects, as well as on small bivalve mollusca
and Crustacea.

The sexes, when fully adult, are alike, but the colours of
the female are not so bright as those of the male ; the young,
even when they have attained the size of the adult, diflPer con-
siderably, being much darker in colour, and destitute of the
white markings of the face, and the chestnut-red tints which
add so much to the beauty of the old birds.

The adult has the forehead, eyebrows, an oval spot before
each eye, the centre of the throat, ear-coverts, nape of the
neck, lower part of the back, abdomen, and under tail-coverts
white ; from eye to eye across the forehead a band of black,
which dips downwards in the centre to the bill ; from the
base of the lower mandible proceeds a mark of black, which
passes upwards to the eye, dilates backwards towards the
nape, covers the front of the chest, and bifurcates towards
the insertion of the wing ; mantle and scapularies reddish
brown irregularly varied with black ; rump black ; wings
black, the basal part of the inner webs and the shafts of the
primaries white ; secondaries broadly tipped with white,
forming a conspicuous bar across the wings ; bill black ; irides
black ; legs and feet rich orange, darkest on the joints.

The young has the whole of the upper surface and the
breast mottled brown and black, the white mark on the throat
much larger, and only a trace of the white markings of the
face and nape.

GRALXATORES. 271

ramily SCOLOPACID^.

There is no group of marsh birds more deserving a family-
name than the Snipes and Woodcocks, for they are very
numerous in species and are divisible into many genera. In
size they range from that of the well-known Woodcock to the
equally familiar Jack Snipe, and are universally dispersed over
the globe, being found in every country.

Genus GALLINAGO, Leach.

This genus was established for that section of the Snipes
of which our common species [GaUina^o scolopacinus) is a
typical representative, and of which only one kind has yet
been recorded as an inhabitant of Australia.

Sp. 533. GALLINAGO AUSTRALIS.

New Holland Snipe.

Scolopax australis, Lath. Ind. Orn., Supp. p. Ixiv.
New Holland Snipe, Lath. Gen. Syn., Supp. vol. ii. p. 310.
Scolopax hardwickii, Gray, Zool. Misc., vol. i. p. 16.
Gallinago australis, List of Birds in Brit. Mus., part iii. p. 111.
0-larcg-a, Aborigines of Port Essington.

Scolopax australis, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. vi. pi. 40.

On comparing the Snipes killed at Port Essington with
others obtained in Tasmania, some trivial differences are found
to exist, and which it is necessary to point out, in order that
future observers may be induced to ascertain if they be iden-
tical or if they constitute two distinct species ; on a minute
examination, the Port Essington bird is found to have a
shorter tail, and the foiu* lateral feathers narrower than in
that from Tasmania ; besides which, the tail of the former is
composed of eighteen feathers in both sexes, while the speci-
mens of the latter, contained in my collection, number but

272 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

sixteen ; it is true they were killed during a partial moult,
which circumstance renders it somewhat doubtful whether
sixteen be the right number or not. If the two birds should
prove to be identical, then the range of the species will extend
over the whole of Australia and Tasmania ; still, like its pro-
totype in Europe, its presence will depend much upon the
occurrence of favourable localities ; for in fact the same laws
that regulate the movements of one species equally govern
those of the other.

In Tasmania it is very abundant during the months of
October, November, December, and January, affords excellent
sport to those fond of Snipe- shooting, and is to be found in
all low swampy grounds, lagoons, rivulets, and similar situa-
tions. Its weight varies from five ounces to six ounces and a
quarter ; it is consequently a much larger species than the
Gallinago scolopacinus of Europe. It flies much heavier than
that species, and thus affords a more easy mark for the
sportsman ; it is also more tame, sits closer, and when flushed
flies but a short distance before it again alights. On rising
it utters the same call of scape-scape as the Gallinago scolo-
pacinus. It is said to breed in Tasmania, but although many
of the birds that I killed bore evident marks of youth, I could
not satisfactorily ascertain that such was the case. Lieut.
Breton, in his ' Excursion to the Western Range, Tasmania,'
mentions that it always appears the last week in August or
the first in September. I found it very abundant in many
parts of New South Wales, in none more so than in the
lagoons of the Upper Hunter, during the months of November
and December ; but it was only a transient visitor, the lagoons
and swampy places then filled with water having attracted it.

At the moment of this Handbook going through the press,
I have received a letter from Mr. Morton Allport, of Hobarton,
dated July 21st, 1865, in which he says, "Three couple of
Snipe were shot on the Macquarie River near Ross, in Tas-
mania, last month (June) ; and several have been seen since.

GRALLATORES. 273

This unusual visit may be due to the long drought in many
parts of Australia, especially as several other casual visitors
have this winter made their appearance, viz. Night-Herons,
Egrets, Maned Geese, &c."

Captain Sturt informs us that this Snipe is common in
South Australia, but scarce in the interior of the country ;
that it breeds in great numbers in the valley of Mypunga, but
is only to be found in those localities where the ground is
constantly soft.

Gilbert mentions that the Port Essington bird is only an
occasional visitor to the Cobm^g Peninsula, arriving about the
middle of November, when the rainy season commences, and
disappearing again in a few weeks ; during its short stay it
inhabits swampy but open grassy meadows : he adds, that he
never saw more than six or eight at a time, and always found
them very wild.

The stomachs of those examined were muscular, and con-
tained small aquatic insects and sand.

The sexes are so similar in colour that a separate descrip-
tion is not requisite.

Crown of the head deep brownish black, divided down the
centre by a line of buff; face and chin bufiy white; sides of
the neck, breast, and flanks washed with pale reddish brown,
and mottled with irregular spots of deep brown, which in-
crease in size, until on the flanks they assume the form of
irregular bars; back dark brownish black, the scapularies
mottled with deep sandy buff", and broadly margined on
their external webs with pale buff"; wing-coverts dark
brown, largely tipped with pale bufl"; wings dark brown,
all the feathers slightly fringed with white at the extremity ;
lengthened flank-feathers regularly barred with brown and
white ; centre of the abdomen white ; under tail-coverts buff",
barred with dark brown ; four central tail-feathers blackish
brown, crossed near the tip by a broad band of rufous, beyond
which is a narrow irregular line of brown, and the tip white ;

VOL. II. T

274 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

the lateral feathers alternately barred with dark and lighter
brown, and tipped with white ; irides dark brown ; basal half
of the bill yellowish olive, the remainder dark brown ; legs
yellowish tinged with olive.

Genus RHYNCH^A, Cuvier,

The few species comprised in this genus are widely dispersed
over the face of the globe; one inhabits the southernmost
parts of America, another South Africa, a third India, and a
fourth Australia. They affect different situations from those
resorted to by the true Snipes, usually selecting drier ground
and knolls under low bushes contiguous to marshy lands,
where they can readily procure their natural food.

Sp. 534. RHYNCHJ5A AUSTRALIS, Gould.

Australian Rhtnch^a.
Rhynchcea australis, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, part v. p. 155.

Rhynchaea australis, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. vi. pi. 41.

The Australian Rhynchaea is a summer visitant to New
South Wales, where it arrives in August and September ; but
whether its visits are regular, or only occur in such wet
periods as fill the lagoons and cause a redundance of rushes
and other herbage to spring forth, I know not ; in all pro-
bability they are influenced by the character of the season, as
none but humid situations appear to suit its habits. During
the fine season of 1839, when much rain had fallen and the
whole face of the country was covered with the most luxuriant
and varied verdure, and every hollow formed a shallow lagoon,
this bird was tolerably plentiful in the district of the Upper
Hunter, particularly in the flats of Segenho, Aberdeen,
Scone, &c. Although I did not succeed in finding its nest,
no doubt exists in my mind of its breeding in the immediate
locality, as on dissecting a female an egg was found in the

GRALLATORES. 275

ovarium, nearly of the full size, and ready to receive its
calcareous covering. In its habits and disposition this bird
neither lies so close, nor has the crouching manner of the true
Snipes, but exposes itself to view like the Sandpipers, running
about either among the rushes or on the bare ground at the
edge of the water : on being disturbed, those I saw generally
flew off towards the brush, seeking shelter among the low
bushes, from which they were not easily driven or forced to
take wing. Its flight is straighter, slower, more laboured, and
nearer to the ground than that of the true Snipes. Considerable
confusion has always existed respecting the members of the
group to which this bird belongs, the opposite sexes of the
same species having been described as distinct ; from actual
dissection, however, of numerous examples, and from seeing
these birds mated in a state of nature, I am enabled to affirm
that the figures in the plate of the folio edition above referred
to are accurate representations of an adult male and female.
This species will be found on comparison to possess, among
other characters, much shorter toes than the Indian and
Chinese species, to which it is most nearly allied. On dissection
I also observed an anatomical peculiarity of a very extra-
ordinary nature, the more so as it exists in the female alone ;
I allude to the great elongation of the trachea, which passes
down between the skin and the muscles of the breast for the
whole length of the body, making four distinct convolutions
before entering the lungs. On discovering this extraordinary
formation I placed a body in spirits, for the examination of my
late friend Yarrell, who, as is well known, paid great attention
to this part of the organization of birds, and who informed
me that the position and form of the trachea in the Rhijn-
ch(Ba australis is similar to that of the Semipalmated Goose,
figured in the 15th volume of the 'Trans. Linn. Soc' tab. 14.
The Cranes, Swans, Guans, &c., present us with species having
the trachea most singularly developed, several of them with
extensive convolutions before entering the lungs ; some with

276 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

a receptacle for its folds within the cavity of the keel of the
breast-bone ; while in others it is situated outside the pectoral
muscles, immediately beneath the outer skin of the breast ;
but in no instance is it more extensively or more curiously
developed than in the present bird.

The use of this convoluted trachea, so exclusively confined
to the female, I could not in any way discover or surmise. No
note whatever was heard to proceed from either sex, while on
the wing or when flushed.

"This beautiful bird," says Captain Sturt, "was very
scarce in the interior, and, indeed, is not common anywhere.
Some three or four couples visit my residence at Grange
yearly, and remain in the high reeds at the bottom of the
creek, among which they doubtless breed, but we never
found one of their nests. They lay basking in the shade of a
tree on the sand-hills during the day, and separate when
alarmed."

The male is much smaller than the female, and has the
sides, back, and front of the neck much lighter and mingled
with patches of white ; wings more olive, the coverts orna-
mented with numerous large irregular patches of buff, en-
circled with a narrow line of black ; the buff bands on the
primaries richer and more distinct ; the scapularies speckled
with white ; the patch on each side of the chest dark olive,
with large patches of white surrounded by a line of black.

Total length 8^ inches ; bill 2 ; wing 5 J ; tail 2^ ; tarsi 1 J.

The female has a stripe from the bill, down the centre of the
head, to the nape pale buff; circle surrounding and a short
stripe behind each eye white ; back of the neck chestnut,
crossed with indistinct narrow bars of greenish brown ; crown
dark brown ; sides of the face and the sides and fore part of
the neck chocolate ; chin white ; back olive-green, tinged
with grey, and marbled with dark brown ; scapularies blotched
on their external webs with deep buff; wing-coverts olive-
green, crossed by numerous fine irregular bars of black ;

GRALLATORES. 277

tertiaries olive-green, tinged with grey, crossed by irregular
bars, and numerously sprinked with black ; three outer
primaries dark brown, crossed on their outer webs with
broad irregular patches of deep buff, and sprinkled with grey
on the inner ; the remainder of the primaries and the second-
aries grey, crossed by numerous narrow irregular lines of
black, and spotted with white surrounded with black ; rump
and tail grey like the secondaries, but spotted with both
white and buff, each of which colours are bounded with black ;
breast and all the under surface white, with a large irregular
patch of olive- green, narrowly barred with black, on each side
of the chest ; bill pale green at the base, passing into brownish
horn-colour at the tip ; irides rather dark hazel ; legs pale
green.

Family ?

Genus NUMENIUS, Latham.

Three species of this form are found in Australia, and others
inhabit Asia, Africa, and America. For the greater part of
the year they frequent the flat shores of the ocean, but retire
in spring to the upland districts of their respective countries
to breed.

Sp. 535. NUMENIUS CYANOPUS, Vieillot,

Australian Curlew.

Numenius cyanopus, Vieill. 2nd Edit, du Nouv. Diet. d'Hist. Nat.,
torn. viii. p. 306.

rostratus, Licht. (Bonap.).

australiSy Gould in Proc. of Zool, Soc, part v. p. 155.

Wid-joo-on-ong, Aborigines of the Murray River, Western Australia.
Man-do -weidt, Aborigines of Port Essington.
Curlew of the Colonists.

Numenius australis, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. vi. pi. 42.
In investigating the ornithology of any part of the world,

278 BIRDS 0¥ AUSTRALIA.

we find many instances of species so closely resembling others,
known to be inhabitants of distant comitries, that they at first
sight appear to be identical, but on a more careful comparison
and examination they prove to be distinct ; in no case,
however, is this law of representation, for such it must be
called, so decidedly marked as in Australia, where not a few
instances occur of birds closely resembling species found in
other countries ; and the present bird may be cited as a case
in point, for a casual observer would at once pronounce it to
be the Common Curlew of Europe ; on comparison, however,
it is found to differ from that species in having a longer bill,
the rump and upper tail-coverts barred with brown instead
of being of a uniform white, and the under surface washed
with buff.

The range of this species over Australia appears to be
universal, for I have received specimens from Port Essington,
Swan River, South Australia, New South Wales, Tasmania,
and all the islands in Bass's Straits ; but in no one of these
countries is it more abundant than in Tasmania, where it is
to be met with in flocks in the neighbourhood of rivers and
marshy situations ; it is also especially fond of running over
the flats left bare by the receding tide, to feed upon the
various molluscous animals abounding in such situations.

The weight of this bird is about two pounds ; the stomachs
of those dissected were found to be extremely muscular, and
contained the remains of shelled mollusks, crabs, &c.

The breeding-ground has not yet been discovered; the
bird probably retires to the high lands of Tasmania or
Australia Felix for that purpose.

A similarity of colouring pervades both sexes.

Crown of the head and back of the neck blackish brown,
each feather margined with buff"; back blackish brown, each
feather irregularly blotched with reddish buff" on the margins ;
wing-coverts blackish brown, margined with greyish white;
tertiaries brown, irregularly blotched on the margins with

GRALLATORES. 279

lighter brown ; rump and upper tail-coverts dark brown,
barred across the margins with greyish buff; tail light brown,
crossed with bars of dark brown ; greater coverts blackish
brown, slightly tipped with white ; first five primaries dark
brown, with white stems, the remainder and the secondaries
crossed by irregular interrupted bars of white ; sides of the
face, throat, and all the under surface pale buff, with a fine
line of blackish brown down the centre of each feather;
basal half of the bill flesh-colour, tinged with oUve ; apical
portion deep blackish brown ; legs bluish lead-colour ; i rides
dark brown.

Sp. 536. NUMENIUS UROPYGIALIS, Gould.
Australian Whimbrel.

Numenius uropygialis, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, part viii. p. 175.
Man-do-weidty Aborigines of Port Essiugtou.

Nmnenius uropygialis, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. vi.
pi. 43.

This species is somewhat smaller than the Ninuenius phao-
piis of Europe, and moreover differs in having the rump barred
and mottled instead of a pure white as in that bird ; in other
rsspects they are so similar that a description of one would
apply with nearly equal accuracy to the other ; the Australian
bird is, however, of a paler brown than its European ally.

It is distributed over the whole of the continent of Australia
and the island of Tasmania, wherever localities occur suitable
to its habits, which are so precisely similar to those of the
Numenius phcBopus, that a description of them is quite un-
necessary.

It is generally met with in large flocks in swampy districts
on the banks of rivers and all similar situations; I killed
several specimens on the Hunter, in New South Wales, but
could never succeed in discovering its eggs, whence I infer

280 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

that for the purposes of incubation it betakes itself to the
interior of the country.

The sexes are so precisely alike, that by dissection alone
can we distinguish the one from the other.

Crown of the head brown, with a narrow irregular stripe of
bufFy white down the centre ; lores and line behind the eye
brown ; line over the eye, neck, and breast buffy white, with
a brown line down the centre of each feather, the brown
colour predominating ; centre of the back and scapulary
feathers dark olive, spotted on their margins with light buff;
wing-coverts the same, but lighter, and presenting a mottled
appearance ; primaries blackish brown, with light shafts ;
rump and upper tail-coverts barred with brown and white ;
tail pale brown, barred with dark brown ; chin, lower part of
the abdomen, and under tail-coverts white ; bill blackish
horn-colour, fleshy at the base ; feet greyish black.

Total length 15 inches ; bill 3 ; wing 9^; tail 3 ; tarsi 2 J.

Sp. 537. NUMENIUS MINOR, ^fiiller.

Little Whimbrel.

Numenius minor, Miill. Naturk. Verhand. Land- en Volkenkunde,

p. 110.
minutus, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, part viii. p. 176.

Numenius minutus, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. vi. pi. 44.

I killed a pair of this species out of a flock of about twenty
in number which was flying over the race-course at Maitland,
in New South Wales, on the 4th of April 1839. The flock
was constantly rising and flying round, sometimes to the
distance of a mile, returning again, alighting, and running
quickly over the ground much after the manner of the Plovers.
The above was the only instance in which the bird came under
my observation during my stay in the country, consequently
I am unable to state anything respecting its habits or the

GRALLATORES. 281

extent of its range, but I may mention that I have seen a
specimen from Port Essington.

Forehead dark brown, mottled with buff; lores and line
behind the eye buff; back, sides, and front of the neck buff,
with a fine line of brown down the centre of each feather ;
all the upper surface blackish brown, with a series of tri-
angular spots round the margins of the feathers of a sandy
buff; shoulders, primaries, and secondaries blackish brown,
the latter wdtli white shafts; rump and tail-coverts dark
brown, spotted with white on the margins ; tail greyish
brown, barred with black ; chin white ; under surface light
buff; flanks and under surface of the wing deep buff,
regularly barred with arrow-shaped marks of brown ; irides
black ; bill fleshy at the base, olive-brown at the tip ; feet
bluish flesh-colour.

Total length 12 inches; bill If; wing 7 ; tail 3 ; tarsi If.

FamHy TANTALID^.

Among other genera, Tantalus, Carphibis, Threskiornis, Fal-
cineUus, Platalea, and Platibis have been assigned to the
above family. By far the greater number of the species of
each of those genera, as well as others which it is not neces-
sary to enumerate, are denizens of the Old World.

The three Australian Ibises pertain, as will be hereafter
seen, to as many genera.

The first or Straw-necked Ibis of the colonists — a very sin-
gular form, which stands alone — to Carphibis; the second,
which has its representative in other countries, particularly in
Egypt (where it has lived from time immemorial, since it is the
species that was embalmed by the ancient Egyptians), to
Threskiornis ; and the third, a widely spread species found in
Australia, India, Africa, and Europe, and occasionally in the
British Islands, to Falcinellus.

282

BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

Genus CARPHIBIS, Reichenbach.

Of this form the single species known is confined to Au-
stralia, and must ever rank among the most beautiful and
remarkable members of its family.

Sp. 538. CARPHIBIS SPINICOLLIS.

- Straw-necked Ibis.

New Holland Ibis, Lath. Gen. Hist, of Birds, vol. ix. p. 167.

Ibis spinicollis, Jameson, Edinb. New Phil. Journ., No. xxxvii. p. 213.

lathami, Gray.

lamellicollis, LaFres. Mag. de Zool., 1836, liv. 4'"' et 6"'% pi. 57.

Geronticus spinicollis, G. R. Gray, Gen. of Birds, vol. iii. p. 566 ;
Geronticus, sp. 3.

Geronticus spinicollis, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. vi. pi. 45.

This beautiful Ibis has not I believe been discovered out of
Australia, over the whole of which immense country it is pro-
bably distributed ; its presence, however, in any particular lo-
cality appears to depend upon whether the season be or be
not favourable to increase of the lower animals upon which
the vast hordes of this bird feed. After the severe drought of
1839 it was in such abundance on the Liverpool Plains, and
on those of the Lower Namoi, that to compute the number in
a single flock was impossible. It was also very numerous on
the sea side of the great Liverpool range, inhabiting the open
down and flats, particidarly such as were studded with shal-
low lagoons, through which it would wade knee-high in search
of shelled mollusks, frogs, newts and insects : independently
of the food I have mentioned, it feeds on grasshoppers and
insects generally. The natives informed me that sometimes
many seasons elapse without the bird being seen.

The Straw-necked Ibis walks over the surface of the ground
in a very stately manner ; it perches readily on trees, and its
flight is both singular and striking, particularly when large
flocks are passing over the plains, at one moment showing
their white breasts, and at the next, by a change in their po-

GRALLATORES. 283

sition, exhibiting tiieir dark-coloured backs and snow-white
tails. During the large semicircular sweeps they take over
the plains, and when performing a long flight, they rise tole-
rably high in the air ; the whole flock then arrange themselves
in the form of a figure or letter similar to that so frequently
observed in flights of geese and ducks.

The note is a loud, hoarse, croaking sound, which may be
heard at a considerable distance. When feeding in flocks
they are closely packed, and from the movement of their bills
and tails, the whole mass seems in constant motion. In disposi-
tion this bird is rather shy than otherwise ; still, with a very
little care, successful shots may be made with an ordinary
fowling-piece.

The sexes when fully adult exhibit the same beautiful me-
tallic colouring of the plumage. The female is, however, smaller,
and has the straw-like appendages on the neck less prolonged
and less stout than the male. Mature birds only have the
whole of the head and back of the neck destitute of feathers.

Head and forepart of the neck naked, and of a dull inky
black ; back and sides of the neck clothed with white down ;
on the front of the neck and breast the shafts of the feathers
are produced into long lanceolate straw-like and straw-coloured
processes, with merely a rudiment of the lateral webs at the
base ; sides and back of the neck, breast and all the upper
surface rich shining bronzy green and purple, crossed parti-
cularly on the wing-covertSj scapularies, and outer webs of the
secondaries with numerous bars of dull black ; primaries and
inner webs of the secondaries dull greenish black ; abdomen,
flanks, under tail-coverts and tail white ; bill dull black,
crossed at the base by irregular transverse bars of yellowish
brown ; irides dark brown ; thighs crimson ; legs blackish
brown, the two colours blending on the knee.

Immature birds have the head and neck clothed with white
down, the straw-like appendages less in number, and less of
the rich colouring on the breast.

284 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

Genus THRESKIORNIS, G. R. Gray.

The well-known Sacred Ibis of Egypt is the type of this
genus, of which there are several species, all inhabiting the Old
World.

Sp. 539. THRESKIORNIS STRICTIPENNIS.

White Ibis.

Ibis strictipennis, Gould in Proc, of Zool. Soc, part v. p. 106,

Yam-bull- bull, Aborigines of Port Essington.
Black-necked Ibis, Colonists of Port Essington.
White Ibis of the Colonists of New South Wales.

Threskiornis strictipennis, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. vi.
pi. 46.

The same cause that induced the Straw-necked Ibis {Car-
pMbis spinicoUis) to visit New South Wales in such abundance
during the year 1839 acted equally on the present bird, which
was not only observed at the same period, but the two species
were frequently seen in company ; one marked difference,
however, was noticed, namely, that while the Carphibis spini-
coUis visited equally the lagoons and the plains, the Threski-
ornis strictipennis confined itself solely to the wet hollows of
flats, the banks of rivers, lagoons, &c., wading knee-deep
among the rushes and green herbage in search of frogs, newts,
and insects, upon which it feeds ; when satiated it mounted
upon the bare branches of the large gum-trees bordering the
feeding-place, and then became so watchful that it could not
be approached within gun-shot without the utmost caution.
The natives as well as the colonists assured me that it was
seldom so abundant as at the period of my visit, and I be-
lieve that many seasons sometimes elapse without its appear-
ing there at all. I encountered this bird either in pairs or in
small flocks of from five to twenty in number, but it was
never a hundredth part so plentifid as the Carpliihis spinicoUis.

GRAIiLATORES. 285

Like that bird it must retire to some unknown part of Au-
stralia, doubtless towards the interior, a single skin from the
north coast being all that I have ever seen from any other
pairt of the country.

The Threshiornis strictipennis may at all times be distin-
guished from its near ally T. cethiopica, inhabiting the banks
of the Nile, as well as from the T. melanocepliala, by the
lengthened plumes which hang down from the front of the
neck, and from which its specific appellation has been taken.

Head and upper half of the neck bare, and with the bill of
a deep slaty black ; back of the head and neck crossed by ten
narrow distinct bands of rose-pink, and on the crown of the
head a series of oval spots, arranged in the form of a star, of
the same colour ; the whole of the body and wings white,
tinged with buff; the feathers on the fore part of the neck
long, narrow, lanceolate and stiff; primaries tipped with
deep bluish green ; webs of the tertiaries extremely pro-
longed and recurved, and of a deep blue-black mingled with
white ; thighs and knees deep purple ; tarsi and feet light
purple; irides dark brown.

Total length 30 inches ; bill 6 ; wing 14 J ; tail 6 ; tarsi 4.

I have observed considerable difference in the transverse
rose-pink markings at the back of the neck; in some spe-
cimens these are very conspicuous, while in others they are
scarcely apparent.

The sexes, when fully adult, present but little difference in
the style or coloming of their plumage ; but the female may
be distinguished by her smaller size. The young, on the
other hand, for the first and perhaps the second year of their
existence, have that part of the neck which is bare in the
adult partially clothed with white feathers like the rest of the
body.

286 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

Genus FALCINELLUS, Bechstein.

The type of this form is the Common Ibis of the British
Islands, a species which is widely spread over Africa, India,
and Australia.

Sp. 540. FALCINELLUS IGNEUS.

Glossy Ibis.

Tantalus fcdcinellus, Linn. Syst. Nat., vol. i. p. 24L

Ibis falcinellus, Flem. Brit. Anim.^ p. 102.

Tantalus igneus, Gmel. Edit. Linn. Syst. Nat., vol. i. p. 649.

Falcinellus igneus, G. R. Gray, Gen. of Birds, 2nd edit., p. 87.

Phlegadius falcinellus, Kaup.

Falcinellus igneus, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. vi. pi. 47.

The present species is one of the few birds inhabiting both
hemispheres ; it has also been found in every part of the vast
continent of Australia at present known to us. I observed
examples in the collection formed by Bynoe on the north
coast, and I have seen others obtained in New South Wales
and South Australia. A careful comparison of all these spe-
cimens with others killed in Europe has satisfied me that they
are identical. I never observed it in a state of nature myself,
and from what I could learn from the colonists, its presence
must be regarded as accidental ; it is not a stationary species,
nor are its migratory movements characterized by any degree
of regularity.

Head dark chestnut ; neck, breast, top of the back, upper
edge of the wing and all the under surface rich reddish chest-
nut ; lower part of the back, rump, quill- and tail-feathers of
a dark green, with bronze and purple reflexions ; orbits olive-
green ; irides brown ; bill, legs and feet dull olive- brown.

When this bird has attained the age of two or three years,
little or no difference is perceptible in the outward appearance
of the sexes.

GRALLATORES. 287

Genus PLATALEA, Linnaus.

Widely distributed indeed are the members of this strik-
ingly peculiar form; besides inhabiting most of the countries
of the Old World, Spoonbills also occur in North and South
America. Only one species of the genus as now restricted is
found in Australia.

Sp. 541. PLATALEA REGIA, GoiM

Royal Spoonbill.
Platalea reyia, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, part v. p. 106.

Platalea regia, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. vi. pi. 50.

This fine species may be readily distinguished from the
Platalea leucorodia of Europe by the nudity of its face,
which even considerably beyond the eyes is entirely des-
titute of feathers, and is of the same black colour as the
bill ; in other respects — size and colouring of the plumage —
little difference exists between the two species. The fine
crest which adorns the head is, doubtless, only assumed during
the pairing and breeding season, as I have seen adult speci-
mens both with and without these feathers, and this is precisely
the case with the European bird.

The Royal Spoonbill is tolerably common on the eastern
and northern coast of Australia, and I have been informed
that, although a rare visitant there, it has been killed within
the colony of New South Wales. All my specimens were
procured at Moreton Bay, and I have seen others from Port
Essington. In its habits and disposition it as closely assimi-
lates to its European prototype as it does in general appear-
ance, for, like that bird, it takes up its abode on the margin of
those marshy inlets of the sea that run for a considerable dis-
tance into the interior, and on the banks of rivers and lakes,
and feeds upon small-shelled mollusks, frogs, insects and the

288 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

fry of fish, which are readily taken by its beautifully organized
bill.

But little difference exists in the outward appearance of
the sexes, both having the ornamental crest, which at the will
of the bird is spread out on all sides, and droops gracefully
over the back of the neck.

The whole of the plumage is white ; bill, face, legs, and feet
black ; on the crown of the head and over each eye a trian-
gular mark of orange ; eye red.

Total length 39 inches ; bill 8^ ; wing 15 ; tail 5^ ; tarsi 5^.

Genus PLATIBIS, Bonaparte.

In my original account of the following species I mentioned
that it differed in many points from the typical members of
the genus Platalea, and had many characters in common with
the white Ibises of India and Africa, but did not venture to
make it the type of a new genus ; this, however, has since
been done by Bonaparte, and his name is here adopted.

Sp. 542. PLATIBIS FLAVIPES, GouM.

Yellow-legged Spoonbill.

Platalea flavipes, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, part v. p. 106.
Platibis flavipes, Bonap. Compt. Rend, de I'Acad. Sci., torn, xliii.
Seance du 2 Aout, 1856.

Platalea flavipes, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. vi. pi. 49.

The rainy and luxuriant season which followed the drought
experienced in New South AVales in 1839 attracted to that
part of Australia, among many other rare birds, numerous
flocks of the present species ; in fact, so plentiful was it, that
there was scarcely a brook or lagoon from the Hunter to the
Lower Naomi that was not tenanted by numbers of this bird ;
in most instances accompanied by Straw-necked and White
Ibises {Carp/iidis spimcollis and Threskiornis strictipennis).

GRALLATORES. 289

The food suitable to one species was equally so to the other,
all devouring with equal avidity the thousands of aquatic in-
sects, small-shelled mollusks, &c., which the rains had appa-
rently called into being.

I particularly mention its occurrence at this period, as I had
not observed a single example during a previous visit to the
same districts, when the whole face of the country presented
as sad a spectacle of sterility as could well be imagined.

Over what extent of Australia this interesting bird will be
found to range it is impossible to conjecture ; as yet I have
never received a specimen from any other part than New South
Wales. In disposition I found it shy and distrustful, and
it was not without a considerable degree of caution and ma-
noeuvring that I could ever approach sufficiently near to make
successful shots. I occasionally met with it singly, but
more frequently in pairs or in small companies of from six to
eight. When not occupied in procuring food, which it does
while skirting the edge, of the lagoon, or by wading knee-
deep among the grasses and rushes, it may be seen repo-
sing on the dead branches of the highest trees growing near
the water, frequently standing on one leg, with the head
drawn back and the bill resting on the breast ; when thus
situated an approach sufficiently near to procure specimens is
almost impossible.

The sexes exhibit no external differences and are only to be
distinguished by dissection ; the female is, however, rather
smaller than the male.

The whole of the plumage is pure white, with the exception
of the outer webs of the tertiaries, which are black ; face white,
entirely devoid of feathers, and bounded posteriorly by a nar-
row line of black : bill primrose-yellow, passing into fleshy
pink at the base ; irides straw-white ; legs and feet yellow ;
nails black.

Total length 28 inches; bill 7i ; wing ^^■, tail 5^;
tarsi 4f .

VOL. II. V

290 BIRDS or AUSTRALIA.

Family GRVIDM,

In America the Cranes are confined to the northern por-
tion of that continent, but in the Old World they are much
more widely dispersed, being found throughout Africa and
Asia, and one extends to Australia; still they are not very
numerous in species, about fifteen being all that are known.

Genus GRUS, Linnaeus.

The Australian member of this genus is, as far as I am
aware, confined to that country ; in India it is beautifully re-
presented by the Gi'us antigone, and in Europe by the G.
cinerea.

Sp. 543. GRUS AUSTRALASIANUS, Gould.

Australian Crane.
Native Companion of the Colonists.

Grus australasianus, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. vi. pi. 48.

The Grus australasianus is abundantly distributed over the
greater portion of Australia from New South Wales on the
south to Port Essiugton on the north ; but although it is thus
widely diffiised, it has not yet been observed in the colony of
Swan River, and it does not inhabit Tasmania. It was fre-
quently observed by Leichardt during his overland expedition
from Moreton Bay ; Captain Sturt states that it was very
abundant on the Macquarrie ; and I found it numerous in
the neighbourhood of the Namoi and on the Brezi Plains
in December 1839, as well as on the low flat islands at the
mouth of the Hunter. In these localities it might then have
been seen at almost every season of the year, sometimes
singly or in pairs, and at others in flocks of from thirty to
forty in number.

Like other members of the genus Grus, it is stately and

GRALLATORES. 291

elegant in all its movements, and its presence adds greatly
to the interest of the scenery. It is not unfrequently cap-
tured, and is very easily tamed : v^^hen at Paramatta I saw
a remarkably fine example walking about the streets in
the midst of the inhabitants perfectly at its ease ; and Mr.
James M'Arthur informed me that a pair which he had kept
in the immediate neighbourhood of his house at Camden, and
which had become perfectly domesticated, so far attracted
the notice of a pair of wild birds as to induce them to settle
and feed near the house, and becoming still tamer, to approach
the yard, feed from his hand, and even to follow the domes-
ticated birds into the kitchen, until unfortunately a servant
imprudently seizing at one of the wild birds and tearing a
handful of feathers from its back, the wildness of its disposi-
tion was roused, and darting forth followed by its companion
it mounted in the air soaring higher and higher at every circle,
at the same time uttering its hoarse call, which was responded
to by the tame birds below ; for several days did they return
and perform the same evolutions without alighting, until the
dormant impulses of the tame birds being aroused they also
winged their way to some far distant part of the country, and
never returned to the home where they had been so long
fostered.

When near the ground the action of the wings is very
laboured ; but when soaring in a series of circles at such a
height in the air as to be almost imperceptible to human vision,
it appears to be altogether as easy and graceful ; it is while
performing these gyrations that it frequently utters its hoarse
croaking cry.

It breeds on the ground, usually depositing its two eggs in
a slight depression on the bare plains ; but occasionally the
low swampy lands in the vicinity of the coast are resorted to
for that purpose. The eggs are three inches and a half long
by two inches and a quarter in breadth, and are of a cream-
colour blotched all over, particularly at the larger end, with

u 2

21)2 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

chestnut and purplish brown, the latter colour appearing as if
beneath the surface of the shell.

Its food consists of insects, lizards, bulbous roots and va-
rious other vegetable substances, in search of which it tears
up the earth with great facility with its powerful bill.

The sexes are alike in colouring, but may be distinguished
by the smaller size of the female.

The general plumage deep silvery grey ; the feathers of the
back dark brownish grey with silvery- grey edges ; lesser
wing-coverts dark brown ; primaries black ; crown of the
head and bill olive-green, the bill becoming lighter towards
the tip ; irides fine orange-yellow ; raised fleshy papillae sur-
rounding the ears and the back of the head fine coral-red,
passing into an orange tint above and below the eye, and be-
coming less brilliant on the sides of the face, which together
with the gular pouch is covered with fine black hairs, so
closely set on the latter as almost to conceal the red colouring
of the skin : upper part of the pouch and the bare skin
beneath the lower mandible olive-green ; in old males the
gular pouch is very pendulous, and forms a conspicuous appen-
dage ; legs and feet purplish black.

Total length 48 inches ; bill 6^ ; wing 24 ; tail 9^ ;
tarsi 10|^.

FamHy CICONID^.

Species of this family inhabit Europe, Asia, Africa, and
America. Generally speaking, they are large and powerful
birds, and in most countries migratory. Like the Cranes,
they are rather limited in the number of species, about twelve
being all that are known. Most of these are migratory, and
one of them at least — the Common Stork of Europe — period-
ically performs very extensive journeys ; and the inhabitants
of Holland can calculate almost to a day when the bird will
arrive there in spring.

GRALLATORES. 298

Genus XENORHYNCHUS, Bonaparte.

This noble species is, I believe, identical with the bird of
the same form inhabiting India ; and if such be the case, it
enjoys a wide range of habitat.

Sp. 544. XENORHYNCHUS AUSTRALTS.
Australian Jabiru.

Myderia aiistralis, Lath. Ind. Orn., Supp. p. Ixiv.

New Holland Jabiru, Lath. Gen. Syn. Supp., vol. ii. p. 29^, pi. 138.

Ciconia leucoptera, Wagl. Syst. Av., Ciconia, sp. 6.

australis, Temm. Linn. Trans., vol. v. p. 34.

Xenorhynchus australis, Bonap. Compt. Rend, de I'Acad, Sci., tom. xliii.

seance du 2 Aout, 1856.
Barri-enna, Aborigines of New South Wales.

Mycteria australis, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. vi. pi. 51.

I regret that 1 did not meet with this fine bird in a state
of nature, but I learnt that it possesses a wide range over the
continent of Australia ; and that it is more abundant on the
northern and eastern shores than elsewhere : when the country
was first colonized it was found as near to Sydney as Botany
Bay, and even now is sometimes seen on the small islands in
the mouth of the river Hunter ; as we proceed eastward to
Moreton Bay it becomes more common, and in the neigh-
bourhood of the Clarence and MacLeay it may be almost
daily seen : both Gilbert and Macgillivray met with it at
PortEssington ; the former also observed it in the lagoons
of the interior, while in company with Dr. Leichardt ; and
that it does inhabit the extreme western part of Australia is
proved by Mr. Gregory having sent me the head and legs of
a specimen which he killed on the Gascoyne River, and who
informed me that " only two examples of this singular bird
were seen ; both near Breaker Inlet. It lives in the muddy
creeks, and is very difiicult of approach. It flies exceedingly

294 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

slow, with its head, neck, and legs extended horizontally to
their utmost length, which measure six feet one inch, its
breadth across the wings being seven feet two inches ; it
weighs eleven pounds. The colour of its skin and flesh is
of a rich salmon tint ; the flavour of the latter has a fishy
flavour, too over-powerful to admit of its being eaten by any
one but a hungry explorer." This species probably ranges
throughout Java and Sumatra to central India, where it is
occasionally found. No bird is more shy in disposition or
more difficult of approach, its feeding-ground and resting-
place being always in the most exposed situation, such as
spits of land running out into the sea, large morasses, &c.,
where it can survey all around.

Its food is said to be very varied, consisting of every kind
of animal life inhabiting marshy situations, but more parti-
cularly fish and reptiles.

Head and neck rich deep glossy green, changing into pur-
ple and violet at the occiput ; greater wing-coverts both
above and beneath, scapularies, lower part of the back, and
tail rich glossy green, tinged with a golden lustre ; the re-
mainder of the plumage pure white ; bill black ; irides dark
hazel ; legs fine red.

Family ARDEID-ffl.

The members of this family range over every part of the
globe. Those inhabiting Australia include examples of many
genera, among them Ardea, Herodias, Ni/cticorax, Botaurus,
Ardetta^ &c. They diff'er very considerably in size, and not
less so in habits and economy, some being extremely shy and
retiring, while others, such as the typical ArdecB, affect open
and exposed situations. Their chief food is reptiles, to which
small quadrupeds, young water-birds, and insects are added.

GRALLATORES. 295

Genus ARDEA, Linnaeus.

Members of this genus are found in America, Asia, Africa,
and Australia.

Sp. 545. ARDEA CINEREA, Zinn.

Common Heron.

Ardea cinerea, Linn. Syst. Nat., torn. i. p. 236.

leucophcea, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, 1848, p. 58.

Ardoa leucophaea, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. vi. pi. 55.

During my journey into the interior of South Australia in
1839, I saw a fine adult example of this bird, but although I
resorted to every possible stratagem in my power to get within
shot of it, I regret to say I was unsuccessful ; I have since,
however, received a skin direct from New South Wales.

Mr. Blyth considers that this Heron is not specifically dis-
tinct from the Ardea cinerea of India and Europe ; and if this
be really the case, the species enjoys a very extensive range
over the whole world, including Africa.

Forehead and upper portion of the crest white ; sides of the
head and lower portion of the crest deep glossy black ; neck
white, washed with vinous, and with a series of lanceolate
marks of black disposed alternately down the front ; all the
upper surface, wings, and tail dark grey, the lanceolate
feathers of the back fading into white ; edge of the wings
buffy white ; primaries and secondaries dark slate-colour ;
flanks and under surface of the wing grey ; chest and abdo-
men white, separated from the grey of the flanks by a series
of black feathers ; under tail-coverts and thighs white ; bill
yellow ; tarsi olive.

The young differs in having the whole of the crown of the
head black ; all the upper surface greyish brown ; and the
under surface striated with brown and white.

296 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

Sp. 546. ARDEA SUMATRANA, Baffles.

Great-billed Heron.

Ardea sumatrana, Raffl. Linn. Trans, vol. xiii. p. 325.

typhon, Tenim. PL Col., 475.

fusca, Blyth, Ann. Nat. Hist., 1844, p. 176.

insignis, Hodgs.

rectirostris, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, part xi. p. 22.

Typhon rectirostris, Bonap. Compt. Rend, de I'Acad. Sci., torn, xliii.

seance du 2 Aout 1856.
Oo-loo-mung-a, Aborigines of Port Essington, Gilbert.
Mditch, Aborigines of Port Essington, Macgillivray.

Ardea rectirostris, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. vi. pi. 54.

The only part of Australia in which this bird has been seen
is the Cobourg Peninsula on the north coast, where Gilbert
found it breeding on the 5tli of P'ebruary. He states that it
is solitary in its habits, and is only to be found in the most
secluded creeks or in the open spaces among the mangroves.
Mr. Mcgillivray also observed it at Port Essington, but could
not obtain any information respecting it. A fine adult specimen
was procured by Dr. Sibbald, R.N., and Mr. Macgillivray was
so fortunate as to kill a young bird in a large mangrove
swamp at the head of a bay called Wan-man-mema : it was
exceedingly shy and watchful of his motions, and he had
great difficulty in getting CA^en a long shot at it.

The nest observed by Gilbert was built in an upright fork
of a large and lofty Melaleuca at about eighty feet from the
ground, and was formed of an outer layer of very strong
sticks, with a few small twigs as a lining, and contained two
eggs of a light ash-grey.

The bird when discovered appeared very reluctant to leave
the nest, and instead of the harsh croak usually uttered by it,
emitted on this occasion a note drawn out to a considerable
length, and at times resembUng distant thunder, which was

GRALLATORES. 297

suddenly changed to a sound very like the groan of a person
in extreme agony.

Head, neck, and all the upper surface vinous brown, a few
of the back feathers with a faint line of white down the centre,
and the primaries and tail washed with grey ; chin white ;
front of the neck and all the under surface greyish browm,
the lengthened plumes on the lower part of the neck and
chest with a stripe of white down the centre ; irides yellow ;
bill blackish brown ; basal half of the lower mandible yel-
lowish white, apical half yellow ; legs and feet dark greenish
grey ; hinder part of the tarsi and inside of the feet yellowish
grey.

Total length 37 inches ; bill 7 ; wing 16^ ; tail 7 ; tarsi 6^.

Sp. 547. ARDEA PACIFICA, Lath.

Pacific Heron.

Ardea i^acifica, Lath. lad. Orn., Supp. p. Ixv.
Pacific Heron, Lath. Gen. Syn. Supp., vol. ii. p. 305.
Ardea hallaragang, Wagl. Syst. Av., gen. Ardea, sp. 5.

."
Jil-lee-mil-yun, Aborigines of the lowland, and

Koon-jere, Aborigines of the mountain districts of Western Australia.

TVhite-necked Heron of the Colonists.

Ardea pacifica, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. vi. pi. 52.

The Ardea pacifica appears to be a summer visitor to the
whole of the southern coast of Australia. In New South
Wales its occurrence depends in a great degree upon the
nature of the season ; if much rain has fallen, the la-
goons and rivers become filled, and abound with frogs,
newts, and aquatic insects : its presence may be looked for in
all such situations, where it wades about in search of the
animals enumerated, upon all of which it feeds with avidity,
and partakes less of fish than other Herons. .No one of the
ArdeidfB is more ornamental to the landscape than the present
bird, its white neck offering a decided and pleasing contrast

298 BIRDS or AUSTRALIA.

to the green colouring of the herbage with which it is
surrounded : its walk, too, is characterized by a greater
degree of stateliness and grace than that of most of the other
members of the group.

In general it merely flies from district to district in search
of a more abundant supply of food; but, when necessity
requires, it is capable of performing extensive journeys.

That it breeds in the southern portion of Australia there
can be but little doubt ; the brevity of my stay in the country
did not, however, admit of my finding its nest or of obtaining
its eggs, which latter, when discovered, will probably prove to
be of a light blue in colour, and somewhat smaller in size than
those of Ardea cinerea.

Considerable variation exists in the colouring of this species,
some specimens having the neck wholly white, while others
have the centre of that part spotted with black.

The sexes when fully adult are so nearly alike, that it is
only by the smaller size of the female that they can be
distinguished from each other.

Head, neck, and elongated feathers of the breast white,
tinged with purplish grey ; on the fore part of the neck a
series of irregularly -placed black spots ; upper surface, wings,
and tail bluish black, glossed with green on the back and
wing-coverts ; under surface chocolate-brown, each feather of
the abdomen with a broad stripe of white down the centre ;
feathers of the breast and the elongated scapularies deep
purplish red, the tips and outer webs of some of the latter
dull green ; shoulder and edge of the wing pure white ;
upper mandible black, lower part of the under mandible
yellowish olive in some specimens and yellowish horn-colour
in others ; irides in some specimens rich primrose-yellow, and
in others very dark brown ; upper part of the tarsi yellowish
olive ; feet black ; orbits greenish yellow, becoming more
yellow immediately before and round the eye.

GRALLATORES. 299

Sp. 548. ARDEA NOV^-HOLLANDI^, Lath.

White-fronted Heron.

Ardea novcB-hollandice, Lath. Ind. Oru., vol. ii. p. 701.
White-fronted Heron, Lath. Gen. Syn. Supp., vol. ii. p. 304.
Ardea leucops, Wagl. Syst. Av., Ardea, sp. 17.

Herodias novce-hollandia. List of Birds in Brit. Mus. Coll., part iii. p. 80.
Wy-an, Aborigines of the lowland districts of Western Australia.
Blue Crane of the Colonists.

Ardea novae-hoUandife, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. vi.
pi. 53.

The White-fronted Heron is abundantly dispersed over
every part of Tasmania, the colonies of New South Wales,
South Australia, and Swan River; but I have never seen it
from the north coast, and consequently infer that it is not
found there. Low sandy beaches washed by the open ocean,
arms of the sea, and the sides of rivers and lagoons, both in
the interior of the country as well as near the coast, are
equally tenanted by it ; consequently it is one of the commonest
species of the genus in all the countries above mentioned, and
may frequently be seen wading knee-deep in the water of the
salt-marshes in search of food, which consists of crabs, fish,
and marine insects. Its flight is heavy and flapping like that
of the other Plerons, but it runs more quickly over the ground,
and is continually moving about when searching for food, and
never stands motionless in the water as the true Herons do ;
these active habits are, in fact, necessary to enable it to
capture insects and crabs, upon which it mainly subsists.

Some nests I observed in the month of October 1838, on
the banks of the Derwent, were placed on the tops of the
smaller gum-trees, and most of them contained newly hatched
birds ; Mr. Kermode informed me that it annually breeds
in the neighbourhood of his estate, near the centre of
Tasmania. The nest is of a moderate size, and is composed
of sticks and leaves. The eggs are four in number, of a pale

300 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

bluish green, one inch and seven-eighths long by one inch and
a quarter broad.

The stomach is very capacious, and the weight of the adult
bird about one pound five ounces.

Little or no difference is observable in the sexes ; but the
female is somewhat smaller than the male.

Pace and throat white ; crown of the head and back of the
neck dark slate-colour; sides of the neck, all the upper
surface, and wings dark grey, tinged with brown on the
wings ; primaries and tail-feathers dark slate-colour ; elon-
gated feathers of the back grey, tinged with brown ; elongated
feathers of the breast cinnamon-brown ; under surface grey,
washed with rufous, which tint becomes gradually paler as it
proceeds along the abdomen to the under tail-coverts ; down
the lower part of the neck a stripe of buff, gradually blending
above with the white of the throat, and below with the
cinnamon tint of the breast ; irides in some lead-colour, in
others yellow, and in others pale buff; orbits and base of the
bill, in some pale grey, in others deep lead-colour ; base of
the lower mandible flesh-colour.

The white colouring of the face and throat is much more
extensive in some individuals than in others ; and the base of
the bill, the orbits, and irides are deep lead-colour in some
specimens, while in others those parts are pale grey, and the
irides pale buff.

A further subdivision of the Herons will doubtless be here-
after instituted, when this and the foregoing species will be
placed under one generic title. They differ from the true
ArdecR in their more slender form, and in the somewhat down-
ward curvature of the mandibles ; they also vary from them in
their colouring.

GRALLATORES. 301

Genus HERODIAS, Boie.

Nearly every part of the globe is tenanted by species of
this genus. Most of those inhabiting Australia are identical
with species found in India.

Sp. 549. HERODIAS ALBA.

Australian Egret.

Ardea alba, Linn. Syst. Nat., torn. i. p. 239.

Candida, Briss. Orn., torn. v. p. 428.

modesta, Gray, Zool. Misc., p. 19.

Egretta alba, Bonap. Compt. Rend, de I'Acad. Sci., torn. xl. seance du
2 Avril 1855.

Herodias syrmatophorus, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. vi.
pi. 56.

This noble species of Egret, the largest of the group
inhabiting Australia, is sparingly dispersed over all parts
of that continent, and is usually met with along the rivers
and lagoons of the interior as well as in the neighbourhood
of the coast. I have occasionally seen it near the mouth
of the Hunter, but more frequently on the banks of the
Clarence and other rivers little frequented by civilized man.
I also observed it in Tasmania, in the vicinity of George's
River, and the other unfrequented streams to the north-
ward of the island. Mr. Gregory remarks that this species
is "only found on the banks of rivers and inlets, and in
no instance did we see more than one at a time. It flies
very slowly, and in form much resembles the Common Crane.
The specimen sent is from the mouth of the De Grey."
The example from which my description was taken was
killed, on the 2nd of January 1840, on the banks of the
Mokai. It is of an extremely shy and distrustful disposi-
tion, and can only be approached within range by the ex-
ercise of the utmost care and caution. Its powers of wing

302 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

are considerable, and, like other Herons, it occasionally
performs long-continued flights at a great height in the air ;
its food is also of a similar character, consisting of fish,
frogs, aquatic insects, &c. When on the ground its snowy
plumage presents a strong and pleasing contrast to the green
sedge and other herbage clothing the banks of the rivers.

That it undergoes seasonal changes of plumage is evident,
since I possess specimens, some of w^hich are adorned w^ith
long ornamental plumes on the back, while in others they
are entirely wanting, from which I infer that, as they all
appear to be old birds, they have been killed at different
periods of the year, and that these ornamental plumes are
only carried during the months of spring and the breeding-
season.

The sexes are precisely alike in external appearance, and both
possess the lengthened plumes during the vernal season.

The whole of the plumage pure white ; irides rich straw-
yellow ; naked space before and behind the eye fine greenish
yellow ; bill beautiful orange ; legs above the knee pale dull
yellow, which colour is continued down the centre of the
inner part of the tarsi ; remainder of the tarsi and feet black.

Mr. Blyth says that the " Herodias si/rmatophoriis, Gould,
from Australia and New Zealand, does not differ (that I can
perceive) from H. modesta, Gray (Hardwicke, ' 111. Ind. Zool.'),
of Asia and Africa, which is very common in India ; and I
have seen no specimens referred to H. alba, Linn., which
were in any respect different." — Ibis, 1865, p. 36.

If this view be correct, and it really would appear to be so,
the Great White Heron is universally dispersed over the Old
World ; and few, if any, of the Egrets are more ornamental
or delicate in appearance than this species.

GRALLATORES. 303

Sp. 550. HERODIAS EGRETTOIDES.

Plumed Egret.

Ardea intermedia, Wagl. Isis, 1829, p. 659.

flavirostris, Bonnat. et Vieill. Ency. Meth. Orn., partiii. p. 1124.

nigrirostris, Gray, Zool. Misc., p. 19.

Egretta egrettoides, Bonap. Compt. Rend, de TAcad. Sci., torn. xl.

seance du 2 Avril 1855.
Herodias plumifer^us, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, part xv. p. 221.

Herodias plumiferus, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. vi. pi. 57.

No one of the members of the beautiful genus Herodias is
more interesting than the present species, inasmuch as it is
not only adorned with the redundance of graceful plumes
springing from the back, common to the other species, but it
has a mass of feathers of precisely the same structure depending
from the lower part of the neck and the chest. In size it is
directly intermediate between H. alba and H. melanopus. I
possess a specimen from the Namoi, in the southern part of
Australia, and another from the north coast ; and I have also
a third from Torres Straits, which proves that its range is very
extensive ;* the latter example is destitute of the lengthened
plumes, which are probably only assumed during the breeding-
season.

The entire plumage is pure white; bill and orbits yellow;-
feet and lower part of the tarsi black ; upper part of the tarsi
inclining to flesh-colour.

Total length 24 inches ; bill 4 ; wing 1 1 ; tail 4^ ; tarsi ^\.

In the folio edition this bird is figured under the name of
H. plumiferus; but ornithologists generally consider that the
specific term egrettoides of Bonaparte is the one which properly
pertains to it, and hence the adoption of that name.

Erom my remarks on the wide distribution of some of the
preceding species, we are led to infer that these Water-Herons
are great wanderers. They are generally solitary birds, except
in the breeding-season, when they congregate in great numbers.

304 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

Sp. 551. HERODIAS MELANOPUS.

Spotless Egret.

Ardea melanopus, Wagl. Isis., 1829, p. 660.

Garzetta immacalata, Bonap. Compt. Rend, de I'Acad. Sci., torn. xl.
seance du 2 Avril 1855.

Yab-be-ruk, Aoongines of Port Essington.
White Crane of the Colonists.

Herodias immaculata, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. vi. pi. 58.

This Spotless Egret is a native of the northern portion of
Australia, and is extremely abundant in almost all parts of
the Coburg Peninsula, both on the open sea-beach and in
the secluded parts of the harbour ; it also occurs in all the
neighbouring swamps and lakes. " On one occasion," says
Gilbert, " while lying at anchor in Van Diemen's Gulf, about
half a mile from an isolated rock, covered with a stunted
plant growing from the crevices, I saw these birds repairing
thither for the purpose of roosting in such numbers, that in a
very short time the dark-coloured rock assumed an appear-
ance of snowy whiteness, resembling in the distance, and
particularly by moonlight, a pile of snow ; at the same time
I observed them in different parts of the harbour congregated
in flocks, and when seen perched upon the branches over-
hanging the water, they greatly resembled a flock of Cocka-
toos ; but although they are met with in such numbers, it is
by no means easy to procure specimens, for a more shy and
wary bird is scarcely to be found."

The sexes are alike externally, and both are adorned with
the long flowing plumes during summer.

The entire plumage of a pure and snowy whiteness ; irides
yellow ; upper mandible, half the lower mandible, and apical
dark purplish black ; base of the latter dull yellowish grey; cere
and orbits saffron-yellow ; legs blackish grey ; inner side and
back of the tarsi, and the under surface of the feet siskin-green.

GRALLATORKS. 305

Sp. 552. IIERODIAS GARZETTA.

Little Egret.

Ardon gnrzetta, Linn. Syst. Nat., vol. i. j). 937.
orietitalis, Gray, Zool. Misc., p. 20,

Mr. Coxcn, of Queensland, has sent me a pliotograj)li of a
little white Egret whieh had been killed in the n(;ighl)ourhood
of Brisbane. The lithograph shows two lengthened, narrow,
white, pendant plumes, springing from the occiput, like
those seen in the Jfcrodias fjarzct/a of Lidia and i^jurope,
and I have not the slightest doubt that the Australian bird is
identical with that species ; thus another member of the Ar-
deiidce is added to the avifauna of Australia.

Sp. 553. HERODIAS ASIIA.

Sombre Egret.

Ardea asha, Sykes, Proc. of Coinm. of Sci. and Corr. of Zool. Soc,

part xi. p. 157.
Herodias pannosus, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, part xv. p. 221.
asha, Bonap. Compt. Rend, do I'Acad. Sci., torn. xl. seance du

2 Avril, 1855.
Demie(jretta asha, Jerd. Birds of India, vol. ii. part ii. p. 7^17.

Herodias pannosus, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. vi. pi. 59.

The only example of this species that has come under my
observation is the fine adult specimen I received from the
neighbourhood of Port Stephens in 1843. Unfortunately I
am not able to give any information respecting it, as no note
of any kind accompanied the specimen. Its dark colouring
and very slender and elegant form distinguish it from every
other species of the group to which it belongs.

The entire plumage is bluish or slaty black, with the excep-
tion of the chin, which is pure white.

Total length 24 inches ; bill 4J ; wing 10^ ; tail 4 ; tarsi 4J.

VOL. II. X

300 B1R13S OF AUSTRALIA.

Sp. 554. HERODIAS PICATA, Gould.

Pied Egret.

Ardea {Herodias) picata, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, part xiii, p. 62.
Go-le-buk-o, Aborigines of Port Essington.

Herodias picata, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. vi. pi. 62.

Examples of this species, not the least beautiful member of
the tribe to which it belongs, have been sent to me by Gilbert
and by Commander Ince ; they were all procured in the
neighbourhood of Port Essington, where Gilbert states that it
inhabits the inland swamps, and is usually encountered in small
families often in company with other species, but is not so
abundant in the vicinity of the harbour as on the islands at
the head of Van Diemen's Gulf, where it appeared to be very
numerous.

The stomachs of those dissected were found to be capacious
and membranous, and the food to consist of fish, aquatic
insects and their larvae.

I regret to say that nothing more is at present known re-
specting it.

Upper part of the head, occiput, occipital plumes, the whole
of the plumage of the body, wings, and tail bluish slaty black ;
chin, neck, chest, and some of the lanceolate feathers depend-
ent therefrom, white ; some few of the lanceolate feathers on
the neck and breast have one web white and the other web
bluish slaty black, the remainder of these lanceolate feathers
are the same colour as the body ; irides yellow ; bill, legs, and
feet greenish yellow.

The young birds differ in having the whole of the under
surface white.

Total length 17 inches ; bill 3 J ; wing 10 ; tail 3 J ; tarsi 3 J.

GRALLATORES. 307

Genus DEMIEGRETTA, Blyth.

Mr. Blyth has proposed this term for the Reef Herons, and
according to Mr. G. R. Gray's Hst of genera D. jugularis is
the type. They are widely distributed over the shores of the
southern parts of the Old World, and according to Dr. Baird
three species of the same form are found in North America.

Sp. 555. DEMIEGRETTA JUGULARIS.

Blue Reef Heron.

Ardea juyularis, Forst. Icou. Ined., t. cxiv.

ccerulea, var. Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. ix. p. 117.

matook, Vieill. 2de Edit, du Noiiv. Diet. d'Hist. Nat., torn. xiv.

p. 416.
Herodias jugularis, List of Birds in Brit. Mus. Coll., part iii. p. 80.
Blue Crane, Colonists of Port Essington.

Herodias jugularis, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. vi. pL 60.

The Blue Reef Heron is universally distributed over the
whole of the coasts of the great continent of Australia, and is
also found in New Zealand : the sea-coast is evidently the
place destined by nature for this bird to inhabit ; it especially
loves to dwell on shores of a rocky nature ; and when dis-
turbed merely takes short flights to seaward, and returns again
to some prominent point, whence it can survey all around and
feel itself in security. Its food appears to consist of crabs and
shelled mollusks ; the stomachs of those dissected were very
muscular, and contained the remains of both those kinds of
animals ; hence the necessity for the powerful bill and pecu-
liar structure of feet with which this bird is provided.

" This species," says Mr. Macgillivray, " inhabits the islands
of the north-east coast of Australia and Torres' Straits, and is
abundantly distributed from the Capricorn group in lat.
23° 30' S., as far north as Darnley Island in lat. 9° 35' S. It
procures its food at low water on the coral reef surrounding

X 2

308 BIRDS or AUSTRALIA.

the low wooded islands it loves to frequent ; although gene-
rally a wary bird even when little disturbed by man, yet on
one occasion on Heron Island I knocked down several with a
stick. The nest is usually placed on a tree, but on those
islands where there are none, such as Raine's Islet and else-
where, it breeds among the recesses of the rocks ; where the
trees are tall, as on Oomaga or Keat's Island, the nests are
placed near the summit ; on Dugong Island they were placed
on the root of a tree, on a low stump, or halfway up a low
bushy tree ; they are shallow in form, eighteen inches in diame-
ter, and constructed of small sticks and lined with twigs ; the
eggs are two in number, and of a pale bluish white, one inch
and seven-eighths long by one inch and a quarter broad."
Strange says, " I procured specimens about ten miles north of
Sydney Heads ; it appears to be strictly confined to the rocky
cliffs and ledges of rocks, where it takes great delight in
allowing the spray to beat over it. It is very shy and
wary, and never stops long in one place." In his notes
from Port Essington, Gilbert states that " it is abundant
on all the small islands and rocks immediately adjacent
to the mainland. It is gregarious in its habits the whole
year round, for I remarked that it was congregated in as
large numbers before as after the breeding-season, which is
the month of August. The nest is built of sticks on the
ground, and is perfectly round and from twelve to eighteen
inches in height, with a considerable depression for the recep-
tion of the eggs ; they are always placed in thickets or under-
wood, and as near the outer edge of the rock as possible.
On one small rock I found at least fifty of these nests, some
of which were so close as nearly to touch each other. The
eggs were sometimes two, and at others three in number."

The sexes are so similar that dissection must be resorted to
to distinguish the one from the other.

It will be observed that these statements are contradictory
in some particulars, which may perhaps be accounted for by

GRALLATORES. 309

the habits of the bird being modified by circumstances, or the
pecuhar nature of the situations in which they happened to be
observed.

Down the centre of the chin a line of buff in some, white
in others ; the whole of the remainder of the plumage dark
slaty black, with a wash of grey on the lengthened scapularies,
and the lanceolate feathers pendent from the chest ; bill pale
dirty yellowish green ; lores dull oil-green ; tarsi and tibiae
pale or apple-green ; soles of the feet dirty yellow.

Some ornithologists believe that this and the succeeding
species are identical and the latter merely a white variety, but
I must refer my readers to what Mr. Macgillivray says on this
head in my account of H. greyi, and I think they will then
agree with me in keeping them distinct. I certainly have
never seen a white variety on the southern coasts of Australia.

Sp. 556. DEMIEGRETTA GREYI.

White Reef-Heron.
Herodias Greyi, Gray, List of Birds in Brit. Mus. Coll., part iii. p. 80.

Herodias greyi, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. vi. pi. 61.

This species of Heron is abundantly dispersed over the
northern and eastern coasts of Australia wherever low islands
and reefs of coral running parallel to those coasts occur. It
presents so many points of similarity in size and in form to
the B. jugular IS, that I have long been of opinion that it is
merely an albino variety of that species, an opinion which I
find has been entertained by others. Mr. Macgilhvray, how-
ever, states that they are distinct, and to him I am indebted
for the following observations : —

" From the circumstance of my having always found this
and the dark-coloured species" {D. jugular is) "in company,
I considered them as the same bird in different states of plu-
mage, their size and proportions being so similar, and was

310 BIRDS or AUSTRALIA.

surprised that individuals exhibiting a change from blue to
white or vice versa never occurred. At length, while on
Dugong Island, I was convinced they were specifically dis-
tinct by seeing that the half-grown young from the nest had
assumed the distinctive colour of the parents. This was first
pointed out to nie by Dr. Muirhead, R.N., whose attention I
had previously drawn to the subject. The habits of both
species are similar ; and they procure their food in the same
manner at low water on the coral reefs surrounding the low
islands they frequent. The nest and eggs are precisely simi-
lar, but the young of this bird is Avhite from the nest."

The entire plumage snow-white ; bill yellowish straw-colour,
with a dusky tinge on the culmen and towards the point ;
irides primrose-yellow ; eyeUds bright yellow ; lores and orbits
dull greenish ; legs and feet yellowish green ; soles orange ;
claws pale horn-colour, hind one dark j anterior plates of the
toes bluish black.

Genus NYCTICORAX, Stephens.

Europe, Africa, and America are all inhabited by Night
Herons ; consequently they constitute one of the most widely
distributed sections of the family. They are nocturnal in their
habits, and approximate to the members of the genus Botau-
rus, particularly in the laxity of their neck-plumes. The sexes
do not differ from each other in their colouring, but the
young are rendered remarkable during the first year of their
existence by their plumage being conspicuously blotched and
spotted all over.

The single Australian species cannot by any possibility be
confounded with either of those inhabiting any other part of
the world, the cinnamon colour of its back rendering it con-
spicuously different from all of them.

GRALLATORES. 311

Sp. 557. NYCTICORAX CALEDONICUS.

Nankeen Night Heron.

Ardea caledonica, Lath. Ind. Oru., vol. ii. p. 679.
Caledonian Night Heron, Lath. Gen. Syn., vol. v. p. 55.
Nijcticorax caledonicus, Less. Traite cl'Orn., p. 571.
Ardea spai-mannii, Wagl, Syst. Av., sp. 32.

New Holland Night Heron, Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. ix. p. 62, young-.
Gnal-gan-ning, Aborigines of the lowland districts of Western Au-
stralia.
Al-ur-woon, Aborigines of Port Essington.
Quaker and Nankeen-bird of the Colonists.

Nycticorax caledonicus, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. vi.
pi. 63.

This richly coloured species is universally dispersed over
the continent of Australia, but is far less abundant on the
western coast than elsewhere. Mr. Macgillivray procured it
at Cape York, where it is called YonJco by the natives. In
the southern latitudes it is only a summer visitant, arriving in
New South Wales and South Australia in August and Sep-
tember, and retiring again in February, As its name implies,
it is nocturnal in its habits, and from its frequenting swamps,
the sedgy banks of rivers, and other secluded situations, it is
seldom seen. On the approach of morning it retires to the
forests and perches among the branches of large trees, where,
shrouded from the heat of the sun, it sleeps the whole day,
and when once discovered is easily shot, for if forced to quit
its perch it merely flies a short distance and again alights.
Its flight is slow and flapping, and during its passage through
the air the head is drawn back between the shoulders and the
legs are stretched out backwards after the manner of the true
Herons. When perched on the trees or resting on the ground,
it exhibits none of the grace and elegance of those birds, its
short neck resting on the shoulders. When impeUed to search
for a supply of food it naturally becomes more animated.

312 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

and its actions lively and prying ; the varied nature of its
food in fact demands some degree of activity, fishes, water-
lizards, crabs, frogs, leeches, and insects being all partaken of
with equal avidity.

It breeds in the months of November and December, and
generally in companies like the true Herons, the favourite
localities being the neighbourhood of swampy districts, where
an abundant supply of food is to be procured ; the branches
of large trees, points of shelving rocks, and caverns are equally
chosen as a site for the nest, which is rather large and flat,
and generally composed of crooked sticks loosely interwoven.
The eggs, which are usually three in number, are of a pale
green colour, and average two inches and five-eighths in length
by one inch and a half in breadth.

So little difference exists in the colouring of the sexes, that
it is extremely difficult to distinguish the male from the fe-
male, and never with certainty unless dissection be resorted
to ; both have the three beautiful elongated occipital plumes,
the use of which except for ornament is not easily imagined.
The young, on the contrary, differ so greatly from the adult,
that they might readily be regarded as a distinct species.

The adult has the crown of the head and the nape black ;
occipital plumes white ; back of the neck, all the upper sur-
face, wings and tail rich cinnamon-brown -, stripe over the
eye, sides of the face, neck, and all the under surface pure
white, the white and cinnamon gradually blending on the
sides of the neck ; bare space surrounding the eye greenish
yellow ; irides orange ; bill in some specimens black, slightly
tipped with yellow, in others black with a streak of greenish
yellow along the lower mandible, and a wash of the same hue
along the lower edge of the upper one ; legs and feet jonquil-
yellow ; claws black.

The young bird of the first year has the whole of the upper
surface striated with buff and blackish brown, narrow and
lanceolate on the head and neck, broad and conspicuous on

GRALLATORES. 313

the back and wings ; primaries and tail-feathers dark chest-
nut-red, deepening into black near the extremity and tipped
with bufFy white ; all the under surface bufiFy white, with a
stripe of brown down the centre of each feather ; irides yellow.

Genus BOTAURUS, Stephens.

Members of this genus are found in most parts of both
the Old and New Worlds, and they inhabit many of the
islands as well as the mainlands. The Bitterns are birds of
the night, for it is then that they skulk about the marshes
and sides of rivers for their peculiar food, such as frogs, snails,
water-voles, and insects. In the daytime they sleep among
the reeds, whence they are not easily roused.

Sp. 558. BOTAURUS POICILOPTILUS.

Australian Bittern.

Ardea poiciloptila, Wagl. Syst. Av., Note to Ardea, sp. 28.
Botaurus australis, Cuv. Gal. de Paris. — Less. Traite d'Orn. p. 572.
melanotus, G. R. Gray, App. to Dieffenb. Ti-av. in New Zeal.,

vol. ii. p. 196.
poeciloptila, Bonap. Compt. Rend, de I'Aead. Sci., torn. xUii.

seance du 2 Aout, 1856.
Bur-den-etch, Aborigines of the lowlands of Western Australia.

Botaurus australis, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. vi. pi. 64.

The Australian Bittern, although nowhere very abundant, is
so generally diffused over the surface of the country wherever
marshes and the sedgy banks of rivers occur, that there are
few localities of this description in which its presence may
not be detected : owing to the frequent occurrence of such
districts in Tasmania, it is perhaps more numerous in that
island than elsewhere. A fine specimen, which had been
captured on the Torrens, was sent to me during my stay in
Adelaide by Mr. Dark, the Surveyor ; I killed another myself

314 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

on the 1st of July 1839, above Gleeson's Station, while journey-
ing towards the Murray, and I subsequently procured others
at Illawarra : Captain Sturt mentions that he found it abun-
dant in the marshes of the interior, in the neighbourhood of
the river Macquarrie, and Gilbert procured it in Western Au-
stralia ; and according to Mr. G. R. Gray his Botaurus me-
lanotus of New Zealand is referable to this species.

In its actions, habits, manners and mode of flight it
closely resembles the Botaurus stellaris of Europe ; like that
bird also it feeds on fish, frogs, newts, aquatic animals of all
kinds, and insects, and has a capacious and membranous
stomach.

The sexes are alike in plumage, but the female is smaller
than the male.

Head and back of the neck purplish brown : back and sca-
pularies dark purplish brown ; wings buff, conspicuously and
largely freckled with brown ; ear-coverts tawny ; throat and
all the under surface deep tawny buff, with irregular markings
of deep brown down the centre, giving the whole a mottled
appearance ; the brown colour however prevails on the lower
part of the throat ; bill yellowish olive in some, greenish
horn-colour in others ; space round the eyes and the legs
beautiful pale green ; irides in some yellow, lilac-red in
others.

Genus BUTOROIDES, Blyth.

The members of this genus of Mangrove Bitterns usually
frequent the extensive belts of mangroves and low dells covered
with reed-beds and dense herbage.

Africa and America are each inhabited by birds of this form,
one species of which is also found in India and the adjacent
islands, and three in Australia. No marked differences are
observable between the sexes in birds of the same age.

GRALLATORES. 315

Sp. 559. BUTOROIDES FLAVICOLLIS.

Yellow-necked Mangrove-Bittern.

Ardea flavicollis, Lath. Ind. Orn., vol. ii. p. 701.

nigra, Vieill. 2nd Edit, du Nouv. Diet. d'Hist. Nat., torn. xiv.

p. 417.
Yellow-necked Heron, Lath. Gen. Syn., Supp. p. 239.
Ardetta flavicollis, G. R. Gray, List of Birds in Brit. Mus. Coll.,

part iii. p. 84.
gouldi, Bonap. Compt. Rend, de FAcad. Sci., torn, xliii., seance

du 2 Aout, 1856.
Wiir-gorl, Aborigines of Port Essington.
Little Brown Bittern of the Colonists.

Ardetta flavicollis, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. vi. pL 65.

I have received examples of this beautiful species from
New South Wales, Swan River and Port Essington ; others
were also obtained by Sir George Grey on the north-west
coast.

The Yellow-necked Bittern is exclusively an inhabitant of
the mangroves, from which it is not easily driven, for it readily
eludes pursuit by the facility with which it runs over the mud
beneath their roots for a long time and distance, and it must
be very closely followed up before it can be forced to take
whig.

Eggs were taken on the 6th of January, in a nest formed
of small sticks resting on a slender horizontal branch of a
mangrove ; they were two in number, and of a very much
paler bluish green and more rounded form than those of any
other species of the group, being one inch and a half long by
one inch and an eighth broad.

The male has the crown of the head, back of the neck and
all the upper surface bronzy black ; primaries and tail bluish
slate-colour ; chin whitish ; throat deep buff, the feathers
down the centre of the chin and throat having their inner webs
pale buff and their tips blackish brown, giving the whole a

316 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

richly variegated appearance ; elongated feathers of the breast
pale brown, narrowly margined with buff; under surface
greyish brown, stained with buff; irides yellow; bill dark
horn-colour ; feet olive-brown.

The female differs in having the colours of the throat less
brilliant and contrasted, and the upper surface of a lighter
brown than that of the male.

The late Prince Charles Lucian Bonaparte was of opinion
that this bird was distinct from the Indian species to which
the specific name q{ fiavicollis was originally applied, and
under this impression named after myself; if it should prove
to be different, then the bird must bear the name the Prince
assigned to it.

Sp. 560. BUTOROIDES MACRORHYNCHA, Gould.

Thick-billed Mangrove-Bittern,

Ardetta macrorhyncha, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, 1848, p. 39.
Butorides macrorliyncliu, Bonap. Compt. Rend, de FAcad. Sci.,
torn, xliii. seance du 2 Aout, 1856.

Ardetta macrorhyncha, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. vi.
pi. 66.

The more robust bill, larger head and greater size of this
species will at all times distinguish it from Butoroides javanica.
The only part of Australia from which it has yet been received
is the east coast. I myself observed two individuals sitting
close to their fiat nest on the branch of a mangrove growing
on Garden Island near the mouth of the Hunter. It inhabits
the mangrove swamps, and assumes all the habits and actions
of the A. javanica, and like that species feeds upon the crabs
and other crustaceans which there abound.

Crown of the head and occipital crest black, with green
reflexions ; neck, all the upper surface, and wing-coverts
greenish olive ; wing-coverts narrowly margined with deep
rufous ; primaries and tail slate-grey ; spurious wing, second-

GRALLATORES. 317

aries, and all but the three or four external primaries with an
irregular triangular-shaped spot at the tip ; down the centre
of the throat a series of oblong marks of dark brown and white,
forming a conspicuous mottled stripe continued on to the
breast, where it is lost in the mingled grey and bnffy brown
of the abdomen ; upper mandible dark reddish brown ; basal
portion of the lower one oil-green ; tibiae and hinder part of
the tarsi bright yellow ; remainder of the legs and feet yel-
lowish brown.

Total length 17 inches ; bill 3f ; wing 7f ; tail 3 ; tarsi 2^.

Sp. 561. BUTOROIDES JAVANICA.

Little Mangrove-Bittern.

Ardea javanica, Horsf. Linn. Trans., vol. xiii. p. 190.

Butorides javanica, Bonap. Compt. Rend, de I'Acad. Sci., torn, xliii.

seance du 2 Aout 1856.
Ardetta stagnatilis, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, part xv. p. 221.
Wor-gorl, Aborigines of Port Essington.
Little Grey Bittern of the Colonists.

Ardetta stagnatilis, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. vi. pi. 67.

This bird is tolerably abundant at Port Essington and other
parts of the north coast of Australia, where its favourite
haunts are small islets covered with mangroves, and low
swampy points of land running out into the sea; its chief
place of resort, however, is the dense beds of mangroves,
beneath the shade of which it runs about in search of food, of
which there is a great variety, such as fish, crustaceans, and
numerous marine worms and insects : when the tide rises and
the muddy beds and roots of the mangroves are covered with
water, the bird betakes itself to the higher braches, where it
sits motionless until the tide retires and leaves behind a fresh
supply of food.

Although generally speaking it is a solitary species, yet at
times it congregates in considerable numbers. Gilbert found

318 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

a colony breeding on two small islets in Coral Bay, near the
entrance of the harbour of Port Essington. Their nests,
about thirty in number, were built both on the mangroves
and on the branches of the yellow-blossomed Hibiscus ; they
were very frail structures, consisting of a few small twigs
placed across each other on the horizontal branches, and none
of them were more than six feet from the ground ; each con-
tained either two young birds or two eggs of a uniform very
pale green, one inch and five-eighths long by one inch and a
quarter broad.

Crown of the head, occipital crest, and a small tuft beneath
each eye black ; neck and all the under surface grey, with a
vinous tinge, which becomes much deeper on the abdomen
and under tail-coverts ; lengthened feathers of the back bluish
grey with lighter shafts ; wing-coverts dark slate-grey, nar-
rowly margined with buff and white ; remainder of the wings
and tail dark grey ; irides light yellow ; orbits and eyelash
gamboge-yellow ; upper mandible and cutting edge of the
lower mandible very dark reddish brown ; remainder of the
lower mandible oil-green ; tibiae and hinder part of the tarsi
bright yellow ; remainder of the legs and feet yellowish brown.

Total length 14 inches ; bill 3^ ; wing 1\ ; tail 2| ; tarsi 2^.

The young differ in having all the upper surface brown,
with a triangular spot of white at the tip of all the wing-
feathers, and the throat broadly and conspicuously striated
with brown on a white ground.

Mr. Jerdon states that the B. javanica is found throughout
the greater part of India, and that it extends to Burmah and
Malay ana ; if then the bird to which I have assigned the name
of ^. stagnatilis should ultimately prove to be identical with
the Indian bird, the species will enjoy a most extensive range
of habitat.

GRALLATORES. 319

Genus ARDETTA, G. R. Gray.

This genus has been instituted for the Little Bittern of the
British Islands, and several other diminutive species inhabit-
ing India, Africa, and America.

Sp. 562. ARDETTA PUSILLA.

Minute Bittern. •

Ardea pusilla, Vieill. Nouv. Diet. d'Hist. Nat., torn. xiv. p. 432.

maculata, Lath. Ind. Orn., Supp, p. Ixiv, young.

Spotted Heron, Lath. Gen. Syn., Supp. vol. ii. p. 305, young.
Ardeola pusilla, Bonap. Compt. Rend, de FAcad. Sci., torn, xliii.
seance du 2 Aout 1856.

Ardetta pusilla, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. vi. pi. 68.

The Minute Bittern is a very rare species, and at present
nothing whatever is known respecting it. During my sojourn
in the country I ascertained that the few individuals known had
been procured between Sydney and Botany Bay. I have fre-
quently had occasion to allude to the beautiful manner in which
many birds peculiar to Eiu'ope are represented in Australia by
other closely allied species, and tlie present bird forms another
case in point, since it is clearly a representative of the Little Bit-
tern {Ardetta minutci) of this part of the world, which it much
resembles in the style of its plumage, but is of a still smaller
size. This is another of the species, therefore, to which I
would direct the attention of residents in its native country,
with a view to their making known the result of their observ-
ations for the promotion of ornithological science.

The sexes differ considerably from each other, the female
being mottled and of a smaller size than the male.

The male has the crown of the head, back, and tail bronzy
greenish black ; front of the neck buff, gradually passing into
rich deep chestnut on the sides of the head and back of the
neck ; down the centre of the chin and neck in front a broad

320 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

irregular stripe of reddish brown ; on either side of the chest
a patch of black feathers margined with deep buff; all the
under surface pale buff ; wing-coverts deep buff, with a patch
of rich chestnut on the shoulder and a wash of the same colour
along the edge of the wing ; primaries slaty black ; space
round the eye, bill and feet yellow ; culmen nearly black ;
irides orange.

The female has the head and back chestnut ; wing-coverts
very deep tawny, passing into chestnut on the tips of the
coverts and secondaries ; primaries grey, tipped with brown ;
tail black ; sides of the neck pale chestnut ; front of the
throat and the under -surface white, with a stripe of tawny
down the middle, and a small streak of brown in the centre
of each feather, the brown hue predominating and forming a
conspicuous mark down the throat.

Family RALLID-ai.

Of this family no less than sixteen species inhabit Australia,
and are comprised in the following genera, viz. Forphyrio,
Fulica, Gallinula, Rallus, and Porzana, all of which are
European forms ; and Parra, Eulabeornis, and Trihonyx : of
the latter, the first is common to India and the Indian
Islands, and the other two are confined, so far as we know, to
Australia.

Genus PORPHYRIO, Bnsson.

The members of this genus are among the very largest of
the RalUdcB, are very highly coloured birds, their prevailing
tints being blue or greenish blue interspersed with black, and
are nearly allied to the nearly extinct Notornes of New Zea-
land. Species of this form are found in all the countries both
of the Old and New Worlds.

GRALLATORES. 32 1

Sp. 563. PORPHYRIO MELANOTUS, Temm.
Black-backed Por,phyrio.

Porphyrio melanotus, Temm. Man. d'Orn. 2nd Edit., torn. ii. p. 701.
Black-backed Gallinule, Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. ix. p. 472.
Ar-ra-iceid-bit, Aborigines of Port Essiugton.

Porpli3rrio melanotus, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. vi. pi. 69.

This bird is universally distributed over Tasmania and the
greater part of the continent of Australia wherever situations
suitable to its habits occur, such as marshes, lagoons clothed
with sedge and rushes, and the sides of rivers. On comparing
specimens from Tasmania, South Australia, and Port Essiug-
ton, I find them to differ in size ; those from the first- and
last-mentioned localities being smaller than examples pro-
cured in South Australia and New South Wales : Gilbert's
notes also indicate a difference in the habits of the Port
Essiugton bird, but I am inclined to believe this to be
merely the result of a difference in the nature of the locality
and the kind of vegetation.

In Tasmania the Foiyliyrio melanotus is very abundant
on the banks of the Derwent above Bridgewater ; I also
found it on the lagoons between Kangaroo Point and Cla-
rence Plains, on the Tamar for ten miles below Launceston,
and in every part of the island wherever favourable localities
occur. Early in the morning, and on the approach of evening,
it sallies forth over the land in search of food, which consists
of snails, insects, grain, and various vegetable substances ; it
runs v/ith great facility, and readily avails itself of this power
on the approach of an intruder, making for the thickest
covert, and tlu'eading it with amazing quickness, much after
the manner of the Moorhen {Gallinula cJdoropus) of Europe ;
its flight is also very similar to that of the Moorhen, and like
that bird it resorts to this mode of progression only when
hard-pressed. In New South Wales it inhabits precisely the

VOL. II. Y

322 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

same kind of situations as those described above, and is to be
found in the lagoons at Illawarra, and wherever the vege-
tation affords it a sufficient shelter. It soon becomes do-
mesticated, and may be allowed to roam at large in the
garden or inclosure without fear of its wandering away. My
friend Dr. Bennett, of Sydney, informs me that one he had
seen domesticated in a poultry-yard was in the habit of
roosting upon the roofs of sheds, and was very fond of
perching on some parrot- cages ; he mentions also that the
bird invariably seizes maize, or any vegetable it intends
eating, in the palm of the foot, holding it in that manner
until it be devoured ; after watching it for some time he
never saw it take food in any other manner, and the owner
assured him that it never did.

The sexes do not differ in colouring, but the female is
somewhat smaller than the male, and the young have the
naked space on the crown less developed and not so bright
as in the adult.

Cheeks, back of the head, centre of the abdomen, and
thighs sooty -black ; back of the neck, breast, and flanks rich
deep indigo-blue ; back, wings, and tail deep shining black,
the primaries with a wash of indigo-blue on their outer webs ;
under tail-coverts pure white ; irides bright orange-red ; fron-
tal plate, bill, legs, and feet red.

Sp. 564. PORPHYRIO BELLUS, Gould.

Azure-breasted Porphyrio.

Porphyria bellus, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, part viii. p. 176.
Swamp-Hen, Colonists of Western Australia.

Gool-le-ma, Aborigines of the lowland districts of Western Australia.

Porphyrio bellus, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. vi. pi. 70.

Of the two species of Porphyrio found in Australia the
present is by far the finest, exceeding the Porphyrio melanotus
not only in size, but in the greater diversity and richness of

GRALLATORES. 323

its colouring, particularly in the azure-blue of the throat and
chest, a character by which it is readily distinguished.

The Azure-breasted Porphyrio is abundant at Swan River,
inhabiting the thick reed-beds and SAvampy districts of the
lakes and rivers round Perth and Freemantle. Its habits and
economy so nearly resemble those of the Porphi/rio melanotus
of Tasmania and New South Wales, that the description of
one equally applies to the other, and therefore need not be
repeated here.

The gizzard is strong and muscular, and the food consists
of vegetable substances, aquatic insects, and mollusca.

The only difference observable between the sexes is, that the
male is rather brighter in colour and somewhat larger in size.

Occiput and crown of the head blackish brown, gradually
passing into the light violet-purple which spreads over the
nape, flanks, and abdomen ; throat, cheeks, fore part of the
neck and breast light azure-blue ; all the upper surface from
the nape downwards, including the tail, deep chocolate-brown ;
shoulders and spurious wing azure-blue ; primaries blackish
brown, their outer webs strongly tinged with green; irides
bright red ; bill red ; knees, lower part of the tarsi, and inside
of the feet dark greenish grey ; remainder of the legs and feet
grass-green.

Total length 18 inches j bill If; wing 10^ ; tail 4^ ; tarsi 8-|.

Genus TRIBONYX, Du Bus.

The habits and economy of the two known species of this
genus differ so much from those of the Gallinides that no
ornithologist can question the propriety of their separation.
As their longer tarsi and shorter toes would indicate, they are
more terrestrial than the members of the genus Porphyrio,
and accordingly we find that they wander over the plains and
open pasture lands, instead of keeping to the water or the
sedgy portions of river-sides.

•324 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

Sp. 565. TRIBONYX MORTIERII, Dii Bus.

Mortier's Tribonyx.

Tribonyx mortierii, Du Bus, Bull. Acad. Sci. Brux., torn. vii. p. 215, pi.
Brachij'ptrallus rallo'ides, Lafres. ?
Native Hen of the Colonists.

Tribonyx mortieri, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. vi. pi. 71.

This bird is rather abundantly dispersed over the southern
parts of Australia and Tasmania, but from the extreme shyness
of its disposition, and the almost inaccessible nature of the
situations it frequents, it is seldom seen by ordinary observers.
The localities it affects are marsh lands and the sides of rivers.
It was daily seen by me during my stay on the Government de-
mesne at New Norfolk, in Tasmania, where it frequently left its
sedgy retreats and walked about the paths and other parts of
the garden, with its tail erect like the Common Hen ; even
here, however, the greatest circumspection and quietude were
necessary to obtain a sight of it, for the slightest noise or
movement excited its suspicions, and in an instant it vanished
in the most extraordinary manner into some thicket, from
which it did not again emerge until all apparent cause for
alarm was past.

The sternum and pectoral muscles of this bird are but
feebly developed in proportion to its bulk, and it consequently
rarely resorts to flight ; on the other hand, the legs and
thighs are extremely large, and hence its power of running is
very great, and upon this it mainly depends for security from
molestation. Its habits and general manners are very similar
to those of the Moorhen {GaUinula cJdoropus) of Europe, but
it does not dive or swim so much as that bird. It is very
•easily captured with a common horsehair noose, by which
means some of my specimens were procured.

The male is about three pounds in weight ; and the sto-
machs of those I examined were extremely thick and muscular,
and contained aquatic plants and insects, gravel, &c.

GRA];LATORES. 325

The nest, which is very similar to that of the Moorhen, is
formed of a bundle of rushes placed on the border of the
stream : the eggs, which are also similar to that of the
Moorhen, are seven in number, two inches and an eighth
long, one inch and a half broad, and of a stone-colour, marked
all over with thinly dispersed, irregularly shaped, and vari-
ously sized spots and blotches of dark chestnut-brown.

The sexes are alike in appearance, but the female is some-
what smaller and less brilliant in colour than the male.

All the upper surface greyish olive, washed with chestnut-
brown on the head, back of the neck, back, and the tips of
the secondaries ; primaries blackish brown ; tail deep black ;
under surface bluish slate-colour, passing into black on the
abdomen and under tail-coverts ; flank-feathers largely tipped
with white, forming a conspicuous mark on each side ; thighs
purplish grey ; irides orange-red ; bill greenish yellow ; legs
and feet leaden yellow.

Sp. 566. TRIBONYX VENTRALIS, Goidd.

Black-tailed Tribonyx.

Gullinula ventralis, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, part iv. p. 85.
Tribonyx ventralis, Gould in App. to Grey's Trav. in Australia, vol. ii.

p. 420.
Bel-gar-b'e-jal, Aborigines of the lowland^ and

Nol-yang, Aborigines of the mountain districts of Western Australia.
Moorhen of the Colonists.

Tribonyx ventralis, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. vi. pi. 72.

Since my attention has been directed to the ornithology of
Australia, I have received this species from every part of the
country southward of the 25th degree of south latitude, but I
have not yet seen it from any part of Tasmania, that country
being in all probability too cold and ungenial for its habits.

Although in outward contour and general appearance this
bird bears a great resemblance to the Gallinules or Water-

326 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

hens, it will be found on comparison to possess a very
different structure, particularly in the form of the tarsi and
toes, and of the tail, and in its economy it differs from them
quite as much as it does in form. Its migratory movements
are very uncertain, great numbers occasionally visiting parts
of the country where it had seldom before been seen, and
retiring again to some distant unknown locality as suddenly
as it appeared. We are naturally led to inquire whence they
come, and anxiously to desire a more intimate knowledge of
that great terra mcopiita, the interior of the country, by
which means alone can the mystery be solved.

John Hutt, Esq., late Governor of Western Australia, in-
formed me that in the neighbourhood of Perth the Trihonyx
veiitralis " sometimes makes its appearance suddenly in large
flocks at a time," and asks, " Is this not a proof of there
being an oasis of good land in the interior? This bird
invaded the settlers' fields and gardens in the month of May
1833 in amazing numbers; it had not been seen before, and
has hardly been seen since."

Gilbert states that " upon one occasion it visited the Swan
River colony in myriads, treading down and destroying whole
fields of corn in a single night. The natives, not having seen
them before, attributed their appearance to the settlers, and
for a long time termed them the * White-men's birds ' : after
the harvest was over they nearly all disappeared as suddenly
as they arrived. The natives of the banks of the Upper
Swan, on making inquiries respecting these birds of some of
the tribes of the interior, were told they came from the
north."

" This bird," says Captain Sturt, " appeared suddenly in
South Australia in 1840. It came from the north, fresh
flights coming up and pushing on those which had preceded
them. It was moreover evident that they had been un-
accustomed to the sight of man, for they dropped in great
numbers in the streets and gardens of Adelaide, and ran

GRALLATORES. 327

about like fowls. At last they increased so much in number
as to swarm on all the waters and creeks, doing great damage
to the crops in their neighbourhood. They took the entire
possession of the creek near my house, and broke down and
wholly destroyed about an acre and a quarter of wheat as if
cattle had bedded on it. They made their first appearance in
November, and left in the beginning of March, gradually
retiring northwards as they had advanced."

"In the autumn of 1854," says Mr. Elsey, "the stations
about the Mackenzie were besieged by swarms of this species.
They remained some time, then disappeared, and not a
single specimen appeared there for certainly the next three
years."

I frequently met with the bird myself during my journey
into the interior of New South Wales ; it was tolerably
abundant on the banks of the Mokai in the month of
December 1839, but not in such numbers as particularly to
attract my attention. When I first saw it I was much struck
with its grotesque appearance, as it strutted along the bank
of the river with its tail quite erect like that of a domestic
fowl. Although the herbage on the river-sides was very
scanty, and the plains were so parched that scarcely a blade
of grass was to be seen, it readily eluded pursuit by its
amazing powers of running, and secreting itself beneath the
roots of the large trees or the shelving of the bank. I never
saw it take wing, and I believe that it rarely resorts to flight
for security.

It breeds in November, the nest, which is formed of dead
soft grasses and rushes, being placed on the ground among
the long grass-like rushes of the river-side. The eggs are
seven in number, of a cream-colour, thinly sprinkled with
irregularly shaped spots of chestnut-red, some of which appear
as if beneath the surface of the shell : they are an inch and a
half long by one inch and an eighth broad.

The stomach is extremely thick and muscular; and the

328 BIRDS or AUSTRALIA.

food consists of grain, seeds, and other vegetable substances,
shelled mollusks, insects, &c.

Throat, breast, and under surface dark bluish grey ; flank-
feathers black, with an oblong mark of white near their
extremities ; lower part of the abdomen and under tail-coverts
black ; all the nppcr surface brownish olive ; primaries brown,
the outer one margined externally with white ; tail black ;
irides fine orange ; upper mandible beautiful pea-green,
becoming rather paler at the tip ; base of the lower mandible
light reddish orange, the tip like that of the upper ; legs and
feet deep brick-red.

Total length 15 to 17 inches; bill IJ; wing 9; tail ^^;
tarsi 2^.

Genus GALLINULA, Brisson.

The true Gallinulce are very numerous, and are foimd in
nearly every part of the world. Australia is inhabited by a
species peculiarly its own, which is distributed over all the
southern parts of the continent. The well-known British
Moorhen {G. cJdoropsis) is a typical example of this form.

Sp. 567. GALLINULA TENEBROSA, Gould.

Sombre Gallinule.
Gallinula tenebrosa, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, part xiv. p. 20.

Gallinula tenebrosa, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. vi. pi. 73.

This species of Gallinule inhabits the sedgy banks of rivers,
creeks, and water-holes. I frequently encountered it in New
South Wales, particularly in the neighbourhood of the Upper
Hunter ; and I also possess specimens collected on the banks
of the Murray, in South Australia. The total absence of any
white marks on the flanks forms a good specific character, and
at once distino-uishes this Gallinule from most of the other
members of the genus. In size it considerably exceeds the

GRALLATORES. 329

Gallimda cldoropus of Europe ; and the garter above the knee
is more brilliantly coloured with red and yellow than in that
species. When disturbed, it readily eludes pursuit by running
with great swiftness into a place of safety. It swims with
considerable ease and buoyancy, and its food consists of
various aquatic insects and small shelled mollusks.

The female is smaller than the male, and the colours of her
bill are often brighter.

The whole of the plumage greyish black, with the exception
of the back and scapularies, Avhich are deep brown, and the
primaries and tail, which are nearly a pure black ; under tail-
coverts black in the centre and white on the sides ; frontal
plate orange ; base of the bill blood-red, tip greenish yellow ;
above the knee a garter of yellow and scarlet ; joints of the
legs and feet green ; under surface of the legs and feet olive ;
sides of the tarsi and frontal plates of the toes yellow ; frontal
plates of the tarsi yellow, those nearest the knee stained with
scarlet ; irides olive.

Total length 15 inches ; bill \\ ; wing 8 ; tail 3 \ tarsi 2-|.

Genus FULICA, Linnceus.

Coots are found in nearly every part of the great continent
of Europe, Asia, Africa, and America, and one species in
Australia, where it represents the Fullca atra of Europe.

Sp. 568. EULICA AUSTRALTS, Gould.

Australian Coot.

Fulica australis, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, part xiii. p. 2.

//
Mool-ya-win-doo (Ugly Nose), and

Gid-jee-broon, Aborigines of Western Australia.

Fulica australis, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. vi. pi. 74.
That a true Coot should be found in Australia need not

330 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

be a matter of surprise, when we have seen how many of
the forms hitherto considered to be pecuhar to the northern
hemisphere are represented in that country ; and in no in-
stance is this law more interestingly carried out than in the
present, since the two birds are not only identical in form,
but are precisely alike in their habits and general economy.

The favourite places of resort of the Australian Coot are
the inland waters of the country and the salt-water lagoons
near the coast, which it seldom quits unless to seek for a
more abundant supply of food, consisting of aquatic insects,
small shelled mollusks, &c. Like the European species, it
constructs a floating nest of decayed aquatic plants, upon
which it deposits its eggs and rears its young.

Head and neck black ; all the upper surface greyish black ;
under surface sooty black ; irides bright red ; bill light bluish
grey ; crown of the head greenish white ; legs and feet french
grey.

Total length 14 inches ; bill 1 J ; wing 8 ; tail 2^ ; tarsi 2^.

Genus PARRA, Latham.

A tropical form of birds, admirably adapted for progression
among the aquatic plants and floating leaves of the lagoons
and inland waters they frequent, and over which they pass with
facility, their expansive feet spreading over a large surface of
fallen grasses and leaves, readily sustaining them.

Species of this genus are found in India, Africa, and America.

Sp. 569. PARRA GALLINACEA, Temm.

CoMB-CRESTED PaRRA.

Parra galUnacea, Temm. PI. Col., 464.
Mur-re-ma-rang-geit, Aborigines of Port Essington.

Parra gallinacea, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. vi. pi. 75.
The Parra galUnacea is one of the most typical members of

iGRALLATORES. 331

the genus, its hind-toe and claw being more largely developed
than those of any other species ; hence it is beautifully and
expressly adapted for traversing the leaves floating on the
surface of the water.

The specimens in my collection were obtained at Port
Essington, where this bird is tolerably numerous, but always
affects such localities as render it very difficult to procure.
Having never seen this species in a state of nature, I cannot
do better than transcribe Gilbert's notes respecting it ; pre-
vious to which I may mention that it is also a native of New
Guinea, and that Temminck published a figure of it in his
' Planches Coloriees,' as quoted above.

" I did not meet with this bird," says Gilbert, " until the
latter part of my stay in the country, just before the wet
season set in, when I observed it on the large lake near Point
Smith, which at this time (the month of December) contained
so little water that I could wade over every part of it ; and it
was fortunate that this was the case, for this bird confines
itself so much to the muddy parts of the middle of the lake,
that it might be looked for in vain from the shores. It
would seem to be a very local species, for I did not meet
with it in any other part of the Peninsula. In the following
January, after a succession of heavy rains, the lake became so
far filled as to be too deep for a person to attempt to cross
any part of it, consequently no second opportunity of observing
the Parra occurred before my departure. Those observed by
me were distributed in four or five small families in different
parts of the lake, and were usually occupied in feeding from
the floating aquatic plants, over which the great length of
their toes and nails enables them to run with great facility :
at the slightest alarm they dive down at once or take to flight.
Their powers of diving and of remaining under water are
equal to those of any bird I have ever met with : on the other
hand, their powers of flight are very weak ; they will, however,
often mount up fifteen or twenty yards, and fly from one end

332 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

of the lake to the other, a distance of half or three-quarters
of a mile, but generally they merely rise above the surface of
the water and fly off for about a hundred yards; during
flight their long legs are thrown out horizontally to their full
length ; while feeding they utter a slowly-repeated cluck-cluck.
The stomach is extremely muscular, and the food consists of
aquatic insects and some kind of vegetable matter."

Mr. Elsey informed me that he procured examples of this
bird " at a large lagoon, surrounded by a dense fringe of
Foli/gonum, near the Flinders. Among them was a female,
which contained matured eggs, and had, I felt convinced, a
nest somewhere in the FoIi/(/onum, but I could not find it,
though I closely examined the whole circuit. She remained
out the whole day without once retiring to sit. Its singular
calyptra was bright crimson, which colour seems to be due to
the excessive vascularity of the membrane, as it was com-
pletely blanched before I got the bird out of the water."

I am indebted to Sir Daniel Cooper, Bart., for many acts
of kindness in connexion with Australian ornithology, which
I take this opportunity of recording. It is to him that I owe
a knowledge of the eggs of this species, two examples having
been transmitted to me, through his instrumentality, from
Eastern Australia, by his relative Mr. Hills.

The ground-colour of these eggs is of a dark, shiny, raw
sienna-tint, over which are traced in various directions a
series of broad and fine hair- like contorted lines of brownish
black, which, by occasionally uniting laterally and crossing
each other, form here and there large blotches. Although
these markings are of the same character on each eg^,
they are somewhat differently distributed; thus, on one of
the two I possess they are more numerous at the larger
end and absent at the smaller, while in the other they are
more abundant at the smaller and less so at the larger
extremity. The eggs are one inch and an eighth in length
by seven-eighths of an inch in breadth. They are, moreover,

' GRALLATORES. 333

rendered remarkably conspicuous by the singularly pointed
form of the smaller end, and by their small size as compared
with that of the bird ; but, above all, by the form and
disposition of the markings, which are as if traced by the
hand of a person who had amused himself by attempting to
cover the surface with fantastic streaks, blotches, and con-
torted curves from end to end.

Back of the head, line down the back of the neck, tips of
the shoulders, under surface of the wing, flanks, and a broad
band crossing the chest and abdomen deep bluish black j
chin and throat white ; orbits, ear-coverts, sides of the neck
and breast pale glossy orange, the white and the orange
gradually blending into each other ; back and scapularies
bronzy olive-green, becoming nearly black at the base of the
neck and on the rump ; wing-coverts olive-brown ; the re-
mainder of the wing and tail greenish black ; vent and under
tail-coverts buffy white ; irides light sulphur-yellow ; eyelash
light ash-grey; bill greenish grey at the extreme tip, then
black to near the nostrils ; the basal portion of the upper
mandible and the helmet aurora-red ; base of the lower
mandible light primrose-yellow ; fore part of the tibia red,
with a mixture in patches of yellow and greenish grey ;
hinder part of the tibia, tarsi, and toes dark greenish grey.

The young differs in having all the under surface white,
crown of the head and occiput reddish chestnut, the line
down the back of the neck brown, and the back reddish
brown, each feather margined with a still redder hue ; only
an indication of the helmet ; irides light brown, and the bill
aurora-red, with the exception of the base of the lower
mandible, which is light yellowish white.

334 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

Genus HYPOT^NIDIA, Reichenbach.

It would have been rather surprismg if the Rallus pedoralis
of Cuvier had not received a generic appellation, since it is
very different in structure and habits from the true Rails,
and is indeed very nearly allied to Crex. Other species of
the form exist in New Zealand, the Celebes, and the Fiji
Islands.

Sp. 570. HYPOTiENIDIA PHILIPPENSIS.
Pectoral Pail.

Rallus philippensis, Linn. Syst. Nat., torn. i. p. 263.

Hypotanidia philippensis, Bonap. Compt. Hend. de FAcad. Sci., torn.

xliii. seances ties 15 et 22 Sept. 1856.
Kill-lee, Aborigines of the lowland districts of Western Australia.
Land-Rail of the Colonists.

Rallus pectoralis, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. vi. pi. 76.

The Pectoral Rail is a summer visitant to New South
Wales ; but if we regard the Rails from Southern and Western
Australia, which are rather smaller and have somewhat more
attenuated bills, as mere local varieties, the above remark
will extend to the southern portion of the continent generally ;
in fact, it may then be said to be dispersed over the whole of
this part of the country, in all situations suitable to its habits.
It usually makes its appearance in New South Wales in the
month of August, and retires again in February ; the extent
of its range northwards, however, I have not satisfactorily
ascertained; for, although I have specimens from the north
coast and Raine's Islet, they present sufficient differences in
their form and markings to warrant the supposition of their
being a distinct species.

In habits, actions, and general economy the Ili/potiemdia
philippensis closely assimilates to the Land- Rail {Creoe pra-
tensis) of Europe, grassy flats between the hills and humid

GRALLATORES. 385

places covered with dense herbage being the locahties favour-
able to its mode of life. It has the same indisposition for
exposing itself to view, the same manner of eluding pursuit by
running through the grasses, and when forced to quit its
retreat flies low, straight, and with the same flapping motion
of the wing.

The eggs, which are placed on the ground, are four or six
in number, of a cream-colour, with numerous large irregular
blotches of dark chestnut-red at the larger end, and a few
smaller ones distributed over the remainder of their surface ;
they are one inch and three-eighths long by one inch broad.
It breeds in September, October, and November.

The stomach is very muscular, and is usually found to
contain portions of grasses, seeds, and a quantity of sand.
Its flesh forms an excellent article for the table, and the bird
itself affords considerable amusement to the sportsman, as
pointers will stand to it as to the Land-Rail of Europe.

The sexes are so similar in colour and markings that they
are not easily distinguishable from each other, and the young
at an early age assume the plumage of the adult.

Crown of the head and all the upper surface olive; each
feather of the back and scapularies blackish brown in the
centre ; the feathers at the back of the neck with a double
spot of black and white near the edge of each web ; a broad
stripe of chestnut-red commences at the base of the bill,
passes through the eye, and unites at the occiput; wing-
coverts olive, spotted on the margins with black and white ;
primaries dark brown, the two outer ones crossed by narrow
bars of white, and the remainder with broad bars of dull
chestnut-red ; stripe over the eye and the chin greyish white,
deepening into dark grey on the lower part of the throat;
under surface brownish black, crossed by numerous narrow
well-defined bars of greyish white ; across the breast a broad
band of deep sandy buff"; thigh and vent buff"; under tail-
coverts black, barred with white and tipped with buff"; bill

336 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

red at the base, passing into brown at the tip ; irides reddish
liazel ; feet brown.

In some specimens the white spottings of the upper surface
are much brighter than in others.

Genus RALLUS, Linnmis.

. The genus BallNS, the type of which is the R. aquaticus, is
represented in Australia by a single, or perhaps two species ;
other examples of this truly fluviatile form are found both in
the Old and New Worlds.

Sp. 571. RALLUS BRACHIPUS, Sioains.

Lewin's Water-Rail.

Rallus hrachijms, Swains. An, in Meuag., p. 336.

lewinii, Swains. Ihid., p. 336.

b7'achipus, G. R. Gray, List of Birds in Brit. Mus. Coll., part iii.

p. 115.
Lewinia brachypus, Bonap. Compt. Rend, de I'Acad. Sci., torn, xliii.

seances des 15 et 33 Sept. 1856.

Rallus lewinii, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. vi. pi. 77.

Li Tasmania this species is very abundant in all low
marshy situations, lagoons, and the rushy banks of rivers ; it
occurs on most of the small islands in D'Entrecasteaux
Channel ; I have also seen specimens from Southern and
Western Australia which are precisely similar in their markings,
and only differ in being somewhat larger.

Swainson has, I think, described this bird under two names,
those of bracJdpiis and leivinii. The shortness of the nails
and consequent apparent shortness of the toes, which must
have suggested the former appellation, appears to pertain only
to those birds which inhabit the small islands, where, from
the hard and stony nature of the ground they have to
traverse, the nails become much worn and blunted, while

GRALLATORES. 337

those of the birds inhabiting the mainland and resorting
more exckisively to the soft sedgy banks of rivers remain
intact.

It is very closely allied to the Water-Rail [Ballus aquaticus)
of Europe, and its habits, manners, and mode of life closely
resemble those of that bird. In this species, then, we find
another representative of Em-opean forms ; for it as clearly
resembles our Water Rail as the sombre Gallinule does the
Gallinula cJdoropus, and the little Crake the Porzana maruetta ;
how similar, too, is the Pectoral Rail {Hi/potcBuidia pectoralis)
to the well-known Corn Crake of the British Islands !

The stomach is rather muscular, and the food consists of
aquatic insects and small mollusks, to which are doubtless
added the leaves of aquatic plants and probably newts, frogs,
and small fish.

A nest I found in a lagoon near the river Derw^ent, in
Tasmania, was formed of flags and other aquatic vegetables,
placed in a low tuft of rushes, and contained two eggs, one
inch and a quarter in length by seven-eighths of an inch in
breadth, and of a pale olive-colour, blotched all over, but
particularly at the larger end, with reddish and dark brown.

The male has the head and sides of the neck rufous, striated
with black on the crown and down the nape ; all the upper
surface and tail black, striped with olive ; wings, flanks, and
abdomen banded broadly with black and narrowly with white ;
chin white ; centre of the throat, breast, and abdomen slate-
grey ; vent bufl" ; bill brownish red ; irides hazel ; feet flesh-
colour, becoming darker about the toes.

The female is similar, but not so bright in colour.

The young birds, when fully fledged, are destitute of the
red hue on the neck, have only a trace of the barring on the
flanks and abdomen, and the barring of the wings much less
distinct than in the male. The chicks are clothed in a soft
and silky black down.

VOT,. II. z

338 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

Genus EULABEORNIS, Gould.

A genus established for the reception of a singular species
of Rail inhabiting the north coast of Australia.

Sp. 572. EULABEORNIS CASTANEIVENTRIS, Gould.
Chestnut-bellied Rail.

Eulabeornis castaneoventris, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, part xii.

p. 56.
castaneiventris, Bonap. Compt. Rend, de I'Acad. Sci., torn, xliii.

seances du 15 et 22 Sept. 1856.
Mor-dug-e-ra, Aborigines of Port Essington.

Eulabeornis castneoventris, Gould, Birds of Australia, fob, voL vi.
pb78.

This large and fine species of Rail inhabits the low
muddy shores and mangrove swamps of the north coast of
Australia. The specimen above alluded to, which is in my
own collection, was killed in the Gulf of Carpentaria by Rear-
Adrairal Stokes, R.N. , late Commander of H. M.S. the Beagle;
to this gentleman I am also indebted for many acts of kind-
ness and liberality, while science in more than one branch has
been enriched by the discoveries made by himself and his
officers during their late survey. I had some time before
received the eggs of this species from Port Essington, but from
its extreme shyness the bird could never be obtained ; in fact,
the wariness of its disposition is such, that even to catch a
glimpse of it among the dense herbage and mangroves is an
extremely rare occurrence. It runs with extraordinary fleet-
ness, and takes alarm the instant the vicinity of its habitat is
intruded upon.

The eggs are rather lengthened in form, of a pale pinky
white, dotted all over with reddish chestnut, the spots being
thinly dispersed, and some of them appearing as if beneath
the surface of the shell, giving them a darker tint, two inches
and one-eighth long, one inch and five-eighths broad.

GRALLATORES. 339

Head and neck ash-grey ; all the upper surface, wings and
tail olive ; breast and all the under surface greyish chestnut ;
bill yellow at the base, horn-colour at the tip ; legs and feet
brown.

Total length 19 inches ; bill 2^ ; wing 9 J ; tail 6 ; tarsi 2 J.

Both sexes will doubtless be hereafter found to possess a
similar kind of plumage.

Genus PORZANA, Vieill.

The Porzana inhabit Europe, Africa, India and Australia ;
the species inhabiting the latter country are very similarly
marked to those inhabiting India and Europe. The form,
but not the same species, also occurs in America.

Sp. 573. PORZANA FLUMINEA, Gould.

Spotted Water Crake.
Porzana fluminea, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, part x. p. 139.

Porzana fluminea, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. vi. pi. 79.

This species, like its representative in the British Islands
{Itallus porzana, Linn.), inhabits morasses, reed-beds, and the
neighbourhood of rivers clothed with dense herbage ; hence it
is seldom to be seen unless the greatest trouble and labour be
taken to hunt it out from its hiding-place. The uniform grey
tint of its breast and under surface, and its smaller size, are
characters by which it may at once be distinguished from
the Em'opean species.

The Spotted Water Crake is an inhabitant of Tasmania,
South Australia and New South Wales, to which portions of
Australia it would seem to be confined. My stay in the
country was too short to afford me opportunities of thoroughly
investigating its habits, or of gaining any precise information
respecting its nidification ; but it is natural to suppose that in

z 2

340 BIUDS OF AUSTRALIA.

these respects it as closely assimilates to its European ally as
it does in its structure and outward appearance.

The sexes present so little difference in colour, that they are
only to be distinguished by dissection.

All the upper surface olive, with a broad stripe of blackish
brown down the centre and two oval spots of white, bounded
above and below with black on the margin of each web of
every feather ; primaries and secondaries brown ; tail dark
brown, margined with lighter brown and with an indication of
white spots on the extreme edge ; face, throat, chest and
upper part of the abdomen dark slate-grey ; lower part of the
abdomen and flanks greyish black, crossed by narrow irregu-
lar bars of white ; under tail-coverts white ; bill orange-red at
tlie base, and dark olive-green for the remainder of its length;
feet dark olive- green.

Total length 7 inches; billf ; wingSf ; tail If; tarsi 1.

Sp. .574. PORZANA PALUSTRIS, Gould.

Little Water Crake.
Porzana palustris, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, part x. p. 139.

Porzana palustris, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. vi. pi. 80.

This Httle Water Crake would appear to be more abundant
in Tasmania than on the continent of Australia, for although
I clearly ascertained that it inhabits New South Wales, it is
not so numerous there, in consequence, probably, of the
country being much less fluviatile, and therefore much less
suitable to its habits ; for, like the Porzana Jluminea, the
present bird finds a natural abode in morasses covered with
reeds and luxuriant herbage, to the more dense parts of which
it is exclusively confined. Like all the other members of the
genus, the present species swims with great facility, and dis-
plays the same power of diving, to which it equally resorts in
time of need, and thus often successfully eludes the attack of
its natural enemies ; in addition, few birds are more agile or

GRALLATORES. 341

thread the reeds with greater activity ; hence, hke the last
species, it is seldom to be caught sight of unless the greatest
vigilance be exerted in search of it.

I am indebted to the Rev. T. J. Ewing, D.D., of Tasmania,
for the nest and eggs of this bird ; the former is a flat struc-
ture formed of various kinds of grasses, and the latter are four
or five in number, of a nearly uniform brownish olive, about
one inch in length by three-quarters of an inch in breadth.

Head and back of the neck rusty brown, with a stripe of
blackish brown down the centre of each feather ; feathers of
the back, scapularies, and secondaries brownish black mar-
gined with rusty brown, and with an oblong stripe or mark
of white, interrupted in the middle with black ; wing-coverts
rusty brown, a few of them marked on their inner webs like
the scapularies ; primaries brown, two or three of the inner-
most with a mark or marks of white at the tip ; tail dark
brown, fringed with rusty brown ; face, throat, chest and
upper part of the abdomen grey ; lower part of the abdomen
and flanks blackish grey, crossed by broad irregular bands of
grey ; bill and feet olive-brown.

Total length 6 inches ; bill f ; wing 3 ; tail l^ ; tarsi 1.

Sp. 575. PORZANA? TABUENSIS.

Tabu AN Water Crake.

Tabuan Rail, Lath. Gen. Syn., torn. iii. p. 235.
Rallus tabuensis, Gmel. Edit. Linn. Syst. Nat., torn. i. p. 717.
Ortygometra tabuensis, G. R. Gray, Voy.of Ereb. and Terr., Birds, p. 14.
Corethrura tabuensis, G. R. Gray, Gen. of Birds, vol. iii. p. 595, and

App. 527.
Gallinula immaculata, Swains. An. in Menag., p. 337.
War-ra-jah, Aborigines of the lowland districts of Western Australia.
Little Swamp Hen of the Colonists.

Porzana ? immaculata, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. vi.
pL 82.

I believe I am correct in stating that this species is uni-

342 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

versally distributed over the whole of Australia, Tasmania and
the islands in Bass's Straits. Specimens from every one of
the colonies so closely resemble each other that they scarcely
exhibit sufficient difference to constitute local varieties. Be-
sides inhabiting Australia, this species appears to be widely
spread over many of the islands of the Indian Ocean, such as
the Society, Tonga, and Feejees ; and I question if any one of
the Rails has received so many specific appellations, or if there
be one whose synonyms are so numerous. (See a list of them in
Mr. G. R. Gray's ' Catalogue of the Birds of the Tropical Islands
of the Pacific Ocean in the Collection of the British Museum,'
p. 53.) Like the other members of this group, this bird is very
recluse in its habits, and seldom to be seen, although it is
tolerably abundant in all districts of a wet and swampy cha-
racter, where thick reed-beds and the sedgy banks of rivers
or lagoons constitute its most favourite places of abode.
When urged by necessity, it swims with grace and elegance,
and sports about with ease among the floating leaves of
aquatic plants in search of snails and other mollusks, of which,
with insects, seeds, and the tender blades of grasses and other
vegetables, its food consists. It rarely takes wing, scarcely
ever indeed unless forced to do so.

I regret that I did not succeed in finding the nest and

eggs of this bird, as in all probability they will be found to

differ from those of the typical ForzancB, and also from those

of the true Rails.

The sexes are precisely alike in colour, and the young,

when fully fledged, are very similar to the adults.

Head and all the under surface dark slate-grey, becoming

nearly white on the chin ; back, wing-coverts, and tertiaries

rich deep reddish brown ; bill black ; irides and eyelash

bright red ; feet and legs dull brick-red.

URALLATORES. 34 <

Genus ERYTHRA, Reichenhach.

In accordance with the views of Professor Reichenbach, 1
adopt the above generic term for this singularly marked Rail.
R is the only species I have seen from Australia. I believe
another species is found in the Indian Islands, and that the
synonyms assigned to it by Mr. G. R. Gray in his ' Catalogue
of the Birds of the Tropical Islands,' in the British Museum,
will require modification.

Sp. 576. ERYTHRA QUADRISTRIGATA.

White-eyebrowed Water Crake.

Rallus quadristrigatus, Horsf. Linn. Trans., vol. xiii. p. 196.

quadristriatus, Licht.

Gallinula my st acinus, Temm. ?

Porzana leucophrys, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, part xv. p. 33.

Erythra leucophrys, Bonap. Compt. Rend, de FAcad. Sci., torn, xliii.

seances des 15 et 22 Sept. 1856.
Al-man-dU-ar-ya, Aborigines of Port Essington.

Porzana leucophrys, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. vi. pi. 81.

This species is an inhabitant of the northern parts of Au-
stralia, where it frequents the thick clumps of mangrove roots
bordering the lakes. It is a somewhat famiHar bird, and is
but little disturbed by the approach of an intruder ; on the
contrary, it will frequently run up a branch, turn round, gaze
at him, and utter its very singular loud and chattering cutcAe,
cutc/ie, with but little apparent alarm. Occasionally several are
heard in chorus, as if attempting to excel each other in noise.
It is by no means difficult to obtain specimens, except when
the water is too deep to admit of wading round the roots of
the mangroves. As yet it has only been observed on one
lake near Port Essington ; but as the natives are perfectly ac-
quainted with it, it is doubtless abundant on some other part

344 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

of the Coburg Peninsula. It is also found in Java, and, I
believe, in several of the islands of the Indian Ocean.

The stomachs of those dissected were muscular, and con-
tained the remains of insects of various kinds, and a large
proportion of sand. The bird also eats worms, slugs, and the
leaves of aquatic plants ; these kinds of food being obtained
either in the marshes or while swimming, which it can do as
perfectly as the Moor Hen, Gallinule and little Porzance.

As the nest and eggs of this species have not yet been dis-
covered, they form some of the desiderata to which I would
call the attention of the rising ornithologists of Australia ; and
I can assure them that the study of the eggs will greatly
assist them in assigning the birds to which they belong to
their proper genus.

The young differ from the adult in having only an indica-
tion of the marks on the face, in having the crown of the
head brown instead of brownish black, and the sides of the
neck and flanks deep buff instead of dark grey.

From the base of the upper mandible to the posterior
angle of the eye a streak of greyish white ; from the eye to
the gape a broad patch of deep black; crown of the head
brownish black ; back of the neck, upper surface and tail
brownish black, each feather margined with pale reddish,
the latter colour becoming very conspicuous on the wing-
coverts and scapularies ; wings pale brown ; sides of the
head, neck, and breast grey ; chin and centre of the abdo-
men white ; flanks and under tail-coverts rufous ; upper
mandible reddish brown ; tomia of both mandibles tile-red ;
legs and feet oil-green, blotched with light ash-colour.

Total length Q\ inches; bill 1 ; wing 3^ ; tail 2 ; tarsi If.

NATATORES. 345

Order NATATORES.

Upon taking a general view of the bii'ds of this order
inhabiting Europe and AustraUa, our attention cannot fail to
be arrested by some remarkable contrasts which present
themselves to our notice. I allude to the great excess in the
number of species of some of the principal groups, and the
paucity of others ; for instance, of the Anatidce, the European
fauna comprises at least forty species, while eighteen are all
that are known in Australia ; of the Laridce, exclusive of the
Terns, twenty species inhabit Europe, while three are all that
are known in Australia ; on the other hand, sixteen species
of Ternf^frequent the shores of Australia, while about twelve
resort to those of Europe ; of the family Procellaridce, or
Albatroses and Petrels, nearly forty species enliven the Aus-
tralian seas, while about seven are all that are known to inhabit
those of Europe ; of the Mergansers, Puffins, and Guillemots
of the northern hemisphere no species is found in Australia
or in any other part of the south seas ; on the other hand,
the Penguins so common there are unknown in Europe ;
while the Grebes and Cormorants are about equal in number
in both hemispheres. Australia, it is true, has a Swan, but it
is of a different form, and is but a feeble representative of
the true C^^ni of our part of the world; the same may be
said of the Geese, for she has no member of the genus
Anser ; neither does any species of this important group of
birds exists south of the hne, either in Australia or any other
country.

Family ANATID.ffi.

Of this family the most important Austrahan species is
the Black Swan, and the next the Cereopsis Goose. Like
Europe, that country has two fine Sheldrakes, about three true
Ducks, two species of Shovellers, two Tree- and three Diving-

346 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

Ducks, one of which, the Biziura lohata, is confined to the
country ; these, with the Httle Nettapi and the members of
two or three other genera, comprise the whole of her Anatidce.
The absence of large rivers and the non-existence of great
lakes is doubtless the cause of this paucity of aquatic birds in
the interior ; but how are we to account for the absence from
her seas and rocky shores of the huge Steamer Ducks so
common in similar latitudes of South America, and of the
Bernidce which are so numerous at the Palklands ?

Genus CHENOPIS, Wagler.

Subdivided as the avifauna of the world now is, it would
have been surprising, indeed, if the Black Swan had been left
in the old genus Ci/pms, from which it departs in many par-
ticulars ; I accordingly adopt the above generic term, which
Wagler had the honour of proposing for it.

Sp. 577. CHENOPIS ATRATA.

Black Swan.

Black Swan, Philip's Voy., p. 96. — White's Journ., p. 137.
Anas atrata, Lath. Ind. Orn., vol. ii. p. 834.

plutonia, Shaw, Nat. Misc., pi. 108.

Black Swan of Van Diemen, D'Entrecast. Voy., 8vo, vol. i. p. 140,

pi. 9.
Shawian or Black Swan, Penn. Out!., vol. iv. p. 130.
Cygnus atratus, Steph. Cont. of Shaw's Gen. Zool., vol. xii. p. 18.
Chenopis atrata, Wagl. in Oken's Isis, 1832, p. 1234.
Le Cygne noir, Cuv. Regne Anira., torn. i. p. 529.
Mul-go, Aborigines of New South Wales.
Gul-jak, Aborigines of Perth.
Mal-lee, Aborigines northward of Perth.

Cygnus atratus, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. vii. pi. 6.

This "rara avis in terris" is not only strictly confined to
Australia, of which country it forms one of the most orna-

NATATORES. 347

mental of its feathered tribes, but is so exclusively an inha-
bitant of the southern and western districts, that no notice
has been recorded of its having been seen in Torres Straits, or
on any part of the north coast.

The first notice on record respecting it occurs in a letter
written by Mr. Witsen to Dr. M. Lister about the year 1698,
in which he says, " Here is returned a ship, which by our
East India Company was sent to the south land called
HoUandia Nova ; " and adds that Black Swans, Parrots, and
many Sea Cows were found there. In 1726 two were
brought alive to Batavia, having been procured on the west
coast of Australia, near Dirk Hartog's Bay. Om^ celebrated
countryman and navigator Cook observed it on several parts
of the coast, and from that time to the present it has attracted
the attention of every traveller in Australia, and been noticed
by most authors who have written upon its natural produc-
tions ; still, all that has hitherto been placed upon record
has been mere notices of its existence, unaccompanied by
any information respecting its habits and economy, or the
extent of its range ; and my account will fall far short of
what the historian of so noble a bird ought to be able to
give ; for our knowledge of it is still very limited, and must
necessarily remain so until geographical research has cleared
our path, and made us more intimately acquainted with the
portions of the country it principally inhabits.

I may state that the Black Swan is generally distributed
over the whole of the southern portion of Australia, the
islands in Bass's Straits, and the still more southern country
of Tasmania, wherever there are rivers, estuaries of the sea,
lagoons, and pools of water of any extent ; in some instances
it occurs in such numbers that flocks of many hundreds may
be seen together, particularly on those arms of the sea which,
after passing the beach-line of the coast, expand into great
sheets of shallow water, on which the birds are seldom dis-
turbed either by the force of boisterous winds or the iutru-

348 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

sions of the natives. In the white man, however, the Black
Swan finds an enemy so deadly, that in many parts where it
was formerly numerous it has been almost, if not entirely,
extirpated ; and this has been particularly the case on some
of the large rivers of Tasmania, such as the Derwent, &c. ;
but in the salt lagoons and inlets of D'Entrecasteaux's
Channel, the little-frequented bays of the southern and west-
ern shores of that island, the entrance to Melbourne Harbour
at Port Philip, Spencer's and St. Vincent's Gulfs in South Au-
stralia, the Clarence, MacLeay and other rivers northward of
the Hunter in New South Wales, the Black Swan is still
numerous. One most destructive mode by which vast num-
bers are annually destroyed is that of chasing the birds in a
boat at the time they shed their primary quill-feathers, when
being unable to fly they are soon rowed down and captured ;
this practice, which is much to be regretted, is usually re-
sorted to for the sake of the beautiful down with which the
breasts are clothed, but not unfrequently in mere wantonness.
I have heard of the boats of a whaler entering an estuary and
returning to the ship, nearly filled with Black Swans destroyed
in this manner.

When flying it forms a most conspicuous object, the white
of the wings offering a strong contrast to the black colouring
of its body and the green herbage bounding the scene in
which it is disporting.

The breeding-season commences in October and continues
to the middle of January ; I procured newly-hatched young
clothed in greyish white down at South Port River on the
31st of December, and I took five newly-laid eggs on Flinders'
Island, in Bass's Straits, on the 13th of January. The nest
is of a large size, composed of flags and other herbage, and
generally placed on an isolated island. The eggs are from
five to eight in number, of a pale green, stained all over with
buffy brown, four and a half inches long by two inches and
three-quarters broad.

NATATORES. 349

In disposition, unless molested, or its precincts intruded
upon, it is as tame, gentle, and harmless as it is graceful and
ornamental in appearance, and as it readily becomes domesti-
cated there are few aviaries in Europe which are not adorned
with its presence.

But no one has been so fortunate in breeding the Black
Swan as Samuel Gurney, Esq., and the following account of
the fecundity of a single pair kept by that gentleman on his
estate at Carshalton, on the River Wandle, in Surrey, I con-
sider to be of the highest interest : — " They were," says Mr.
Gurney, "purchased from Baker, of Leadenhall Market, in
1851 ; they did not breed until 1854, when they laid their first
egg on January 1. It was a most severe winter — snow on
the ground and intense frost nearly the whole time they were
sitting. They hatched their young during the greatest cold
of that winter, from which they did not suffer, though they
had no shelter of any kind, and their nest was fully exposed
to the east wind. Out of the ninety-three young ones
hatched by them up to this present year, 1862 (inclusive),
about half that number have been reared. Some of them
have died from disease ; but most of them have been killed
by the old ones dragging them about in the fields, when they
have fallen into small holes on their backs, and have not been
able to recover themselves. They have bred sixteen times in
seven years, having laid one hundred and eleven eggs. The
nest was composed of a large heap of rushes, collected by
themselves, to which they were continually adding during
incubation. The male and female would sit alternately on
the nest. The male bird was found dead on Eebruary 17,
1862. No cause could be assigned for his death, as he had
been in perfect health."

The whole of the plumage brownish black, the under sur-
face paler than the upper ; the feathers of the back tipped
with greyish brown ; primaries and secondaries pure white ;
bill beautifid pinky scarlet, crossed near the tip with a broad

350 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

band of white; the extremities of both mandibles are also
white ; irides scarlet ; eyelash and lores pinky scarlet j feet
black.

Genus CEREOPSIS, Latham.

But one species of this singular and strictly Australian
form has yet been discovered, and I do not think it likely
that another will be found.

Sp. 578. CEREOPSIS NOVJE-HOLLANDI^, Lath.

Cereopsis Goose.

Cereopsis nova-hollandice, Lath. Ind. Orn., Supp. p. Ixvi.

New Holland Cereopsis, Lath. Geu. Syn. Supp., vol. ii. p. 325, pi. 138*.

Cereopsis cinereus, Vieill. Gal. des Ois., torn. ii. pi. 284.

Anser griseus, Vieill. 2nde edit, du Nouv. Diet. d^Hist. Nat., torn, xxiii,

p. 338.
Cereopsis ausiralis, Swains. An. in Menag., p. 219, fig. 32.
Cape Barren Goose of the Colonists.

Cereopsis novse-hoUandiae, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. vii.
pl.l.

This is one of the Australian birds which particularly
attracted the notice of the earlier voyagers to that country,
by nearly every one of whom it is mentioned as being very
plentiful on all the islands in Bass's Straits, and so tame that
it might be easily knocked down with sticks or even captured
by hand ; during my sojourn in the country I visited many of
the localities above-mentioned, and found that, so far from its
being still numerous, it is almost extirpated ; I killed a pair
on Isabella Island, one of a small group near Flinders' Island,
on the 12th of January 1839. I beheve that it may be still
found on some parts of the south coast of Australia ; but in the
colonized districts, where it has been much molested, it has
now become so scarce that it is very rarely seen. It passes
the greater portion of its time on the ground, and seldom takes

NATATORES. 351

to the water. It appears to be strictly a vegetable feeder,
and to subsist principally upon grasses in the neighbourhood
of the coast ; consequently its flesh is excellent, and all who
have tasted it agree in extolling its delicacy and flavour. It
bears confinement remarkably well, but is by no means a
desirable addition to the farmyard; for it is so pugnacious,
that it not only drives all other birds before it, but readily
attacks pigs, dogs, or any other animal that may approach,
and often inflicts severe wounds with its hard and sharp bill.

Its voice is a deep, short, hoarse, clanging, and disagreeable
sound. It readily breeds in confinement. The eggs are
creamy white, about three inches and a quarter in length by
two inches and a quarter in breadth.

The sexes are precisely alike in plumage ; and the young
at an early age assume the plumage of the adults, but have
the greenish yellow cere much less conspicuous.

Crown of the head whitish, the remainder of the plumage
brownish grey ; the wing-coverts and scapularies with a spot
of brownish black near the tip; the feathers of the back
margined with pale brownish grey ; the apical half of the
primaries, the tips of the secondaries, the tail, and the under
tail-coverts blackish brown ; bill black ; cere lemon-yellow ;
irides vermilion ; eyelash dark brown ; legs reddish orange ;
toes, webs, claws, and a streak up the front of the legs black.

Living examples of this species have graced the gardens of
the Zoological Society, from their formation to the present
time ; and also formed part of the extensive collection kept
by King George the Fourth in the Great Park at Windsor.
They bred there as freely as the Emus or any of the other
animals of Australia, and are all descended from one pair
originally brought to this country. (See a detailed account of
the history of the genus Cereopsis, and of these birds, in the
late E. T. Bennett's ' Gardens and Menagerie of the Zoologi-
cal Society delineated,' Birds, p. 315.)

352 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

Genus ANSERANAS, Lesson.

This genus, like that of Cereojms, contains but a single
species, and is peculiar to Australia.

Sp. 579. ANSERANAS MELANOLEUCA.

Semipalmatei) Goose.

Anas melanoleuca, Lath. Iiid. Orn., Supp. p. Ixix.

Black and White Goose, Lath. Gen. Syn. Supp., vol. ii. p. 344.

Anas semipahnata, Lath. Ind. Orn., Supp. p. Ixix.

Semipalmated Goose, Lath. Gen. Syn. Supp., vol. ii. p. 347, pi. 139.

Anseranas melanoleuca, Less. Man. d'Orn.^ torn. ii. p. 418.

Choristopus semipalmatus, Eyton, Mon. Anat., p. 79.

Anseranas melanoleuca, List of Birds in Brit. Mus., part iii. p. 125.

Neival-gang, Aborigines of New South Wales.

Anseranas melanoleuca, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. vii.
pL2.

When New South Wales was first colonized, this fine
species was very abundant on the Hawkesbury ; it is however
no longer a denizen of that river, or perhaps of any of the
streams within the colony, and thus affords another instance
that the progress of civilization invariably leads to the gradual
extirpation of the more conspicuous of the natural productions
of the countries over which it extends its sway ; it is still,
however, abundant as we progress northwards, and gradually
becomes more numerous until we reach the rivers and lagoons
which empty themselves into Torres Straits ; here it occurs
in such countless multitudes that it forms one of the chief
articles of the food of the Aborigines, and was of the utmost
value to Leichardt and his party, during their adventurous
journey from Moreton Bay to Port Essington, as shown
in numerous parts of his interesting account of the expe-
dition. So dense are the flocks that occur in the northern
parts of the country, that the natives are enabled to procure

NATATORES. 353

numbers of them by spearing ; and, says Leicliardt, " It
seemed that they only spear them when flying, and always
crouch down when they see a flight of them approaching ; the
geese, however, know their enemies so well that they imme-
diately turn upon seeing a native rise and put his spear into
the throwing-stick : some of my companions asserted that
they had often seen them hit their object at the almost incre-
dible distance of two hundred yards;" an assertion which,
from what I have myself witnessed, I can readily believe.

It is well known that many of the natatorial birds exhibit
very singular conformations of the trachea, but in no one
species are the convolutions and situation of this organ more
remarkable than in the present bird. " The trachea," says
Yarrell, in the fifteenth volume of the ' Linnean Transactions,'
p. 383, " is situated on the outside of the pectoral muscle,
under the skin, sufficiently raised under the wing that respi-
ration would not be impeded when the bird rested with its
breast on the ground, the parallel tubes being firmly attached
both to the muscle and the skin by cellular tissue. The
clavicle of the right side of the bird is of the usual character,
but that on the left is both shorter and wider, having an
aperture about the middle, the sides diverging with a pro-
jecting point on the inner side, to which the tube of the
trachea is firmly attached, about two inches above the bone of
divarication. The trachea lying on the left side of the bird,
the lower portion of the tube in its passage to the lungs
crosses the left branch of the furcula at a right angle, but be-
coming attached to this projection of the clavicle, receives
from the point described its centrical direction into the body.
The whole length of the windpipe is four feet eight inches."
In young birds the trachea is not nearly so much convoluted.
This curious structure of the trachea has also been noticed and
figured by Latham, on the 178th plate of his ' General
History of Birds,' vol. x. p. 295, above quoted. The speci-
mens from the north are somewhat smaller than those from

VOL. II. 2 A

354 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

the south coast, and have the knob on the bill rising higher on
the forehead.

Head, neck, wings, centre of the back, tail and thighs glossy
greenish black, the remainder of the plumage white ; irides
blackish brown ; bill reddish brown ; feet yellow.

Genus CHLAMYDOCHEN, Bonaparte.

The Australian bird referred to this genus is the only one
of a form which is nearly allied to, but differs in several minor
particulars from, Bernida.

Sp. 580. CHLAMYDOCHEN JUBATA.

Maned Goose.

Anas juhata, Lath. Ind. Orn., Supp. p. Ixix.

Hawkesbury Duck, Lath. Gen. Syn. Supp., vol. ii, p. 358, pi. in title-
page.

Bernida juhata, Steph. Cont. of Shaw's Gen. Zool., vol. xii. p. 63.

Chlarmjdochen juhata, Bonap. Compt. Rend, de I'Acad. Sci., torn,
xliii. seances des 15 et 22 Sept. 1856,

Mar-rang-an-ner, Aborigines of the lowland districts of Western Au-
stralia.

Wood Duck, Colonists of New South Wales and Swan River.

Bernicla jubata, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. vii. pi. 3.

During the period I had the privilege of observing the birds
of Australia in a state of nature, no one of the natatorial forms
interested me more than the present species. The result of
my observations enables me to state that it seldom, if ever,
visits Tasmania or any of the islands in Bass's Straits ; but
that on the continent of Australia it is met with at Swan
River in South Australia and on the east coast generally, and
that its probable range extends across the country between
the 25th and 30th degrees of south latitude. During the
early days of the colony of New South Wales, it was very

NATATORES. 355

common on the rivers near Sydney, particularly on the
Hawkesbury ; at the present time it is sometimes seen there,
and is still numerous on the Hunter and other rivers
towards the interior limits of the colony. In South Australia
it is one of the commonest of the water birds, frequenting the
brooks of the interior. No specimen has yet been procured
at Port Essington, nor, as far as I am aware, on any part of
the north coast. It presents a very pleasing appearance while
flying up and down the brooks in flocks of from six to thirty
in number, and is equally interesting when perched in small
companies on the branches of fallen trees which have found a
resting-place in the beds of the rivers and water-holes, or when
sitting on the topmost branches of the high gum-trees in the
midst of the woods. Its flesh is excellent, and not unfre-
quently forms an acceptable repast for the settled colonist and
the weary traveller. It frequently utters a loud barking note so
unlike the voice of any other goose, as at once to excite the
attention of any person who may be traversing the parts of
the country it inhabits. I found it to be tolerably tame in
disposition, which circumstance enabled me to procure nu-
merous examples without difficulty.

It usually breeds in the hollow parts of large trees, those
chosen for the purpose being often situated in the bush far
away from water.

The food consists of grasses and aquatic plants, snails, and
insects.

The sexes vary considerably in size and in the beauty of
their plumage, the male far exceeding the female in both
respects.

The male has the head and neck rich browm ; the length-
ened plumes down the back of the neck black ; back, lesser
wing-coverts, tertiaries and scapularies brownish grey ; the
scapularies very broadly margined on their external webs, and
very narrowly on their internal webs, with deep velvety black;
lower part of the back, rump, upper tail-coverts and tail deep

2 A 2

356 BIRDS or AUSTRALIA.

black ; greater wing-coverts dark grey largely tipped with
pure white, the two colours separated by a narrow line of black;
spurious wing and primaries very dark brown, the latter
deepening into black at their extremities ; outer webs of the
secondaries or speculum rich glossy green broadly margined
with white, their inner webs grey ; the last two have their
outer webs entirely glossy green and their inner webs
grey, with the exception of a narrow margin of white ; breast-
feathers bufFy white, each feather crossed by two irregular
bands of brown, the margin between the bands freckled with
brown, and a spot of black at each end of the band nearest
the tip, giving the whole a mottled appearance ; flanks silver-
grey, delicately pencilled with fine wavy lines of black ;
centre of the abdomen and under tail-coverts deep glossy
black ; bill olive-brown ; irides very dark brown ; legs and
feet dark brown.

The female has the head and neck pale brown, speckled
with white on the sides of the face ; all the upper surface and
wings greyish brown ; the scapularies stained with black on
their outer webs ; lower part of the back black ; primaries
brown ; secondaries and greater coverts tipped with white, the
former with a trace of the glossy green so conspicuous in the
male, at the base of the outer webs ; the markings of the
breast are similar to those of the male, but they are larger
and paler, and the feathers are destitute of the minute freckles
on the margins of the feathers ; flanks light brown, crossed
with bars of white freckled with brown ; centre of the abdo-
men and under tail-coverts white.

Although I have applied the trivial name of goose to this
bird it has but little relationship to the typical member of the
genus Anser, none of which, as stated in the introduction,
exist in Australia, nor, so far as I am aware, in any of the
Polynesian Islands.

NATATORES. 357

Genus NETTAPUS, Brandt.

Of this genus of Pygmy Geese there are now at least four
species known ; one inhabiting Africa, one India, and two
Australia.

Sp. 581. NETTAPUS PULCHELLUS, Gould.

Green Pygmy Goose.

Nettapus pulchellus, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, part ix. p. 89.
Loon-hyte, Aborigines of the northern coast of Australia.
Little Goose, Residents at Port Essington.

Nettapus pulchellus, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. vii. pi. 4.

The acquisition of an entirely new species of Nettapus, a
generic name applied to these Pygmy Geese by M. Brandt of
St. Petersburg, is not one of the least valuable results of the
exploration of the northern coast of Australia ; independently
of its great beauty, the present species is interesting, as
uniting most completely, in the character and disposition
of some of its markings, the two previously known species,
N. coromandelianus and N. madagascariensis, which differ
very considerably in these points. Although very goose-
like in the form of its head, particularly in the elevation of
the upper mandible, its largely webbed feet indicate a strictly
aquatic mode of life ; and in the notes accompanying the two
specimens shot at Port Essington by Gilbert, he states that he
first saw a pair of these beautiful birds on the 16 th of January,
swimming on a quiet secluded lake, shut in on all sides by
very high grass : both of these he succeeded in killing at a
shot ; he further states that they are rare in the Peninsula,
only one specimen having been procured prior to his obtain-
ing these two. It is an extremely shy species, and at the
slightest movement of anything near it, dives and remains
under water a long time. Having, on dissecting the female,
found a nearly developed egg in the ovarium, he was induced

858 BIRDS or AUSTRALIA.

to seek for the nest, which he found built up in the long grass
about a foot above the water, the bottom of the nest resting
on its surface ; it was composed of long dried grasses, slightly
hollowed for the reception of the eggs : the nest in this in-
stance was destitute of any kind of lining ; but one afterwards
brought him by the natives was interiorly constructed with
feathers and contained six eggs, which are white, one inch and
seven-eighths long by one inch and three-eighths broad.

Mr. Gregory informs me that during his expedition " this
elegantly symmetrical waterfowl was only found on the Sher-
lock river. It is remarkable for its tameness and for its light
and sportive movements on the water. It was seen in flights
of eight or ten together."

The male has the head brownish green, indistinctly barred
with light brown ; beneath the eye an oval spot of white ;
neck, back and wings deep glossy green ; primaries black ;
outer webs of the secondaries snow-white ; feathers of the
chest, sides and back of the neck white, with a number of
greenish-black circles one within the other, so numerous that
the white is nearly lost ; flanks similarly marked, but in them
the circles, bars, and pencilhngs are broader and more apparent;
tail black glossed with green ; abdomen white ; under tail-
coverts black ; irides dark brown ; bill dark greenish grey ;
legs and feet blackish brown, with a yellowish-white nail ;
under mandible greenish grey, irregularly blotched with a
lighter colom\

The female resembles the male, but differs in having the
crown, occiput and a stripe down the back of the neck deep
brown ; in being destitute of the white spot beneath the eye ;
in having the chin and upper part of the throat white, mottled
with small markings of brown ; bill French grey, becoming
more yellow at the base ; lower mandible bluish grey ; tarsi
fleshy white on the sides, back and front blackish brown ; feet
dark brown.

Total length 12J inches; bill l^; wing 6 J; tail 3; tarsi 1.

NATATORES. 359

Sp. 582. NETTAPUS ALBIPENNIS, Gould.

White-quilled Pygmy Goose.
Nettapus albipennis, Gould Birds of Aus., fol. vol. i. Introd. p, xci.

Nettapus coromandelianus, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. vii.
pi. 6.

This species is nearly allied to the Neifapus coromandelianus
of Java and India, from which it differs in being of a much
larger size ; I have therefore named it Nettapus albipennis, a
term applicable to both, but which, from the greater length of
the primaries, and the consequent increased development of
the white mark on those feathers of the Australian bird, will, I
hope, not be deemed an inappropriate appellation.

This elegant little Goose is tolerably abundant on the
eastern portions of the Australian continent, inhabiting the
estuaries and rivers between the ranges, and the coast from
the Hunter to Moreton Bay, and in all probability far to
the northward of these localities, though my knowledge of its
range will not allow me to say such is the case, as it is one of
the few birds of New South Wales which I had no opportu-
nity of observing in a state of nature ; I am consequently
unable to furnish any account of its habits and economy ;
neither, I regret to say, can I supply the deficiency from the
notes of any other observer.

The sexes are easily distinguished from each other by the
greater size of the male, and by the far more brilliant colour-
ing of his markings.

Mr. Jerdon, speaking of the allied species, N. corovian-
delianus, says, " it frequents weedy and grassy tanks in mo-
derate or rather large flocks, flies with great rapidity, uttering
a cackhng cafl, and is, when undisturbed, very familiar and
unwary. It breeds generaUy in the holes of trees, often at
some distance from water, and lays eight or ten white eggs."
This account I have no doubt is equally descriptive of the
present species.

360 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

Genus TADORNA, Leach.

The Australian Shieldrake does not, that I can perceive,
differ sufficiently from the T. vidpcmser of Europe to warrant
its generic separation ; I have not, therefore, adopted Reichen-
bacli's generic term of liadjaU for this very delicately coloured
bird.

Sp. 583. TADORNA RADJAH.

Radjah Shieldrake.

Anasradjah, Garnot, Voy. de la Coqullle, p. 602. — Atlas to ditto, pi. 49.

leucomelas, Garnot (Bonap.).

Tadorna radjah, Eyton, Mon. of the Anat., p. 106.
Radja eijtoni, Reich. (Bonap.).
White Duck, Residents at Port Essington.
Co-mer-do, Aborigines of Port Essington.

Tadorna radjah, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. vii. pi. 8.

This beautiful Shieldrake is found in numerous flocks on
all the lakes and svs^amps of the northern and eastern portions
of Australia; like the other members of the genus, it fre-
quently perches on trees and resorts to the hollovr branches
and boles for the purpose of breeding, the young being
removed to the v^^ater by their parents immediately after they
are hatched. When the rainy season has set in, and the
water of the lakes has become too deep for them to reach the
roots of a species of rush upon which they feed, they scatter
over the face of the country, and are then to be seen wading
through the mangrove ])ushes and over the soft mud left by
the receding tide, the surface of which affords an abundant
supply of food, consisting of crabs, mollusks, and other marine
animals. The sexes present no visible difference in their
colour or markings, nor is there a sufficient difference in size
to distinguish the male from the female.

Head, neck, breast, abdomen, flanks, wing-coverts, inner

NATATORES. 361

webs, and tips of the outer webs of the secondaries white ;
band across the breast and upper part of the back rich deep
chestnut, which colour gradually passes into the deep dull
black of the scapularies, tertiaries, back, rump, and tail;
feathers of the centre of the back finely freckled with chestnut ;
outer edges of tertiaries rich reddish chestnut ; wing-coverts
crossed near the tip of each feather with a narrow irregular
line of black ; speculum, or base of the outer webs of the
secondaries, rich, shining, bronzy green, between which and
the white tip is a broad line of dull black ; primaries and
spurious wing black ; lower part of the flanks and under
tail-coverts dull black, freckled with white ; irides yellowish
white; bill and legs reddish flesh-colour, with, in some
great specimens, a bluish tinge.

Genus CASilRCA, Bonaparte.

The species of this section of the Anatidcs are not very
numerous; one or two inhabit New Zealand and one Aus-
tralia, which latter represents the C. rutila of Europe.

Sp. 584. CASARCA TADORNOIDES.

Chestnut-coloured Shieldrake.

New Holland Shieldrake, Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. x. p. 306.
Anas tadorno'ides, Javd. and Selb. 111. Orn., vol. ii. pi. 62.
Casarca tadorno'ides, Eyton, Mon. of the Anat., p. 171.
Goo-ra-ga, Aborigines of the lowland districts of Western AustraUa.
Mountain Duck, Colonists of Swan River.

Casarca tadomoides, Gould, Bii-ds of Australia, foL, vol. vii. pi. 7.

This fine Shieldrake is universally spread over all such
parts of Tasmania, South and Western Australia, as present
localities suitable to its habits, but is nowhere very plentiful.
During my residence in Tasmania I saw several fresh speci-
mens that had been shot on the lakes of the interior of the

363 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

island, and ascertained that it had formerly resorted to the
rivers, heads of the bays, and inlets of the sea near Hobart
Town. In South Australia it breeds annually at Gawler, on
all the alluvial flats that abound in that district : it is also
said to deposit its eggs in the hollow spouts and boles of the
lofty gum-trees.

Strange informed me that the nest is formed of the down
plucked by the bird from its own breast, that he has taken
thirteen eggs from a single nest, and that their colour was
similar to those of the Teal. It breeds early in the spring,
which in Australia is at an opposite period of the year to the
spring of the northern hemisphere.

Its food consists of the small fish, Crustacea, moUusks, &c.
which abound in the flats and swampy places. I have never
received this species from New South Wales ; and much in-
formation yet remains to be obtained respecting the range,
etc., of this fine bird.

The sexes may be distinguished by the smaller size of the
female, as well as by the whole of her markings being less
pure, and by the ring of white or mottled feathers which sur-
round the base of the bill.

Head and upper part of the neck shining dark green ; chest,
lower part of the neck and upper part of the back pale chest-
nut or rusty red, between which colour and the green of the
upper part of the neck is a ring of pure white ; upper and
under surface black, finely freckled and waved with pale
chestnut ; upper and under tail-coverts and tail black, glossed
with green ; wing-coverts pure white ; primaries dull black ;
secondaries rich glossy green on their outer webs, black on the
inner ; tertiaries rich chestnut on their outer and grey on
their inner webs ; irides dark brown ; bill black ; legs greyish

black.

In size this species exceeds every other Australian Duck,

and is even larger than the Maned Goose, Chlamydochen

jabata.

NATATORES. 363

Genus ANAS, Linnaiis.

The well-known Mallard or Wild Duck of Europe is the
type of this genus, of which there is a representative in every
division of the globe, and at least two in Australia.

Sp. 585. ANAS SUPERCILIOSA, Gmelin.

Australian Wild Duck.

Anas superciliosa, Gmel. Syst. Nat., vol. i. p. 537.

leucophrys, Forst. Drawings, No. 77.

Supercilious Duck, Latli. Gen. Syu. Supp., vol. vi. p. 497.
Gwoom-ndn-na, Aborigines of the lowland districts of Western Aus-
tralia.
Black Duck, Colonists of New South Wales and Tasmania.
He-turrera, Aborigines of New Zealand.
Gi'ey Duck, Colonists of Swan River.

Anas superciliosa, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. vii. pi. 9.

This species may be considered as the Australian repre-
sentative of the Common Wild Duck {Anas boschas) of Europe.
It enjoys a wide range of habitat, all the southern portion of
the continent, Tasmania, and the Islands in Bass's Straits
being alike favoured its presence; it also inhabits New
Zealand; at least specimens from thence offer so slight a
variation that I cannot consider them to be otherwise than
identical.

In habits, manners, and general economy the European
and Australian species approximate most closely ; their flesh
is similar in flavour, and the one is as highly esteemed and as
much sought after for the table in Australia as the other is in
Europe ; as regards external appearance, however, no com-
parison can be made between the two birds ; for, while the
male of the Anas boschas during the greater part of the year
is remarkable for the beauty of his plumage, the Anas super-
ciliosa, being subject to but little periodical change, is gene-

364 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

rally clothed in a sombre-coloured dress ; neither do the sexes
offer sufficient difference of colour by which the one may be
distinguished from the other. Arms of the sea, rivers with
sedgy banks, lagoons, and water-holes are its favourite places
of resort. I met with it often and under every variety of
circumstance, sometimes in flocks, at others either singly
or in pairs, and not unfrequently in company with other
species. The tameness of its disposition depends much upon
whether the locality has or has not been frequented by
man ; in some of the rivers in Recherche Bay in Tasmania
and others in the interior of the continent of Australia,
which are rarely visited, it evinced much less shyness than
when observed on the waters of the populated districts. It
is everywhere either a stationary species or subject to very
partial migrations. In the choice of a breeding-place it
appears to be influenced by circumstances, sometimes depo-
siting its eggs among long grass and sedges, and not un-
frequently resorting to hollow spouts and boles of trees for
the same purpose. Nine eggs, taken in September from the
hollow part of a tree at Moore's River in Western Australia,
were of a dark cream-colour, two inches and a quarter long
by one inch and five-eighths broad.

Head very dark brown ; a narrow line above the eye, a
broad stripe from the bill beneath the eye, and the throat
buff ; sides of the neck striated with buff and dark brown ;
all the upper surface, wings, and tail rich brown ; the feathers
narrowly margined with buffy brown ; tips of the greater
wing-coverts velvety black ; speculum rich deep glossy green,
bounded posteriorly with velvety black ; under surface brown,
each feather edged with pale brownish white ; bill light bluish
lead-colour; irides bright hazel; legs yellowish brown, with
darker webs.

The above is the description of a male; the female, as
before stated, is very similarly coloured.

NATATORES. 365

Sp. 586. ANAS PUNCTATA, Cuvier.

Australian Teal.
yl)ia$ punctata, Cuv.
Mareca castanea, Eyton, Mon. Anat., pi. in p. 119.

punctata, List of Birds in Brit. Mus. Coll., part iii. p. 134.

Gnwool-ye-nug-ger-rany, Aborigines of the lowland districts of Western

Australia.
Teal, Colonists of Swan River.

Anas punctata, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. vii. pi. 11.

The Anas punctata is universally diffused over the southern
portion of Australia; it is also equally numerous in some
parts of Tasmania. It is not migratory, but may be met
with during every month of the year. In two instances I
found its nest and eggs. The situation of one was rather
unusual, a hole near the top of a large tree growing on the
flats near Aberdeen on the Upper Hunter ; this occurred in
the month of Octol)er, and in the following December I raised
a female from her nest among the herbage on Green Island in
D'Entrecasteaux's Channel. In both instances the eggs were
nine in number.

Like the Wild Duck and Teal of Europe, this bird inhabits
rivers, brooks, lagoons, and ponds, both inland and near the
sea. It is a true grass-feeder, and is one of the best Ducks
for the table found in the country. When surprised it
rises quickly, but is less active than the European Teal ; it
is, however, a bird of powerful flight. I frequently met
with it in vast flocks while ascending the little-visited rivers
of the southern part of Tasmania, particularly those which
empty themselves into Recherche Bay. In these retired
and solitary retreats it is much more tame than in frequented
situations, and never failed to fly down the rivers over our
heads as we ascended ; a measure which, although at the
first view it appears to be that of flying into the danger it
wished to avoid, was in fact the readiest means of escaping ;

366 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

for had it taken the opposite course, it would have required
great exertion to surmount the impenetrable forest of high
trees, rising perpendicularly from the water's edge, in which
these short and sluggish rivers usually terminate. It is very
rare that the male is killed in the nuptial dress, and I am
induced to believe that it is not assumed until the bird is
two or three years old ; after the breeding-season the sexes
are alike in plumage, and for at least nine months of the year
there is no difference in their outward appearance.

The adult male in the spring of the year has the head and
neck of a rich deep changeable bronzy green ; the whole of
the upper surface rich brown, narrowly margined with light
reddish brown ; all the under surface chestnut, with a round
spot of black near the tip of each feather; greater w^ing-
coverts white; outer webs of the secondaries deep rich
velvety black, two or three of the central feathers margined
with bronzy reflexions ; remainder of the wings brown ; tail
dark brown ; on either side of the vent a patch of white ;
under tail-coverts black, freckled with tawny and white ; bill
bluish lead-colour; the nail and the edges of the upper
mandible black, and the under mandible crossed near the tip
by a band of reddish flesh-colour ; irides hazel ; feet lead-
colour, with the membranes of a somewhat darker hue.

The female, the male in winter, and the young male of the
year, have the head and neck minutely striated with brown
and buffy white ; all the under surface brown, with a blotch
of black in the centre of each feather, and the upper surface,
wings, and tail similarly marked, but less brilhant than in
the male.

There appear to be two very distinct races of this bird, one
of which is much larger than the other ; so great in fact is the
difference in this respect in specimens from various parts of
the country, that the idea presents itself of their being really
distinct species. The smaller race inhabits Tasmania, the
larger the western and southern portions of Australia.

NATATOKES. 367

Genus STICTONETTA, Reichenbach.

A very singular form, nearly allied to Chaulelasmus. The
only species of the genus is a very rare bird, and has only yet
been seen on the western and southern coasts of Australia ;
it probably inhabits the distant interior. Reichenbach has
assigned it the above generic title, which I have much
pleasure in adopting.

Sp. 587. STICTONETTA N^VOSA, Gould.

Freckled Duck.

Anas ncEvosa, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, part viii. p. 177.
Stidonetta ncevosa, Bonap. Compt. Rend, de I'Acad. Sci., torn, xliii.

seances des 15 et 22 Sept. 1856.
Freckled Duck, Colonists of Western Australia.

Anas nsevosa, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. vii. pi. 10.

Two specimens of this rare Duck are all that had come
under my notice when my foho edition was completed ; several
other examples have since been sent to Europe, all of which
bore a general similitude. The native habitat of the species
are the western and southern parts of Australia. A further
knowledge of this bird would be highly interesting : and it
would be especially desirable to know whether the plumage in
which I have figured it be permanent, whether, like most
other members of its tribe, the bird undergoes seasonal
changes, and also if the speculum of the wing be absent in
the male as well as in the female.

The stomach is very muscular, and those examnied con-
tained small fish and minute shells.

The whole of the plumage is dark brown, minutely freckled
and spotted with irregular oblong marks of white in the
direction of the feathers ; the under surface the same, but
lighter and tinged with buff ; wings without a speculum ;

368 BIRDS OP AUSTRALIA.

primaries plain brown ; iricles light brown ; bill greenish
grey, becoming much darker at the tip ; legs bluish green.
Total length 17 inches ; bill 2^ ; wing 9 ; tail 3 ; tarsi 2.

Genus SPATULA, Boie.

The great continents of America, Africa, Asia, and Australia
are each inhabited by one or more species of this restricted
genus. The well-known Shoveller of the British Islands is
the type of this form, all the members of which are true
grass-feeding Ducks, and most of them are subject to seasonal
changes. The nuptial dress of the male is very beautiful.

Sp. 588. SPATULA RHYNCHOTIS.

Australian Shoveller.

Anas rhynchotis, Lath. Ind. Orn., Supp. p. Ixx.

New Holland Shoveller, Lath. Gen. Syn. Supp. vol. ii. p. 359.

Rhynchaspis rhynchotis, Steph. Cont. of Shaw's Gen. ZooL, vol. xii.
p. 123.

Spatula rhynchotis, List of Birds in Brit. Mus. Coll., part iii. p. 140.

Bar-doo-ngou-ba, Aborigines of the lowland districts of Western Aus-
tralia.

Shovel-nosed Duck of the Colonists.

Spatula rhynchotis, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. vii. pi. 12.

In size and structure, and particularly in the conformation
of the bill, the Spatula rhynchotis closely assimilates to the
Spatula clypeata of Europe and the Spatula variegata of New
Zealand ; and the three species, whose distinctive characters
are most plainly marked, are doubtless all characterized by
a similarity of habits and actions. Although ranging widely
from east to west, the habitat of this species, so far as is yet
known, is confined to the southern portion of Australia. It
is, however, more abundant in Tasmania and the islands in
Bass's Straits. New South Wales, South Australia, and

NATATORES. 309

Swan River all come within the range of its habitat, but it is
nmch more rare in Western Australia than in any other of
the countries I have enumerated. Freshwater rivers, creeks,
marshes, lakes, and pools both near the coast and in the
interior of the country are the situations in which the Au-
stralian Shoveller is to be found. I frequently met with it
in company with other common ducks of the country, all
united in one flock. It feeds on aquatic plants, shelled
moUusks, and water insects. Its flesh as an article of food is
little if at all inferior to that of the Australian Wild Duck
{Anas su2')ercilios(i) ; consequently it is frequently shot and
eaten by the settlers. Like most of its tribe it assumes a
richer dress at one season than at another, that of the spring
or pairing-time being much the finest; at other times the
male is so much like the female, which undergoes no change
of plumage, as scarcely to be distinguishable from her.

I did not succeed in finding the breeding-places of this
species, consequently I am unable to give any account of its
incubation, nest, or eggs.

The male has the crown of the head and the space surround-
ing the base of the bill brownish black ; on either side of the
face between the bill and the eye a broad lunar-shaped line of
white, bounded posteriorly by speckles of black ; head and
neck grey, with greenish reflexions ; all the under surface
very dark chestnut-brown, each feather with a broad crescent-
shaped mark of black at the tip, which is very conspicuous
on the breast; flanks rich chestnut, each feather crossed by
several broad crescentic bands of black ; back brownish
black, the feathers of the upper part margined with greyish
brown ; lesser wing-coverts and outer webs of the scapularies
blue-grey, the inner webs of the latter black, with a distinct
line of white in the direction of and next to the shaft ; greater
wing-coverts black, largely tipped with white ; outer webs of
the secondaries rich deep glossy green ; primaries very dark
brown with lighter shafts ; under surface of the wing white ;

VOL. H. 2 b

370 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

on either side of the vent a patch of white, freckled with
black ; under tail-coverts black, tinged with shining green ; tail
dark brown ; irides bright yellow ; bill dark purplish black,
the under mandible clouded with yellow ; legs and feet yellow.
The female has the head and neck buff, striated with dark
brown, the latter colour predominating on the crown of the
head and back of the neck ; all the upper surface dark brown,
each feather margined with whitish brown ; the wings as in
the male, but the colours and markings much less brilliant
and decided ; all the under surface mottled brown and buff,

Sp. 589. SPATULA CLYPEATA.

European Shoveller.

Anas clypeata, Liim. Syst. Nat., torn. i. p. 200.

rubens, Gmel. Edit. Linn. Syst. Nat., torn. i. p. 519.

Clypeata macrorhjnchos, platyrliynchos, pomarina, et brachyrhnychos,

Brehm, Handb. der Naturg. aller Vog, Deutschl., pp. 876, 877,

878, 879.
Rhynchaspis clypeata, Bonap. Compt. Rend, de TAcad. Sci., tom.xliii.

seances des 15 et 22 Sept. 1856.

Although I have no Australian skin of this species to con-
firm the following remarks, I must ask my ornithological
readers both in Australia and Europe to take my word for
the occasional appearance of the bird in Australia. When I
visited New South Wales during the rainy season of 1839,
all the depressed parts of the land were filled with water, and
the lagoons here, there, and everywhere were tenanted by
hundreds of Ducks of various species, and every now and
then one, two, or more beautifully plumaged Shovellers were
seen among them ; but I did not succeed in shooting one of
them, and must have left the matter in doubt as to the par-
ticular species, if the late Mr. Coxen, of Yarrundi, had not had
the skin of a splendid old male in his possession, which he
had himself shot, and which, after a careful examination, I
found to be identical with the S^miida clypeata of Britain and

NATATORES. 371

the European continent. Misfortune, I regret to say, attended
Mr. Coxen's specimen ; for a day or two afterwards a rat or
some other kind of vermin entered the room in which it was
kept, ate off its bill and legs, and so otherwise mutilated the
skin as to render it useless. The debris would still have been
saved had I not hoped and felt assured of obtaining other
examples with my gun ; this hope, however, was never
realized.

To this subject, therefore, I recommend the attention of
those in Australia, who will doubtless meet with the bird
some day when the country is subject to a partial inundation.
That this species should extend its wanderings to Australia
is not a matter of surprise, when we know that it has been
found within the tropics, both in the Old and New Worlds.

To enable my Australian readers to recognize the bird, I
append a careful description of the two sexes, and of the male
after the termination of the breeding-season.

The male has the head and upper part of the neck deep
glossy green ; lower part of the neck, breast, scapularies, and
sides of the rump white ; back blackish brown, each feather
margined with grey and tinged with green ; lesser wing-
coverts and some of the scapularies greyish blue ; tips of the
larger coverts w^hite, forming a bar across the wing ; speculum
rich green ; tertials rich purplish black, with a streak of white
down the centre ; middle tail-feathers brown, edged with
white, outer ones entirely white ; upper and under tail-coverts
black, tinged with green ; under surface reddish brown ;
flanks and vent pale brown, crossed with numerous irregular
lines of black ; bill blackish brown ; legs orange-red.

The female has the whole of the upper surface deep brown,
each feather barred and margined with white.

After the breeding-season is over, the male has the cheeks,
sides of the neck, and throat reddish white, speckled with
brown ; crown of the head and nape of the neck black,
glossed with green, and each feather with a paler margin ;

2 B 2

372 BIRDS OF AUSTRAIJA.

back and scapulars deep brown, margined with pale yel-
lowish brown ; breast mingled yellowish brown and white ;
abdomen mingled yellow and orange-brown.

Genus MALACORHYNCHUS, Swainson.

A very delicate form, of which the single species, confined
to Australia, is the only one known ; and in which a beautiful
pink-colour, unusual in the plumage of birds, shows itself in
the shape of a minute spot on each side of the head.

Sp. 590. MALACORHYNCHUS MEMBRANACEUS.
Pink-eyed Duck.

Anas memlranacea, Lath. Ind. Orn., Supp. p. Ixix.

fasciata, Shaw, Nat. Misc., pl. 697.

New Holland Duck, Lath. Gen. Syn., Supp. vol. ii. p. 359.
Membranaceous Duck, Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. x. p. 331.
Rhynchaspis fasciata. Less. Traite d'Orn., p. 632.

memhranacea, Steph. Cont. of Shaw's Gen. Zool., vol. xii. p. 124.

Malacorhjnchus membranaceus, Swains. Class, of Birds, vol. ii. p. 366.

fasciatus, Wagl.

Wrongi, Aborigines of New South Wales.
Wym-bin, Aborigines of Perth, Western Australia.
Pink-eyed Duck, Colonists of Swan River.

Malacorhynchus membranaceus, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol.,
vol. vi. pl. 13.

Although this is by no means a common bird in any part
of Australia that I have visited, it is very generally distributed
over the southern portion of that country, and it also occa-
sionally visits Tasmania; its occurrence there, however, is
very irregular, the shortness or duration of the intervals
being evidently influenced by some peculiarity of the season.
Shallow freshwater lagoons seem to be its favourite places of
resort ; hence, in New South Wales during the rainy season,
when the flats and hollows are temporarily filled with water,
giving life to myriads of the loAver animals upon which this

NATATORES. 373

Duck feeds, its presence may at all times be looked for, while
on the other hand it is seldom to be met with during seasons
of drought. As it has never yet been seen out of Australia, or
even on the northern shores of that country, we may reasonably
suppose that toward the interior it finds situations suited to
its existence, and where it doubtless breeds ; but respecting
this portion of its economy no particulars whatever have yet
been ascertained. No one of the tribe that I have observed
in a state of nature presents a more elegant or graceful
appearance than this little Duck, which is generally seen in
small companies of from six to twenty in number, swimming-
over the placid lagoons, and betraying so little fear and
shyness on the approach of man, as to present a singular
contrast in this respect to the other members of the family.
Its flight is very powerful and swift.

The sexes" are so perfectly similar in plumage as not to. be
certainly distinguished ; but the male is generally the larger.

Sides of the face and chin white ; crown greyish brown,
becoming paler on the forehead ; space round the eye, and a
line from either eye uniting at the occiput and passing down
the back of the neck brownish black ; immediately beneath
this line and behind the dark patch surrounding the eye an
oblong mark of rose-pink; back and wings brown, very
minutely freckled with black ; rump dark brown ; upper
tail-coverts buffy white, with a broad stripe of dark brown
across the tip of each ; tail dark brown, slightly tipped with
white ; sides of the head and neck, back of the neck, and all
the under surface brownish white, crossed by numerous dai-k
brown fasciae, which are narrow on the sides of the head and
neck, broad and distinct on the back of the neck, the breast,
and flanks, and nearly obliterated on the centre of the abdo-
men; under tail-coverts deep buff"; irides dark reddish brown ;
bill varies from greenish grey to bluish olive ; tip of the lower
mandible white ; tarsi and toes emerald-green in some speci-
mens and yellow-brown in others ; webs dark brown.

374 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

Genus DENDROCYGNA, Swainson.

This form is found in India, Africa, America, and Austra-
lia ; the bird I have separated into a distinct genus under the
appellation of Leptotarsis should be included in the genus,
the difference which it presents being too slight to warrant
its division therefrom.

Sp. 591. DENDROCYGNA GOULDI, Bonaparte.
Whistling Tree-Duck.

Anas arcuata, Cuv., Horsf. Zool. Research, in Java.
Dendrocygna arcuata, Swains. Class, of Birds, vol. ii. p. 365.

, var. Gouldi, Bonap. Compt. Rend, de I'Acad. Sci., torn.

xliii., seances des 15 et 22 Sept. 1856.
En-jep- ere, Aborigines of Port Essiugton.
Whistling Duck of the Colonists.

Dendrocygna arcuata, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. vii.
pi. 14.

I possess specimens of this fine Duck from Moreton Bay
and from various parts of the north coast, on comparing which
with others procured in Java I find that they are larger, and
that they have the throat and fore-part of the neck of a less
deeply tinted buff. These and other minor differences induced
the late Prince Charles L. Bonaparte to give the Australian
bird a new specific appellation, that of gouldi. I believe the
Prince was right in considering it distinct from D. arcuata,
and it would therefore be ungraceful in me not to accept the
compliment from my distinguished coadjutor.

During the months of September, October, November, and
December the Whistling Duck assembles in vast flocks on the
lakes around the settlement at Port Essington : the lagoons
and water at that season of the year are so shallow, that this
and many other species of the Duck tribe are enabled to
wade among the herbage and procure an abundant supply of

NATATORES. 375

food. Gilbert states that, on the approach of man or the
report of a gun, this and the other species in company with
it rise altogether, but that each species separates itself into a
distinct flock during the act of rising. While on the water
it is quite silent, emitting no kind of noise ; but all the time
it is on the wing it gives utterance to a peculiar whistle.

The stomach is extremely muscular, and the food consists
of small fish and aquatic plants.

Some eggs brought to the settlement by the natives, and
said to belong to this bird, were taken early in March, from
nests built in long grass on the small islands adjacent to the
harbour at Port Essington ; they are of a creamy white, one
inch and seven-eighths long by one inch and a half in breadth.

Crown of the head, line down the back of the neck, all the
upper surface, wings and tail brownish black, each feather of
the back broadly margined with deep buff"; wing-coverts deep
chestnut ; chin white ; sides of the head bufFy white ; breast
deep buff*, each feather crossed by a short bar of black ; abdo-
men chestnut ; line down the centre of the abdomen and
vent buff", mottled with black ; under tail-coverts white ; flank-
feathers buffy white, margined on either side with two stripes,
the inner one of which is brownish black and the outer chest-
nut ; ii'ides dark brown ; bill black ; tarsi greenish grey ;
feet blackish grey.

Sp. 592. DENDROCYGNA EYTONI, Gould.

Eyton's Tree-Duck.

Leptotarsis eytoni, Gould, MS. — Eyton's Mon. of Anat., p. Ill,
Dendrocygna eytoni, G. R. Gray, List of Birds in Brit. Mus. Coll.,

part iii. p. 133.
Nuiv-e-rdyen, Aborigines of Port Essington.

Leptotarsis eytoni, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. vii. pi. 15.

I gave the specific name of eytoni to this fine bird as a just
tribute of respect to T. C. Eyton, Esq., a gentleman ardently

376 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

attached to the science of ornithology, and well known for his
valuable ' Monograph of the Anatidse/

The true habitat of the species appears to be the north-
M^est coast of Australia, where, as Captain Stokes informs
me, " it is one of the commonest birds of the country.
When on the wing it makes a peculiar whistling sound that
can be heard at a great distance, and which changes as it
alights into a sort of chatter. It perches on trees in a very
clumsy manner, swinging and pitching to and fro. We
subsequently often found it on the rivers of the north coast,
but not within some miles of their mouths, or near their
upper waters, from which it would appear that it inhabits
certain reaches of the river only ; we never found it in the
swamps. The furthest south it was afterwards met with was
on the Albert River, in the Gulf of Carpentaria, in lat. 18° S.,
which gives it a range of six and a half degrees of latitude
over the northern part of the continent. Its nest never came
under our notice, consequently we are not aware either of the
size or colour of the eggs; neither did we see any young
birds during the period of our observation, ranging from
July to November."

Mr. White, of Adelaide, in a letter to me, says, " I found a
nest of this species in a log ; I am not sure of the number of
eggs it lays, but the natives say about eight or ten, mostly in
the sand-hills, at Cooper's Creek."

To this I may add another note supplied by the late
Mr. Elsey :— " The Whistling Duck is very common, and was
frequently shot on lagoons in the interior, but is very wary on
the river. Large V-shaped flights passed over our camp
during March, from S.E. to N.W., in which direction the
bird appears to have a favourite resort."

Crown of the head and back of the neck dark sandy brown ;
sides of the head and neck and the breast fawn-colour ; throat
and fore part of the neck brownish white; all the upper
surface greyish olive-brown ; rump and tail brownish black.

NATATORES. 377

crossed by a band of buff; primaries and secondaries deep
sandy red ; tertiaries dark brown ; across the upper part of
the abdomen a broad band of purphsh sandy red, each feather
crossed by several narrow bands of black ; feathers imme-
diately before and beneath the insertion of the wing chestnut-
red, crossed by several broad bars of black ; flank-feathers
buff, broadly and distinctly margined with black ; lower part
of the abdomen and under tail-coverts buffy white ; feet flesh-
colour; irides dark orange.

Genus NYROCA, Fleming.

The members of this genus are true diving Ducks, and
obtain much of their food from the muddy bottoms of lakes
and estuaries.

Sp. 593. NYROCA AUSTRALIS, Gould.
White-eyed Duck.

Nyroca australis, Gould, MSS. Eyton, Mon. of Anat., p. 160.
Ei--roo-doo, Aborigines of the lowland districts of Western Australia.
Bud-bun-bun-loot, Aborigines of Port Essington.
White-winged Duck of the Colonists.

Njrroca australis, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. vii. pi. 16.

This bird is frequently seen on the rivers in Tasmania,
where I am certain that it breeds, the eggs in my own
collection having been taken on the banks of the Derwent ;
T also shot many individuals on the Upper Hunter in the
autumn of 1839, and, from what I could learn from persons
resident there, it visits those parts of New South Wales
when the lagoons are filled with water and food consequently
abundant. The flats between Aberdeen and Scone were
tenanted by hundreds of these birds, in company with
the Pink-eyed Ducks and Shovellers. I have also a fine
example killed by the late Commander luce, ll.N., near the

378 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

settlement at Port Essington, where, however, it is very rare ;
it is also occasionally met with in Western Australia. In this
bird we have another beautiful representative of a species
common to Europe and India, the Nyroca leucophthahnos,
both birds having white eyes and a similar style of plumage ;
the Australian species differs, however, from its near ally in
having a lighter-coloured plumage, and less of the chestnut
hue ; it is also a much larger bird. Quiet reaches of rivers
where the water runs slowly, bays and inlets of the sea and
lagoons, are among its favourite places of resort. As may be
supposed, it is a very excellent diver, and gains much of its
food beneath the surface of the water, readily descending to
the bottom in search of small mollusca, crustaceans, insects,
and aquatic plants.

The only outward difference between the sexes consists in
the female being rather smaller than the male, and somewhat
less bright in colour.

The male has the geng:'al plumage chestnut-brown ; across
the breast a broad band of brownish white ; secondaries white
at the base, forming a conspicuous mark across the wing,
and tipped with bronzy brown ; basal portion of the inner
webs of the primaries and under tail-coverts white; bill
black, with a band of blue-grey near the tip ; irides white ;
fore part of the tarsi lead-colour ; hind part of the tarsi and
the webs blackish brown.

Why is it that so many of the Australian birds have white
irides ? What can be the object and intention of this de-
parture from the normal rule ? The following are a few of
the instances in which this peculiarity occurs : — the Crow,
Grallina, and Struthidea-, the beautiful Marsh Gull, of the
genus Chroicocejplialus ; and the present bird.

NATATOllES. 379

Genus ERISMATURA, Bonaparte.

The members of this gemis, although but few m number,
are found in Europe, Asia, Africa, America, and AustraKa.
They are especially adapted for immersion, and for obtaining
their food from the bottom of the water rather than on its
surface.

In Bonaparte's Classification these birds are placed next to
the Mergansers, and are raised to the rank of a family — Uris-
matiirid(B — comprising the following genera : Biziura, Thalas-
siornis, and Erismatura. I think, however, the Prince was
not justified in uniting Merc/ arietta with them, which, in my
opinion, should be associated with the Mergansers.

Sp. 594. ERISMATURA AUSTRALIS.

Blue-billed Duck.

Oxyura australis, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, part iv. p. 85.
Erismatura australis, Eytou, Mon. of Anat., p. 172.
Boud-doo, Aborigines of the lowland districts of Western Australia.
Blue-billed Duck of the Colonists.

Erismatura australis, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. vii. pi. 17.

This bird would appear to be so limited in its habitat as to
be confined to the colony of Western Australia ; at least up
to this time it has not been discovered in any other part of
the country. Gilbert's notes inform me that it is never seen
in the rivers, either those communicating with the sea or
those of the interior, and that it is only found on the lakes
running parallel to and near the coast that are surrounded
with high reeds and tea-trees. Its general habits resemble
those of the Biziura lobata ; like that bird it possesses the
power of remaining under water for a great length of time,
and if closely hunted flaps along the surface without taking
wing. Its voice is a peculiar inward tone, which the natives
describe by saying, " it has no voice, but makes a noise with
its heart."

380 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

It breeds in September and October, constructing a nest
very like that of the Biziura lobata, and laying from two to
nine or ten eggs, which are of a large size, and of a uniform
bluish white, with a very rough surface ; two inches and five-
eighths long by two inches broad.

Its food consists of insects, shelled mollusks, fish, &c.
The sexes differ very considerably in plumage.
The male has the whole of the head, throat, and neck
black ; chest, breast, back, and flanks rich chestnut ; wings
and tail brownish black ; rump brownish black, freckled with
brown ; belly and under tail-coverts brownish grey, obscurely
marked transversely with dark brown; irides very dark
brown ; bill light blue ; front and inner side of the tarsi and
toes french-grey ; outside of tarsi and webs blackish grey.

The female is the same size as the male, and has a plumage
of uniform blackish brown, transversely marked with in-
distinct zigzag lines and freckles of chestnut-brown, lighter
and more greyish brown on the under surface ; tail-feathers
black ; bill dark olive-green ; the under mandible lighter than
the upper ; irides, legs, and feet as in the male, but paler.

I append a description of that portion of the economy of the
North African species Erismatura leiicocephala which relates
to its nidification, because it serves to confirm my assertion
that the eggs of the Australian bird are from two to ten in
number, which is rendered remarkable by the circumstance of
the nearly allied Biziura lohata being said to lay only two.

" We found two nests of the White-headed Duck," says
the Rev. H. B. Tristram, " among the sedge, containing, the
one three, the other eight eggs. These are very large for the
size of the bird, almost perfectly elliptical in shape, of an ex-
tremely rough texture, unlike that of any other Duck, more
resembling the egg of the Bean Goose, but far more coarsely
grained and of a dull white colour. The habits and flight of
the bird are more like those of a Grebe than a Duck : it
often saves itself by diving, and remains under water for a
considerable time." — Ibis, 1860, p. 163.

NATATORES. 381

Genus BIZIURA, Leach.

A genus of wliich only a single species is known, and
■which is singularly different from every other member of the
Anatid(B ; so different, in fact, that I question if this be its
natural situation ; and although, like Bonaparte, I have placed
it next to Erismatura, I believe its alliance to that form is
but a seeming one. There is something about this extra-
ordinary bird which reminds one of the Cormorants ; yet no
ornithologist would, I presume, associate it with those birds.
Like many other of these antipodean forms, it must be
regarded as an anomaly. It is, in fact, a Biziura, and
nothing more, for it stands alone.

The male has a lengthened, stiff, and leather-like appen-
dage hanging from the under surface of the bill ; the female
is similarly clothed, but is not above half the size of the male,
and is destitute of the appendage which renders the male so
conspicuous.

Sp. 595. BIZIURA LOBATA.

MUSK,-DUCK.

Anas lobata, Shaw, Nat. Misc. pi. 255.

Lobated Duck, Lath, Gen. Syn. Supp., vol. ii. p. 349.

Biziura novce-hollandice, Steph. Cont. of Shaw's Gen. Zool., vol. xii.

p. 222.
Hydrobates lobatus, Temm. PI. Col., 406.
Biziura lobata, Eyton, Mon. of Anat., p. 168. — Bonap. Comp. Rend.

de I'Acad. So., torn, xliii., seances des 15 et 22 Sept. 1856.
Anas carunculata, Vieill. 2ncle Edit, du Nouv. Diet. d'Hist. Nat.,

torn. v. p. 109.
Go-da-ra, Aborigines of Western Australia.

Biziura lobata, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. vii. pi. 18.

This singular species is widely and very generally dis-
tributed over the whole of the southern countries of Austra-
lia, including Tasmania and tlic smaller islands in Bass's

382 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

Straits. I have specimens in my collection from the extreme
western, southern and eastern portions of the continent, which
present no differences sufficiently marked to establish a second
species. It frequents deep bays and inlets of the sea, the up-
per part of rivers, lakes, and secluded pools. More than a
a pair are rarely seen at one time ; often a solitary individual
takes up its abode in some favourite pool, where it lives a
life of complete seclusion, depending for its food and for its
preservation from danger upon its powers of diving rather than
upon those of flying. Although I have many times come
suddenly upon this bird I could never force it to take wing,
even when I surprised it at one of those small water-holes
that are frequently met with in the beds of rivers during
droughts, instead of attempting to escape by flight, it would
immediately dive and remain submerged for a great length of
time, merely rising to the surface at long intervals for the
purpose of breathing. It would seem that neither large sheets
of water nor reaches of rivers are necessary for the well-being
of this species, for I often met with it on the smallest water-
holes, where it lives a solitary life, and allows no other species
to share with it the small amount of animal life which is
found in such places ; and I quite agree with Lieut. Bre-
ton, R.N., who says "he has never heard of any instance
in which more than two were seen together. It is extremely
difficult to shoot, on account of the readiness with which it
dives ; the instant the trigger is drawn, the bird is under
water. The chief food of the Musk-Duck is mussels, leeches,
and aquatic worms. In Western Australia it is said to
leave the rivers in August, and to take up its abode for
the purpose of breeding in the numerous lakes which
stretch along parallel to the coast; a precaution probably
taken for the better protection of the eggs, which would
become an easy prey to the natives and colonists, were the
task of incubation performed on the banks of the narrow
rivers and pools ; besides which, the lakes not being subject to

NATATOUES. 383

the sudden rising of the water which always occurs in the
rivers after rain, the birds are thus secured from this among
other dangers : the nest, which is placed either on the stump
of a low tree or on the bank about two feet above the level of
the water, is formed of dried reeds, and lined with feathers
and down plucked by the bird from its own breast ; the eggs
are of a large size, usually two in number and of a uniform
pale olive, three inches long by two broad.

The young birds if pursued while on the water mount on
the back of their parent, who immediately dives with them
to a place of safety ; just as Grebes do when any danger
threatens them.

During the pairing- and breeding-season, which is in the
months of September and October, this bird emits a strong
musky odour, which is often perceptible long before it can be
seen, and this odour is retained for years afterwards in the
skins of specimens killed during that particular season.

Its note is extremely singular, resembling the sound caused
by a large drop of water falling into a deep well ; or it may be
imitated by the sudden opening of the lips.

A most remarkable difference exists in the relative size of
the sexes, the bulk and admeasurements of the female being
not more than half of those of the male, who alone possesses
the wattle under the throat, the use of which I could not detect.

The male has the crown of the head and the back of the
neck brownish black ; the remainder of the upper surface,
chest and flanks blackish brown, crossed by numerous narrow
freckled bars of buffy white ; wings and tail blackish brown ;
throat and under surface dark brown, each feather tipped with
pale buffy white ; irides dark brown ; bill and lobe beneath
the chin greenish black ; legs and feet dark leaden grey ; in-
side of the tarsi greenish grey.

The female is similar in colour, but has all the markings
lighter and less distinct, and is destitute of the lobe beneath
the chin.

384 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

Family LAEID^.

The Gulls are birds of the sea-shores rather than of the
open ocean ; they are of a wandering disposition, and wing
their way up and down the beach in search of stranded mol-
lusks and garbage ; they also frequent oozy sand-flats where
they obtain salt-water worms, &c. The family comprises
numerous species, which have been divided into many genera
in accordance with the differences in their structure, mode of
life, and nidification. They have an elegant carriage, and
swim well ; but their dense and soft plumage is unsuited to
immersion, and consequently they seldom seek their food
beneath the surface. At the breeding-season they are strictly
gregarious ; some construct their nests on rocks, while others
assemble in vast multitudes and resort for this purpose to
rivers and inland waters. Usually the sexes are alike in
colour, but the whole of them are subject to seasonal changes
of plumage ; some of the genera, as the black-headed Gulls
are remarkable in this respect, for their heads are black
during summer only.

Genus LARUS, Linnaus.

The members of this genus are distributed over the sea-
shores of every part of the globe. Only one species inhabits
Australia, to which country it is confined, and where it repre-
sents the Lams marinus of Europe and America.

With reference to the species of this form, Macgillivray
remarks, " They have a strong, buoyant flight, performed by
slow beats of their long, extended, arched wings, walk and run
with short steps, emit a loud, clear, or harsh cry, and a suc-
cession of short sounds resembling a laugh. They perform a
singular action with their feet upon the sands, patting them
repeatedly with considerable celerity, and at the same time
retiring backAvards. Their food consists of fish, flesh of dead

NATATORES. 385

cetacea, and land quadrupeds, young sea-birds, Crustacea,
mollusks, asterise, worms, and larvse. In stormy weatlier
they often leave their ordinary haunts and proceed inland to
pick up the larvse and vrornis exposed by the plough or found
in the pastures. In winter they congregate in large flocks at
the mouths of rivers or on the sands. They rest by day
either on shore or floating on the water, by night on the sands
or rocks, or in the fields, either standing on one foot, with re-
tracted neck, or lying down. In the breeding-season they
generally keep in flocks, nestling on rocks, headlands, or
islands."

Sp. 596. LARUS PACIFICUS, Lath.

Pacific Gull.

Larus pacificus, Lath. Ind. Orn., Supp. p. Ixviii.

Pacific Gull, Lat. Gen. Syn. Supp., vol. ii. p. 332.

Larus leucomelas, Vieill. 2nde edit, du Nouv. Diet. d'Hist. Nat., torn.

xxi. 509.
frontalis, Vieill. 2ude edit, du Nouv. Diet. d'Hist. Nat., torn.

xxi. p. 505 ?
georgii. King, Survey of the Intertropical Coast of Australia, vol.

ii. p. 423.
Gabianus georgi, Bonap. Compt. Rend, de I'Acad. Sci., torn. xli.
Nga-ga-la, Aborigines of the lowland districts of Western Australia.
Larger Gull of the Colonists.

Larus pacificus, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. vii. pi. 19.

The Larus pacificus, which diff'ers from every other species
I am acquainted with in the deepened form of the bill and in
the pearly whiteness of the irides, is abundantly dispersed
over all the shores of Tasmania, the islands in Bass's Straits,
and the southern parts of the Australian continent. It ascends
high up the larger rivers and arms of the sea, but is never, so
far as I am aware, seen in the interior of the country. It is
very powerful on the wing, often mounts high in the air, and
soars in circles after the manner of the Eagle ; in this particu-

VoL. II. 2 c

3SG BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

lar habit, and in its less laborious flight, it differs consider^
ably from its prototype, the Larus marinus of Europe, while
in most other parts of its economy it as closely assimilates to
it. It traverses the line of coast in search of food, which con-
sists of any stranded carrion or floating animal substance, to
which living fish, crabs, moUusks, and even small quadrupeds
are added whenever opportunities occur.

This fine Gull breeds on most of the low islands round
Tasmania ; the eggs, which are generally three in number,
being usually placed on the bare ledges of rock, although not
unfrequently on the shore of the projecting points of small
islands. They are of a clear olive, marked all over with
blotches of blackish and umber brown, some of the markings
appearing as if beneath the surface of the shell ; they are two
inches and five-eighths long by one inch and seven-eighths in
b readth.

When fully adult, the sexes can only be distinguished by
the smaller size of the female ; the young, on the contrary,
for at least two years, differ very considerably like the youthful
birds of the other species of the genus ; the mottled brown
of this state, however, may frequently be seen gradually
changing to the colouring of the adult, as may also the
hues of the eye, bill, and legs, which gradually change with
the plumage.

Head, neck, upper part of the back, all the under surface,
upper and under tail-coverts white ; back and wings dark slaty
black, the secondaries largely tipped with white ; primaries
black, the innermost slightly tipped with white ; tail white, the
inner web of the outer feather and both webs of the remain-
der crossed near the tip with a broad band of black ; irides
pearl-white ; legs yellow ; claws black ; eyelash yellow ; bill
orange stained with blood-red at the tip, in the midst of which
in some specimens are a few blotches of black.

The young have the general plumage brown, with lighter
margins to the feathers, giving them a mottled appearance ;

NATATORES. 387

under tail-coverts nearly white ; primaries and tail blackish
brown ; irides brown j bill yellowish brown, deepening into
black at the tip.

Genus BRUCHIGAVIA, Bonaparte.

A genus of Gulls, the members of which are delicate in
their structure, elegant in their appearance, and graceful in
all their actions. One species is said to inhabit Brazil,
another Otaheiti, and two Australia.

In habits, economy, and general appearance the members
of this genus are very similar to the C/woicocep/ialfts ridihundm
of Europe, but at no season do they obtain any dark or black
colouring on the head.

Sp. 597. BRUCHIGAVIA JAMESONII.

Silver Gull.

Crimson-billed Gull, Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. x. p. 145.
Larus jamesonii, Wils. 111. Zool., pi. 23.

scopulinus, Forst. Drawings, tab. 109, very j^oung.

nova-hollandia, Steph. Cont. of Shaw's Gen. Zool., vol. xili.

p. 196.
Silver Gull, Ewiug, List of Birds in Tasmanian Journal, vol. i. p. 58.
Gelastes jamesoni, Bonap. Compt. Bend, de FAcad. Sci., torn. 41.
Br-uchigavia jamesoni, Bonap. Comp. Gen. Av., torn. ii. p. 228; Bruchi-

gavia, sp. 3.
Dje-je-nup, Aborigines of the lowland districts of Western Australia.
Little Gull of the Colonists of ditto.

Xema jamesonii, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol.,vol. vii. pL 20.

This beautiful species of Gull is abundantly dispersed over
the sea-shores of Tasmania and the southern coasts of AustraHa
generally ; it also frequents the rivers and inland lakes wher-
ever they occur of any extent. Like the other BrucUgavicB
it frequently congregates in immense flocks, and colonies of
many hundreds have been found breeding together, some-

2 c 2

388 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

times on the marshes, at other times on the low small islands;
a colony of this kind existed on Great Actseon Island in
D'Entrecasteaux's Channel when I visited it in 1838.

The flight of this little Gull is light and buoyant in the
extreme, it runs over the surface of the ground with lightness
and great facility, and is altogether one of the most beautiful
and fairy-like birds I have ever met with.

Its nest is formed of a few rushes and grasses, audit lays
four or five eggs, which differ considerably in colour, hardly
any two being alike ; the ground colour varying from pale
greenish to dark brownish olive ; in some instances slightly,
in others largely blotched and streaked with blackish brown ;
they also vary in shape, some being shorter and thicker than
others.

The two sexes are precisely alike in colour, and may be thus
described : —

Head, neck, all the under surface, spurious wing, rump,
and tail white ; back and wings delicate grey ; primaries
white, eccentrically marked with black, largely on their inner
and narrowly on their outer webs, and largely tipped with the
same hue, with a slight fringe of white at the extremity ; eye-
lash, bill, legs and feet deep blood-red ; nails black ; irides
pearl-white.

Sp. 598. BRUCHIGAVIA GOULDI, Bonaparte.
Gould's Silver Gull.

Larus novcB-hoUandia, var., Blyth, Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc,

p. 289.
Gavia jamesoni et gouldi, Bruch.

Gelastes gouldi, Bonap. Compt. Rend, de FAcad. Sci., torn. xli.
Bruchigavia gouldi, Bonap. Comp. Gen. Av., torn. ii. p. 228 ; Bruchi-

gavia, sp. 2.

This is the bird spoken of in the folio edition as being from
Torres Straits, and larger in all its admeasurements than the
B. Jamesoni of the south coast. My view of its being speci-

NATATORES, 389

fically distinct has been followed by Bonaparte in his minute
subdivision of the Laridae. Like the B. jamesoniy this bird
has a white head and white eyes at all seasons.

Genus STERCORARIUS, Brisson.

The seas of the higher latitudes of both the northern and
southern hemispheres are frequented by parasitic Gulls, but
they are more numerous in the former than the latter.

One species only of this form has been found in Australia.

Sp. 599. STERCORARIUS CATARRHACTES.

Great Skua.

Lotus catarrhades, Linn. Sj'st. Nat., torn. i. p. 226.

fuscus, Briss. Orn., toui. vi. p. 165.

Lestris catharactes, 111. Prod. Syst. Mamm. et Av., p. 273.
Catharada skua, Briinn. Orn. Bor., no. 125.
Catarades vulgaris, Flem. Edinb. Phil. Journ., vol. i. p. 97.
Catarrades skua, Steph. Cont. of Shawns Gen. Zool., vol. xiii. p. 215.

noster, Sibb. Scot. lUust., vol. ii. p. 20, pi. 14. fig. 1.

Stercorarius catarrhades. Gray, Gen. of Birds, vol. iii. p. 663 ; Ster-

corarius, sp. 5.
Lestris antardica, Less. Traite d'Orn., p. 616.
Megalestris catarrades, Bonap. Cousp. Gen. Av., 1856, p. 206.
Port Egmont Hen, Hawks. Voy., vol. ii. p. 283.
Skua Gull of British Authors.

Lestris catarractes, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. vii. pi. 21.

Every voyager to and from Australia, whether by the Cape
of Good Hope or Cape Horn, will observe that in all the higher
latitudes the ship will be frequently visited by solitary ex-
amples of this Gull, which may be distinguished from the
Albatroses and Petrels by its more flapping and heavier mode
of flight, and by the white mark on the wing, which shows
conspicuously when seen from beneath ; it appears, however, to
be attracted to the ship more from curiosity than from aught

390 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

else, for after passing round it two or three times, it wings its
way again over the expansive ocean until lost to sight ; it is
as often seen a thousand miles from land as it is near the
coast, and I was for a long time surprised how a bird of this
family could exist so far from any apparent means of repose,
until the difficulty was at last solved by my seeing the bird
settle on the masses of sea-weeds which here and there float
about in all seas, and on which it rested with as much ease as
if standing on a rock. So little difference is observable be-
tween the examples of the Southern Ocean and those found
in our own seas, that I have been compelled to consider them
to belong to the same species. It was nowhere more abun-
dant than off" the coast of Tasmania, and may be frequently
seen in Storm Bay at the mouth of the Derwent ; it may also
be seen off New Zealand and all similar latitudes round the
globe ; and that it also visits higher latitudes is evidenced by
a note with which I have been favoured by R. McCormick,
Esq., Surgeon R.N., wherein he states that it is found as far
south as Kerguelen's Land and Campbell Island.

In a letter from Mr. Macgillivray, dated on board H.M.S.
Rattlesnake, Peb. 6, 1848, that gentleman says, "The Stereo-
rarius catarrhactes was noticed on various occasions in differ-
ent parts of the South Indian Ocean ; while off the Cape of
Good Hope a solitary individual and subsequently two in
company were seen. I have observed it following and hover-
ing over a bait towing astern, and once saw it chase a Cape
Petrel and force it to alight on the water. This bird seldom
remained with us for more than half an hour at a time, dur-
ing which it made a few circular flights about the ship."

Captain F. W. Hutton in his notes on some of the birds
inhabiting the Southern Ocean, published in the ' Ibis ' for
1865, p. 276, says: — "This bird does not skim over the
water like the Petrels, but flies low with a heavy slow flap-
ping of its roundish-looking wings, and is therefore easily re-
cognized. It is rare at sea north .of latitude 45° S., one

NATATORES. 391

individual only having come under my observation. It is,
however, very numerous on the Prince Edward Islands and
Kerguelen's Land, where it breeds on the low flats among
moss and grass two or three feet high, making no nest, but
laying three brown, dark-spotted eggs on the ground. The
young birds are dark brown mottled with white. During
the breeding- season the old birds are very fierce, flying
round the head of an intruder, dashing every now and then
at him, and making at the same time a curious croaking noise
in their throats."

According to Mr. Alfred Newton, the Great Skua is com-
mon along the coasts of Iceland. Taber says it is resident,
and mentions four breeding-places in the south. As Dr.
Kriiper saw it in the north, it probably breeds there also.
In Scandinavia it is accounted rare, and it is doubtfid if it
breeds there ; Mr. Newton does not recollect seeing it more
than once during three voyages along the coast of Norway.
It is not found in Spitzbergen, and although Von Baer in-
cludes it among the birds of Nova Zembla, I am inclined to
think he is in error. It is utterly unknown on the coasts of
Siberia. The Western or Californian coast is said to be its
only habitat in America. In all the situations above-men-
tioned, whether the bird be at sea or on the grass-covered
bleak islands on which it breeds, its presence is soon made
known by its daring spirit during the breeding-season ; it is
said that every animal is savagely attacked that approaches too
near its nest, and that the Eagle and the Great Gull speedily
scurry away, should they have ventured within its precincts.

I may mention that all the specimens from the southern
hemisphere are rather darker in colour and somewhat larger
in size than those from the northern. I observed no difference
in the colouring of the sexes, which may be thus described : —

All the upper surface blackish brown, the feathers of the
back with whitish shafts and tips ; all the under surface
chocolate-brown ; base and shafts of the primaries white.

392

BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

Family STERNIDiE.

The members of this aerial group of sea-birds I consider to
be deserving of a family designation, for the species are very
nmnerous and constitute many genera. They are dispersed
over all the sea-girt lands of the globe, and their range may
therefore be said to be universal, or if there be any exception
it is only near the poles. Australia is well represented in this
group, for nearly twenty species pertain to her fauna, and
doubtless others will yet be discovered.

Genus SYLOCHELIDON, BreJim.

A single species of this form inhabits Australia ; the same
bird is also found in India and Europe. It is the largest and
most powerful member of the family.

Sp. 600. SYLOCHELIDON CASPIA.

Caspian Tern.

Sterna tschegrava, Lepechin, Nov. Com. Pet., torn. xiv. p. 500.

caspia, Pall. Nov. Com. Pet., tom. xiv. p. 583.

Thalasseus caspius, Boie, Ibis, 1822, p. 563.

Hydroprogne caspia, Kaup, Sk. Ent. Eur. Thierw., 1829, p. 91.

Helopus caspius, Wagl. Isis, 1832, p. 1221..

Sylochelidon caspia, Brehm. Haiidb. der Nat. Vog. Deutschl., p. 770.

Sterna megarhynchos, Mey. Tascb. Deuts., tom. ii. p. 457^

[Sylochelidon) strenuus, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., part p. .

Sylochelidon strenuus, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. vii.
pi. 22.

The Sylochelidon caspia frequents Southern Europe, India,
Africa, and all the shores of AustraUa, but is perhaps more nu-
merous on the islands in Bass's Straits and Tasmania than else-
where. Its favourite breeding-places are the promontories of
small islands, spits of land running out from the shores of

NATATORES. 893

the mainland, extensive flats at the entrances of large rivers
and all similar situations. I never observed it breeding in
company, and seldom met with more than a pair on an
island, unless it was one of considerable extent. It lays two
eggs on the bare ground, often within a very short distance
of the water's edge. No bird watches its eggs w'ith greater
assiduity, or defends them with greater courage, and woe
betides the unlucky Gull or other natural enemy that may
wander within the precincts of its breeding-place. I could
always discover its eggs by the clamorous, cackling, screeching
note which it constantly utters while flying over the place
where they were deposited. The breeding-season comprises
the months of August, September, and October, during
which period the crown of the head is of a deep black hue,
which gives place to a spotted appearance at other seasons.
Both sexes are subject to precisely the same changes, and so
much are they alike, that it is only by the somewhat smaller size
of the female that they can be distinguished. The extensive
development of the wings gives this fine species immense
powers of flight ; it also plunges into the water with the
greatest impetuosity, and brings from beneath the surface
fishes of a very considerable size.

The eggs are of a stone-colour, marked all over with large
and small blotches of umber-brown, a great portion of which
appear as if beneath the surface of the shell ; they are about
two inches and five-eighths long by one inch and three-
quarters broad.

Forehead, crown, and nape deep glossy black ; back, wings,
and tail pale ashy grey, becoming fighter on the tail and
deepening into dark grey on the primaries, the shafts of which
are white ; remainder of the plumage pure white ; irides black ;
bill scarlet, stained with yellow on the sides and tip.

Total length 20^ inches ; bill 4 ; wing IG^ ; tail G-^ ; tarsi 2.

394 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

Genus THALASSEUS, Boie.

The members of this genus, the type of which is the T.
cantiacus of the British Islands, are widely dispersed over most
parts of the Old World, and three distinct species inhabit Au-
stralia.

Sp. 601. THALASSEUS CRISTATUS.

Torres' Straits' Tern.

Caspian Tern, var. B., Lath. Gen. Syu., vol. vi. p. 351.

Crested Tern, Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. x. p. 101.

Sterna cristata, Steph. Cont. of Shaw's Gen. ZooL, vol. xiii. p. 146.

pelecano'ides. King's Survey of Intertropical Australia, vol. ii.

p. 422.

velox, Riipp. Atl. zu der Reise Nord. Afrika, pi. 13.

Pelecanopus pelecandides, Wagl.

pelecanoides, Bonap. Compt. Rend, de I'Acad. Sei., torn. xli.

Gerra-gerra, Aborigines of New South Wales.

Kal-jeer-gang, Aborigines of the lowlands of Western Australia.

Yelloiv-hilled Tern of the Colonists.

Thalasseus pelecanoides, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. vii.
pi. 23.

This Tern I believe to be the bird described by Capt. King as
Sterna pelecanoides, as it is the only large species of the family
inhabiting Torres' Straits. Captain King's description was
doubtless taken either from an immature bird or one in the
winter plumage. It differs from Thalasseus poliocerciis in its
much larger bill and in being a much stouter bird ; it is how-
ever most nearly allied. I have received specimens and eggs
from Port Essington, and also from Rottnest Island off the
western coast of Australia, where Gilbert found the bird breed-
ing in great numbers on an isolated rock about two hundred
yards from the mainland. It also attracted the notice of JMr.
Macgillivray while cruising in Torres' Straits, and it is to
him that I am indebted for the following information as to its
range, &c. : — " This handsome Tern, which supplies the place

NATATORES. 395

of the Thalasseus poliocercus upon the north-east coast, is ge-
nerally distributed from Lizard Island to the southward as far
northward as Bramble Quay, and is also to be found in En-
deavour Straits. It was breeding on Lizard Island in the be-
ginning of May, and on Raine's Island in June, when both
eggs and young birds were procured ; in the latter locality
I found it in three small parties upon a low ridge on one side
of the island, depositing its single egg in a slight hollow
scooped out of the ground in a bare smooth spot surrounded
wdth herbage. This bird was so much more shy than the
Sooty Tern and Noddy, that I was obliged to resort to the
gun to procure specimens, as it would not allow me to
approach sufficiently near to throw a short stick with effect.
The eggs vary considerably in their markings ; the ground-
colour is generally stone-grey, in some instances thickly
speckled and blotched with black; others are marked with
irregular waved streaks and minute spots of dark brown ;
others again with scattered irregular streaks and spots of
black ; some are thickly blotched, especially at the larger
end, with reddish, and others are finely blotched and
streaked with dark red on a light pinkish-grey ground ; they
also vary somewhat in size, but they usually average two
inches and three-eighths in length by one inch and a half in
breadth." I possess one which differs both in size and
colom^ing, being considerably larger and of a rich reddish
buff, blotched all over, but particularly at the larger end,
with brownish black, and others in which the streaks assume
the appearance of Chinese characters.

Crown of the head and occipital crest jet-black ; forehead,
sides, and back of the neck, and all the under surface silky
white ; back, wings, and tail dark grey, deepening into black
on the edges and tips of the primaries, the shafts of which as
well as those of the tail are white ; bill pale greenish yellow ;
irides very dark brown ; legs and feet black ; soles dirty
brownish yellow.

396 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

Young birds have the grey of the upper surface much paler,
and the black of the head mottled with white.

Sp. 602. THALASSEUS POLIOCERCUS, Gould,

Bass's Straits' Tern.

Sterna poliocerca, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, part v. p. 26.
Sylochelidon poliocerca, List of Birds in Brit. Mas. Coll., part iii. p. 175.
Pelecanopiis poliocercus, Bonap. Compt. Rend, de PAcad. Sci., torn. xh.

Thalasseus poliocercus, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. vii.
pi. 24.

No species of Tern is so abundant on the shores of Tas-
mania and New South Wales during the months of winter as
the present bird, which then inhabits the bays and inlets of the
sea, and ascends high up the rivers in flocks of from ten to
fifty in number, for the purpose of securing the abundant
supply of food afforded by the shoals of fish which there
abound ; at this season of the year the heads of all are mottled
with black and white, a style of plumage which gives place
to an intensely jet-black hue in summer : the only part of
Australia from which I have received specimens in this latter
state is Port Lincoln, where both sexes and the eggs were
procured, and sent to me by my late friend J. B. Harvey, Esq.

This bird is about the size of, or perhaps rather larger
than the Kentish Tern of England, and has many habits in
common with that species.

The eggs vary considerably in colour, some being of a stone-
grey and others of a buffy hue, all more or less marked with
brown, the markings in some being large and irregular
blotches, in others streaks and spots, in others in the form of
Chinese or Elindustanee characters ; others again are freckled
and blotched all over with brown ; and some have the mark-
ings so thick at the larger end that they blend into each
other and form a broad zone.

Crown of the head and occipital crest jet-black ; forehead.

NATATORES. 397

back of the neck, and all the under surface silky white ; back,
wings, and tail grey ; secondaries tipped with white ; shafts
of the wings and tail white ; bill yellow ; irides black ; legs
and feet brownish black.

Total length 17^ inches ; bill 2| ; wing 12f ; tail 7 ; tarsi 1.

Sp. 603. THALASSEUS BENGALENSIS.

Indian Tern.

Sterna media, Horsf. ?

hengalensis, Less.

affi,7iis, Riipp. ?

Thalasseus torresii, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, part x. p. 140.
Pelecanopus torresi, Bouap. Compt. Rend, de I'Acad. Sci., torn. xli.
Mair-id-bo, Aborigines of Port Essington.

Thalasseus torresii, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. vii. pi. 25.

In the collection formed by Gilbert at Port Essington were
two examples of this species, respecting which he says, " This
bird is numerous on all the sandy points in the harbour
as well as all round the coast and the neighbouring islands ;
and I am informed that it breeds on the sandy islands during
the months of April and May : " beyond this I have no
information to communicate, except that I possess examples
killed at Madras, in the East Indies, whence I infer that its
range extends from thence throughout the islands of the
Eastern Archipelago to the northern coasts of Australia. It
is intimately allied to the Thalasseus cristatus and T. polio-
cereus, which it doubtless resembles in its general habits and
nidification.

The stomach is membranous, and the food consists of fish.

The sexes are alike in plumage ; in summer the forepart of
the head is black, while in winter it is white.

Forehead, sides of the face and neck, upper part of the
back, and all the under surface silky white ; feathers of the
crown and surrounding the eye white, with a minute spot of

398 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

black in the centre of each ; occiput and back of the neck
black ; back and wings deep grey ; tail grey ; primaries
greyish black, broadly margined on their inner web with
white ; the shafts white ; irides dark brown ; bill ochre-
yellow ; feet blackish grey.

Total length 13 J inches ; bill 2f ; wing 11 J ; tail 4f ; tarsi 1.

Genus STERNA, Linnaus.

The members of this genus, as now restricted, enjoy so
wide a range over the seas of the globe, that they may be
said to be universally dispersed : three species are found in
Australia.

Sp. 604. STERNA MELANORHYNCHA, Gould.
Southern Tern.

Sterna velox, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, part x. p. 139.

{Thalassea) melanorhyncha, Bonap. Compt. Rend, de I'Acad. Sci.,

torn. xli.

Sterna melanorhyucha, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. vii.
pi. 26.

I killed several fine examples of this Tern off the coast of
Tasmania, and within a few miles of Maria Island : all the
specimens I procured had the forehead white, a character of
plumage which I have since ascertained to be indicative of the
winter dress.

More recently I have received from Mr. Macgillivray spe-
cimens which I consider to be fully adult examples of this
bird in their summer or breeding-costume ; in this state the
crown of the head is wholly black, the bill in some specimens
red, in others red stained with black on the upper mandible ;
legs orange-red ; the upper and under surface dark blue-grey,
except a line of snow-white running along the face, below the
eye, and separating the grey of the throat from the jet-black

NATATORES. 399

crown ; rump, upper tail-coverts, and tail white, except the
outer feathers of the latter, which are washed with grey. This
bird nearly resembles the S. cassinii of the Falkland Islands ;
but differs in its darker colouring and its much smaller size.

The specific term melanorliynclia appHed to the young of this
species being a very inappropriate designation for a bird which
in its adult state has a red bill, I would therefore suggest
that it be called Sancti-pauli.

An egg of this species, sent by Mr. Macgillivray from St.
Paul's Island, is very like some of the dark varieties of the
Common Tern of Britain {Sterna Jiirundo). The ground colour
being olive-brown, blotched and marked all over, but parti-
cularly at the larger end, with rich umber, intermingled with
obscure markings of grey, the latter appearing as if beneath
the surface of the shell. The length is If inch, the breadth If.

The sexes do not differ from each other in external appear-
ance.

Forehead, lores, sides of the neck, and all the under surface
white ; space surrounding the eye, occiput, and back of the
neck black ; all the upper surface, wings, and tail delicate
grey ; outer web of the external quill greyish black ; shafts of
all the primaries white ; irides blackish brown ; bill black.

Total length 13 inches ; bill 2^ ; wing 9f ; tail Q)\ ; tarsi f .

Sp. 605. STERNA GRACILIS, Gould.

Graceful Tern.

Sterna gracilis, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. vii. pi. 27.

This graceful and elegant Tern was killed by Gilbert on
the Houtmann's Abrolhos, off the western coast of Australia,
where he states it is very numerous, continually moving about
from one part of those islands to another, and settling during
the heat of the day on the coral ridges in large flocks. He
was informed that it breeds there in great numbers during
the month of November, but he was unfortunately too late to

400 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

procure its eggs, which are said to be two in number, and to
be deposited on the ground in a sHght hollow among the
loose coral ridges.

I regret to say that to this meagre account I have nothing
to add, as I did not meet with the species myself, neither
have I seen or received specimens from any other locality.

Crown of the head and back of the neck rich deep black ;
all the upper surface, wings, and tail silvery grey ; sides of
the neck and all the under surface white, with a blush of
rose-coloui' on the breast and centre of the abdomen ; shafts
of the primaries white, their outer webs slaty black, and a
narrow stripe of dark slate-colour along the inner web close
to the stem ; irides brownish red ; bill red ; feet orange-red ;
nails black.

Sp. 606. STERNA MELANAUCHEN, Temm.

Black-naped Tern.

Sterna melanauchen, Temm. PI. Col., 427.

sumatrana, Raff.

Sternula melanauchen, Bonap. Compt. Rend, do I'Acad. Sci., torn. xli.

Sterna melanauchen, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol,, vol. vii.
pL 28.

Although this species has been figured by Temminck in
his valuable "Planches Coloriees," it becomes necessary to
include a description of it in the present work, in consequence
of its being a frequent visitor to the northern shores of Au-
stralia. Lesson states that it is found in the Celebes and on
most of the Moluccas; and there is but little doubt that
its range extends over the whole of the Indian Archipelago.
It is about the size of the Common Tern {Sterna hirundo) of
Europe, is one of the most beautiful species yet discovered,
and is distinguished from all the other members of its genus
by the snowy whiteness of its crown, and by the deep gorget-
shaped black mark at the occiput.

NATATORES. 401

" This beautiful bird," says Mr. Macgillivray, " is very local
in its breeding-places, the only one known to me being one
of the ' three sand-banks ' near Sir Charles Hardy's Islands.
The eggs are two in number, deposited in a slight hollow in
the sand. I have seen this bird on another neighbouring
sand-bank, also on Solitary Island, near Cape York, and in
Endeavour Straits, but was unable to procure a specimen
from any of the last-mentioned localities, on account of
its excessive shyness. It is one of the most noisy of the
Terns, and I generally saw it in small parties of half-a-dozen,
or thereabouts. The fully-fledged young of the year differs
from the adult in having the black on the head dark brown
mottled with white, and the whole of the upper surface and
wings variegated with dark brownish grey."

According to Mr. Jerdon, the range of the Sterna melau-
auchen extends throughout the Malayan Peninsula to the
Bay of Bengal, and it is said that it breeds on the Nicobar
Islands.

The plumage of the young bird being mixed with blackish
brown above shows, says Mr. Blyth, an affinity to the members
of the genus Onycliojprion.

So far as I have been able to ascertain, there appears to be
no outward difference in the sexes ; I have never seen ex-
amples in any other than the adult plumage here represented ;
but, judging from analogy, we may reasonably infer that this
species undergoes changes similar to those of the other mem-
bers of the family, and consequently that at some seasons of
the year the black mark at the occiput is far less brilliant
than at others.

Crown of the head, neck, and under surface white, with a
faint tinge of rose-colour on the breast ; lores and a gorget-
shaped mark commencing innnediately behind the eye and
spreading over the nape black ; upper surface, wings, and
tail delicate silvery grey, with white shafts ; outer web of the
external primary black ; bill black ; feet brownish black.

VOL. II. 2 D

402 BIRDS OF AUSTRAl.IA.

Genus STERNULA, Boie.

Europe and Australia are both tenanted by Little Terns, the
specific distinctness of which cannot be questioned. 'Hiey arc
very fairy-like birds, and differ somewhat in their habits from
the true Terns.

Sp. 607. STERNULA NEREIS, Gould.

Little Tern.

Sternula nereis, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, part x. p. 140.
Little Tern, Colonists of Western Australia.

Sternula nereis, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. vii. pi. 29.

This delicately coloured and elegant Little Tern inhabits
many of the low sandy islands in Bass's Straits, whence its
range extends along the south coast to Western Australia. I
observed several pairs on the small island opposite the settle-
ment on Elinder's Island, where they appeared to be breeding.
It would seem, however, to be much more numerous on the
western coast, and during the month of December congre-
gates in immense flocks on Rottnest and Garden Islands. It
makes no nest, but lays its two eggs in a depression on the
sand or shingle. Like that of other Terns, the food of this
species principally consists of the smaller oceanic fishes, which
it captures with apparent ease, plunging down into the water
from a considerable height with such unerring aim that it
rarely misses the object.

The Sternula nereis is a beautiful representative in the
southern ocean of the Little Tern of the European seas, the
habits, actions, and economy of both being precisely alike.

The eggs are two in number, of a pale stone-colour, in
some instances marked all over, but more thickly at the larger
end, with dark umber-brown ; in others very largely blotched
with the same colour; they are one inch and three-eighths
long by seven- eighths broad.

NATATORES. 403

Crown of the head, back of the neck, circle round and a
spot before the eye black ; forehead white ; back and wings
delicate silvery grey ; outer web of the external primary dark
grey at the base, gradually passing into light grey at the tip ;
all the under surface, rump, and tail pure white; irides
black ; bill, tongue, and feet rich orange yellow.

Total length lOJ inches ; bill 1} ; wing 7^ ; tail 4 J ; tarsi -^.

Genus GELOCHELIDON, Brehm.

The Gull-billed Tern of the British Islands {Geloc1ielido7i
anglicci) is a typical example of this genus. The form also
occurs in America, and in Australia.

Sp. 608. GELOCHELIDON MACROTARSA, Gould.

Long-legged Tern.
Sterna macrotarsa, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, part v. p. 26.

Gelochelidon macrotarsa, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, Supp., pi.

Many years have elapsed since a small collection of Au-
stralian birds was sent to the Council of King's College,
London, as a donation to their museum. In this collection
was a fine species of Tern, which proved to be new to science,
and of which I published, in 1837, a full description, together
with its admeasurements, under the name of Sterna macro-
tarsa. In the interval between 1837 and 1865, I have only
seen two other examples ; it is evident, therefore, that the
bird is extremely rare, or that no collector has visited its true
habitat. One of the two specimens referred to was procured
by the late Mr. Elsey on the Victoria River in North-western
Australia, and is now in the British Museum ; the other was
obtained at Morcton Bay. The Gelochelidon macrotarsa is
considerably larger in all its admeasurements than the Gull-
billed Tern of Europe, to which species it is nearly allied, and
of which it is evidently the representative on the Australian

2 D 2

404 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

continent. One of the principal features wliicli distinguishes
the AustraHan bird from its northern representative is its
light and silvery coloured back and wings ; it has also a
much stouter and longer bill, as well as longer and larger
legs.

I have at this moment before me, for the purpose of com-
parison, beautiful skins of the G. ayiglica, collected by Osbert
Salvin, Esq., in Algeria ; one from the continent of India,
and another from Java : all these are as nearly alike as possi-
ble in colour and admeasurements ; it is evident, therefore,
that the European and Indian birds are of the same species.

In summer the crown of the head and back of the neck
are black ; all the upper surface and primaries are light
silvery grey ; the remainder of the plumage is white ; and
the bill and feet are black.

In winter the black colouring of the head probably dis-
appears and is replaced by white.

Total length 17 inches ; bill 2^ ; wing 13| ; tail 6 ; tarsi ] f .

Genus GYGIS, Wagler.

One species of this genus of Terns is found in Australia.
Little is known respecting it or its allies, all of which frequent
the South Indian Ocean and the seas of Polynesia and
Australia.

Mr. G. R. Gray remarks, in his * Catalogue of the Birds of
the Tropical Islands of the Pacific Ocean in the Collection of
theBritish Museum,' that "the late Prince Bonaparte gives three
species of this form in the ' Comptes Rendus de I'Academie
des Sciences' for 1856, p. 773, viz. Gygisalba, Sparrm., G. Can-
dida, Eorst., and G. napoleonis, Pr. B. ; but I have not met
with any characters by which he distinguishes them from
one another."

The birds of this genus appear to deposit their single egg
on the branches of trees.

NATATORES. 405

Sp. 609. GYGIS CANDIDA.

White Tern.

Sterna Candida, Forst. Descrip. &c., p. 179.

alba, Lath. Ind. Orn., vol. ii. p. 808?

White Tern, Lath. Gen. Syn., vol. vi. p. 363.
Gygis Candida, Wagl.

Gygis Candida, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. vii. pi. 30.

This lovely Tern visits the whole of the south-eastern coast
of Australia from Moreton Bay to Cape York, and is also
found on Norfolk Island, where it is said to breed.

The late Mr. Cuming informed me that, on his visiting
Elizabeth Island, in the South Seas, which is entirely destitute
of inhabitants and of fresh water, he found this or an allied
species breeding on a species of Pandanus, its single egg
being deposited on the horizontal branches in a depression,
which, although slight, Avas sufficient to retain it in position
despite of the high winds and consequent oscillations to which
it was subjected. Mr. Cuming added that the old birds
were flying about in thousands, like swarms of bees, and
that he noticed several breeding on the same tree ; some of
the young birds were hatched and covered with down, and
being within reach, he took a few of them in his hand, and
after examining replaced them on their dangerous resting-
place, from which it appeared they occasionally fell down and
were destroyed, as he observed several lying dead on the
ground.

A bird of this genus, and perhaps the same species, is also
noticed in the ' Journal of Researches in Geology and Natural
History ' of C. Darwin, Esq., who, when speaking of Keeling
Island, says, " But there is one charming bird — a small and
snow-white Tern which smoothly hovers at the distance of an
arm's length from your head ; its large black eye scanning
with quiet curiosity your expression. Little imagination is

406 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

required to fancy that so light and delicate a body must be
tenanted by some wandering fairy spirit."

The sexes do not differ from each other in outward
appearance.

The entire plumage is snow-white ; bill dark blue at the
base, black at the tip ; irides black ; feet orange.

Genus HYDROCHELIDON, Boie.

The members of the present genus inhabit inland waters
and marshes, make their nests among the rushes, and lay
strongly-marked eggs, in which they differ from the other
Terns, the generality of which deposit their eggs on the
shingles of the sea-shore.

Sp.610. HYDROCHELIDON LEUCOPAREIA.

Marsh-Tern.

Sterna hyhrida, Pall. Zoog. Rosso-Asiat., torn. ii. p. 338.

leucopareia, Natt., Temm. Man. d' Orn., 2de edit., torn. ii. p. 746.

delamotta, Vieill. Ency. Meth. Orn,, part i. p. 350.

leucogenys, Brelim.

Viralva leucopareia, Steph. Cont. of Shaw's Gen. Zool. vol. xiii. p. 171.
Hydrochelidon hijbrida, Bonap. Compt. Rend, de I'Acad. Sci., torn. xli.
fluviatilis, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, part x. p. 140.

Hydrochelidon fluviatilis, Gtould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. vii.
pi. 31.

The present bird, which I figured and described in the
folio edition as Hydrochelidon fiuviatilis, but which I now
believe to be identical with H. leucopareia of Europe and
India, is a denizen of inland waters rather than those of the
sea-coast, and wherever lagoons of any extent have been dis-
covered in the interior of Australia, it has been found enliven-
ing the scene. I frequently observed it in the reaches of the
rivers Mokai and Namoi, and both Sturt and Hume mention

NATATORES. 407

it as frequenting many parts of the country visited by them ;
I have also seen specimens from Swan River : it is evident,
therefore, that it has a wide range of habitat. Its chief food
consists of aquatic insects and small fish, which it procures
after the usual manner of the Marsh Terns, by hunting with
scrutinizing care over the surface of the water.

The breeding-place of this species in Australia has not been
discovered, but in its nidification it doubtless closely resembles
its congeners, which we know breed among the sedgy herbage,
making a nest just above the surface of the water.

" This Tern," says Mr. Jerdon, " is exceedingly abundant
in India, frequenting marshes, tanks, and rivers, usually prey-
ing on aquatic food, not unfrequently hunting over fields,
beds of reeds, and marshy ground, where it captures grass-
hoppers, caterpillars, and other insects. In some parts of the
country it roosts during the night on thick beds of reeds,
congregating in vast numbers : for some time after sunset
tiU nearly dark, it may be seen flying in scattered flocks in
an excited manner over the surface of the water ; but I do
not think that the birds I saw thus occupied were at the same
time engaged in capturing food. It breeds in large churrs
on the Ganges, and probably on most other large rivers. It
is found over the greater part of Europe, temperate Asia, and
Africa.

Little or no difl'erence is observable in the sexes.

Forehead, crown, and nape deep black ; all the upper
surface, wings, and tail light grey ; sides of the face and the
throat white, gradually deepening into grey on the chest, and
the grey into black on the abdomen and flanks ; under surface
of the shoulder and under tail-coverts white ; irides black ;
bill blood-red ; feet light blood-red.

Total length 9f inches ; bill If j wing 8f ; tail 8 J ; tarsi f .

408 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

Genus ONYCHOPRION, Wagler,

Of this form two species frequent the AustraHan seas ; and
one of them appears to be universally distributed over the
Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans.

Sp. 611. ONYCHOPRION FULIGINOSA.

Sooty Tern.

Sterna seirata, Forst. Descr. Anim., p. 276.

guttata, Forst. lb., p. 211.

fuliginosa, Gmel. Edit. Linn. Syst. Nat., torn. i. p. 605.

Onychoprion seiTata, Wagl. Isis, 1832, p. 277.
Haliplana fuliginosa, Wagl. lb., p. 1224.

serrata, Bonap., Compt. Rend, de I'Acad. Sci., 1856, p. 772.

Sterna oahuensis, Bloxli. Voy. of Blonde, p. 291.

(Onychoprion) serrata, G. R. Gray, Cat. of Birds of Trop. Isl. of

Pac. Ocean in Coll. Brit. Mus., p. 59.
Anous I'herminieri, Less. Descr. de Mamm. et d'Ois.^ p. 255.
Haliplana gouldi, Reich. (Bonap.).

Onychoprion fuKginosus ?, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. vii.
pi. 32.

This common species appears to be very generally distri-
buted over the seas surrounding Australia, but to be less
numerous on the southern than on the western, northern, and
eastern coasts. It is now supposed to be the same species
which frequents the shores of the countries washed by the
Atlantic, both north and south, and that examples from
North America and Australia are not different ; if this be
the case, no bird of its family enjoys so wide a range over the
globe. Gilbert found it breeding on the Houtmann's Abrolhos
in December, and Mr. Macgillivray in Torres Straits in May
and June.

Gilbert states that it " lays a single egg on the bare ground
beneath the thick scrub ; and that the egg varies considerably

NATATORES. 409

in colour. The breeding-season is at its height in December,
but a few may be found performing the task of incubation in
January. So reluctant is it to leave its egg or young, that it
will suffer itself to be taken by the hand rather than desert
them. Por several weeks after the young are able to fly, this
bii'd may be seen in vast flocks soaring at a great height. It
is an extremely noisy species, and may be heard on the wing
during all hom's of the night."

"The Onychoprion fuliginosa" says Mr. Macgillivray, ** was
found breeding in prodigious numbers on Raine's Islet and
Bramble Key in May and June, associated with Noddies
{Anoils stolidus). The Sooty Tern deposits its solitary egg in
a slight excavation in the sand, without lining of any kind.
The egg varies considerably in its markings. After the party
employed in building the beacon on Raine's Islet had been
on shore about ten days, and the Terns had had their nests
robbed repeatedly, the birds collected into two or three large
flocks, and laid their eggs in company, shifting their quarters
repeatedly on finding themselves continually molested; for
new-laid eggs were much in request among people who had
for some time been living upon ship's fare. By sitting down
and keeping quiet I have seen the poor birds dropping their
eggs within two yards of where I sat, apparently glad to get
rid of their burthen at all hazards. During the month of
June 1844 about 1500 dozen of eggs were procured by the
party upon the island. About the 20th of June nearly one-
half of the young birds (hatched twenty -five or thirty days pre-
viously) were able to fly, and many were quite strong upon
the wing. Great numbers of young birds unable to fly were
killed for the pot : in one mess of twenty-two men the average
number consumed daily in June was fifty, and supposing the
convicts (twenty in number) to have consumed as many,
3000 young birds must have been killed in one month; yet
I could observe no sensible diminution of the number of
young, a circumstance which will give the reader some idea

410 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

of the vast numbers of birds of this species congregated on a
mere vegetated sand-bank like Raine's Islet."

Audubon, in the fifth volume of his ' Ornithological Bio-
graphy,' states that on the Tortugas this species lays three
eggs, and not one only as in Australia; and I may quote the
following passage, in confirmation of Mr. Macgillivray, of the
immense numbers of these birds which assemble together for
the purpose of breeding : — " At Bird Key we found a party
of Spanish eggers from Havannah. They had already laid in
a cargo of about eight tons of the eggs of the Tern and the
Noddy. On asking them how many they supposed they had,
they answered that they never counted them, even while
seUing them, but disposed of them at twenty-five cents per
gallon, and that one turn to market sometimes produced
upwards of two hundred dollars, while it took only a week to
sail backwards and forwards and collect their cargo. Some
eggers who now and then come from Key West sell their
eggs at twelve and a half cents the dozen. Wherever these
eggs are carried they must be disposed of and eaten, for they
become putrid in a few weeks."

The ground-colour of the eggs is a creamy white, in some
very pale, in others very rich, blotched all over with irregular-
sized markings of chestnut and dark brown, the latter hue
appearing as if beneath the surface ; the lighter-coloured eggs
have these markings much smaller and more thinly dispersed,
except at the larger end ; they are two inches and an eighth
long by one inch and a half in breadth.

The colouring of this species is as follows : —

Lores, crown of the head, and back of the neck deep black ;
all the upper surface, wings, and tail deep sooty black ; the
apical half, the shaft, and the outer web of the lateral tail-
feathers white ; a V-shaped mark on the forehead and all the
under surface of the wings and body white, passing into grey
on the lower part of the abdomen and under tail-coverts;
irides dark brown ; bill black ; feet brownish black.

NATATORES. 411

Sp. 612. ONYCHOPRION PANAYENSIS.

Panayan Tern.

Sterna panayensis, Gmel. Edit. Lian. Syst. Nat., torn. i. p. 607.

panaya, Lath. Ind. Orn., vol. ii. p. 808.

UHirondelle de mer de Panay, Sonn. Voy., p. 125. pi. 84.

Panayan Tern, Lath. Gen. Syn., vol. vii. p. 363.

HalipAana panay ensiSjBonsup. Compt. Rend, de I'Acad. Sci., 1856, p. 772.

Onychoprion panaya, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, voL vii. pL 33.

This bird visits many parts of the coasts of Australia,
particularly those of the western side of the continent. It
was found on the Houtmann's Abrolhos by Gilbert, who
remarks that it commences breeding in the latter part of
November, and that during the period of incubation it differs
in its habits from all the other allied species, inasmuch as,
instead of being gregarious, each pair remains solitary, and
its single egg is deposited in the fissure of a rock close to the
water's edge without any nest or flooring ; he further states
that it was very seldom seen at Port Essiugton, but that a
great number flew around the ship during his voyage from
thence to Singapore. Mr. Macgillivray informs me that he
first met with it on Solitary Island, near Cape York ; subse-
quently it was found on Raine's Islet by the late Commander
Ince, R.N., and by himself on Bramble Quay, in Torres
Straits, where it was breeding in small numbers, and where
it deposits its single egg in the holes of the loose friable coral
sandstone ; and it was here, while turning over some of the
shells of dead turtle which had been apparently arranged by
the natives who occasionally visit the place, that he was
surprised to find beneath them several of these pretty Terns
sitting on their egg without any nest. The egg is so similar
in colour to that of the Sooty Tern that the description of one
will answer for both, but it is considerably smaller in size,
the average measurement being one inch nine and a half lines
long by one inch three and a half lines broad.

412 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

The stomach is membranous, and the food consists princi-
pally of fish.

Forehead, line over the eye, chin, and throat white ; lores,
crown of the head, and nape black ; back, wings, and tail light
sooty brown, the outer tail-feather being white at the base
and on the outer web for two-third of its length ; edge of
the shoulder and under surface of the wing white ; under
surface white, slightly washed with grey; irides blackish
brown ; bill black ; legs and feet blackish green.

Genus ANGUS, Leach.

" The Noddies," remarks Mr. Jerdon, " are well-known
oceanic birds, frequenting tropical and juxta-tropical seas.
They differ from most Terns in their even or somewhat
rounded tails ; and still more in the manner of their flight,
which is steady and slow. They settle on the water when
taking their food, which consists chiefly of mollusks and fatty
matter ; and they are very silent birds. Sundevall, who noted
these differences, states that in their mode of life they resem-
ble Petrels rather than Terns."

Unlike other Terns which frequent the sea-shores and
rivers, the Noddies frequent the wide ocean, far remote from
land, and which, like the Petrels, they seldom quit, except at
the breeding- season, when they congregate in vast multitudes
on small islands suited to the purpose. Great nurseries of
this kind are to be found in every ocean ; in the North
Atlantic, one of the Tortugas, called Noddy Key, is a favourite
resort, and the Bahama Islands are another ; in the South
Pacific and Indian Oceans, beside other situations, the Hout-
mann's Abrolhos, off the western coast of Australia, and
on Bramble Key in Torres Straits, are resorted to in such
immense numbers that Mr. Gilbert was perfectly astonished
at the multitudes with which he found himself surrounded,
upon landing on those remote and little-explored islands.

NATATORES. 413

Sp. 613. ANGUS STOLIDUS.

Noddy Tern.

Passer stultus, Ray, Syn. 154.

Sterna stolida. Lath. Ind. Orn., vol. ii. p. 805.

Gaira fusca, Briss. Orn., torn. vi. p. 199. tab. 18. fig. 2.

La Mouette brune, Buff. PI. Enl., 997.

Noddy Tern, Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. x. p. 104.

Anuus niger, Steph. Cont. of Shawns Gen. Zool., vol. xiii. p. 140. pi. 17.

Megalopterus stolidus, Boie.

Le Noddi noir, Cuv. Begn. Anim., torn. i. p. 522.

Anous stolidus, G. B. Gray, List of Gen. of Birds, 2nd Edit., p. 100.

leucoceps, Swains.

Anous stolidus, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. vii. pi. 34.

If the present bird be identical with the Sterna stolida of
the older writers, then the range of the species over the
temperate and warmer parts of the ocean must be almost
universal ; but it will be seen that although the Noddies of
the northern and southern hemispheres are very much alike,
considerable variation is found to exist in their modes of
nidification and the season at which that duty is performed ;
a difference is also found in the number and colouring of
their eggs, those inhabiting the northern hemisphere being
said to lay three, and those inhabiting the southern only one.
Mr. Coues, after instituting a most careful and minute com-
parison of the American and Pacific birds, is still undecided
as to whether they are or are not different. " If," says he,
" the Pacific bird be really distinct, it has probably yet to
receive a name, for it is very different from the various spe-
cies of Anous mostly described by Mr. Gould. In that event
it may be called Anous f rater " ; but, rather than unnecessarily
multiply the number of specific appellations, I prefer for the
present at least to describe the Australian bird under the old
name of stolidus.

"The Noddy and an allied species" {A. melanops), says

414 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

Gilbert, " are extremely numerous on the Houtmann's Abrol-
lios, where they breed in prodigious numbers. The present
species lays its eggs in November and December, on a nest
constructed of sea-weed, about six inches in diameter and
varying in height from four to eight inches, but without
anything like regularity of form ; the top is nearly flat,
there being but a very slight hollow to prevent their single
egg from rolling off. The nests are so completely plastered
with the excrement of the bird, that at first sight they ap-
pear to be entirely formed of that material ; they are either
placed on the ground in a clear open space, or on the tops of
the thick scrub, over those of the Onycltoprion fuUginosus, the
two species incubating together with the most perfect har-
mony, and the bushes presenting a mottled appearance from
the great numbers of both species perched on the top : the
male 0. fuliginosa sitting quite close to the nest of the
Noddy, while its mate is beneath performing the duties of in-
cubation. On walking among the nests I was surprised to
observe the pertinacity with which the birds kept their post ;
in fact they would not remove from off the egg or the young,
but would suffer themselves to be trodden upon or taken off
with the hand ; and so thickly were the nests placed, that it
was no easy matter to avoid crushing either eggs or birds at
, every step. By the middle of January the eggs were nearly
ready to hatch, and there would be an overwhelming increase
of this species yearly but for the check which nature has pro-
vided against it in the presence of a small lizard which is very
abundant about their breeding-places, and which finds an easy
prey in the young of this Noddy and of Ongchoprion fuligi-
noms. I am satisfied that not more than one out of every
twenty birds hatched ever reaches maturity, or lives long enough
to take wing ; besides which, great numbers of the old birds
are constantly killed : these lizards do not eat the whole bird,
but merely extract the brain and vertebral marrow ; the re-
mainder is however soon cleared off by the Bermedes Jarda-

NATATORES. 415

rius, an insect which occurs in amazing numbers, and gave
me a great deal of uneasiness and constant trouble to preserve
my collection from their repeated attacks. I did not observe
the Noddy on any but the South Island. As it finds an
abundant supply of food, consisting of small fish, small mol-
lusca, medusae, cuttle-fish, &c., immediately outside the outer
reef, it has no occasion to go far out to sea ; I never observed
it feedhig in the smooth quiet water between the outer reef
and the islands."

" The large Noddy," says Mr. Macgillivray, " is abundantly
distributed over Torres Straits, but I never met with it to the
southward of Raine's Islet, on which, as at Bramble Key, it
was found breeding in prodigious numbers. Unlike its con-
stant associate, the Sooty Tern, it constructs a shallow nest of
small twigs arranged in a slovenly manner, over which are
strewed about a handful of fragments of coral from the beach,
shells, and occasionally portions of tortoise-shell and bones of
turtle. The nest is sometimes placed upon the ground, but
more usually upon tufts of grass and other herbage at about a
foot from the ground."

I here transcribe Audubon's account of the breeding of the
true Anous stolidns, as it is not only interesting in itself, but,
when coupled with Gilbert's and Macgillivray's observations
on the Australian bird, may tend to show that in this, as in
many other instances, birds inhabiting opposite sides of the
equator have very similar habits ; and whether identical or
not, it is somewhat singular that the American Noddy should
lay two eggs and the Australian but one.

"The Noddies," says Audubon, "form regular nests of
twigs and dry grass, which they place on the bushes or low
trees, but never on the ground. On visiting their island on
the 11th of May 1832, I was surprised to see that many of
them were repairing and augmenting nests that had remained
throughout the winter, while others were employed in con-
structing new ones, and some were already sitting on their

416 BIRDS or AUSTRALIA.

eggs. In a great many instances the repaired nests formed
masses nearly two feet in height, and yet all of them had only
a slight hollow for the eggs, broken shells of which were found
among the entire ones, as if they had been purposely placed
there. The birds did not discontinue their labours, although
there were nine or ten of us walking among the bushes ; and
when we had gone a few yards into the thicket, thousands of
them flew quite low over us, some at times coming so close as
to enable us to catch a few of them with the hand. On one
side might be seen a Noddy carrying a stick in its bill, or
picking up something to add to its nest ; on the other seve-
ral were seen sitting on their eggs unconscious of danger,
while their mates brought them food. The greater part rose
on the wing as we advanced, but re-alighted as soon as we
had passed. The bushes were rarely taller than ourselves, so
that Ave could easily see the eggs in the nests. . . . The
Noddy lays three eggs, which average two inches in length by
an inch and three-eighths in breadth, and are of a reddish
yellow colour, spotted and patched with dull red and faint
purple. They afford excellent eating, and our sailors seldom
failed to collect bucketsful of them daily during our stay at
the Tortugas."

Considerable variation is found to exist in the markings of
the eggs; the greater number are of a cream-colour, thinly
sprinkled all over, except at the larger end, where they
become more numerous and form an irregular zone, with
blotches of chestnut-red and dark brown, the latter colour
appearing as if beneath the surface of the shell ; but examples
occur in which the markings are much more numerous and
almost equally distributed over the surface, and others which
are nearly pure white ; and I possess one specimen in which
the markings are so large and dark that it might be readily
mistaken for the egg of some other bird. They are two
inches in length by one inch and a half in breadth.

The flight of this species is apparently laboured, being per-

NATATORES. 417

formed with a considerable action of the wings ; at the same
time the bird is capable of sustaining itself for a long time
just above the surface of the water, and of frequently making
abrupt and rapid turns while engaged in the search of its
prey ; its soft and dense plumage renders it extremely
buoyant, and, as the largely-developed membrane of the feet
would indicate, it swims with great ease.

The sexes are so nearly alike, that by dissection alone can
they be distinguished ; and the young acquire the plumage
of the adult at a very early age.

Upper and under surface chocolate-brown ; crown of the
head pale grey, gradually blending with the brown of the
upper surface ; primaries and tail brownish black ; imme-
diately before and above the anterior angle of the eye a spot
of black ; irides brown ; bill black ; feet dull brownish red ;
webs dusky ; claws black.

Sp. 014. ANGUS MELANOPS, Gould.

Lesser Noddy.

Anous ? (Lesser Noddy), Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, part xii.

p. 36.
Anous melanops, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, part xiii. p. 104.

Anous melanops, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. vii. pi. 35.

All that has been said respecting the Noddy is equally
descriptive of this bird. It is as abundant in Australian seas,
and at the breeding-season resorts to similar situations. On
the Houtmann's Abrolhos it is even more numerous than the
A. stolidus ; like that bird, it is truly gregarious, the nests
being arranged as closely as possible on the branches of the
mangrove, at a height of from four to ten feet above the ground,
the sea-weed of which each nest is constructed being merely
thrown across the branch, without any regard to form, until
it has accumulated to a mass varying from two to four inches in
height ; in many instances long pieces of sea- weed hang down

VOL. II. 2 E

418 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

beneath the branch, giving it the appearance of a much larger
structure than the reahty ; the nests and the branches of the
trees are completely whitened with the excrement of the bird,
the disagreeable and sickly odour of which is perceptible at a
considerable distance. South Island, Iloutmann's Abrolhos,
appears to be the only one resorted to for the purpose of nidi-
fication ; for although large mangroves occur on others of the
neighbouring islands, it was not observed on any of them.
" I have seen many vast flocks of birds," says Gilbert, " but
I confess I was not at all prepared for the surprise I expe-
rienced in witnessing the amazing clouds, literally speaking,
of these birds when congregating in the evening while they
had their young to feed. During their alternate departure
and return with food they presented a most singular appear-
ance. From their breeding-place to the outer reef, beyond
the smooth water, the distance is four miles ; and over this
space the numbers constantly passing were in such close
array that they formed one continuous and unbroken line.
After the young birds were able to accompany their parents,
T observed that they all left the breeding- or roosting-
place in the morning and did not again return until even-
ing, the first-comers apparently awaiting the arrival of the
last before finally roosting for the night. It is when thus
assembling that their immense numbers strike you with
astonishment. Even those who have witnessed the vast
flights of the Passenger Pigeon, so vividly described by Au-
dubon, could hardly avoid expressing surprise at seeing the
multitudes of these birds which at sunset move in one dense
mass over and arovmd the roosting-place, when the noise of
the old birds, the quack and the piping whistle of the young
ones, are almost deafening. Like its near ally, it commences
the task of incubation in December, and lays but a single egg :
while sitting on which, or tending its young, it is very easily
caught, as it will suffbr itself to be taken off the nest rather
than quit it. It forms an excellent article of food, and several

NATATORES. 419

hundreds were daily killed during our stay on the island. As
this bird resorts to the upper branches alone, it is secure
from the attacks of the lizard, so destructive to the Noddy, the
animal not being able to climb the branches with sufficient
facility to capture it ; and this may doubtless be one of the
causes why it is more numerous than any of the many other
birds inhabiting the islands."

The egg is of a pale stone or cream colour, marked all over
with large irregular-shaped blotches of dull chestnut-red and
dark brown, the latter appearing as if beneath the surface of
the shell ; the blotches are thinly dispersed except at the
larger end, where they are largest and most numerous ; it is
one inch and three- quarters long by one inch and five six-
teenths broad.

There is no visible diff'erence in the outward appearance of
the sexes.

Crown of the head and back of the neck light ash-colour,
passing into deep grey on the mantle and back ; immediately
before the eyes a large patch, and behind a smaller one, of
jet-black ; posterior half of the lower and a smaller space on
the upper lash snow-white ; throat, forepart of the neck, and
all the under surface deep sooty black ; wings and all the
under surface of the same colour, but rather browner ; bill
black ; tarsi and toes brownish black.

Total length 12 to 13 inches; tail 2J; wing 8f ; tail 5;
tarsi f ; middle toe and nail 1 1.

Sp. 615. ANGUS LEUCOCAPILLUS, Gould.

White-capped Noddy.
Anous leucocapillus, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, part xiii. p. 103.

Anous leucocapillus, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. vii. pi. 36.

Examples of this beautiful Tern were presented to me by
the late Commander Ince, R.N,, by whom they were pro-
cured on Raine's Islet, where it was very abundant. It is

2 E 2

420 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

nearly allied to the Anoils tenuirostris of Western Africa, with
which indeed Sir William Jardine considers it to be identical ;
but the late Prince Bonaparte treats it as distinct in his ar-
rangement of the Laridm in the * Comptes Rendus de 1' Aca-
demic des Sciences' for 1856, and I shall therefore retain
it under the name I assigned to it. All that has been said
respecting the Anoits stolidus is equally applicable to the pre-
sent species, their habits, manners, and mode of life being
very similar.

Crown of the head and nape of the neck white ; lores and
space surrounding the eye deep black ; near the posterior
angle of the upper and lower eyelids a small patch of white ;
breast, all the under surface and the wings deep sooty black;
back of the neck, back, and tail the same, slightly tinged with
ash ; bill black j feet brownish black.

Total length 14 inches ; bill 2 J ; wing 9 j tail 5 ; tarsi f ;
middle toe and nail 1^.

Genus PROCELSTERNA, Lafresnaye.

This genus was established for two little Terns, nearly
allied to the members of the genus Anous, but from which
they differ in some minor particulars. The specific term
cinereus applied by me to the following species having been
previously employed by Neboux, the late Prince Bonaparte
sunk my name into a synonym, and replaced it with albi-
vitta, which I accordingly adopt.

Sp. 616. PROCELSTERNA ALBIVITTA.

Grey Noddy.

Anous cinereus, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, part xiii. p. 104.
Pelecanopus pelecanoides, G. R. Gray, List of Birds in Coll. Brit. Mus.,

part iii. p. 180.
Procelsterna albivitta, Bonap. Compt. Rend, de PAcad. Sci., 1856.

Anous cinereus, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. vii. pi. 37.
This little species is a native of the seas bordering the

NATATORES. 421

eastern and north-eastern coasts of Australia, and is said to
breed on Norfolk Island. It is in every respect a true Anoils,
and, so far as is known, lias many habits in common with
those of the other members of the genus.

Mr. Macgillivray sent beautiful examples of the eggs of
this species. They are cream-coloured, sparingly spotted, and
dashed with reddish brown and grey markings, the latter
appearing to be beneath the surface ; they are one inch and
five-eighths long by one inch and a quarter wide.

Head, neck, and all the under surface silvery greyish
white ; round the eye a narrow ring of feathers, the anterior
half of which is deep black and the posterior half white ;
back, wings, and tail light grey ; secondaries tipped with
white ; bill black ; tarsi and toes brownish black ; interdigital
membrane yellowish.

Total length 11 inches ; bill IJ ; wing 8 ; tail 5 ; tarsi \^ ;
middle toe and nail If.

Family PEOCELLARIDwffil.

There is perhaps no group of birds respecting which so
much confusion exists, and the extent of whose range over the
ocean is so little known, as that forming the present family.

Plaving paid much attention to these birds during my pas-
sages to and from Australia, my researches w^ere rewarded by
my obtaining a knowledge of nearly forty different species,
most of which are peculiar to the southern hemisphere, and
many of them frequenters of the Australian seas. The largest
and most important of these truly oceanic birds are the
Albatroses, next to these the great Petrels, and then the
Shearwaters, Prions, Diving and Storm-Petrels. All these
frequenters of the great deep, from the huge Diomedece to
the little Thalassidromce, principally live on the Fhysalice,
gelatinous Medusa, and other lowly organized creatiu-es, the
larger birds changing their diet occasionally by feeding upon

422 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

floating crustaceans, the oily blubber of dead cetaceans, and
the fatty offal thrown overboard from passenger-ships during
their long voyages. The powers of flight with which these
birds are endowed are perfectly astonishing, and they appear to
be constantly performing journeys round the globe from west
to east ; and Australia lying in their track, all the species may
be found near its shores at one or another season of the year.

These Albatroses have been divided by Dr. Reichenbach
into three genera — Diomedea, Thalassarche, and Phcebetria,
the members of each of which certainly differ somewhat in
structure, and, my own observation of them in a state of nature
enables me to add, in their habits and economy also.

Respecting the flight of these birds, I take the liberty of
making a lengthened extract from Capt. F. W. Hutton's
valuable " Notes on some of the Birds inhabiting the Southern
Ocean," read at the Natural History Society of Dublin, March
3, and published in the July number of the 'Ibis,' 1865,
pp. 294-298 :—

*' The unrivalled flight of the Albatros has been the admira-
tion of voyagers from the earliest time. Day after day, with
unabated interest I have watched them, and I quite agree
with Mr. Gould that the Sooty Albatros (D. faliginosd) carries
off the palm from all competitors. Never have I seen any-
thing to equal the ease and grace of this bird as he sweeps
past, often within a few yards, every part of his body perfectly
motionless except the head and eye, which turn slowly, and
seem to take notice of everything. I have sometimes watched
narrowly one of these birds sailing and wheeling about in all
directions for more than an hour, without seeing the slightest
movement of the wings. This, however, is longer than usual.
Wonderful as is this power of flight, it can all be explained
by the simple mechanical laws which govern the direction and
magnitude of pressures. Dr. Bennett states that he believes
* that the whole surface [of the body of the Albatros] is
covered by numerous air-cells, capable of a voluntary inflation

NATATORES. 423

or diminution by means of a beautiful muscular apparatus.
. . . . By this power the birds can raise or depress
themselves at will.' Now, I do not for a moment doubt the
existence of this apparatus, for it is well known that all birds
have it to a greater or less extent ; but I do doubt its capa-
bility of doing the duty assigned to it, viz. raising the bird
in the air. The temperature of the Albatros, as taken by Sir
G. Grey, by placing a thermometer under the tongue, is 98° F.,
and if we add 10° Y. to this, in order to allow for the differ-
ence between the head and the body, we shall have the tem-
perature of the air-cells at 108° F. The temperature of the
surrounding air cannot be taken lower than 48° F., as the
mean winter temperature of lat. 50° S. is about 50° F. The
bird, therefore, could not raise the temperature of the air taken
into these cells more than 60° F. This would increase its
volume not quite one-eighth ; and taking 100 cubic inches of
air to weigh 31 grains, and the average weight of an Albatros
to be 17 lbs., as given by Gould, it would be necessary, in
order that the specific gravity of the bird might be brought
to that of the atmosphere, that these cells should contain 1820
cubic feet of air ; or, in other words, they must be more than
1200 times the size of the body itself of the bird, which, to
say the least, would give it when flying an aldermanic appear-
ance which I have never observed. In fact it would require
a sphere of more than fifteen feet in diameter to contain the
necessary quantity of air. Even if it could thus buoy itself
up, it would entirely defeat its own object ; for it would at
once destroy the whole of its momentum, and unless propelled
forward by its wings, would drift helplessly to leeward.
However, I do not wish it to be inferred that I consider the
air-cells of no use. The greater portion of them are situated
round the neck, wings, and fore-part of the body of the bird,
and I believe that by their means he is enabled to shift
slightly the position of his centre of gravity, and thus, with
very slight muscular exertion, to vary the inclination of his

424 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

body to the horizon, according to the rate at which he is mov-
ing through the air.

"Dr. Bennett, in his 'Gatherings of a Naturalist ' (p. 78),
gives a diagram explanatory of the flight of the Albatros," con-
tinues Capt. Hutton ; and, if I understand him rightly, says
that " it cannot sail directly against the wind, but only in the
way which sailors call ' close-hauled.' This diagram represents
a square-rigged ship sailing six points from the wind, a cutter
sailing four and a half points, and an Albatros flying two
points from the wind ; from which I infer, although he does
not expressly say so, that he considers that the wind helps
forward the Albatros in the same way that it does the ships.
But that this is erroneous is apparent at a glance. A ship
can sail at an acute angle with the wind, because the pressure
of the wind against its sails being met by the resistance of the
water is resolved into pressures having other directions. Ad-
vantage of this being taken by trimming the sails, it ultimately
results that the ship is moved in the direction of least resist-
ance, viz. forwards. If, however, the pressure of the wind
had not been met by the resistance of the water, no resolution
of it into other directions could have taken place. For this
reason a balloon can only drift with the wind, and the same
would be the case with the Albatros. Moreover, the state-
ment that he cannot sail against the wind is incorrect,
as Dr. Bennett himself said in his first book, ' Wanderings
in New South Wales ; ' the truth being that he is more
often seen sailing in this direction than in any other, for the
simple reason that as he moves slower against the wind than
with it, he is obliged to keep going for a longer time in the
former direction than in the latter, in order to retain his posi-
tion near the stern of the ship. However, when saiHng
against the wind the position of his wings, body, and tail, slant-
ing a little downwards, is somewhat analogous to the sails of a
ship close-hauled, or, still better, to the position of a kite in
the air ; the momentum of the bird taking the place of the

NATATORES. 425

resistance of the water, or the string of the kite. This mo-
mentum is entirely owing to impulses previously given to the
air by means of his wings, and when, owing to the resistance
of the air, it has decreased so much that he is no longer able
to move with sufficient rapidity to prevent his falling, fresh
impulses have to be given. For this reason, Albatroses sail
much longer in fine than in stormy weather, rain especially
soon destroying their momentum, and frequently obliging
them to use their wings for propulsion.

" It is by combining, according to the laws of mechanics,
this pressure of the air against his wings with the force of
gravity, and by using his head and tail as bow and stern
rudders, that the Albatros is enabled to sail in any direction
he pleases, so long as his momentum lasts. If, when sailing
against the wind, the inclination of his body is such that the
upward pressure of the wind against his wings and body just
balances the force of gravity, his momentum alone acts, and
he sails straight in the * wind's eye.' If he wishes to ascend,
he inclines his body more to the horizon by means of his head
and tail. If he wishes to turn to the right, he bends his head
and tail slightly upwards, at the same time raising his left
side and wing, and lowering the right in proportion to the
sharpness of the curve he wishes to make, the wings being
kept quite rigid the whole time. To such an extent does he
do this that, in sweeping round, his wings are often pointed
in a direction nearly perpendicular to the sea; and this
position of the wings, more or less inclined to the horizon, is
seen always, and only when the bird is turning. It will be
observed that, on this principle, an Albatros sailing down
wind must necessarily be descending, unless his pace is much
greater than that of the air, and such I have found to be
invariably the case.

" It may be objected that the resistance of the air must soon
destroy his momentum ; but the fact is that it does not do
so. A good illustration of this is seen in an experiment.

426 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

common in lecture-rooms a few years ago, by which the
rotation of the earth was demonstrated by means of a pen-
dulum, composed of a metal ball suspended by a long string
from the ceiling of the lecture-hall. The impetus obtained by
causing the metal ball to fall through the space of a few feet
only was sufficient to keep the pendulum swinging, with a
velocity but little diminished, for the greater part of an hour,
notwithstanding the resistance of the sand, which the point of
the pendulum had to cut through twice during each vibration.
The resistance of the air is well known to depend on the shape
and velocity of the moving body, and to increase in proportion
much more rapidly than the velocity increases. Por this
reason a properly-shaped body and a low velocity are required
to reduce it to a minimum. A certain amount of weight is
also necessary to give a bird momentum sufficient to overcome
the resistance for a certain time, and wings are required of
sufficient expanse to support it as it sails slowly through the
air. These conditions are admirably carried out in the
Albatros ; its expanse of wing is perhaps greater than that of
any other bird, and its weight, 15 lbs. and upwards, is very
large. Its shape, also, when the neck is stretched out, as in
flying, approaches very nearly to that of Newton's solid of
least resistance, while more than one voyager has remarked
the slowness with which it sails past. The Petrels I have
mentioned sail very nearly in proportion to their size and
weight. The Stormy Petrel never sails ; the Cape Pigeon
only for a very short time, perhaps a minute ; the * Night-
Hawk' much longer, often between five and ten minutes;
while the Albatros, as I have before mentioned, sails sometimes
for an hour, ' rising and falling,' says Dr. Bennett, ' as if
some concealed power guided its various motions, without
any muscular exertion of its own,' but which we must only
look upon as another illustration of the small resistance ofiered
by the air to the passage of a properly-shaped heavy body
moving through it with a low velocity."

NATATORES. 427

Genus DIOMEDEA, Linnmis.

This genus, as restricted, comprises the largest of the
oceanic birds. The two or three species known of this form
frequent the seas on both sides of the equator.

Sp. 617. DIOMEDEA EXULANS, Linn.

Wandering Albatros.

Diomedea exulans, Linn. Syst. Nat., vol. i. p. 214.
Plautus albatrus, Klein, Aves, p. 148^ no. 13.
Albatrus, Briss. Orn., torn. vi. p. 126.
Man-of-War Bird, Albin, vol. iii. p. 34, pi. 81, head.
Wandering Albatros, Edw. Glean., pi. 88.

Diomedea exulans, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. vii. pi. 38.

It is a very prevalent idea that a lengthened voyage at sea
must be attended with much monotony and ennui; such
however is not the case, as from experience I can testify that
the mind may be so far occupied in observing the hundreds
of novelties which are constantly presenting themselves to its
notice, that a voyage, however extensive, is neither tedious
nor uninstructive, and I shall always look back with feelings
of pleasure to that in the course of which I made the circuit
of the globe. It was then that I first had an opportunity of
observing in a state of nature the noble bird known as
Diomedea exulans, by far the largest and most powerful
species of its tribe, and which, from its great strength and
ferocious disposition, is held in terror by every other bird
with which it is surrounded. So sanguinary in fact is it,
that it is even said it will attack and tear out the eyes of a
drowning man, a feat, from what I have observed of it, I can
readily imagine it would attempt, if a human being should
unhappily be placed in such a position, and be unable to
defend himself. The Wandering Albatros is most abundant
between the 30th and 60th degrees of south latitude, and

428 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

appears to be equally numerous in all parts of the ocean
bounded by those degrees, and I feel assured that it is
confined to no one part. The open sea is, in fact, its natural
home, and this it never leaves except for the purpose of
breeding, when it usually resorts to rocky islands the most
difficult of access. To mention particular times and places
vrhere I observed this bird would be superfluous, as it was
almost daily seen while sailing within the prescribed latitudes ;
it will not, however, be out of place to mention that I first
hailed its presence on the 24th of July 1838, in lat. 30° 38'
south, long. 20° 43' west, and from that day until my arrival
at Storm Bay, Tasmania, it was constantly around the ship,
but was more abundant off the Cape of Good Hope and the
island of St. Paul's than elsewhere.

The powers of flight of the Wandering Albatros are much
greater than those of any other bird that has come under my
observation. Although during calm or moderate weather it
sometimes rests on the surface of the water, it is almost
constantly on the wing, and is equally at ease while passing
over the glassy surface during the stillest calm, or flying with
meteor-like swiftness before the most furious gale; and the
manner in which it just tops the raging billows and sweeps
between the gulfy waves has a hundred times called forth my
wonder and admiration. Although a vessel running before
the wind frequently sails more than 200 miles in the twenty-
four hours, and that for days together, stiU the Albatros has
not the slightest difficulty in keeping up with the ship, but
also performs circles of many miles in extent, returning again
to hunt up the wake of the vessel for any substances thrown
overboard.

" It is pleasing," says Mr. Bennett, in his * Wanderings,'
" to observe this superb bird sailing in the air in graceful and
elegant movements, seemingly excited by some invisible power,
for there is scarcely any movement of the wings seen after the
first and frequent impulses are given, when the creature

NATATORES. 429

elevates itself in the air, rising and falling as if some concealed
power guided its various motions, without any muscular
exertion of its own, and then descending sweeps the air close
to the stern of the ship with an independence of manner as if
it were ' monarch of all it survey 'd.' It is from the very little
muscular exertion used by these birds that they are capable

of sustaining such long flights without repose When

seizing an object floating on the water they gradually descend
with expanded or upraised wings, or sometimes alight and
float like a Duck on the water, while devouring their food ;
then, elevating themselves, they skim the surface with ex-
})anded wings, giving frequent impulses as they run along for
some distance, until they again soar in mid-air and recommence
their erratic flights."

Like the other species of the genus, it is nocturnal as well
as diurnal, and no bird with which I am acquainted takes so
little repose; it appears to be perpetually on the wing,
scanning the surface of the ocean for mollusks and medusa?,
and the other marine animals that constitute its food. So
frequently does the boldness of this species cost it its life,
that hundreds are annually killed without, however, its num-
bers being apparently in any degree lessened; it readily
seizes a hook baited with fat of any kind, and if a boat be
lowered its attention is immediately attracted, and while
flying round it is easily shot. Many exaggerated and mar-
vellous accounts having been pubhshed respecting the weight
and the dimensions of this bird, particularly of the extent
from tip to tip of the wings, I paid much attention to the
subject, and, after killing numerous examples of both sexes
and of all ages, I found the average weight of the Diomedea
exulans to be seventeen pounds, and the extent from tip to
tip of the wing ten feet one inch. Dr. McCormick, R.N.,
however, informs me that he has met with examples weighing
as much as twenty pounds, the extent of whose outstretched
wings measured twelve feet. The known breeding-places of

430 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

the Diomedea exulans are the islands of Tristan d'Acunha,
Auckland, and Campbell ; that it also breeds on the Mew-
stone, Eddystone, and the adjacent rocks to the southward of
Tasmania, I have but little doubt, as some of the finest adult
specimens I procured were shot within a few miles of those
barren and inaccessible rocks ; but as I have not had an
opportunity of observing the nidification of this bird, I avail
myself of Mr. Augustus Earle's ' Narrative of a nine Months'
Residence on the Island of Tristan d'Acunha,' wherein he
says —

" Yesterday, May the 28th, being a fine morning, accom-
panied by two of the men, I determined to ascend the
mountain. As several parties had before gone up, they had
formed a kind of path ; at least we endeavoured to trace the
same way, but it required a great deal of nerve to attempt it.
The sides of the mountain are nearly perpendicular ; but after
ascending about 200 feet, it is there entirely covered with
wood, which renders the footing much more safe ; but in
order to get to the wood, the road is so dangerous that it
made me almost tremble to think of it ; shppery grey rocks,
and many of them unfortunately loose, so that when we took
hold they separated from the mass, and fell with a horrid
rumbling noise ; here and there were a few patches of grass,
the only thing we could depend upon to assist us in climbing,
which must be done with extreme caution, for the least slip
or false step would dash one to atoms on the rocks below.
By constantly looking upwards and continuing to haul our-
selves up, by catching firm hold of the grass, after an hour's
painful toil we gained the summit, where we found ourselves
on an extended plain of several miles' expanse, which termi-
minates in the peak, composed of dark grey lava, bare and
frightful to behold. We proceeded towards it, the plain
gradually rising, but the walk was most fatiguing over strong
rank grass and fern several feet high. A deathlike stillness
prevailed in these high regions, and, to my ear, our voices

NATATOUES. 431

had a strange unnatural echo, and I fancied our forms
appeared gigantic, whilst the air was piercing cold. The
prospect was altogether sublime and filled the mind with awe :
the huge Albatros here appeared to dread no interloper or
enemy, for their young were on the ground completely
uncovered, and the old ones were stalking around them.
They lay but one egg, on the ground, where they make a
kind of nest by scraping the earth around it ; the young is
entirely white and covered with a woolly down, which is very
beautiful. As we approached they snapped their beaks with
a very quick motion, making a great noise; this and the
throwing up of the contents of the stomach are the only
means of offence and defence they seem to possess. I again
visited the mountain about five months afterwards, when I
found the young Albatroses still sitting on their nests, and
they had never moved away from them."

To this interesting account I beg to append the following
notes, kindly furnished me by Dr. McCormick, Surgeon of
H.M.S. ' Erebus ' during the late expedition to the south
pole : —

" The Diomedea exulans breeds in Auckland and Campbell
Islands, in the months of November and December. The
grass-covered declivities of the hills, above the thickets of
wood, are the spots selected by the Albatros for constructing
its nest ; which consists of a mound of earth, intermingled
with withered grass and leaves matted together, 18 inches in
height, 6 feet in circumference at the base, and 27 inches in
diameter at the top, in which only o?ie egg is usually depo-
sited ; for after an examination of more than a hundred nests,
I met with two eggs in the same nest in one solitary instance
only. The eggs I had an opportunity of weighing varied in
weight from 14^ to 19 oz., thirty specimens giving an ave-
rage weight of 17 oz. ; colour white. The Albatros during
the period of incubation is frequently found asleep, with its
head under its wing : its beautiful white head and neck, ap-

432 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

pearing above the grass, betray its situation at a considerable
distance off. On the approach of an intruder it resolutely
defends its egg, refusing to quit the nest until forced off,
when it slowly waddles away in an awkward manner to a
short distance, without attempting to take wing. Its greatest
enemy is a fierce species of Lestris, always on the watch for
the Albatros quitting its nest, when this rapacious pirate in-
stantly pounces down and devours the egg. So well is the
poor bird aware of the propensity of its foe, that it snaps the
mandibles of its beak violently together whenever it observes
the Lestris flying overhead."

Captain F. W. Hutton states that Wandering Albatroses
" are very common south of latitude 40° S., and monopolize
nearly the whole of the Prince Edward Islands, and the south-
east portion, or lee side, as the sailors call it, of Kerguelen's
Land, to which places they retire to breed in October. The
nest, which is always placed on high table-lands, is in the
shape of a frustrum of a cone, with a slightly hollowed top,
and is made of grass and mud, which the birds obtain by
digging a circular ditch, about two yards in diameter, and
pushing the earth towards the centre until it is about eighteen
inches high. In this nest the female lays one white egg,
which is not hatched till January." — Ibis, 1865, p. 279.

I am indebted to Dr. McCormick for a fine egg of this
species, which is four inches and three-quarters long by three
and a quarter broad, of a pure white and of the ordinary
shape ; another, presented by this gentleman to the Royal
College of Surgeons, is much longer and nearly equal in size
at both ends.

Mr. Earle states that the young are a year old before they
can fly, but on this point I fear he must be mistaken ; for
although a long period must elapse before their lengthened
wings are sufficiently developed to sustain their heavy bodies
during their lengthened flights, still it is natural to suppose
that the young would leave the nest before the recurrence of

NATATORES. 433

the breeding-season ; and we know that such is the case, from
the circumstance of young birds and newly laid eggs not
having been found at the same time on the islands visited by
the officers of the expedition under Captain Ross.

The Wandering Albatros varies much in colour at different
ages : very old birds are entirely white, with the exception of
the pinions, which are black ; and they are to be met with in
every stage, from pure white, white freckled, and barred with
dark brown, to dark chocolate-brown approaching to black,
the latter colouring being always accompanied by a white
face, which in some specimens is washed with buff; beneath
the true feathers they are abundantly supplied with a fine
white down ; the bill is delicate pinky white inclining to yellow
at the tip ; irides very dark brown ; eyelash bare, fleshy and
of a pale green ; legs, feet, and webs pinky white.

The young are at first clothed in a pure white down, which
gives place to the dark brown colouring mentioned above.

Sp. 618. DIOMEDEA BRACHYURA, Temm.

Short-tailed Albatros.
Diomedea brachyura, Temm. PI. Col. 554.
chinensis, Temm. (G. R. Gray).

Diomedea brachyura, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. vii. pi. 39.

This is the only bird of this form, with which I am ac-
quainted, that flies to the northward of the equator, and it is
described in the present work more for the purpose of includ-
ing a second species of the restricted genus Diomedea than
for its being strictly speaking an Australian bird ; still the
chances are that it does frequently visit the northern coasts of
that country, since it is abundantly dispersed over the North
Pacific and Indian Oceans ; it is, however, most numerous in
the China Seas. It is a very fine species, and only exceeded
in size by the Diomedea exulans, to which it bears a consider-
able resemblance, but from which it may be distinguished by

VOL. II. ^ 2 F

434 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

the shortness of its tail and by the truncated form of the base
of the bill.

Its habits, manners and food doubtless resemble those of
Diom.edea exulcms.

The adults of both sexes have the general plumage white,
washed with buflf on the head and neck ; the edge and centre
of the wing white, the remainder and the tips of the tail dark
brown ; bill pinky flesh-coloiu- ; irides brown \ legs and feet
bluish white ; eyelash greenish white.

The young differ in being of a uniform chocolate-brown.

Sp. 619. DIOMEDEA CAUTA, Gould.

Shy Albatros.

Diomedea cauta, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, part viii. p. 177.
{Thalassarche) cauta, Bonap. Compt. Rend, del' Acad. Sci., 1856.

Diomedea cauta, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. vii. pi. 40.

I first saw this species of Albatros off the south coast of
Tasmania, and had frequent opportunities of observing it
during my stay in Recherche Bay, at the southern entrance
of D'Entrecasteaux's Channel, where I was wind-bound for
nearly a fortnight. Unlike other Albatroses, it was most
difficult to procure, for it seldom approached our ship suffi-
ciently near for a successful shot : I succeeded, however,
in shooting several examples while they were flying round
the Bay in which we had taken shelter. It is not usual for
Albatroses to approach the land or enter a secluded bay like
that of Recherche, and I attribute this deviation from the
ordinary habits to the temptation presented by the vast quan-
tities of fat and other remains of Whales floating about, the
locality being one of the principal whaling stations on the
coast of Tasmania ; I have no doubt likewise that it was
breeding on the Mewstone and other isolated rocks in the
neighbourhood, as the plumage of some of the specimens I

NATATORES.

435

procured indicated that they had lately been engaged in the
task of incubation.

It is a large and powerful bird, the male being scarcely a
third less in size than the D. exulans ; is rapid and vigorous
on the wing, and takes immense sweeps over the surface of
the ocean. It will be interesting to learn the extent of the
range of this species. A head in the possession of Sir WiUiam
Jardine was said to have been procured at the Cape of Good
Hope, but I believe this was by no means certain.

When fully adult the sexes differ but little in colour ; the
female may, however, at all times be distinguished by her
diminutive size, and the young by the bill being clouded with
dark grey.

Besides being larger than the three succeeding species (to
which and the present the generic appellation of Thalassarche
has been given), the beautiful grey on the sides of the man-
dibles, and the yellow mark at the base of the lower mandible
will at all times distinguish this bird from the other members
of the genus.

The stomachs of those I obtained in Recherche Bay con-
tained blubber, the remains of large fish, barnacles, and other
crustaceans.

Crown of the head, back of the neck, throat, all the under
surface, rump, and upper tail-coverts pure white ; lores and
line over the eye greyish black, gradually passing into the
delicate pearl-grey which extends over the face ; back, wings,
and tail greyish brown ; irides dark vinous orange ; bill light
vinous grey or bluish horn-colour, except on the culmen,
where it is more yellow, particularly at the base ; the upper
mandible surrounded at the base by a narrow belt of black,
which also extends on each side the culmen to the nostrils ;
base of the lower mandible surrounded by a belt of rich
orange, which extends to the corners of the mouth ; feet
bluish white ; irides brown.

Total length 31 inches ; bill 4^ ; wing 21^ ; tail 9 ; tarsi 3.

2 F 2

436 BIRDS or AUSTRALIA.

Sp. 620. DIOMEDEA CULMINATA, Gould.
Culminated Albatros.

Diomedea culminata, Gould in Ann. and Mag. of Nat. Hist., vol. xiii.

p. 361.
(Thalassarche) culminata, Bonap. Compt. Rend, de I'Acad. Sci.,

1856.

Diomedea culminata, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. vii. pi. 41.

This species appears to be more plentiful in the Australian
seas than elsewhere ; numbers came under my notice during
a voyage from Launceston to Adelaide, particularly off Capes
Jervis and Northumberland ; I frequently observed it between
Sydney and the northern extremity of New Zealand, and it
also occurred in the same latitude of the Indian Ocean as
abundantly as any of it congeners. It is a powerful bird,
and directly intermediate in size between Diomedea cauta
and B. cldororTiynclios. The specific differences of the three
species are so apparent, that I had no difficulty whatever
in distinguishing them while on the wing. In J). cJdororhyn-
chos the bill is more compressed laterally, the culmen is round,
and the yellow colouring terminates in an obtuse point mid-
way between the nostrils and the base ; while in D. culminata
the culmen is broad and flat, and has its greyish-yellow
colouring continued of the same breadth to the base; the feet
of the latter are also fully a third larger than those of the
former.

The habits, mode of life, and the kind of food partaken of
by the D. culminata are so precisely similar to those of its con-
geners, that a separate description would be a mere repetition
of what has already been said respecting the preceding
species.

Back, wings, and tail dark greyish black, the latter with
white shafts ; head and neck white, washed with greyish
black j round the eye a mark of greyish black, interrupted
by a streak of white immediately below the lower part of the

NATATORES. 437

lid ; rump, upper tail-coverts, and all the under surface pure
white ; bill black, with the exception of the culmen and tip
and the lower edge of the basal three-fourths of the under
mandible, which are horn-colour.

In the youthful state the head and neck are dark grey, and
the bill is of an almost uniform brownish black, with only an
indication of the lighter colour of the culmen.

Sp. 621. DIOMEDEA CHLORORHYNCHOS,

Latham.

Yellow-nosed Albatros.

Diomedea chlororhynchos, Lath. Ind. Orn., vol. ii. p. 790.
Yellow-nosed Albatros, Lath. Gen. Syn,, vol. v. p. 309, pi. 99.
Diomedea chrysostoma, Forst. Drawings, and Lichtenstein^s Edit, of

Forster's MSS., p. 24.
[Thalassarche] chlororhynchos, Bonap. Compt. Rend, de FAcad.

Sei., 1856.
Wo'ol-wo'ol, Aborigines of the lowland districts of Western Australia.

Diomedea chlororhynchos, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. vii.
pL 42.

This species came under my observation for the first time
on the 24th of July, 1838, in Lat. 30° 38' S. and Long.
20° 43' W. ; from which period until we reached New South
Wales scarcely a day passed without the ship being visited by
it ; upon some occasions it appeared in considerable numbers,
of which many were apparently birds of one year old, or at
most two years of age ; these may be easily distinguished
from the adults, especially while flying, by the darker colour-
ing of their wings, back, and tail, and by the culmen of the
bill being less distinctly marked with yellow.

The Yellow-nosed Albatros is plentiful off the Cape of Good
Hope, and in all the intermediate seas between that point and
Tasmania ; I also observed it off Capes Howe and Northum-
berland on the southern coast of Australia, and Gilbert states

438 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

that he saw it flying about Rottnest Island on the western
coast.

In its flight and general economy it greatly resembles the
next species, with which it is often in company.

Spot before and line above the eye washed with grey ; head,
neck, all the under surface, rump, upper tail-coverts and
under surface of the wing snow-white; back and wings
brownish black ; tail brownish slate-colour, with white shafts;
culmen from near the base to the point bright orange-yellow ;
remainder of the bill black ; irides greyish brown ; feet bluish
white.

Sp. 622. DIOMEDEA MELANOPHRYS, Temm.
Black-eyebrowed Albatros.

Diomedea melanophrys, Temm. PL Col. 456.

{Thalassarche) melanophrys, Bonap. Compt. Rend, de I'Acad.

Sci., 1856.

Diomedea melanophrys, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. vii.
pi. 43.

The Diomedea melanophrys may be regarded as the most com-
mon species of Albatros inhabiting the southern ocean, and,
from its gregarious habits and very familiar disposition, it is
known to every voyager who has rounded either of the Capes.
I have never myself been at sea many days between the 35th
and 55th degrees of south latitude without recognizing it, and
it appeared to me to be equally numerous in the Atlantic as
in the Pacific. On my passage to Australia, numerous indi-
viduals followed our vessel for hundreds of miles as we pro-
ceeded eastward, and I have no doubt that in the course of
their peregrination they frequently make the circuit of the
globe ; a not unnatural conclusion, when we reflect upon the
great powers of flight given to all the members of the present
genus, and that their natural food is as abundant at one part
as at another. It was nowhere more numerous than off" the

NATATORES. 439

southern coast of Tasmania, where a large company followed
our vessel for many days and continued to hover around us until
we entered Storm Bay, but on our approaching the land,
they suddenly disappeared, betaking themselves again to the
open ocean. Of all the species with which I am acquainted,
this is the most fearless of man, for it often approaches many
yards nearer the vessel than any other ; I have even observed
it so near that the tips of its pinions were not more than two
arms' length from the taffrail. It is very easily captured with
a hook and line, and as this operation gives not the least pain
to the bird, the point of the hook merely taking hold in the
horny and insensible tip of the bill, I frequently amused
myself by capturing specimens in this way, and after detaining
them sufficiently long to afford me an opportunity for inves-
tigating any particular point respecting which I wished to
satisfy myself, setting them at liberty again, after having
marked many, in order to ascertain whether the individuals
which were flying round the ship at nightfall were the same
that were similarly engaged at daylight in the morning after
a night's run of 120 miles, and this in many instances
proved to be the case. When brought upon deck, from
which it cannot take wing, it readily becomes tame, and
allows itself to be handled almost immediately ; still, I believe
that no member of this group can be domesticated in conse-
quence of the difficulty of procuring a supply of its natural
food.

In heavy, black, and lowering weather the snowy white
plumage of this bird offers a striking contrast to the murky
clouds above and behind it.

Captain Hutton, in his * Notes on some of the birds fre-
quenting the Southern Ocean,' says this species " dives some-
times, but does not appear to like doing so, generally pre-
ferring, when anything good to eat is under water, to let a
* Night Hawk ' fish it up ; then giving chase and running
along the top of the water, croaking and with outstretched

440 BIRDS OJ^' AUSTRALIA.

wings, it compels him to drop it, and then seizes it before it
sinks again. This bird, which is called ' Molly Hawk ' by
the sailors, is common round Cape Agulhas ; and, in August
1857, I saw a large number in False Bay and round Cape
Hanglip. It is apparently quite diurnal in its habits, both
at sea and near land." — Ibis, 1865, p. 283.

But little difference is observable in the plumage of the
sexes, neither is there any visible variation in this respect
between youth and maturity ; a never-failing mark, however,
exists by which the latter state may be distinguished : the young
bird has the bill dark brown, while in the adult that organ is
of a bright buffy yellow ; and individuals in the same flight
may frequently be seen in which the bill varies from dark
horn-brown to the most delicate yellow.

I did not discover the breeding-place of this species.
" Commander Snow, in his ' Two Years' Cruise off Terra del
Fuego,' says it breeds on the Falkland Islands, and describes
its nest as similar to that of Diomedea exulans, but not more
than twelve inches high ; and Captain Carmichael states that
it breeds on Tristan d'Acunha." — Ibis^ 1865, p. 283.

Head, back of the neck, all the under surface, and the upper
tail-coverts pure white ; before, above, and behind the eye a
streak of blackish grey ; wings dark brown ; centre of the
back slaty black, into which the white of the back of the neck
gradually passes ; tail dark grey, with white shafts ; bill buffy
yellow, with a narrow line of black round the base ; legs and
toes yellowish white, the interdigital membrane and the joints
washed with pale blue; irides very light brown, freckled with
a darker tint.

NATATORES. 441

Genus PHCEBETRIA, Reichenbach.

Only one species of this form has yet been discovered. It
exhibits some peculiarities in the structure of its bill, in the
lengthened or acuminate shape of its tail, and in the large
size of its wings. These departures from the structure of the
other Albatroses have an influence on its actions and economy,
as will be perceived on perusal of the following description.

Sp. 623. PHCEBETRIA FULIGINOSA, GmeL

Sooty Albatros.

Diomedea fuliginosa, Gmel. Edit, of Linn. Syst. Nat., vol. i. p. 568.

palpebrata, Forst. Drawings, No. 102.

antarctica, Banks's Drawings, No. 26.

/msc«, Aud. Birds of Amer., vol. iv. pi. 407. — lb. Orn. Bio.,

vol. V. p. 116.
{Phoebetria) fuliginosa, Bonap. Compt. Rend, de I'Acad. Sci.,

1856.
Black Albatros, Linn. Trans., vol. xii. p. 489.
Sooty Albatros, Lath. Gen. Syn., vol. v. p. 309.

Diomedea fiiliginosa, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. vii. pL 44.

The Fhcebetria fuliginosa is one of the commonest species of
the genus, and is universally distributed over all the tempe-
rate latitudes to the southward of the equator. On referring
to my notes I find that it first came under my notice on the
23rd of July 1838, in lat. 31° 10' S., long. 34° W., when three
examples were seen flying round the ship, which they con-
tinued to do until we doubled the Cape and entered the South
Indian Ocean, on the 14th of August. It was constantly
seen between the island of St. Paul and Tasmania, but was
never very numerous, six or eight being the greatest number
that I saw at any one time ; and days sometimes passed away
without more than a single individual having made its ap-
pearance. On my voyage homeward it was noticed on the

442 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

6th of May in lat. 40° S., long. 154° W. ; in the Pacific near
Cape Horn on the 20th of May in lat. 50° S., long. 90° W.,
and still more abundantly in the Atlantic on the 12th of June
in lat. 41° S., long. 34^° W.

The cuneated form of the tail, which is peculiar to this
species, together with its slight and small legs and more de-
licate structure, clearly indicate that it is the most aerial
species of the genus ; and accordingly we find that in its
actions and mode of flight it difi'ers very considerably from
all the other species of Albatros, its aerial evolutions being
far more easy, its flight much higher, and its stoops more
rapid ; it is moreover the only species that passes directly over
the ship, which it frequently does in blowing weather, often
poising itself over the masthead, as if inquisitively viewing
the scene below ; at this moment it off'ers so inviting a mark
for the gunner, that it often forfeits its life.

Latham states that it breeds on " the island of Tristan
d'Acunha, is gregarious, many of them building their nests
close to each other ; in the area of half an acre were reckoned
upwards of a hundred. The nest is of mud, raised five or six
inches, and slightly depressed at the top ; when the young
birds are more than half-grown they are covered with a whitish
down ; they stand on their respective hillocks like statues,
till approached close, when they make a strange clattering
vs^ith their beaks, and if touched, squirt a deluge of foetid oily
fluid from the nostrils."

The whole of the plumage deep sooty grey, darkest on the
face, wings, and tail ; shafts of the primaries and tail-feathers
white; eyes very dark greyish brown, surrounded, except
anteriorly, by a beautiful mark of white ; bill jet-black, with
a longitudinal line of white along the under mandible, this
white portion not being horny like the rest of the bill, but
composed of fleshy cartilage, which becomes nearly black
soon after death ; feet white, tinged with fleshy purple.

NATATORES. 443

As will be seen, the ten following species of Petrels have
been divided into several genera, the majority of which have
been adopted by Dr. Elliott Coues in his valuable memoirs on
this family of birds in the ' Proceedings of the Academy of
Sciences of Philadelphia' for 1864. Generally speaking, all
of them are of medium size, the exception being the Ossifraga
gigantea, yEstrelata leucoptera, and ^. cooki, which, on the
one hand, leads to the Albatroses, and on the other, through
Halobcena, to the more diminutive Prions.

Genus OSSIFRAGA, Homh. et Jacq.

Of this genus but one species is known. It is a most
powerful bird, equalling in size and strength the smaller
Albatroses. The sexes are alike in plumage.

Sp.624. OSSIFRAGA GIGANTEA.

Giant Petrel.

Procellaria gigantea, Gmel. Edit, of Linn. Syst. Nat., vol. i. p. 563.

ossifraga, Forst.

Mother Cary's Goose, Cook's Voy.^ vol. ii. p. 205.
Giant Petrel, Lath. Gen. Syn., vol. vi. p. 396, pi. 100.
Ossifraga gigantea, Bonap. Compt. Rend, de FAcad. Sci., 1856.

Procellaria gigantea, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. vii. pi. 45.

This, the largest of the Petrels, is universally distributed
over all the temperate and high southern latitudes : and that
it frequently performs the circuit of the globe may, I think,
be fairly inferred from the circumstance of an albino variety
having followed the vessel in which I made my passage to
Australia for three weeks while we were running down our
longitude between the Cape of Good Hope and Tasmania, the
ship often making nearly two hundred miles during the
twenty-four hours ; it must not, however, be understood that
the bird was merely following the vessel's speed, nor deemed

444 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

incredible when I state that during the twenty-four hours it
must have performed a much greater distance, since it was
only at intervals of perhaps half an hour that it was seen,
hunting up the wake of the vessel to secure any ofFal, &c.
that had been thrown overboard, the interim being employed
in scanning the ocean in immense circles.

Its flight is not so easy, graceful and buoyant as that of
the Albatros, but is of a more laboured and flapping cha-
racter ; the bird is also of a more shy disposition, and never
approaches so near the vessel as the other members of the
family ; while flying, its white bill shows very conspicuously.

On visiting Recherche Bay in D'Entrecasteaux's Channel,
Tasmania, I found thousands of this species sitting together
on the water and feeding on the blubber and other refuse of
the whaling-station. I did not observe the bird between
Sydney and New Zealand, but on arriving in lat. 50° S., long.
90° W., nearly off" Cape Horn, a solitary wanderer flew about
the ship ; and in lat. 41° S., long. 34° W., a few were stiU
seen in pairs. Captain Cook found it very abundant on
Christmas Island, Kerguelen's Land, in December, when it
was so tame that his sailors knocked it down with sticks.

Captain F. W. Hutton states that " this bird breeds in the
cliff's of the Prince Edward Islands and Kerguelen's Land,
but the nests can be got at occasionally. The young are at
first covered with a beautiful long light grey down; when
fledged they are dark brown mottled with white. When
a person approaches the nest the old birds keep a short
distance away while the young ones squirt a horridly smelling
oil out of their mouths to the distance of six or eight feet. It
is very voracious, hovering over the sealers when engaged
cutting up a seal, and devouring the carcase the moment it is
left, which the Albatros never does. It sometimes chases the
smaller species, but whether or not it can catch birds pos-
sessed apparently of powers of flight superior to its own is
doubtful ; but, supposing one killed, that it feeds only on its

NATATORES. 445

heart and liver I cannot believe ; yet it is said to do so in the
works of many ornithologists." — Ibis, 1865, p. 284.

The adults have the entire plumage of a dark chocolate-
brown ; bill light horn-colour, the tip tinged with vinous ;
irides dark blackish brown ; legs blackish brown.

Genus MAJAQUEUS, Reichenbach.

Bonaparte adopted this name for the Procellaria cequinoc-
tialis and P. conspicillata — two robust birds differing consi-
derably from the species of the succeeding forms. The South
Atlantic, South Indian, and South Pacific Oceans are their
native haunts.

Sp. 625. MAJAQUEUS CONSPICILLATUS, GouU.
Spectacled Petrel.

Procellaria conspicillata, Gould in Ann. and Mag. of Nat. Hist., vol.
xiii. p. 362.

larvata, Less. (Bonap.).

Majaqueus conqncillatus, Bonap. Compt. Rend, de I'Acad. Sci., 1856.

Procellaria conspicillata, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. vii.
pi. 46.

Although some ornithologists consider that I have com-
mitted an error in characterizing this bird as distinct from
the Procellaria (squinoctialis of Linnaeus, I am still of opinion
that it is not referable to that species ; at the same time it
must be admitted that it is most nearly allied to it ; the subject
is fraught with the more difficulty from the circumstance of
the white markings on the face not being always of the same
form in different individuals ; and from the gular region being
white in some instances, while in others it is black. In size the
two species are very similar, but all the specimens of the present
bird that I have seen have a much shorter and more robust bill
than the true M. (Equinoctialis, which moreover never has the
white mark around the eye, the throat only being white.

446 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

The Majaqueus conspicillatus flies both in the Atlantic and
Pacific, but is most plentiful between the twenty-fifth and
fiftieth degrees of south latitude. I observed it to be very
abundant about the islands of St. Paul and Amsterdam,
and thence to Tasmania; I also noticed it in considerable
numbers off" the Falkland Islands in the Atlantic, and in the
neighbourhood of Tristan d'Acunha.

Like the other members of the genus, it feeds upon mollusca,
the remains of dead cetacea, &c.

The entire plumage sooty black, with the exception of the
chin, sides of the face, and a broad band which crosses the
forepart of the crown, passes down before and beneath, and
curves upward behind the eye, which is white ; nostrils and
sides of the mandibles yellowish horn-colour j culmen, tips of
both mandibles, and a groove running along the lower man-
dible black ; feet black ; irides dark brown.

Genus ADAMASTOR, Bonaparte.

Bonaparte has classed several Petrels under the above
generic appellation, one of which has a claim to be considered
as pertaining to the avifauna of Australia, since I obtained
specimens during my passage from Hobart Town to Sydney.

Sp. 626. ADAMASTOR CINEREA.

Great Grey Petrel.

Procellaria cinerea, Gmel. Edit. Linn. Syst. Nat., torn. i. p. 563.
Puffinus cinereus, Lawr. Birds of N. America, p. 835.
Procellaria hcesitata, Forst. Desc. Anim. Ed. Licht., p. 208.

adamastor, Schleg. Mon. Proc. Mus. Pay. Bas^ p. 25.

Adamastor typus, Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., torn. ii. p. 187, Adamastor,

sp. 1.
cinerea, Coues, Proc. AcadI Sci. Philad., 1864, p. 119.

Procellaria hasitata, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. vii. pi. 47.
This species enjoys so wide a range of habitat that it may

NATAT0RE3. 447

be said to be universally diffused between the 30tli and 55th
degrees of south latitude. I first observed it in lat. 38° 41' S.,
long. 36° 30' W., on the 16th of August 1838 ; during the
next five days not more than a single specimen vras seen at
one time; on the 21st it was very numerous, and the day
being nearly calm, I had a boat lowered, and succeeded in
killing several in lat. 39° 23' S., long. 54° W. Its powers of
flight are very great, and in its passage over the ocean it often
mounts higher in the air than most other members of the
group, and descends again with the utmost eagerness to seize
any fat substance thrown overboard. Its actions and flight
differ slightly from those of the other Petrels, and more
closely resemble those of the Albatroses.

I subsequently observed this bird in lat. 41° 12' S., long.
115° W., and obtained specimens on my passage from Hobart
Town to Sydney.

On my voyage homeward it appeared in considerable
numbers during some strong heavy gales which occurred on
the 6th of May 1840 in lat. 40° S., long. 154° W., and it
was very abundant in the South Atlantic on the 12th of June
in lat. 41° S., long. 34^° W.

" This bird," says Capt. Hutton, " combines the appearance
of a ProceUaria with some of the habits of a Fiijfinm. Its
feathers fit very close, and have a glossy look. Like all other
Petrels, it flies with its legs stretched out straight behind, and
as they are rather long, they make the tail appear forked. Its
cry is something like the bleating of a lamb. It is very com-
mon at sea from May to August, but retires to Kerguelen's
Land and other places in September or October to breed.
Each pair burrows horizontally into wet peaty earth from two
to eighteen feet. At the end of the hole they form a large
chamber, and construct in the centre of it a nest similar,
except in size, to that of the Albatros {B. exidans), in the
hollowed top of which the female lays one white egg. They
seldom leave their burrows in the daytime, and when one

448 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

happens to do so it is at once hunted by a * Nelly ' ( Ossifraga
giganted), although no such jealousy exists at sea. Erom this
habit of flying only by night it is called ' Night Hawk ' by
the sealers.

" Mr. Harris's party, when wrecked on Kerguelen's Land,
used to dig these birds out of their burrows and eat them ;
and, in order to save useless digging, for their spades were
only made from the staves of old casks, they would hold one
to the mouth of a hole and make it cry out, when, if another
was inside, it would answer. This is by far the best diver of
all the sea-going Petrels. It seems even fond of it, and more-
over remains under water for several minutes, when it comes
up again, shaking the water off its feathers like a dog. Some-
times I have seen it poise itself for a moment in the air at a
height of about twenty or twenty five feet above the sea, and,
shutting its wings, take a header into the water. It dives
with its wings open, and uses them under water much in
the same manner as when flying."

Little or no diff'erence is observable in the sexes, but the
female is rather smaUer than the male ; neither did I observe
any of the individuals that surrounded the ship to be of a
darker colour. In all probability, the young attain their
normal colouring at their first moult. I quite agree with
Captain Hutton in considering this bird to be allied to the
members of the genus Puffinus.

Crown of the head, ear-coverts, nape and upper surface,
tips of the tail-feathers, tips of the under tail-coverts, and the
primaries dark brownish grey ; throat, chest, and under sur-
face white ; irides dark brown ; culmen and nostrils black ;
tip of the upper mandible blackish horn-coloiu* ; tomia whitish
horn-colour ; lower part of the under mandible blackish horn-
colour ; feet white, tinged with blue, the outer toe brownish
black.

NATATORES. 449

Genus PTERODROMA, Bonaparte.

Of this genus, which is intended to comprise the nearly
uniformly coloured black Petrels of the Southern Ocean, there
are at least three species which frequent the Australian seas,
and which I believe are correctly named in the succeeding
descriptions.

Sp. 627. PTERODROMA MACROPTERA.
Great Winged Petrel.

Procellaria macroptera, Smith, Zool. of South Africa, Aves, pi. 5.2.

hreviroatris, Less.

Ossifraga macroptera, Reichenb.

Pterodroma macroptera, Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., torn. ii. p. 191,
Pterodroma, sp. 1.

I consider a bird I killed over the seas surrounding Tas-
mania, where it was tolerably abundant, and which differs
from the next species in being of a larger size, having much
longer wings and a greyer face, to be identical with the P.
macroptera of Smith, and I therefore retain it under that
appellation, in preference to assigning it a new name.

" This bird, when on the wing," says Capt. Hutton, " looks
very like a huge Swift. It is not by any means common, and
I have only seen it east of the Cape of Good Hope. It is not
found on Prince Edward Islands nor Kerguelen's Land." —
Ibis, 1865, p. 286.

Sp. 628. PTERODROMA ATLANTICA, Gould.
Atlantic Petrel.

Procellaria atlantica, Gould in Ann. and Mag. of Nat. Hist., vol. xiii.

p. 362.

fuliginosa, Banks, Forst. Draw., No. 93.

Pterodroma atlantica, Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., torn. ii. p. 191, PterO'

droma, sp. 2.

This species frequents both the Atlantic and the Pacific

VOL. II. 2 G

450 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

Oceans, and no ship passes between our shores and the Cape
of Good Hope without meeting it. Very considerable con-
fusion exists in the writings of some of the older authors with
regard to this bird. It is the P. fuUginosa of Forster's Draw-
ings, No. 93 B, and the F . fuligiyiosa of Licbtenstein's edition
of Forster's MSS., p. 23, which term cannot be retained, as
it had already been applied by Latham to a very different bird
from Otaheite ; it is the P.r/risea of Kuhl, but not of Linnaeus,
who has given the term to another species, consequently^j'mg'a
must also be rejected; and hence I have been induced to
give it a new appellation, and thereby prevent misapprehension
for the future.

Male. — 'The whole of the plumage deep chocolate-black;
bill and feet jet-black.

Total length 15 J inches ; bill If; wing \\\\ tail 5; tarsi 2f ;
middle toe and nail 2|-.

Sp. 629. PTERODROMA SOLANDRI, Gould.

Solander's Petrel.

Procellaria solandri, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, part xii. p. 57.
Cookilaria solandri, Bonap. Cousp. Gen. Av., torn. ii. p. 190, Cooki-
laria, sp. 3.

Of this remarkably robust and compact bird I shot a single
individual in Bass's Straits on the 13th of March 1839, which
the late John Natterer, to whom I showed the specimen,
thought might possibly be identical with the bird figured in
Banks's drawings, and to which Dr. Solander has affixed the
term melanopus, an opinion in which I cannot concur ; I have
therefore named it in honour of that celebrated botanist. The
specimen described below may possibly not be fully adult,
as the dark colouring of the under surface only occupies the
extreme tips of the feathers, the basal portions of which are
snow-white.

Head, back of the neck, shoulders, primaries, and tail dark

NATATORES. 451

brown ; back, wing-coverts, and upper tail-coverts slate-grey,
each feather margined with dark brown ; face and all the
under surface brown, washed with grey on the abdomen ;
bill, tarsi, toes, and membranes black.

Total length 16 inches ; bill If ; wing 12 ; tail 5^ ; tarsi f ;
middle toe and nail 2f .

Genus ^STRELATA, Bonaparte.

The members of this well-marked genus, as might be ex-
pected from the length of their wings, have great powers of
flight. In the delicate form and colour of their feet and legs
they differ very considerably from the Pterodromce. One
species — JEstrelata hasitata {Procellaria hasitafa, Temm.) —
has been killed in England.

'&'

Sp. 630. ^STRELATA LEUCOCEPHALA.

White-headed Petrel.

Procellaria leucocephala, Porst. Drawings, No. 98.

lessonii, Gam. Ann. des Sci. Nat., torn. vii. t. 4.

vagahunda, Sol. MSS.

jEstrelata leucocephala, Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., torn. ii. p. 189,

^strelata, sp. 4.
Rhantistes lessoni, Bonap. Compt. Rend, de FAcad. Sci., 1856.

Procellaria lessonii, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. vii. pi. 49.

While engaged in watching the movements of the several
species of the great family of Procellaridce, which at one time
often and often surrounded the ships that conveyed me round
the world, a bright speck would appear on the distant
horizon, and, gradually approaching nearer and nearer, at
length assumed the form of the White-headed Petrel, whose
wing-powers far exceed those of any of its congeners ; at
one moment it would be rising high in the air, at the next
sweeping comet-like through the flocks flying around ; never,

2 G 2

452 BIRDS or AUSTRALIA.

however, approaching the ship sufficiently near for a successful
shot, and it was equally wary in avoiding the boat with which
I was frequently favoured for the purpose of securing examples
of other species ; but, to make use of a familiar adage, " the
most knowing are taken in at last ; " one beautiful morning,
the 20th of February 1839, during my passage from Hobart
Town to Sydney, when the sea was perfectly calm and of a
glassy smoothness, this wanderer of the ocean came in sight
and approached within three hundred yards of the vessel ;
anxious to attract him still closer, so as to bring him within
range, I thought of the following stratagem : — a corked bottle,
attached to a long line, was thrown overboard and allowed to
drift to the distance of forty or fifty yards, and kept there
until the bird favoured us with another visit, while flying
round in immense circles ; at length his keen eye caught
sight of the neck of the bottle (to which a bobbing motion
was communicated by sudden jerks of the string), and he at
once proceeded to examine more closely what it was that
had arrested his attention ; during this momentary pause the
trigger was pulled, the boat lowered, and the bird was soon
in my possession.

The wings of the White-headed Petrel are longer and more
arched than those of any other species of its size and weight,
and it is consequently one of the boldest and most powerful
fliers of the ProcellarideB. During flight the dark colouring
of the wing shows very conspicuously, and presents the form
of a W as seen in some other species : as is the case with most
birds of powerful flight, its legs are thin and delicate.

Forehead, face, all the under surface, and tail white ; hinder
part of the head, back of the neck, and upper tail-coverts grey ;
back greyish brown ; wings blackish brown ; round and
before the eye a mark of black ; bill and irides black ; tarsi
and half the toes and webs flesh- white ; the tips of the toes
and webs black.

NATATORES. 453

Sp. 631. iESTRELATA MOLLIS, Gould.

SOFT-PLUMAGED PeTREL.

Procellaria mollis, Gould in Ann. and Mag. of Nat. Hist., vol. xiii.

p. 363.
Rhantistes mollis, Bonap. Comp. Kend. de I'Acad. Sc, 1856.
Cookilaria mollis, Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., torn. ii. p. 190, Cookilaria,

sp. 4.

Procellaria mollis, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. vii. pi. 50.

This species flies in the greatest abundance between the
20th and 50th degrees of south latitude ; but I observed it to
be more numerous in the Atlantic than in the Pacific ; and
probably, like the other wandering members of this genus, it
makes a circuit of the globe : although I have not seen it
w^ithin sight of the shores of Australia, it doubtless occasion-
ally visits them, for I observed it to be plentiful off the eastern
end of the islands of St. Paul and Amsterdam. It is a species
which will ever live in my memory, from its being the first
large Petrel I saw after crossing the line, and from a some-
what curious incident that then occurred. The weather being
too boisterous to admit of a boat being lowered, I endeavoured
to capture the bird with a hook and line ; and the ordinary
sea-hooks being too large for the purpose, I was in the act of
selecting one from my stock of salmon-flies, when a sudden
gust of wind blew my hooks and a piece of parchment ten
inches long by six inches wide, between which they were
placed, overboard into the sea, and I was obliged to give up the
attempt for that day ; on the next I succeeded in capturing
the bird with a hook I had still left, and the reader may judge
of my surprise when on opening the stomach I there found
the piece of parchment, softened by the action of the salt
water and the animal juices to which it had been subjected,
but so completely uninjured that it was dried and again
restored to its original use when a further supply of flies could
be procured.

454 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

Its powers of flight are considerable, and the action of its
wings is very rapid.

The food, which appears to be precisely the same as that of
the other Petrels, consists of mollusks, the fat of dead cetacea,
small fish, &c.

The sexes are similar in colour, but the young differ from
the adult in having all the under surface dark grey and the
throat speckled with grey.

Crown of the head and all the upper surface slate-grey, the
feathers of the forehead margined with white; wings dark
brown ; before and beneath the eye a mark of brownish black;
face, throat, and all the under surface pure white, interrupted
by the slate-grey of the upper surface advancing upon the
sides of the chest and forming a faint band across the breast ;
centre tail-feathers dark grey ; outer feathers greyish white,
freckled with dark grey ; bill black ; tarsi, base of the toes
and basal half of the interdigital membrane pale fleshy white,
the remainder black.

Total length 13^ inches ; bill 1^ ; wing 9f ; tail 5 ; tarsi If ;
middle toe and nail l^.

Sp. 632. ^STRELATA LEUCOPTERA, Gould.

White-winged Petrel.

ProceUaria leucoptera, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, part xii. p. 57.
Rhantistes leucoptera, Bonap. Compt. Rend, de TAcad. Sci., 1856.
Cookilaria leucoptera, Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., torn. ii. p. 190, Cooki-

laria, sp. 1.
ProceUaria velox, Sol. MSS. ?

ProceUaria cookii, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. vii. pi. 51.

I feel assured that this bird is different from the P. cooki
of Mr. G. R. Gray. On comparing the specimens of both,
now before me, I find that my bird, which was obtained
while breeding on Cabbage Tree Island at the mouth of Port
Stephen's Harbour, has a shorter and much stouter bill, a

NATATORES.

455

much darker bead, neck, and upper surface, and a uniform-
coloured tail, whereas Mr. Gray's P. cooM has the inner webs
of the outer tail-feathers snow-white. It is impossible to say
to which of these two birds the P. velox of Solander's draw-
ings has reference, and consequently that name will neces-
sarily sink into a synonym.

The Australian seas abound with Petrels, the investigation
of the various species of which, their habits and economy, as
well as their places of abode, will serve to occupy the atten-
tion of ornithologists for years to come. It could scarcely be
expected that a single voyage to Australia could add much to
our knowledge of the subject ; my readers must therefore be
contented with little more than an illustration.

That, like the other members of the genus, it subsists upon
small fishes, medusae, and others of the lower marine animals,
there can be no doubt.

I have been informed that this species breeds in abundance
on one of the small islands near the mouth of the harbour of
Port Stephen, in New South Wales, where my specimens were
procured. I frequently saw it during my passage from Syd-
ney to Cape Horn, but it was most numerous between the
coast of Australia and the northern part of New Zealand. It
is one of the most elegantly formed species of the genus, and
is rendered conspicuously different from the rest of its con-
geners by its white abdomen and under wing-coverts, which
show very conspicuously when the bird is on the wing, parti-
cularly when seen from beneath, as it frequently may be when
the breeze is fresh or a gale rising ; it seldom, however, even
then mounts higher than the vane of the vessel.

The sexes do not differ in external appearance.

Crown of the head, all the upper surface, and wings dark
slaty black; tail slate-grey; greater wing-coverts slightly
fringed with white ; face, throat, all the under surface, the
base of the inner webs of the primaries and secondaries, and
a line along the inner edge of the shoulder pure white ; bill

456 BIRDS or AUSTRALIA.

black ; tarsus and basal half of the interdigital membrane
fleshy white ; remainder of the toes and interdigital mem-
brane black.

Total length 1 3 inches ; bill 1 and 5 lines ; wing 8^ ; tail 4 ;
tarsi 1-g^ ; middle toe and nail If.

Sp. 633. ^STRELATA COOKI, G. B. Gray.

Cook's Petrel.

Procellaria velox, Sol. MSS. Banks's Icon, inedit., t. 16?

cooki, G. R. Gray in Dieff. Trav. in New Zeal., vol. ii. p. 199.

This bird frequents the seas between Australia and New
Zealand. Like the^. leucoptera, it is very delicately formed,
and with that bird, the jE. mollis, and the other species
having flesh-coloured tarsi, forms a very natural division of
the Procellaridse or Petrels.

The following is Mr. Gray's description and admeasure-
ments as given in the zoology of the voyage of the ' Erebus'
and ' Terror,' and which will be seen to differ somewhat from
the description and admeasurements of jE. leucoptera.

" Grey above, with the apex of each feather narrowly mar-
gined, as well as their bases, white ; oblong spot below each
eye, wing-coverts, secondaries, and quills brownish black, with
the basal portion of the inner webs of the two last white ; the
front cheeks, under wing-coverts, and the whole of the under
part white ; bill black ; tarsi and knee brownish yellow \ feet
black, with the intermediate webs yellow.

" Total length 12^ inches; bill, length 1 inch 7 hues,
depth in middle 3 J hues ; wings 2J inches ; tarsi 1 inch 2
lines.'*

NATATORES. 457

Genus HALOB^ENA, Is. Geoff, de St. Hilaire.

The single species of this genus assimilates to the Prions in
its outward appearance, but is, in my opinion, more nearly
allied to the true Petrels.

Sp. 634. HALOB^NA CCERULEA.

Blue Petrel.

Procellaria coerulea, Gmel. Edit, of Linn. Syst. Nat., torn. i. p. 560.
Blue Petrel, Lath. Gen. Syn., vol. vi. p. 415.
Procellaria similis, Forst. Draw., No. 86.

forsteri, Smith, Zool. of S. Africa, Birds, pi. 54.

HalabcBna ccerulea, Bonap. Compt. Rend, de TAcad. Sci., torn. 1856.

Procellaria coerulea, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. vii. pi. 52.

This bird may be distinguished from every other of the
smaller Petrels by the conspicuous white tips of the centre
tail-feathers. It is a very powerful flier, and I observed it in
every part of the ocean I traversed between the 40th and 55th
degrees of south latitude, both in the Atlantic and Pacific.

It is generally seen in company with the fairy-like Prion
turtur, from which when on the wing it can scarcely be dis-
tinguished, unless it passes sufficiently near for the observer
to note the more square form, and the white tips of the tail-
feathers, which, as well as the silvery ends of the secon-
daries and scapularies, show very conspicuously. On my
passage to Australia I first observed it in lat. 39° 23' S., long.
54° E. ; as we proceeded it gradually increased in numbers,
and was very plentiful off the coast of Tasmania ; I also met
with it in my passage from Hobart Town to South Australia
and Sydney ; and on my return to England in the beginning
of May 1840, I observed it to be very abundant off the north-
east coast of New Zealand ; tolerably numerous on the 20th
of May near Cape Horn, lat. 50° S., long. 90° W. ; plentiful
midway between Tristan d'Acunha and the coast of America ;

458 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

and in the Atlantic on the 12th of June, lat. 41° S., long.
34^" W., a few were still hovering round the ship.

The sexes are precisely alike.

Forehead, lores, cheeks, throat, centre of the chest, and all
the under surface white; narrow space beneath the eye,
shoulders, and the outer webs of the first primaries deep
brownish black ; back of the neck, sides of the chest, back,
rump, wings and tail grey ; the secondaries, scapularies, and
six middle tail-feathers tipped with white ; the two outer tail-
feathers almost wholly white, and the shafts of all black ; bill
dull blackish brown, with a stripe of blue-grey along the lower
part of the under mandible ; tarsi and toes delicate blue ;
interdigital membrane flesh- white traversed by red veins.

Genus PUFFIN US, Brisson.

The Shearwaters, like many other portions of the family
FrocellaridcB, have been much subdivided, and what was but
the other day a genus now constitutes a subfamily. The
well-known Puffinus anglorum and the P. obscurics are re-
garded as typical Puffini, of which form a single species,
P. nugax, is found in Australia ; while the P. brevicaudus and
P. carneipes are placed in the genus Nectris, and the P. sphe-
nurus in Thiellus. The various members of these divisions
differ slightly in their habits. They are all gregarious, and
particularly during the breeding-season assemble in immense
numbers.

Sp. 635. PUFFINUS NUGAX.

Allied Petrel.
Procellaria nugax, Sol. MSS.

Puffinus assimilis, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, part v. p. 156.
nugax, Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., torn. ii. p. 205.

Puffinus assimilis, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. vii. pi. 59.
All the specimens of this species that I have seen were pro-

NATATORES. 459

cured on Norfolk Island, where it is said to breed ; conse-
quently the seas washing the eastern shores of Australia may
be considered its native habitat ; it is evidently the represen-
tative of the Puffimis ohscums of Europe. On my homeward
voyage from Australia I saw numerous examples flying off
the north-eastern end of New Zealand, and this I regret to
say is all the information I have to communicate respecting it.

I have received two beautiful snow-white eggs of this bird
from Mr. Macgillivray ; they were collected on Royal Island
in July 1854, and are two inches in length by one inch and
three lines in breadth.

Crown of the head, all the upper surface, wings, and tail
sooty black ; sides of the face, throat, and all the under sur-
face white ; bill dark horn-colour ; tarsi and toes greenish
yellow ; webs yellowish orange.

Total length 11 inches ; bill 2f ; wing 6^ ; tail 3 ; tarsi \\.

Genus NECTRIS, Bonaparte.

The members of this genus inhabiting AustraHa are two in
number, both of which make one or other of the groups of
islands lying off the coast then' great nurseries or breeding-
places. They are distinguished by their ample wings and
very short tails, and by the uniform dark colouring of their
plumage.

Sp. 636. NECTRIS BREVICAUDUS.

Short-tailed Petrel.

Puffinus hrevicaudus, Brandt, Icon. Rossic. Av., tab. 6. fig. 17.
Priofinus hrevicaudus, Bonap. Compt. Rend, de FAcad. Sci., torn. xli.
Nectris hrevicaudus, Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av. torn. ii. p. 201 ; Nectris,

sp. 1.
Mutton-bird of the Sealers.

Puffinus hrevicaudus, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. vii. pi. 56.
This bird is an inhabitant of the seas surrounding Tasma-

460 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

nia and tlie islands in Bass's Straits, to some of which, but
especially to Green Island, it resorts during the summer in
countless numbers for the purpose of breeding and rearing its
young. I visited this island in January 1839, when, al-
though the season was far advanced, both eggs and young
were still so numerous as to excite my astonishment. I had
previously heard much of this great nursery of Petrels, and
might have added much to the length of this paper by record-
ing my own observations ; but so much has been written by
others, that I prefer giving their statements, notwithstanding
a little repetition in the details comprised therein. Mr. Davies,
in the second volume of the ' Tasmanian Journal,' states that
"About the commencement of September these birds con-
gregate in immense flocks, and shortly afterwards proceed at
sunset to the different isles upon which they have established
their rookeries. Here they remain during the night for the
space of about ten days, forming their burrows and preparing
for the ensuing laying-season. They then leave, and continue
at sea for about five weeks.

" About the 20th of November at sunset a few come in to
lay, and gradually increase in numbers until the night of the
24th. Still there are comparatively few, and a person would
find some difficulty in collecting two dozen eggs on the morn-
ing of that day.

" It is not in my power to describe the scene that presents
itself at Green Island on the night of the 24th of November.
A few minutes before sunset flocks are seen making for the
island from every quarter, and that with a rapidity hardly
conceivable ; when they congregate together, so dense is the
cloud, that night is ushered in full ten minutes before the
usual time. The birds continue flitting about the island for
nearly an hour and then settle upon it. The whole island is
burrowed ; and when I state that there are not sufficient bur-
rows for one-fourth of the birds to lay in, the scene of noise
and confusion that ensues may be imagined — I will not

NATATORES. 461

attempt to describe it. On the morning of the 25th the
male birds take their departure, returning again in the even-
ing, and so they continue to do until the end of the season.

. . . Every burrow on the island contains, according
to its size, from one to three or four birds, and as many
eggs ; one is the general rule. At least three-fourths of the
birds lay under the bushes, and the eggs are so numerous,
that great care must be taken to avoid treading upon them.
The natives from Minders generally live for some days on
Green Island at this time of the year for the purpose of col-
lecting the eggs, and again in March or April for curing the
young birds Besides Green Island, the princi-
pal rookeries of these birds are situated between Elinder's
Island and Cape Barren, and most of the smaller islands in
Furneaux's group. The eggs and cured birds form a great
portion of the food of sealers, and, together with the fea-
thers, constitute the principal articles of their traffic. The
mode by which the feathers are obtained has been described
to me as follows : —

" The birds cannot rise from the ground, but must first go
into the water ; in effecting which, they make numerous tracks
to the beach similar to those of a kangaroo ; these are stopped
before morning, with the exception of one leading over a shelv-
ing bank, at the bottom of which is dug a pit in the sand ; the
birds, finding all avenues closed but this, follow each other in
such numbers, that, as they fall into the pit, they are imme-
diately smothered by those succeeding them. It takes the
feathers of forty birds to weigh a pound ; consequently six-
teen hundred must be sacrificed to make a feather-bed of
forty pounds weight. Notwithstanding the enormous annual
destruction of these birds, I did not, during the five years that
I was in the habit of visiting the Straits, perceive any sensi-
ble diminution in their number. The young birds leave the
rookeries about the latter end of April, and form one scattered
flock in Bass's Straits. I have actually sailed through them

462 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

from riinder's Island to the heads of the Tamar, a distance of
eighty miles. They shortly afterwards separate into dense
flocks, and finally leave the coast. The old birds are very
oily, but the young are literally one mass of fat, which has a
tallowy appearance, and hence I presume the name of Mutton
Bird." To this I may add that the young birds are very
good when fresh, and the old birds after being skinned and
preserved in lime are excellent eating.

It will be seen that I have alluded in forcible terms to the
great abundance of this species, in confirmation of which I
annex the following extract from Flinder's Voyage, vol. i.
p. "L70:—

" A large flock of Gannets was observed at daylight, and
they were followed by such a number of the Sooty Petrels as
we had never seen equalled. There was a stream of from
fifty to eighty yards in depth, and of three hundred yards or
more in breadth ; the birds were not scattered, but were
flying as compactly as a free movement of their wings seemed
to allow ; and during a full hour and a half this stream of
Petrels continued to pass without interruption, at a rate little
inferior to the swiftness of the Pigeon. On the lowest
computation I think the number could not have been less than
a hundred millions. Taking the stream to have been fifty
yards deep by three hundred in width, and that it moved at
the rate of thirty miles an hour, and allowing nine cubic yards
of space to each bird, the number would amount to 151, 50 0,000.
The burrows required to lodge this quantity of birds would
be 75,750,000 ; and allowing a square yard to each burrow,
they would cover something more than 18 J geographic square
miles of ground."

The following highly interesting note respecting this species
is from the personal observation of R. Elwes, Esq., of Norfolk,
and is here transcribed in confirmation of the statements
given above, and to show that even so recently as 1859 the
bird appeared to be as numerous as ever : —

NATATORES. 463

" The little settlement on Vansittart's or Gun-carriage Island,
one of the Flindcr's Islands group in Bass's Straits, lies in a
cove, on one side sandy, but on the other closed in by huge
granite rocks, behind which the sealers have built their houses,
and which serve also to shelter their boats from the sea.
Tucker's (the chief settler's) house was comfortable enough.
His wife was a Hindoo woman from Calcutta, active and in-
dustrious, who kept it in good order. The other men had
native wives or ' gins,' as they called them, from Australia and
Van Diemen's Land.

" Their original occupation was sealing, for these islands
formerly swarmed with seals. In the course of time these
animals became exterminated, and now their principal liveli-
hood is derived from the Mutton-birds, which are found here
in incredible numbers. These birds, called also Sooty or
Short-tailed Petrels {Puffinus brevicaudus, Gould, B. Austr. vii.
pi. 56), have such long wings that, like the Albatros, the
largest of their tribe, they have great difficulty in rising from
the ground when settled ; and it is this peculiarity that makes
their capture so easy. They build in holes in the ground.
The islands which they frequent are burrowed over in all di-
rections, just like a rabbit-warren. They arrive in huge flocks
about the 21st of September, generally to the day, to prepare
their holes and clean them out. There is tremendous fight-
ing and quarrelling for these holes. When the birds have
arrived a few days, their tracks or pathways begin to be
apparent, or, as the sealers say, ' they begin to show their runs,'
for they go down to the sea every morning. The sealers then
dig a large pit in one of the main runs, with small fences on
each side, leading down to it like a funnel. When all is ready,
some morning at daybreak, when the birds come out of their
holes, they are driven down these runs into the pitfall. 'We
rushes 'em down, sir, and they all tumbles over one another
into the hole,' was the way the men expressed it. They
crowd down and fall in by hundreds, crushing and smothering

464 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

each other until the pit is full, when the men break down the
fence at the sides and let the rest escape. They generally take
2000 to 2200 in each drive. The men then jump into the hole
and set to work to pick them, pulling off the body-feathers and
stuffing them into bags, and throwing the carcasses out of the
hole. This lasts till noon. It is hard work, and before the
end of the season their nails sometimes come off from the con-
tinual plucking. It takes the feathers of twenty-five birds
a make a pound, which sells at Launceston for twopence; but
Tucker, his wife, and his pal, Dick, collected a ton of feathers
last year. To do this they must have killed 56,000 birds ;
and yet they say their numbers do not seem to decrease. The
birds come back to the islands again on the 23rd of Novem-
ber to lay. They lay but one egg, and generally on the day
or the day after they arrive. The sealers collect a good many
for their use ; and when the young birds are nearly full-grown,
they attack them again for the sake of the oil with which the
old birds feed them. They thrust their hands into the hole,
pull out the young bird by the head, kill it by squeezing it,
and, holding it up by the legs, the oil runs out at the beak.
This oil is very clean and pure, burns well, and sells at
Launceston at four shillings per gallon. When the young
birds are full-grown, they are very fat. The men then pull
them out of their holes, spit them, and salt them. It is
rather dangerous work catching them in this way, for many
venomous snakes dwell in the holes, and are sometimes seized
and pulled out instead of a bird." — Ibis, 1859, p. 397.

The egg is very large for the size of the bird, being two
inches and three-quarters long by one inch and seven-eighths
broad, and is of a snow-white. The white or albumen forms
a very large proportion of its contents ; and it is remarkable
that a small part of both the yolk and the white remains soft
and watery, however long the egg may be boiled.

The food of the old birds consists of shrimps, small crus-
taceans and mollusks, which they principally procure from

NATATORES. 465

among the large beds of kelp along the coast. The young are
fed with grass, sea-weed, &c.

The flight of this and the other species of Puffinus differs
considerably from that of the ProceUari(B in being straighter
and performed close above the surface of the water ; it is
moreover so exceedingly rapid, that Mr. Davies states it can-
not be fairly estimated at less than sixty miles an hour.

The sexes are so much alike that they can only be distin-
guished by dissection.

The whole of the plumage sooty brown, the under sm^face
much paler than the upper ; bill blackish brown tinged with
olive ; the under mandible with a longitudinal mark of vinous
grey ; irides brownish black ; outer side of the tarsi and outer
toe brownish black ; inner side of the tarsi and two inner toes
vinous grey ; webs yellowish flesh-colour, becoming blackish
brown towards the extremity.

Sp. 637. NECTRIS CARNEIPES, Gould.
Fleshy-footed Petrel.

Puffinus carneipeSj Gould in Proc. of Zool, Soc, part xii. p. 57.
Majaqueus carneipes, Reich. Syst. av., tab. xxiv. fig. 2601.
Priofinus carneipes, Bonap. Corapt. Rend, de PAcad. Sci., 1856.
Nectris carneipes, Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., torn. ii. p. 201 ; Nectris,
sp. 2.

Puffinus carneipes, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. vii. pi. 57.

This species of Petrel flies over the seas bordering the
southern and western coasts of Australia, and resorts among
other places to the small islands off" Cape Leeuwin for the
purpose of breeding ; it was here that the specimens and eggs
contained in my collection w^ere procured. It diff'ers from the
Nectris brevicaudus in the greater length and in the more
square form of its tail, and in the light or fleshy colour of its
bill and legs.

VOL. II. 2 H

466 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

Its single white egg is about two inches and seven-eighths
long by nearly two inches wide.

There is no difference in the colouring of the sexes, which
may be thus described : —

The whole of the plumage chocolate- black ; bill fleshy
white, the culmen and tips of the mandibles brown ; legs,
feet, and interdigital membranes yellowish flesh-colour.

Total length 15 inches; bill If; wing 12; tail 5; tarsi
2 ; middle toe and nail 2^.

Genus THIELLUS, Gloger.

Bonaparte places in this genus the bird I have characterized
as Puffinus sphenurus and the P. cJilororhpichus of Lesson.
These birds are slender in form and have long and pointed
tails. The former, if not both these birds, frequent the Aus-
tralian seas.

Sp. 638. THIELLUS SPHENURUS, Gould.
Wedge-tailed Petrel.

Puffinus sphenurus, Gould in Ann. and Mag. of Nat. Hist., vol. xiii.

p. 365.
Thiellus sphenurus, Bouap. Compt. Rend, de I'Acad. Sci., torn. 1866.

Pufl&nus sphenurus, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. vii. pi. 58.

This species was procured by Gilbert on the Houtmann's
Abrolhos, off" the western coast of Australia ; he also observed
it on all the neighbouring sandy islands, but on none was it
more abundant than on West Wallaby Island, which appears
to be one of its chief breeding-places, and where it burrows
to a considerable distance before depositing its egg. Mr.
Macgillivray also procured specimens of this bird on Lord
Howe's Island ; we may therefore infer that it frequents the
seas washing the whole of the southern portion of Australia.

MATATORES. 467

Its single white egg is two inches and three-quarters long
by one and three-quarters wide.

All the upper surface dark chocolate -brown, which gra-
dually deepens into black on the primaries and tail ; feathers
of the scapularies, which are very broad in form, washed with
lighter brown at their tips ; face and throat dark brownish
grey, the remainder of the under surface greyish brown ; bill
reddish fleshy brown, darker on the culmen and tip ; legs and
feet yellowish flesh-colour.

Total length 15| inches ; bill l-f ; wing 11^; tail 6; tarsi IJ;
middle toe and nail 2f .

Genus THALASSOICA, Reichenhach.

The delicately coloured Petrel, for which the above generic
name has been proposed, differs from all its congeners, and I
therefore concur in the propriety of its separation. It is nearly
allied to Fulmarus.

Sp. 639. THALASSOICA GLACIALOIDES.

Silvery-grey Petrel.

Procellaria glacialo'ides, Smith, Zool. of South Africa, Aves, pi. 51.
Thnlassoica glacialoides, Reich. Syst. Av., tab. xxi. fig. 789, et tab. 25.
figs. 2608, 2609.

Procellaria glacialoides, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. vii.
pi. 48.

During my passage to and from Australia I saw numerous
examples of this bird, both in the Atlantic and Pacific. I
first met with it off the Cape of Good Hope, and it was fre-
quently seen from thence across the South Indian Ocean to
New South Wales ; I subsequently observed it between Syd-
ney and Cape Horn ; it was numerous off the Falkland Islands,
and I have a specimen killed on the shores of New Zea-
land. One of the finest examples I possess was captured

2 H 2

468 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

with a hook and line, and thus afforded Mrs. Gould an oppor-
tunity of making a beautiful drawing from life. It was a
species which particularly interested me while at sea, as much
for its familiar habits as for its peculiar actions and mode of
flight : with the exception of the Cape Petrel {Baption ca-
pensis), no species was more readily taken with a baited hook.
Like that bird it has very broad primaries, giving an appear-
ance of great breadth to the end of the wing, has the same
number of feathers (14) in the tail, and the nostrils placed in
a single tube.

The late Sir Andrew Smith, who was the first to discri-
minate the characters which distinguish this species, remarks
that, " In many respects it has a strong resemblance to the
Procellaria glacialis of authors ; the length of the bill, how-
ever, is not only greater, but the thickness is also different,
being inferior to that of P. glacialis, and neither are ever
otherwise in any individual of the Cape species .... It
often hunts for its foodj in the neighbourhood of the South
African coasts, and even frequently enters the bays, appa-
rently for the same purpose. It flies higher above the surface
of the water than the smaller species, rests more frequently-
and seems well-disposed to feed upon dead animal matter,
when such can be procured."

All the upper surface and tail delicate silvery grey ; outer
webs, shafts, a line along the inner webs, and the tips of the
primaries and the outer webs of the secondaries slaty black ;
face and all the under surface pure silky white ; irides brown-
ish black ; nostrils, culmen, and a portion of the base of the
upper mandible bluish lead-colour ; tips of both mandibles
fleshy horn-colour, deepening into black at their points ;
remainder of the bill pinky flesh-colour ; legs and feet grey,
washed with pink on the tarsi and blotched with slaty black
on the joints.

NATATORES. 469

Genus DAPTION, Stephens,

A genus established for the reception of the Procellaria ca-
pensis of Linnaeus, a species abounding in all the temperate
latitudes of the southern seas.

Sp. 640. DAPTION CAPENSIS.

Cape Petrel.

Procellaria capensis, Liun. Syst. Nat., torn. i. p. 213.

Procellaria ncevia, Briss. Orn., torn. vi. p. 146.

Le Petrel tacheti, ou le Damier, Buff. Hist, des Ois., torn. ix. pi. 304,

pi. 21.
White- and Black-spotted Petrel, Edw. Glean., pi. 90.
Pintado Petrel, Lath. Geu. Syn., vol. vi. p. 401.
Daption capensis, Steph. Cont. of Shawns Gen. Zool., vol. xiii. p. 241,

pi. 28.
Cape Pigeon and Cape Petrel of Voyagers.

Daption capensis, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. vii. pi. 53.

This species of Petrel is well known to every person who
has visited the southern hemisphere ; for it is equally common
in the Atlantic and Pacific, and is nowhere more numerous
than off the south coast of Tasmania ; it may, in fact, be said
to inhabit the temperate latitudes of all the seas above-men-
tioned, and to be without exception the most familiar species
of Petrel the voyager meets with. Prom the circumstance of
individuals which have been caught, marked and again set at
liberty, having been found to follow vessels for hundreds of
miles for the sake of the offal thrown overboard, no doubt
exists in my mind that it constantly circumnavigates the
globe. During my passage from Hobart Town to Sydney
and from Sydney to Cape Horn, on my return to England, it
was a constant attendant on the ship.. It is frequently seen
close to the vessel, and if fed with any oily substance, it may
during a calm be attracted to within three yards of the ship's
side. When other resources of amusement fail, the cap-

470 BIRDS 0¥ AUSTRALIA.

turing of this bird frequently affords the passengers occupa-
tion for hours together, and often serves to break the mono-
tony of a lengthened voyage. It is said to breed on the island
of South Georgia, and Sir James Ross saw flocks of young
birds, in January 1841, in 71° 50' S., near South Victoria.
The following notes were made during my passages out and
home, and are worth transcribing, as they record some of the
latitudes and longitudes in which the bird was seen, and the
date of the observations : —

'' Jul)^ 27, 1838, lat. 26° 54' S., long. 31° 25' W.— Saw
the first Cape Petrel, and from this date until we doubled the
Cape of Good Hope it paid daily visits to the ship, sometimes
in considerable numbers, at others only two or three appeared.

" August 18.— Off the island of St. Paul Cape Petrels
very plentiful.

" September 8. — Off King George's Sound. Cape Petrels
still very numerous.

" May 6, 1840, lat. 40° S., long. 154° W.— Two Cape
Petrels hovering round the ship, the first of the species seen
since leaving Sydney.

" May 20.— Off Cape Horn, lat. 50° S., long. 90° W. Cape
Petrels very abundant.

" This Martin among the Petrels is extremely tame, passing
immediately under the stern and settling down close to the
sides of the ship, if fat of any kind or other oily substance be
thrown overboard. Swims lightly, but rarely exercises its
natatorial powers except to procure food, in pursuit of which
it occasionally dives for a moment or two. Nothing can be
more graceful than its motions while on the wing, with the
neck shortened, and the legs entirely hidden among the
feathers of the under tail-coverts. Like the other Petrels, it
ejects, when irritated, an oily fluid from its mouth. Its
feeble note of " cac, cac, cac, cac" is frequently uttered, the
third, says Captain Hutton, being pronounced the quickest.
Its weight varies from fourteen to eighteen ounces : there is

NATATORES. 471

no difference in the weight of the sexes, neither is there any
visible variation in their colouring, nor do they appear to be
subject to any seasonal change,"

Head, chin, back and sides of neck, upper part of the back,
lesser wing-coverts, edge of the under surface of the wing,
and the primaries sooty brown ; wing-coverts, back, and
upper tail-coverts white, each feather tipped with sooty brown ;
basal half of the tail white, apical half sooty brown ; under
surface white ; the under tail-coverts tipped with sooty brown ;
beneath the eye a small streak of white ; bill blackish brown ;
irides and feet very dark brown.

Genus PRION, LacepMe.

At least four species of this form frequent the seas washing
the southern parts of Australia. These fairy-like bii'ds are
individually very numerous, for I have seen them in flocks of
thousands. They are truly oceanic birds, seldom if ever near-
ing land except for the purpose of breeding, when they take up
their abode on the most isolated spots, such as St. Paul, Am-
sterdam, Tristan d'Acunha, Prince Edward Islands, Kergue-
len's Land, &c. Their broad laminated bills are evidently
formed for procuring some pecidiar kind of food, of which
doubtless the lower sea-creatures known as Medusos form a
part. Besides the singular form of their bills, their delicate
grey colouring at once distinguishes them from the rest of the
Petrels. Generally speaking, this is a southern form, but one
species has occurred north of the line, and in our own seas.
The species alluded to is the P. brevirostris, so named by me
at the meeting of the Zoological Society of London held on
the 12th of June 1855, and for a knowledge of which I was
indebted to my late friend William Yarrell, who informed me
it had been captured on the Island of ]\Iadeira or on the
neighbouring rocky islets called the Desertas. The sexes
present no external difference either in colour or size.

472 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

Sp. 641. PRION TURTUR.

Dove-like Prion.

Procellaria turtur, Banks's Drawings, No. 15.

Prion turtur, Gould in Ann. and Mag. of Nat Hist., vol. xiii. p. 366.

Whale Bird of the Sailors.

Prion turtur, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol vii. pi. 54.

So much confusion exists among the species of this genus
of Petrels, that a very minute examination has been required
to identifiy those described by the older writers, and it has
been with no little attention and care on the part of the late
John Natterer and myself that we came to the conclusion that
the bird forming the subject of the 54th plate in the seventh
volume of my folio edition is the one for which the specific name
of turtur should be retained. Of the four species inhabiting
the southern seas, the present is the most delicate in colour,
as well as the most slender and elegant in form ; its bill is
much less dilated at the base, and has the laminae much less
developed than those of the P. banksii, to which it is nearly
allied, and with which it is sometimes seen in company. I
find by my notes that I killed four specimens oflF Cape Howe
on the 16th of April, during my passage from Tasmania to
Sydney ; and I have but little doubt that it traverses the
whole surface of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, between the
30th and 50th degrees of south latitude, having seen and fre-
quently killed specimens while sailing within those prescribed
limits. Sometimes it appeared in countless multitudes, but
more often thinly dispersed over the surface of the ocean.
During calms it flits over the glassy waters with a noiseless and
easy flight, often performing small circles, and fluttering butter-
fly-like over any oily substance thrown overboard, which it
sips ofi" the surface without settling ; occasionally, however, it
rests its buoyant and fairy little body on the waters, where it
reposes at perfect ease, until hunger again impels it to take
wing in search of food. A more vigorous and active action of

NATATORES. 473

the wing being necessary to sustain it during the raging of
of the gale, it then moves with zigzag turns of great swiftness,
ascending the billows, topping their surgy summits, and de-
scending into the gulf between, where a momentary shelter
enables it to gain fresh vigour, and seize from the slanting
surface any floating moUusks that may present themselves,
and which, from the disturbed state of the sea, are apparently
more abundant then than at other times.

The plumage of all the members of this genus is dense,
thick, and extremely hglit; hence their bodies are much
smaller than they appear to be. The average weight of seve-
ral examples of this species was fi^e ounces. Although the
present bird and Frio?i hanhsii were seen in company, as
before stated, the differences between the two were very ob-
servable, the^extreme delicacy of colouring and the smaller size
of the F. turtur strongly contrasting with the more bluff and
darker-coloured head of the P. banksii ; when the wings were
expanded, the black mark, similar to the letter W, was
equally conspicuous in both.

All the upper surface delicate blue-grey ; the edge of the
shoulder, the scapularies, outer margins of the external prima-
ries and the tips of the middle tail-feather black ; small spot
before the eye and a stripe beneath black ; lores, line over,
beneath, and behind the eye and all the under surface white,
stained with blue on the flanks and under tail-coverts ; bill
light blue, deepening into black on the sides of the nostrils
and at the tip, and with a black line along the side of the
under mandible ; irides very dark brown ; feet beautiful
light blue.

Sp. 642. PRION ARIEL, Gould.

Fairy Prion.
Prion ariel, Gould in Ann. and Mag. of Nat. Hist., vol. xiii. p. 366.

This is one of the smallest species of the genus, being much
less than P. turtur and its near ally the P. brevirostris of the

474 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

Madeiran seas. Like P. ttcrtur, the pectination of the bill is
not discernible when that organ is closed.

I procured several examples of this bird in Bass's Straits
on the 16th of April 1839, when many were flying around
me. In colour and general appearance it resembles P. turtur,
except that it has a white face or no grey mark before the eye ;
but not in its admeasurements, which are as follows : —

Total length 9 inches ; bill lyg- ; wing 6f ; tail 3f ; tarsi 1^.

Sp. 643. PRION BANKSII.

Banks's Prion.

Pachyptila banksii, Smith, Zool. of South Africa, Aves, pi. 55.
Prion banksii, Gould in Aun. and Mag. of Nat. Hist., vol. xiii. p. 366.

This species is constantly seen in all the south seas. In
breadth its bill is intermediate between that of P. turtur and
that of P. vittatus; it is, moreover, of a lengthened and
somewhat elegant form, and exhibits the pectination of the
mandibles when the bill is closed.

In colour this species assimilates to the other members
of the genus.

Sp. 644. PRION VITTATUS.

Broad-billed Prion.

Pachyptila vittata, 111. Prod. Syst. Mamm. et Av., p. 375.
Procellaria vittata, Forst. Draw., No. 86.

forsteri, Lath. Ind. Orn., vol. ii. p. 827.

Prion vittatus, Lacep. and Cuv.

Pachyptila forsteri, Swains. Class, of Birds, vol. ii. p. 374.

Prion vittatus, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. vii. pi. 55.

This species of Prion is very plentiful in the South Indian
Ocean. I observed it on my outward passage to Tasmania,
near the islands of Amsterdam and St. Paul. I never met
with it in the South Atlantic, although, in all probability, hke

NATATORES. 475

most of the other Petrels, it makes in the course of its
peregrinations a circuit of the globe. The seas washing the
coasts of Tasmania, New Zealand, and the Auckland Islands
are the localities whence most of the specimens in our
museums have been obtained.

This bird is rather larger than the last species. Its bill is
much dilated, and the pectinations are very conspicuous, and
doubtless perform some important function in the economy
of the bird, but for what particular purpose these appendages
to the bill are intended has not yet been ascertained. Its
powers of flight and mode of life are very similar to those of
the Prion turtur and P. hanhsii, as detailed in the description
of those species. I believe that the sexes present little or no
difference in size or plumage, but I have not had an oppor-
tunity of satisfactorily determining this point; had any ex-
isted, however, it is not likely that it would have escaped the
notice of those ornithologists who have from time to time
examined the members of this group.

Mr. Macgillivray sent to England two very fine eggs of
this bird which he collected on the Island of St. Paul, in the
Indian Ocean. They are pure white, and somewhat lengthened
in form, being two inches long by one and a half broad.

All the upper surface delicate blue-grey ; the edge of the
shoulder, the scapularies, outer primaries, and tips of the
middle tail-feathers black ; space surrounding the eye and the
ear-coverts black ; lores, line over the eye, and all the under
surface white, stained with blue on the flanks and under tail-
coverts ; bill hght blue, deepening into black on the sides of
the nostrils and at the tip, and with a black line along the
side of the under mandible ; irides very dark brown ; feet
beautiful light blue.

There is another and broader billed species than P. vittaius,
but the precise latitudes in which this fine bird flies is un-
known to me.

476 BIRDS or AUSTRALIA.

Genus PROCELLARIA, Linnmis.

The little tenants of the ocean, which we have known of
late years under the generic title of Thalassidroma, but for
which I believe the term ProceUaria was first proposed, are
so universally dispersed, that they are found in all the seas
except those of the very high latitudes of both hemispheres.
The Australian avi-fauna is particularly rich in birds of this
form, inasmuch as no less than five distinct species frequent
the seas which wash the shores of that country.

They have now been divided into several genera, P. pela-
gica and my P. nereis being a typical species of the restricted
genus ProceUaria.

Sp. 645. PROCELLARIA NEREIS, Gould.

Grey-backed Storm-Petrel.

Thalassidroma nereis, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc.^ part viii. p. 178.
ProceUaria nereis, Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., torn. ii. p. 196; ProceUaria,
sp. 1.

Thalassidroma nereis, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. vii.
pi. 64.

During a calm which occurred on my passage from Hobart
Town to Sydney in May 1839, I obtained four examples of
this species of Petrel, and I subsequently observed it flying
about in considerable numbers near the eastern entrance
of Bass's Straits ; I also met with it on my passage home to
England in April 1840, between New South Wales and the
northernmost point of New Zealand ; further than this I have
little to communicate respecting it.

The ProceUaria nereis is a species readily distinguishable
from its congeners by the total absence of any white mark on
the rump, the want of which first drew my attention and
induced me to suspect it, as it subsequently proved to be, a
different species from any I had before seen ; my readers

NATATORES. 477

will therefore easily imagine with what pleasure I descended
the ship's side and sallied forth in a little ' dingy ' to procure
specimens. This is not the only instance in which science
has been benefited through the kindness of the captains I
have sailed with in allowing me the use of a boat whenever the
weather permitted such a favour to be granted me without
retarding the progress of the ship. Nearly thirty species
of oceanic birds were obtained in this way during my voyage
to Australia; whence some idea may be formed of the
numbers encountered in the open sea, and of the employment
the naturalist may find during a voyage round the globe.

In the habits and mode of flight of this species I could
observe no difference whatever from those of the other Storm-
Petrels ; and, as a matter of course, its food is also similar ;
any oily substance, together with mollusks, being equally
partaken of by all the members of the genus.

I did not observe this species in any other parts of the
ocean than those mentioned above ; at the same time it is not
improbable that it may possess a much wider range.

The sexes are alike in plumage, and are not materially
different in size.

Head, neck, and chest sooty grey ; lower part of the wing-
coverts, back, rump, and upper tail-coverts grey, each feather
very slightly margined with white ; wings greyish black ; tail
grey, broadly tipped with black ; under surface pure white ;
irides, bill, and feet black.

Total length 6-|- inches ; bill 3^; wing 5 J; tail2Jj tarsi 1 J.

Note. — It would be well if naturalists accompanying expe-
ditions to the South Pacific and South Indian Oceans were
to collect examples of this species, as but few of our museums
possess it.

478 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

Genus OCEANITES, Keyserling et Blasius.

Two or three species of this genus are all that are known.
Modern research tends to prove that the Australian bird,
which I believed to be identical with the American 0. loilsoniy
is distinct from that bird, and that it is identical with the
Procellaria oceanica of Banks, a view which I here adopt.

Sp. 646. OCEANITES OCEANICA.

Yellow-webbed Storm-Petrel.

Procellaria oceanica, Banks. — Forst. Draw., No. 13.

Thalassidroma oceanica, Kuhl, Brit. Zool. Monog. Proc, p. 136, tab.

10. fig. 1.
Oceanites wilsoni. Keys, et Bias. Wirb. Eur , torn. ii. p. 238.

Thalassidroma wilsonii, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. vii.
pi. 65.

This is also one of the most abundant species of the genus
inhabiting the Australian seas : I observed it in great numbers
within sight of the shores of Tasmania, and shot and preserved
several specimens during my passage from Sydney to Hobart
Town in April 1839; I also encountered it in the following
year in the seas between Sydney and New Zealand, while on
my passage towards Cape Horn.

It is exceedingly active when flying, its wings being kept
fully expanded; it also makes considerable use of its feet,
in patting the surface of the water, with its wings extended
upwards and its head inclined downwards, to gather any food
that may present itself. Its usual diet consists of mollusca,
small fish, Crustacea, and any kind of greasy substance that
may be floating on the water.

The sexes are so precisely similar that they can only be
distinguished by dissection.

The head, neck, back, wings, and breast sooty black, the
wing-coverts passing into pale brown at the extremity; pri-

NATATORES. 479

maries and tail black ; upper and lateral portions of the under
tail-coverts white ; irides dark brown ; bill and feet black ;
webs yellow for three parts of their length from the base.

Genus FREGETTA, Bonaparte,

The members of this genus are distinguished by their large
size, long legs, and parti-coloured plumage. Two species
frequent the seas surrounding Australia.

Sp. 647. FREGETTA MELANOGASTER, Gould.

Black-bellied Storm-Petrel.

Procellaria fregata, Forst. Draw. 13? and 14.

grallaria, Licht. Verz. der Doubl. Mus. Berk, p. 83.

— — oceanica, Bonap., 1827, Zool. Journ., vol. iii. p. 89.
Thalassidroma melanog aster , Gould in Ann. and Mag. of Nat. Hist.,

vol. xiii. p. 367.
Fregetta melanogastra, Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., torn. ii. p. 198, Fre-

getta, sp. 4.

Thalassidroma melanogaster, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol.,
vol. vii. pi. 62.

My acquaintance with this species commenced on the
12th of August 1839, when off Cape Lagulhas on my voyage
to Austraha, and from that date it was almost daily observed
during our transit across the South Indian Ocean until we
arrived at Tasmania on the 19th of September ; its numbers
gradually increasing from the neighbourhood of the islands of
St. Paul and Amsterdam to the termination of the voyage.
In March 1840, during my passage home, 1 again met with it
in great abundance between the eastern coast of Australia
and New Zealand.

When viewed from the ship, it is at once distinguished
from all the other Petrels by the broad black mark which
passes down the centre of the abdomen, and offers a strong
contrast to the snowy whiteness of the flanks.

480 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

It is a bird of powerful flight, and pats the surface of the
rising waves more frequently than any other species that
came under my notice, or perhaps the great length of its legs
rendered this action more conspicuous ; its habits and general
economy are of course very similar to those of the other
members of the genus.

All the plumage deep sooty black, with the exception of
the upper tail-coverts and flanks, which are snow-white ; bill,
legs, and feet black.

Total length 7i inches ; bill | ; wing 6 ; tail 3 ; tarsi If ;
middle toe and nail IJ.

Sp. 648. EREGETTA GRALLARIA.

White-bellied Storm-Petrel.

Procellaria fregata, Kuhl, Brit. Zool. Mon. Proc, tab. 10. fig. 2.

grallaria, Vieill. Ency. Meth., part i. p. 344.

Thalassidroma oceanica, Bonap. Gen. et Syn. Am. Birds in Ann. Lye.

New York, vol. ii. p. 449.
Fregetta grallaria, Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., torn. ii. p. 197, Fregetta,

sp. 2.
Thalassidroma leucogaster, Gould in Ann. and Mag. of Nat. Hist.,

vol. xiii. p. 367.

Thalassidroma leucogaster, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. vii.
pi. 63.

This bird is about the same size as the Fregetta melano-
gaster^ but possesses two characters by which it may at all
times be distinguished from it : namely, the total absence
of black down the centre of the abdomen, and the shortness
of its toes. I observed it to be very generally distributed over
the South Indian Ocean, and I have reason to believe that
it ranges over all the temperate latitudes between the Cape of
Good Hope and Cape Horn, and it is not unlikely that it
may inhabit similar latitudes in the South Atlantic. I killed
specimens of a nearly allied species within the tropics of the

NATATORES. 433

the breeding-season ; and we know that such is the case, from
the circumstance of young birds and newly laid eggs not
having been found at the same time on the islands visited by
the officers of the expedition under Captain Ross.

The Wandering Albatros varies much in colour at different
ages : very old birds are entirely white, with the exception of
the pinions, which are black j and they are to be met with in
every stage, from pure white, white freckled, and barred with
dark brown, to dark chocolate-brown approaching to black,
the latter colouring being always accompanied by a white
face, which in some specimens is washed with buff; beneath
the true feathers they are abundantly supplied with a fine
white down ; the bill is delicate pinky white inclining to yellow
at the tip ; irides very dark brown ; eyelash bare, fleshy and
of a pale green ; legs, feet, and webs pinky white.

The young are at first clothed in a pure white down, which
gives place to the dark brown colouring mentioned above.

Sp. 618. DIOMEDEA BRACHYURA, Temm.

Short-tailed Albatros.

Diomedea hrachyura,Texmn. PI. Col. 554.
chinensis, Temm. (G. R. Gray).

Diomedeabrachyura, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. vii. pi. 39.

This is the only bird of this form, with which I am ac-
quainted, that flies to the northward of the equator, and it is
described in the present work more for the purpose of includ-
ing a second species of the restricted genus Biomedea than
for its being strictly speaking an Australian bird ; still the
chances are that it does frequently visit tlie northern coasts of
that country, since it is abundantly dispersed over the North
Pacific and Indian Oceans ; it is, however, most numerous in
the China Seas. It is a very fine species, and only exceeded
in size by the Diomedea exulans, to which it bears a consider-
able resemblance, but from which it may be distinguished by

VOL. II. 2 F

434 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

the shortness of its tail and by the truncated form of the base
of the bill.

Its habits, manners and food doubtless resemble those of
Diomedea exulans.

The adults of both sexes have the general plumage white,
washed with buff on the head and neck ; the edge and centre
of the wing white, the remainder and the tips of the tail dark
brown ; bill pinky flesh-colour ; irides brown ; legs and feet
bluish white ; eyelash greenish white.

The young differ in being of a uniform chocolate-brown.

Sp. 619. DIOMEDEA CAUTA, Gould.

Shy Albatros.

Diomedea cauta, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, part viii. p. 177.
{Thalassarche) cauta, Bonap. Compt. Rend. del'Acad. Sci., 1856.

Diomedea cauta, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. vii. pi. 40.

I first saw this species of Albatros off the south coast of
Tasmania, and had frequent opportunities of observing it
during my stay in Recherche Bay, at the southern entrance
of D'Entrecasteaux's Channel, where I was wind-bound for
nearly a fortnight. Unlike other Albatroses, it was most
difficult to procure, for it seldom approached our ship sufii-
ciently near for a successful shot : I succeeded, however,
in shooting several examples while they were flying round
the Bay in which we had taken shelter. It is not usual for
Albatroses to approach the land or enter a secluded bay like
that of Recherche, and I attribute this deviation from the
ordinary habits to the temptation presented by the vast quan-
tities of fat and other remains of Whales floating about, the
locality being one of the principal whaling stations on the
coast of Tasmania ; I have no doubt likewise that it was
breeding on the Mewstone and other isolated rocks in the
neighbourhood, as the plumage of some of the specimens I

NATATOllES. 435

procured indicated that they had lately been engaged in the
task of incubation.

It is a large and powerful bird, the male being scarcely a
third less in size than the B. exulans ; is rapid and vigorous
on the wing, and takes immense sweeps over the surface of
the ocean. It will be interesting to learn the extent of the
range of this species. A head in the possession of Sir William
Jardine was said to have been procured at the Cape of Good
Hope, but I believe this was by no means certain.

When fully adult the sexes differ but little in colour ; the
female may, however, at all times be distinguished by her
diminutive size, and the young by the bill being clouded with
dark grey.

Besides being larger than the three succeeding species (to
which and the present the generic appellation of Thalassarche
has been given), the beautiful grey on the sides of the man-
dibles, and the yellow mark at the base of the lower mandible
will at all times distinguish this bird from the other members
of the genus.

The stomachs of those I obtained in Recherche Bay con-
tained blubber, the remains of large fish, barnacles, and other
crustaceans.

Crown of the head, back of the neck, throat, all the under
surface, rump, and upper tail-coverts pure white ; lores and
line over the eye greyish black, gradually passing into the
delicate pearl-grey which extends over the face ; back, wings,
and tail greyish brown ; irides dark vinous orange ; bill light
vinous grey or bluish horn-colour, except on the culmen,
where it is more yellow, particularly at the base ; the upper
mandible surrounded at the base by a narrow belt of black,
which also extends on each side the culmen to the nostrils ;
base of the lower mandible surrounded by a belt of rich
orange, which extends to the corners of the mouth ; feet
bluish white ; irides brown.

Total length 31 inches ; bill 4| ; wing 21^ ; tail 9 ; tarsi 3.

2 F 2

436 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

Sp. 620. DIOMEDEA CULMINATA, Gould.
Culminated Albatros.

Diomedea culminata, Gould in Ann. and Mag. of Nat. Hist., vol. xiii.

p. 361.
{Thalassarche) culminata, Bouap. Compt. Rend, de I'Acad. Sci.,

1856.

Diomedea culminata, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. vii. pi. 41.

This species appears to be more plentiful in the Australian
seas than elsewhere ; numbers came under my notice during
a voyage from Launceston to Adelaide, particularly off Capes
Jervis and Northumberland ; I frequently observed it between
Sydney and the northern extremity of New Zealand, and it
also occurred in the same latitude of the Indian Ocean as
abundantly as any of it congeners. It is a powerful bird,
and directly intermediate in size between Diomedea cauta
and D. cidororhynclios. The specific differences of the three
species are so apparent, that I had no difficulty whatever
in distinguishing them while on the wing. In B. cldororJiyn-
chos the bill is more compressed laterally, the culmen is round,
and the yellow colouring terminates in an obtuse point mid-
w^ay between the nostrils and the base ; while in D. cidminata
the culmen is broad and flat, and has its greyish-yellow
colouring continued of the same breadth to the base ; the feet
of the latter are also fully a third larger than those of the
former.

The habits, mode of life, and the kind of food partaken of
by the D. culminata are so precisely similar to those of its con-
geners, that a separate description would be a mere repetition
of what has already been said respecting the preceding
species.

Back, wings, and tail dark greyish black, the latter with
white shafts ; head and neck white, washed with greyish
black ; round the eye a mark of greyish black, interrupted
by a streak of white immediately below the lower part of the

NATATORES. 437

lid ; rump, upper tail-coverts, and all the under surface pure
white ; bill black, with the exception of the culmcn and tip
and the lower edge of the basal three-fourths of the under
mandible, which are horn-colour.

In the youthful state the head and neck are dark grey, and
the bill is of an almost uniform brownish black, with only an
indication of the lighter colour of the culmen.

Sp. 621. DIOMEDEA CHLORORHYNCHOS,

Latham,

Yellow-nosed Albatros.

Diomedea chlororhynchos, Lath. Ind. Orn., voL ii. p. 790.
Yellow-nosed Albatros, Lath. Gen. Syn., vol. v. p. 309, pi. 99.
Diomedea chrysostoma, Forst. Drawings, and Lichtenstein's Edit, of

Forster's MSS., p. 24.
[Thalassarche) chlororhynchos, Bonap. Compt. Rend, de FAcad.

Sci., 1856.
Wool-wool, Aborigines of the lowland districts of Western Australia.

Diomedea chlororhynclios, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., voL vii.
pL42.

This species came under my observation for the first time
on the 24th of July, 1838, in Lat. 30° 38' S. and Long.
20° 43' W. ; from which period until we reached New South
Wales scarcely a day passed without the ship being visited by
it } upon some occasions it appeared in considerable numbers,
of which many were apparently birds of one year old, or at
most two years of age ; these may be easily distinguished
from the adults, especially while flying, by the darker colour-
ing of their wings, back, and tail, and by the culmen of the
bill being less distinctly marked with yellow.

The Yellow-nosed Albatros is plentiful off the Cape of Good
Hope, and in aU the intermediate seas between that point and
Tasmania ; I also observed it off Capes Howe and Northum-
berland on the southern coast of Australia, and Gilbert states

438 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

that he saw it flying about Rottnest Island on the western
coast.

In its flight and general economy it greatly resembles the
next species, with which it is often in company.

Spot before and line above the eye washed with grey ; head,
neck, all the under surface, rump, upper tail-coverts and
under surface of the wing snow-white; back and wings
brownish black ; tail brownish slate-colour, with white shafts;
culmen from near the base to the point bright orange-yellow ;
remainder of the bill black ; irides greyish brown ; feet bluish
white.

Sp. 622. DIOMEDEA MELANOPHRYS, Temm.
Black-eyebrowed Albatros.

Diomedea melanophrys, Temm. PI. Col. 456.

[Thalassarche) melanophrys, Bonap. Compt. Rend, de I'Acad.

Sci., 1856.

Diomedea melanophrys, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. vii.
pi. 43.

The Diomedea melanophrys may be regarded as the most com-
mon species of Albatros inhabiting the southern ocean, and,
from its gregarious habits and very familiar disposition, it is
known to every voyager who has rounded either of the Capes.
I have never myself been at sea many days between the 35th
and 55th degrees of south latitude without recognizing it, and
it appeared to me to be equally numerous in the Atlantic as
in the Pacific. On my passage to Australia, numerous indi-
viduals followed our vessel for hundreds of miles as we pro-
ceeded eastward, and I have no doubt that in the course of
their peregrination they frequently make the circuit of the
globe ; a not unnatural conclusion, when we reflect upon the
great powers of flight given to all the members of the present
genus, and that their natural food is as abundant at one part
as at another. It was nowhere more numerous than off" the

NATATORES. 439

southern coast of Tasmania, where a large company followed
our vessel for many days and continued to hover around us until
we entered Storm Bay, but on our approaching the land,
they suddenly disappeared, betaking themselves again to the
open ocean. Of all the species with which I am acquainted,
this is the most fearless of man, for it often approaches many
yards nearer the vessel than any other ; I have even observed
it so near that the tips of its pinions were not more than two
arms' length from the taffrail. It is very easily captured with
a hook and line, and as this operation gives not the least pain
to the bird, the point of the hook merely taking hold in the
horny and insensible tip of the bill, I frequently amused
myself by capturing specimens in this way, and after detaining
them sufficiently long to afford me an opportunity for inves-
tigating any particular point respecting which I wished to
satisfy myself, setting them at liberty again, after having
marked many, in order to ascertain whether the individuals
which were flying round the ship at nightfall were the same
that were similarly engaged at daylight in the morning after
a night's run of 120 miles, and this in many instances
proved to be the case. When brought upon deck, from
which it cannot take wing, it readily becomes tame, and
allows itself to be handled almost immediately ; still, I believe
that no member of this group can be domesticated in conse-
quence of the difficulty of procuring a supply of its natural
food.

In heavy, black, and lowering weather the snowy white
plumage of this bird offers a striking contrast to the murky
clouds above and behind it.

Captain Hutton, in his * Notes on some of the birds fre-
quenting the Southern Ocean,' says this species '* dives some-
times, but does not appear to like doing so, generally pre-
ferring, when anything good to eat is under water, to let a
* Night Hawk ' fish it up ; then giving chase and running
along the top of the water, croaking and with outstretched

440 BIRDS or AUSTRALIA.

wings, it compels liim to drop it, and then seizes it before it
sinks again. This bird, which is called ' Molly Hawk ' by
the sailors, is common round Cape Agulhas ; and, in August
1857, I saw a large number in False Bay and round Cape
Hanglip. It is apparently quite diurnal in its habits, both
at sea and near land." — Ibis, 1865, p. 283.

But little difference is observable in the plumage of the
sexes, neither is there any visible variation in this respect
between youth and maturity ; a never-failing mark, however,
exists by which the latter state may be distinguished : the young
bird has the bill dark brown, while in the adult that organ is
of a bright buffy yellow ; and individuals in the same flight
may frequently be seen in which the bill varies from dark
horn-brown to the most delicate yellow.

I did not discover the breeding-place of this species.
" Commander Snow, in his ' Two Years' Cruise off Terra del
Fuego,* says it breeds on the Falkland Islands, and describes
its nest as similar to that of Diomedea exidans, but not more
than twelve inches high ; and Captain Carmichael states that
it breeds on Tristan d'Acunha." — Ibis^ 1865, p. 283.

Head, back of the neck, all the under surface, and the upper
tail-coverts pure white ; before, above, and behind the eye a
streak of blackish grey ; wings dark brown ; centre of the
back slaty black, into which the white of the back of the neck
gradually passes ; tail dark grey, with white shafts ; bill bufFy
yellow, with a narrow line of black round the base ; legs and
toes yellowish white, the interdigital membrane and the joints
washed with pale blue; irides very light brown, freckled with
a darker tint.

NATATORES. 441

Genus PHGEBETRIA, Reichenhach.

Only one species of this form has yet been discovered. It
exhibits some pecuHarities in the structure of its bill, in the
lengthened or acuminate shape of its tail, and in the large
size of its wings. These departures from the structure of the
other Albatroses have an influence on its actions and economy,
as will be perceived on perusal of the following description.

Sp. 623. PHCEBETRIA FULIGINOSA, Gmel

Sooty Albatros.

Diomedea fuliginosa, Gmel. Edit, of Linn. Syst. Nat., vol. i. p. 568.

palpebrata, Forst. Drawings, No. 102.

antarctica, Banks's Drawings, No. 26.

/Msca, Aud. Birds of Amer., vol. iv. pi. 407. — lb. Orn. Bio.,

vol. V. p. 116.
{Phosbetria) fuliginosa, Bonap. Compt. Rend, de I'Acad. Sci.,

1856.
Black Albatros, Linn. Trans., vol. xii. p. 489.
Sooty Albatros, Lath. Gen. Syn., vol. v. p. 309.

Diomedea fiiliginosa, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., voL vii. pi. 44.

The Fhcebetria fuliginosa is one of the commonest species of
the genus, and is universally distributed over all the tempe-
rate latitudes to the southward of the equator. On referring
to my notes I find that it first came under my notice on the
23rd of July 1838, in lat. 31° 10' S., long. 34° W., when three
examples were seen flying round the ship, which they con-
tinued to do until we doubled the Cape and entered the South
Indian Ocean, on the 14th of August. It was constantly
seen between the island of St. Paul and Tasmania, but was
never very numerous, six or eight being the greatest number
that I saw at any one time ; and days sometimes passed away
without more than a single individual having made its ap-
pearance. On my voyage homeward it was noticed on the

442 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

6tb of May in lat. 40° S., long. 154° W. ; in the Pacific near
Cape Horn on the 20th of May in lat. 50° S., long. 90° W.,
and still more abundantly in the Atlantic on the 12th of June
in lat. 41° S., long. 34^° W.

The cuneated form of the tail, which is pecuHar to this
species, together with its slight and small legs and more de-
licate structure, clearly indicate that it is the most aerial
species of the genus; and accordingly we find that in its
actions • and mode of flight it differs very considerably from
all the other species of Albatros, its aerial evolutions being
far more easy, its flight much higher, and its stoops more
rapid ; it is moreover the only species that passes directly over
the ship, which it frequently does in blowing weather, often
poising itself over the masthead, as if inquisitively viewing
the scene below ; at this moment it offers so inviting a mark
for the gunner, that it often forfeits its life.

Latham states that it breeds on " the island of Tristan
d'Acunha, is gregarious, many of them building their nests
close to each other ; in the area of half an acre were reckoned
upwards of a hundred. The nest is of mud, raised five or six
inches, and slightly depressed at the top ; when the young
birds are more than half-grown they are covered with a whitish
down ; they stand on then* respective hillocks like statues,
till approached close, when they make a strange clattering
with their beaks, and if touched, squirt a deluge of foetid oily
fluid from the nostrils."

The whole of the plumage deep sooty grey, darkest on the
face, wings, and tail ; shafts of the primaries and tail-feathers
white; eyes very dark greyish brown, surrounded, except
anteriorly, by a beautiful mark of white ; bill jet-black, with
a longitudinal line of white along the under mandible, this
white portion not being horny like the rest of the bill, but
composed of fleshy cartilage, which becomes nearly black
soon after death ; feet white, tinged with fleshy purple.

NATATORES. 443

As will be seen, the ten following species of Petrels have
been divided into several genera, the majority of which have
been adopted by Dr. Elliott Coues in his valuable memoirs on
this family of birds in the ' Proceedings of the Academy of
Sciences of Philadelphia' for 1864. Generally speaking, all
of them are of medium size, the exception being the Ossifraga
gigantea, JEstrelata leucoptera, and ^. cooJci, which, on the
one hand, leads to the Albatroses, and on the other, through
Halobcena, to the more diminutive Prions.

Genus OSSIFRAGA, Homb. et Jacq.

Of this genus but one species is known. It is a most
powerful bird, equalling in size and strength the smaller
Albatroses. The sexes are alike in plumage.

Sp.624. OSSIFRAGA GIGANTEA.

Giant Petrel.

Procellaria gigantea, Gmel. Edit, of Linn. Syst. Nat., vol. i. p. 563.

ossifraga, Forst.

Mother Gary's Goose, Cook's Voy., vol. ii. p. 205.
Giant Petrel, Lath. Gen. Syn., vol. vi. p. 396, pi. 100.
Ossifraga gigantea, Bonap. Compt. Rend, de lAcad. Sci., 1856.

Procellaria gigantea, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, voL vii. pi. 45.

This, the largest of the Petrels, is universally distributed
over all the temperate and high southern latitudes : and that
it frequently performs the circuit of the globe may, I think,
be fairly inferred from the circumstance of an albino variety
having followed the vessel in which I made my passage to
Australia for three weeks while we were running down our
longitude between the Cape of Good Hope and Tasmania, the
ship often making nearly two hundred miles during the
twenty-four hours ; it must not, however, be understood that
the bird was merely following the vessel's speed, nor deemed

444 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

incredible when I state that during the twenty-four hours it
must have performed a much greater distance, since it was
only at intervals of perhaps half an hour that it was seen,
hunting up the wake of the vessel to secure any offal, &c.
that had been thrown overboard, the interim being employed
in scanning the ocean in immense circles.

Its flight is not so easy, graceful and buoyant as that of
the Albatros, but is of a more laboured and flapping cha-
racter ; the bird is also of a more shy disposition, and never
approaches so near the vessel as the other members of the
family ; while flying, its white bill shows very conspicuously.

On visiting Recherche Bay in D'Entrecasteaux's Channel,
Tasmania, I found thousands of this species sitting together
on the water and feeding on the blubber and other refuse of
the whaling-station. I did not observe the bird between
Sydney and New Zealand, but on arriving in lat. 50° S., long.
90° W., nearly off Cape Horn, a solitary wanderer flew about
the ship; and in lat. 41° S., long. 34° W., a few were still
seen in pairs. Captain Cook found it very abundant on
Christmas Island, Kerguelen's Land, in December, when it
was so tame that his sailors knocked it down with sticks.

Captain F. W. Hutton states that " this bird breeds in the
cliffs of the Prince Edward Islands and Kerguelen's Land,
but the nests can be got at occasionally. The young are at
first covered with a beautiful long Hght grey down ; when
fledged they are dark brown mottled with white. When
a person approaches the nest the old birds keep a short
distance away while the young ones squirt a horridly smelling
oil out of their mouths to the distance of six or eight feet. It
is very voracious, hovering over the sealers when engaged
cutting up a seal, and devouring the carcase the moment it is
left, which the Albatros never does. It sometimes chases the
smaller species, but whether or not it can catch birds pos-
sessed apparently of powers of flight superior to its own is
doubtful ; but, supposing one killed, that it feeds only on its

NATATORES, 445

heart and liver I cannot believe ; yet it is said to do so in the
works of many ornithologists." — Ibis, 1865, p. 284.

The adults have the entire plumage of a dark chocolate-
brown ; bill light horn-colour, the tip tinged with vinous ;
irides dark blackish brown ; legs blackish brown.

Genus MAJAQUEUS, Reichenbach,

Bonaparte adopted this name for the Procellaria aquitwc-
tialis and P. conspicillata — two robust birds differing consi-
derably from the species of the succeeding forms. The South
Atlantic, South Indian, and South Pacific Oceans are their
native haunts.

Sp. 625. MAJAQUEUS CONSPICILLATUS, Gould.
Spectacled Petrel.

Procellaria conspicillata, Gould in Ann. and Mag. of Nat. Hist., vol.
xiii. p. 362.

larvata. Less. (Bonap.).

Majaqueus conspicillatus, Bonap. Compt. Rend, de I'Acad. Sci., 1856.

Procellaria conspicillata, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. vii.
pi. 46.

Although some ornithologists consider that I have com-
mitted an error in characterizing this bird as distinct from
the Procellaria cequinoctialis of Linnaeus, I am still of opinion
that it is not referable to that species ; at the same time it
must be admitted that it is most nearly allied to it ; the subject
is fraught with the more difficulty from the circumstance of
the white markings on the face not being always of the same
form in different individuals ; and from the gular region being
white in some instances, while in others it is black. In size the
two species are very similar, but all the specimens of the present
bird that I have seen have a much shorter and more robust bill
than the true M. cequinoctialis, which moreover never has the
white mark around the eye, the throat only being white.

446 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

The Majaqueus conspicillatus flies both in the Atlantic and
Pacific, but is most plentiful between the twenty-fifth and
fiftieth degrees of south latitude. I observed it to be very
abundant about the islands of St. Paul and Amsterdam,
and thence to Tasmania; I also noticed it in considerable
numbers off the Falkland Islands in the Atlantic, and in the
neighbourhood of Tristan d'Acunha.

Like the other members of the genus, it feeds upon mollusca,
the remains of dead cetacea, &c.

The entire plumage sooty black, with the exception of the
chin, sides of the face, and a broad band which crosses the
forepart of the crown, passes down before and beneath, and
curves upward behind the eye, which is white ; nostrils and
sides of the mandibles yellowish horn-colour ; culmen, tips of
both mandibles, and a groove running along the lower man-
dible black ; feet black ; irides dark brown.

Genus ADAMASTOR, Bonaparte.

Bonaparte has classed several Petrels under the above
generic appellation, one of which has a claim to be considered
as pertaining to the avifauna of Australia, since I obtained
specimens during my passage from Hobart Town to Sydney.

Sp. 626. ADAMASTOR CINEREA.

Great Grey Petrel.

Procellaria cinerea, Gmel. Edit. Linn. Syst. Nat., torn. i. p. 563.
Puffinus cinereus, Lawr. Birds of N. America, p. 835.
Procellaria hasitafa, Forst. Desc. Anim. Ed. Licht., p. 208.

adamastor, Schleg. Mon. Proc. Mus. Pay. Bas, p. 25.

Adamastor typus, Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., torn. ii. p. 187, Adamastor,

sp. 1.
cinerea, Coues, Proc. Acad. Sci. Philad., 1864, p. 119.

Procellaria hasitata, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. vii. pi. 47.
This species enjoys so wide a range of habitat that it may

NATATORES. 447

be said to be universally diffused between the 30th and 55th
degrees of south latitude. I first observed it in lat. 38° 41' S.,
long. 36° 30' W., on the 16th of August 1838 ; during the
next five days not more than a single specimen was seen at
one time; on the 21st it was very numerous, and the day
being nearly calm, I had a boat lowered, and succeeded in
killing several in lat. 39° 23' S., long. 54° W. Its powers of
flight are very great, and in its passage over the ocean it often
mounts higher in the air than most other members of the
group, and descends again with the utmost eagerness to seize
any fat substance thrown overboard. Its actions and flight
differ slightly from those of the other Petrels, and more
closely resemble those of the Albatroses.

I subsequently observed this bird in lat. 41° 12' S., long.
115° W., and obtained specimens on my passage frotn Hobart
Town to Sydney.

On my voyage homeward it appeared in considerable
numbers during some strong heavy gales which occurred on
the 6th of May 1840 in lat. 40° S., long. 154° W., and it
was very abundant in the South Atlantic on the 12th of June
in lat. 41° S., long. 34^° W.

" This bird," says Capt. Hutton, " combines the appearance
of a Procellaria with some of the habits of a Puffmus. Its
feathers fit very close, and have a glossy look. Like all other
Petrels, it flies with its legs stretched out straight behind, and
as they are rather long, they make the tail appear forked. Its
cry is something like the bleating of a lamb. It is very com-
mon at sea from May to August, but retires to Kerguelen's
Land and other places in September or October to breed.
Each pair burrows horizontally into wet peaty earth from two
to eighteen feet. At the end of the hole they form a large
chamber, and construct in the centre of it a nest similar,
except in size, to that of the Albatros {D. exulans), in the
hollowed top of which the female lays one white egg. They
seldom leave their burrows in the daytime, and when one

448 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

happens to do so it is at once hunted by a ' Nelly ' ( Ossifraga
ffigmitea), although no such jealousy exists at sea. From this
habit of flying only by night it is called ' Night Hawk ' by
the sealers.

" Mr. Harris's party, when wrecked on Kerguelen's Land,
used to dig these birds out of their burrows and eat them ;
and, in order to save useless digging, for their spades were
only made from the staves of old casks, they would hold one
to the mouth of a hole and make it cry out, when, if another
was inside, it would answer. This is by far the best diver of
all the sea-going Petrels. It seems even fond of it, and more-
over remains under water for several minutes, when it comes
up again, shaking the water off its feathers like a dog. Some-
times I have seen it poise itself for a moment in the air at a
height of about twenty or twenty five feet above the sea, and,
shutting its wings, take a header into the water. It dives
with its wings open, and uses them under water much in
the same manner as when flying."

Little or no diff'erence is observable in the sexes, but the
female is rather smaller than the male ; neither did I observe
any of the individuals that surrounded the ship to be of a
darker colour. In all probability, the young attain their
normal colouring at their first moult. I quite agree with
Captain Hutton in considering this bird to be allied to the
members of the genus Puffinus.

Crown of the head, ear-coverts, nape and upper surface,
tips of the tail-feathers, tips of the under tail-coverts, and the
primaries dark brownish grey ; throat, chest, and under sur-
face white ; irides dark brown ; culmen and nostrils black ;
tip of the upper mandible blackish horn-colour ; tomia whitish
horn-colour ; lower part of the under mandible blackish horn-
colour ; feet white, tinged with blue, the outer toe brownish
black.

NATATOUES. 497

The late Mr. Elsey, speaking of the birds observed by
him near the Victoria, says, " The Plotus is common here,
and excellent eating. During February and March it was
incubating. It chooses large trees that hang over the vi^ater
above or through the mangroves, and in these a number of
them build a colony of large, coarse, flattish nests of dead sticks
and twigs, which seem, from the quantity of dirt about them
and their stained appearance, to be used year after year. Each
season they place in the centre a few fresh green leaves, and
on these lay three or four white eggs with a very earthy
opaque but brittle shell ; the lining membrane is of a blue-
grey colour ; they are rather smaller than a hen's egg. We
have enjoyed many fine meals off these eggs, sometimes
getting from forty to fifty in a single tree. Both birds sit."

Much variation exists in the colouring of the sexes ; the
female being, I believe, at all times distinguished by her buffy
white breast and neck, which parts in the male are black.
Young birds for the first and probably for the second year are
the same colour as the female.

The male has an arrow-head-shaped mark of white on the
throat ; a broad stripe of the same colour commences at the
base of the mandibles, extends for about four inches down
the sides of the neck, and terminates in a point ; head, neck,
and all the upper surface of the body greenish black, stained
with brown, and with deep rusty red on the centre of the
under side of the throat ; under surface deep glossy greenish
black ; wings and tail shining black ; all the coverts with a
broad stripe of dull white occupying nearly the whole of the
outer and a part of the inner web, and terminating in a point ;
scapularies lanceolate in form, with a similar-shaped mark of
white down the centre, and with black shafts, the scapular
nearest the body being nearly as large as the secondaries, and
with the outer web crimped and the inner w^eb with a broad
stripe of dull white close to the stem ; the secondaries nearest
the body with a similar white stripe close to the stem on the

VOL. II. 2 K

498 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

outer web ; centre tail-feathers strongly, and the lateral ones
slightly crimped ; orbits naked, fleshy, protuberant, and of a
yellowish olive, mottled over with brown specks ; next to the
pupil of the eye is a narrow ring of dull orange-buff ; to this
succeeds another ring of marbled buff" and brown, and to this
an outer circle of orange-bufF; naked skin at the base of the
lower mandible wrinkled and yellow ; upper mandible olive,
under mandible dull yellow, both becoming brighter towards
the base ; feet yellowish flesh-colour, becoming brown on the
upper part of the outer toes.

Total length 36 inches ; bill 4 ; wing 13^ ; tail 9 ; tarsi 2.

The female has the crown of the head, back of the neck,
and upper part of the black blackish brown, each feather
margined with greyish white ; throat and all the under sur-
face buffy white ; the remainder of the plumage like the male,
but with the white marks on the wing-coverts larger and
more conspicuous ; irides ornamented with a beautiful lace-
work of brown, the interstices being buff; orbits, naked skin
at the base of the bill, and throat orange-yellow ; feet pale
yellow.

Genus TACHYPETES, VieilloL

Two species of this aerial form inhabit Austraha, both of
which are common in Torres' Straits at one or other seasoQ of
the year.

INo birds diff'er more than the members of this genus, for
some examples have white and others brown heads, and
moreover exhibit many other conflicting differences, both in
colour and size.

Until the question is settled as to whether there be more
than two species of this genus, which at present I have no
means of determining, I shall refer both the Australian birds
to the old T. aquila and T. minor.

NATATORES. 499

Sp. 658. TACHYPETES AQUILA.

Great Frigate-bird.

Pelecanus aquilus, Linn. Syst. Nat., torn. i. p. 216.

leucocephalus, Gmel. Edit. Linn. Syst. Nat., torn. i. p. 572.

palmerstoni, Gmel. lb., p. 573.

Attagen aquila, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. i. Introd. p. c.
Tachypetes aquila, Vieill. Gal. des Ois., torn. ii. p. 187, pi. 274.

I have received numerous skins of a Erigate-bird from
Torres' Straits which are much larger than the succeeding
species, and which may be referable to the Pelecanus aquilus
of Linnaeus ; but this requires confirmation. If it really be
so, then the bird frequents all the seas of the warmer parts of
the globe, and retires to rocky islands to breed, such as those
in Torres' Straits, Ascension in the South Atlantic, those in
the Gulf of Mexico and Florida.

Sp. 659. TACHYPETES MINOR.

Small Frigate-Bird.

Pelecanus minor, Gmel. Edit. Linn. Syst. Nat., torn. i. p. 572.
Fregata minor, Briss. Orn., torn. vi. p. 509.
Tachypetes ariel, G. R. Gray.

minor, Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., torn. ii. p. 167, Tachypetes, sp. 2.

Man-of-War Bird, Edw. Glean, of Nat. Hist., pi. 309.
Lesser Frigate, Lath. Gen. Syn., vol. iii. p. 590.
Atagen ariel, Gould, MS. — Gray, Genera of Birds, vol. iii. p. 669,
Atagen, sp. 2.

Attagen ariel, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. vii. pi. 72.

This species of Tachypetes, which is considered to be the
old Pelecanus minor of Gnielin, is rather abundantly dispersed
over the seas washing the shores of the tropical parts of the
AustraUan continent, particularly those of Torres' Straits.

2 K 2

500 BIRDS or AUSTRALIA.

The late Commander Ince, R.N., who, during the surveying
voyage of H.M.S. Fly, was for some time stationed on Raine's
Islet, superintending the erection of a beacon, informed me
that on his landing on this small island, which is situate in
lat. 12° S., at about seventy miles from the north-eastern
coast of the Australian continent, and surrounded by a part
of the great barrier reef, he "found this bird breeding in
colonies at its S.W. corner, the nest being composed of a few
small sticks collected from the shrubs and herbaceous plants
which alone clothe the island, and placed either on the
ground or on the plants, a few inches above it. The eggs,
which are generally one, but occasionally two in number, are
of a pure white, not so chalky in appearance as those of the
Gannet, and nearly of the same shape at both ends. Upon
one occasion I killed the old birds from a nest that contained
a young one ; on visiting the spot I found the young bird
removed to another nest, the proprietors of which were
feeding it as if it had been their own : I am sure of this
fact, because there was no other nest near it containing two
young birds. Some of the eggs were quite fresh, while others
had been so far sat upon that we could not blow them ; and
many of the young birds must have been hatched some two
or three weeks. We regarded these birds as the Falcons of
the sea, for we repeatedly saw them compel the Terns, Boobies,
and Gannets to disgorge their prey, and then adroitly catch it
before it fell to the ground or water. We never saw them
settle on the water, but constantly soaring round and round,
apparently on the watch for what the smaller birds were
bringing home. I have found in their pouch young turtles,
fish, cuttle-fish, and small crabs."

The male has the entire plumage brownish black, the
feathers of the head glossed with green, and the lengthened
plumes of the back with purple and green reflexions ; orbits
and gular pouch deep red ; bill bluish horn-colour ; irides
black; feet dark reddish brown.

NATATORES. 501

The female is similar to the male, but browner ; is destitute
of the coloured plumes on the back ; has some of the wing-
coverts and tertiaries edged with light brown, forming a mark
along the wing ; a collar at the back of the neck ; the breast
and upper part of the flanks white, washed with rufous.

A nestling bird in my collection is clothed in white down,
except on the back and scapularies, where the dark brown
coloured and perfect feathers have just been assumed.

Genus PHAE TON, Linnaus.

Of the little group known as Tropic-birds, Bonaparte
enumerates three species, which he has placed in as many
genera, namely, Phaeton, Lej^titnis; and Phoenicurics. Of
these, the last is the only one comprised in the avifauna of
Australia. I shall not, however, adopt this name.

Sp. 660. PHAETON PHCENICURUS, Gtnelin.

Red-tailed Tropic-bird.

Phaeton phcenicurus, Gmel. Edit, of Linn. Syst. Nat., vol. i. p. 583.

rubricauda, Bodd.

eruhescens, Banks's Drawings, No. 31.

Paille-en-queue a hrins rouges, Buff. Hist, des Ois., torn. viii. p. 357.

de risk de France, Buff. PI. Enl., 979.

Red-tailed Tropic-bird, Lath. Gen. Syn., vol. vi. p. 619, pi. 105.
New Holland Trojiic-bird, Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. x. p. 448.

Phaeton phceniciinis, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, voL vii. pi. 73.

This bird is very generally dispersed over the temperate
and warmer latitudes of the Indian Ocean and the South
Seas, where it often hovers round ships, and occasionally
alights on their rigging. During the months of August and
September it retires to various islands for the purpose of
breeding ; among other places selected for the performance
of this duty are Norfolk Island off the east coast of Australia,

502 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

and Raine's Islets in Torres' Straits, from both of which
localities I possess specimens of the bird and its eggs. As
I had no opportunity of observing it, I avail myself of the
following information communicated to me by Mr. Macgilli-
vray : — -

" This Tropic-bird was found by us on Raine's Islet, where,
during the month of June, about a dozen were procured.
Upon one occasion three were observed performing sweeping
flights over and about the island, and soon afterwards one of
them alighted ; keeping my eye upon the spot, I ran up and
found a male bird in a hole under the low shelving margin of
the island bordering the beach, and succeeded in capturing it
after a short scuffle, during which it snapped at me with its
beak, and uttered a loud, harsh, and oft-repeated croak. It
makes no nest, but deposits its two eggs on the bare floor of
the hole, and both sexes assist in the task of. incubation. It
usually returns from sea about noon, soaring high in the air,
and wheeling round in circles before alighting. The eggs are
blotched and speckled with brownish red on a pale reddish
grey ground, and are two inches and three-eighths long by
one inch four eighths and a half broad.

"The contents of the stomach consisted of the beaks of
cuttle-fish.

" The only outward sexual difference that I could detect
consists in the more decided roseate blush upon the plumage
of the male, especially on the back ; but this varies slightly
in intensity in different individuals of the same sex, and fades
considerably in a preserved skin."

Latham states that it is found in great numbers on the
island of Mauritius, that it is very common at Palmerston,
Turtle, and Harvey's Islands in the South Seas, and that in
all these places its eggs are deposited on the ground under
the trees.

The adults have a broad crescent of black before each eye,
the upper part of which extends over and behind that organ ;

NATATORES.

503

centre of tlie tertiaries and flank-featliers deep black; the
whole of the remamder of the plumage silky white, with a
rich roseate tinge, especially on the back; shafts of the
primaries black from the base to within an inch of their apex ;
shafts of the lateral tail-feathers black to within half an inch
of the tip ; two centre tail-feathers white at the base and rich
deep red for the remainder of their length, which extends to
eighteen inches, their shafts black ; irides black ; bill vermilion,

with a black streak running through the nostrils, and a narrow
line of faint blue at the base of both mandibles ; tarsi and the

base of the toes and webs faint blue, remainder of the toes

and webs black.

The young birds for the first year are very different from

the adults, being of a silky white without the roseate blush,

with the whole of the upper surface broadly barred with black

and with the black of the shafts of the primaries expanded into

a spatulate form at the tips of the feathers.

Genus SULA, Brisson.

The birds hitherto included in this genus have recently
been divided into no less than three genera, Stila, Bysponis,
and Piscatrix. They inhabit nearly every part of the globe,
and four fine species appertain to the Australian fauna, since
they not only frequent the seas adjacent to the shores of that
country, but all of them resort to its rocks and islands for the
purpose of breeding.

Om' own well-known Bass Rock is inhabited yearly by a
bird of this genus bearing the trivial name of Solan Goose,
which must be familiar to every reader of the present Hand-
book, at least to ail those who reside in the British Islands.
These birds are also well known by the name of Boobies, an
appellation they have obtained from their apparently stupid
insensibility to danger.

504 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

Sp. 061. SULA AUSTRALIS, Gould.

Australian Gannet.

8ula australis, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, part viii. p. 177.

Pelecanus serrator, Banks, Drawings, no. 30.

Sulci serrator, Bonap. Compt. Rend, de I'Acad. Sci., 1856.

Sula australis, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. vii. pi. 76.

It will be clear to every ornithologist that the present
species and the Saia hassana of Europe are representatives of
each other, and that they are destined by nature to perform
similar offices, and to inhabit corresponding zones of latitude
in opposite hemispheres. Their habits, actions, and economy
are, in fact, so precisely alike, that an account of one species
is equally applicable to the other.

I found the Sula australis generally dispersed over the seas
washing the shores of Tasmania, but most numerous on the
south side of the island. The Mewstone, the South Cape, the
rock at the mouth of D'Entrecasteaux's Channel, and the low
Actseon Islands were tenanted by hundreds during the period
of my visit in 1839, and it was also seen, but in less numbers,
along the entire coast of South Australia. Much as has been said
respecting the natural stupidity of other species of the genus
Sula — Boobies as they are called, — the present appeared to
be the Booby "par excellence^ as evidenced by the manner
in which I captured the specimens in my collection. Observ-
ing about fifty fine adult birds reposing on the flat top of a
low rock on one of the Actseons, I directed my boatmen to
row cautiously that I might endeavour to get a shot at them ;
I was soon not only within range, but too near to use my
large duck gun, loaded as it was with large shot; I de-
termined therefore to shoot them on the wing as they flew
from their resting-place ; judge of my surprise when I
found that neither the near approach of the boat nor our
speaking to each other startled them in the least. Taking one

NATATORES. 505

of the men with me, I stepped on shore and approached the
motley assembly, which was still sitting in close array on the
rock, and which did at length exhibit some degree of surprise
and uneasiness at the intrusion, but even then was so little
disturbed that we succeeded in capturing five fine birds with
the hand before the remainder had shuffled off to the ledge of
the rock and taken wing. Had this occurred at a breeding-
place it would not have excited my astonishment, for I was
aware that the Sula bassana would allow itself to be so taken
at that period ; but I did not expect that the present species
would admit of being captured while merely at rest : this
apparent want of caution or stupidity may in all probability
be attributed to the fact that their haunts on these islands
had rarely been intruded upon : boats the natives of the
southern parts of Tasmania never possessed, and the visits
of civilized man must have been few and far between.

The food of this species consists of fish of various kinds,
which it procures by plunging vertically upon them as they
swim near the surface of the water.

The sexes when adult are precisely alike in plumage ; the
young on the contrary, as is the case with the European bird,
differ greatly from their parents ; at first they are entirely
dark grey, which gives place to a beautifully mottled ap-
pearance, the head, neck, and under surface having put on a
white colouring with blotches or traces of the dark grey still
remaining, and the feathers of the upper surface having a
triangular spot of white at the tip of each; this style of
plumage is gradually exchanged for the following, which is
characteristic of the adult.

Crown of the head and back of the neck beautiful buff;
the reminder of the plumage white, with the exception of the
primaries, secondaries, and four centre tail-feathers, which are
fulighious brown with white shafts ; irides olive-white ; bill
brownish horn-colour, slightly tinged with blue ; space round
the eye leaden blue ; bare skin at the base of the beak and

506 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

flown the centre of the throat nearly black ; front of the tarsi
and toes sickly greenish yellow ; webs brown.

Total length 32 inches ; bill 5^ ; wing 19 ; tail 10 ; tarsi 2.

Sp. 662. SULA CYANOPS, SimdevaU.

Masked Gannet.

Sula personata, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, part xiv. p. 21.

cyanops, Sundevall, Bonap. Compt. Rend, de I'Acad. Sci., 1856.

Sula personata, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. vii. pi. 77.

In the course of the present work I have had frequent oc-
casion to mention in terms of praise the great assistance ren-
dered to myself and to the cause of Ornithological science by
the officers of H.M.S. Beagle, under the command of Rear-
Admiral Stokes ; and I have now the pleasure of placing on
record the services also rendered to me by the officers of
H.M.S. Fly, under the command of Captain Blackwood, to
whose investigations, while engaged in surveying Torres'
Straits, we are indebted for our knowledge of the fine Gannet
here represented, as well as for several other interesting
species.

The Masked Gannet was found breeding in considerable
numbers on Raine's Island ; the q^^, which is rather length-
ened in form, is two inches and five-eighths long by one inch
and three-quarters broad, and of a dirty white, stained or
clouded all over with reddish brown.

I did not succeed in procuring examples of this bird during
my own researches in Australia, but it once came under
my observation during my voyage from Hobart Town to
Sydney, when on approaching Sydney Heads my attention
was attracted by the darkly coloured face of a Gannet, show-
ing very conspicuously as the bird flew round the ship, but
unfortunately at too great a distance for a successful shot.

The whole of the plumage of both sexes is pure white, with

NATATORES. 507

the exception of the greater wing-coverts, primaries, seconda-
ries, tertiaries, the tips of the two central and the whole of
the lateral tail-feathers, which are of a rich chocolate-brown ;
irides yellow ; naked skin of the face and chin in specimen
dull bluish black ; legs greenish blue.

Total length 29 inches ; bill 5 ; wing 16^ ; tail 8^ ; tarsi 2^.

Sp. 663. SULA TIBER, Limiceus.

Brown Gannet.

Pelecanus sula et fiber, Linu. Syst. Nat., torn. i. p. 218.

■ plotus, Forst. Drawings, 108.

Sulafusca, Briss. Oru., torn. vi. p. 499, tab. 43. fig. 1.

brasiliensis, Spix, Av. Sp. Nov., torn. ii. tab. 107. p. 84.

fiber, G. E. Gray, List of Birds in Brit. Mus. Coll., part iii. p. 1 83.

Brown Booby, Lath. Gen. Syn., vol. vi. p. 613.

Dtjsporus fiber, Bonap. Compt. Rend, de TAcad. Sci., 1856.

sula, Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., torn. ii. p. 164; Dysporus, sp. 1.

Mar-ga, Aborigines of Port Essington.
Booby of the Colonists.

Sula fasca, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. vii. pi. 78.

The Gannet, which may perhaps be identical with the
Pelecanus fiber of Linnseus, is abundantly dispersed round
the northern shores of the Australian continent ; I have speci-
mens killed within the harbour at Port Essington, and from
Raine's Island in Torres' Straits, where it breeds in consider-
able numbers.

" This species of Booby," says Mr. Macgilhvray, " is gene-
rally distributed on the north-east and north coasts of I^qw
Holland ; but I found it breeding only upon Bramble Key,
although I once, on Raine's Islet, found a solitary egg. The
nest is slovenly made, of dried herbage, a foot in diameter,
with scarcely any cavity, and contains two eggs, of which in
every instance one was clean and the other very dirty. The
eggs, which are white, vary considerably in size. The largest

508 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

measured 2-^-2 inches by l-^^ ; the smallest 2^| by 1-/|, and
one of average size, 2^ by If inches. Both sexes incubate,
and the birds while sitting on their eggs allowed of a very
near approach, and before flying off disgorged the contents of
their stomachs, chiefly a species of Clupea. I need scarcely
add that their bite is very severe. During our visit to Darn-
ley Island I observed several tame Boobies among the native
villages, generally perched on the canoes hauled up on the
beach. These birds were allowed their full liberty, and after
fishing in the weirs upon the reefs until they had procured a
sufficiency of food returned to the huts."

The plumage of the two sexes is so precisely similar that it
is utterly impossible to distinguish them by external observa-
tion ; it is true that the colouring of the feet, face, and other
soft parts is not always alike, but this difference I believe to
be the result of age, rather than of a difference in sex ; and if
this opinion be correct, the bright yellow-coloured feet are in-
dicative of the bird being fully adult, and the olive-brown of
its being immature.

In its habits, manners, mode of life, and in the nature of
its food, this species resembles the other members of the
genus.

Head, neck, breast, all the upper surface, wings, and tail
dark chocolate-brown ; under surface pure white, separated
from the brown of the breast by a sharply defined line ; irides
very pale yellow ; bill and orbits primrose-yellow, blotched
before and beneath the eye with bluish ; eyelash light ash-
grey ; legs and feet pale yellow.

NATATORES. 509

Sp. 664. SULA PISCATOR, Linn.

Red-legged Gannet.

Sula piscator, Linn. Syst. Nat., vol. i. p. 217.

Candida, Steph. Cont. of Shaw's Gen. Zool., vol. xiii. p. 103.

Lesser Gannet, Lath. Gen. Syn., vol. vi. p. 611.
Sula erythrorhyncha, Less. Traite d'Orn., p. 601.

rubripes, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, part v. p. 156.

rubripeda, Peale.

Piscatrix Candida, Reich. Syst. Av., tab. 53. fig. 853, et tab. 55.
figs. 2294, 2295.

Sula piscator, G-ould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol vii.pl. 79.

The Red-legged Gannet is very abundant along the
northern shores of the Australian continent : and breeds in
great numbers on Raine's Islet, whence several fine specimens
were brought by the late Commander Ince, R.N., who, inde-
pendently of his duties as superintendent of the erection of
the beacon on that island, found occupation for his leisure
moments in studying its interesting zoology. AVhile acknow-
ledging my obligations to Commander Ince, I am bound to
add that I am no less indebted to Mr. Macgillivray for the
following notes, as well as for a carefully executed diagram
of the bill and face, by means of which I have been enabled
to colour the soft parts correctly.

"With the exception," says Mr. Macgillivray, "of one bird
which perched on the rigging, and was caught while at sea in
the neighbourhood of the Keeling Islands, we found this spe-
cies only on Raine's Islet, a vegetated sand-bank in the line of
the Great Barrier Reef When we landed there on the 29th
of May, it appeared to me that the breeding-season was then
over, but I was fortunate enough to find a solitary bird sitting
upon its nest, which contained a single egg. The nest con-
sisted of a few roots of a creeper common on the island,
forming a platform eighteen inches in diameter laid upon a
tuft of herbage. A few days after this, the Gannets, having

510 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

been much molested, entirely deserted the island during the
day, returning at night in a body of several hundreds, to
roost on the ground and low bushes near the centre of the
island."

Mr. Macgillivray observed that the colouring of the bill
and soft parts also varies with the age of the individual ;
in the first stage the bill is of a delicate bluish pink,
the pink tint predominating at the base of the upper mandi-
ble, the bare patch about the eye of a dull leaden hue, and
the pouch flesh-coloured ; in the second the colouring of these
parts is similar but somewhat brighter, and ultimately the
irides become grey, and the legs and feet vermilion.

In habits, manners, and general economy it doubtless closely
resembles the other members of the group, and procures its
fleshy food in a similar manner, by plunging down upon them
as they swim near the surface of the water.

The adults have the entire plumage buify white, with the
exception of the wings and tail ; the former of which are
blackish brown, washed with grey, and the latter pale greyish
brown, -passing into grey with white shafts ; irides grey ; legs
and feet vermilion.

ramHy PODICIPID^.

There is no country of any extent wherein Grebes are not
to be found ; and, as their wing-powers are very Umited, they
are mostly stationary.

Had I followed my contemporaries, those inhabiting Aus-
tralia would be described under as many subgenera as there
are species, viz. Podiceps, PodiocepJiahs, and Tachyhaptus ;
but I retain them under the prior appellation ; others of each
form, it is true, are found elsewhere ; still I think it expedient
to keep them in the genus Podiceps.

NATATORES. 511

Genus PODICEPS, Latham.

The Great Crested Grebe of Europe and the Great Tippet-
Grebe of AustraHa are both typical members of the genus
Podiceps, of which I believe other species are found in
America, and this is the case with most of the other Austra-
lian species.

Sp. 665. PODICEPS AUSTRALIS, Gould.

Australian Tippet-Grebe.

Podiceps australis, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, part xii. p. 135,
Ka-lee, Aborigines of the lowland districts of Western Australia.
Diver of the Colonists.

Podiceps australis, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. vii. pi. 80.

This beautiful species of Grebe, which differs but little from
the Podiceps cristatus of Europe, inhabits the inland waters of
Tasmania, and the whole of the southern portions of the con-
tinent of Australia, wherever localities occur favourable to its
existence. It gives a decided preference to those broad mere-
like sheets of water, whose depth is not too great for the
growth of rushes and other aquatic plants, among which it
constructs its floating nest and rears its progeny. It not
only dives extremely well, but stems the billows with amazing
power ; and I have frequently observed it on the upper part
of the Derwent, swimming against wind and tide in a manner
that truly surprised me.

The beautiful frill which adorns the neck of the P. austrcdis
is acquired in the spring, worn during the breeding-season,
and then cast off, when the face becomes of a greyish white,
or similar in colour to the other part of the neck.

The sexes are at all times alike in plumage ; both have the
frill of the neck to an equal extent, but the female is gene-
rally the smallest in size.

Crown of the head and occipital tufts black ; frill black at

512 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

the outer edge and rich chestnut in the centre, gradually
passing into bufFy white on the face; upper surface and
wings dark brown ; scapularies and secondaries pure white ;
all the under surface silvery white, stained with brown and
chestnut on the flanks; irides red; bill dark horn-colour;
upper surface of the tarsi and toes dark olive-green, under
surface pale yellow.

Total length 24 inches ; bill 2f ; wing 7i ; tarsi 2^.

Sp. 666. PODICEPS NESTOR, Gould.

Hoary-headed Grebe.

Podiceps poliocephalus, Jard. arid Selb. 111. Orn., vol. i. pi. 13.
Podiceps nestor, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, part iv. p. 145.
Wy-ou-da, Aborigines of the lowland districts of Western Australia.
Dab- chick, Colonists of Swan River.
Poliocephalus nestor, Bonap. Couipt. Rend, de I'Acad. Sci., torn. xli.

Podiceps poliocephalus, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. vii.
pi. 82.

This species of Grebe is very abundantly dispersed over the
inland waters of Tasmania, and is particularly common on the
upper part of the river Derwent, where it may be seen during
the winter season in flocks or " mobs " of from ten to thirty
together, which separate into pairs on the approach of sum-
mer ; I have also received it from Swan River, and observed it
personally in the lagoons of New South Wales ; its distribu-
tion therefore over all the southern portion of Australia may
be said to be general. Its powers of diving, notwithstanding
its bushy head, are quite equal to those of the other members
of the genus, and its food and general economy are as a matter
of course strictly similar. Like the Podiceps gidaris, it con-
structs a flat nest of aquatic plants, which may be seen float-
ing on the central portions of the lagoons, not unfrequently
within a few yards of the land. The eggs are of a dirty white
colour, and four or five in number.

NATATORES. 513

The lengthened hair-Kke phimes which ornament the face
are doubtless merely assumed during the breeding-season, for
I have frequently observed specimens in which this character
was wholly absent, and not unfrequently others in which it
was only partially developed.

The sexes are both adorned with the plumes on the head,
and are moreover so nearly alike both in size and in colour
that dissection is necessary to distinguish them.

In the breeding-season the head is black, with the forehead
and sides of the face beset with long fine hair-like white
plumes ; all the upper surface and wings brown ; base of the
primaries and the whole of the secondaries white ; under sur-
face silvery grey, tinged with brown on the flanks ; bill olive-
black with the tip white ; irides blackish olive with a very
fine circle of yellow near the pupil, and the olive beautifully
marked with a darker tint resembling lace-work ; lores red-
dish flesh-colour ; feet olive, tinged with yellow on the inner
side.

After the breeding-season is over the head becomes brown,
the white plumes disappear, and the throat becomes buff.

Sp. 667. PODICEPS GULARIS, Gould.

Black-throated Grebe.

Fodiceps dominicus, var.. Lath.

yularis, Gould in Proc. of Zool. See, part iv. p. 145.

Tachybaptus gularis, Bonap. Compt. Rend, de I'Acad. Sci., 1856.
Ung-bu -r-wa, Aborigines of Port Essington.

Podiceps gularis, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. vii. pi. 81.

This Grebe is very generally dispersed over the whole of
the southern portion of Australia, where it inhabits the
mouths of the larger rivers as well as the lagoons of the
interior, its numbers being much augmented during those
seasons of rain whicli too unfrequently occur in those por-
tions of Australia in which our possessions have been chosen.

VOL. II. 2 L

514 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

Immature birds, either of this or a nearly aUied species, have
been sent me from Port Essington ; future research alone will
enable us to say how far to the north the range of this species
may extend. It closely resembles the Podiceps minor of
Europe, which however it exceeds in size, and from which it
may always be distinguished by the colouring of the throat
and sides of the face.

The nest is a floating mass of weeds piled up in a rounded
form, the top being just level with the surface of the water ;
the eggs are four or five in number, of a dirty yellowish
white.

The food consists of small fish, mollusca, and insects of
various kinds.

The sexes differ but little either in size or colour.

Crown of the head and nape of the neck deep blackish
brown, tinged with olive ; throat and sides of the face black ;
a mark of deep chestnut rises behind each eye and runs down
the side of the neck ; upper surface deep blackish brown ;
secondary wing-coverts tipped with white, forming a bar
across the wing ; lower part of the neck, chest, and under
surface silvery grey, merging into deep brown on the flanks ;
bill greenish grey, with a light ash-coloured spot at the
extreme tip of the upper mandible ; sides of the upper
mandible, from the tip to near the nostrils, and the tip
of the lower mandible bluish grey ; base of both man-
dibles yellowish grey ; gape primrose-yellow ; irides lemon-
yellow ; inner side of the tarsi yellowish grey, passing into
greenish grey on the outer side and feet.

In winter the markings of the head and neck disappear,
and are replaced by a uniform tint of brown, like the re-
mainder of the upper surface.

Total length 10 inches; bill \\; wing4j; tarsi 1-|.

NATATORES. 515

FamHy SPHENISCID-ffi.

This is one of the most isolated famiUes in the whole range
of ornithology, and if we turn our thoughts from them to the
Alcaics of the northern hemisphere, we may regard the two
groups as analogues of each other ; they are, however, only
analogues, for they are in no way related in affinity ; these
Pad die- winged Sea Turtles among birds, in fact, constitute a
southern group totally distinct from all others. They are con-
siderably diversified in form, and have therefore been divided
into no less than six genera, while the species known are
perhaps not more than fifteen in number. During the breed-
ing-season they are gregarious and assemble in countless mul-
titudes on certain isolated rocky islands in the South Atlantic
and South Pacific Oceans.

'The generality of them are adorned with many beautifully
coloured markings, and in some instances with plumes which
hang gracefully behind their heads. The sexes are alike in
colour, showing that ornamentation is not solely given as an
attraction to the sexes. Three, if not four, species pertain to
the avi-fauna of Australia.

Weddell, in his journal of ' A Voyage towards the South
Pole,' thus speaks of the King Penguin as he observed
it in the island of South Georgia. " In pride these birds
are perhaps not surpassed even by the Peacock, to which, in
beauty of plumage, they are indeed very little inferior. During
the time of moulting they seem to repel each other with dis-
gust on account of the ragged state of their coats ; but as they
arrive at the maximum of splendour they reassemble, and no
one who has not completed his plumage is allowed to enter the
community. Their habit of frequently looking down their
front and sides, in order to contemplate the perfection of their
exterior brilliancy, and to remove any speck which might
sully it, is truly amusing to an observer. . . . During
the time of hatching the male is remarkably assiduous ; so

2 L 2

516 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

that, when the hen has occasion to go off to feed or wash, the
egg is transported to him, which is done by placing their toes
together and rolling it from one to the other, using their beaks
to place it properly. The hen keeps charge of her young
nearly a year, and, in teaching them to swim, the mother has
frequently to use some artifice, for when the young one refuses
to take to the water, she entices it to the side of a rock and
pushes it in, and this is repeated until it takes to the sea of its
own accord."

We are told by Sir James Clark Ross, in his ' Voyage of
Discovery in the Southern and Antarctic Regions ' : " Posses-
sion Island is situated in lat. 71° 56', and long. 71° 7' E.,
composed entirely of igneous rocks, and only accessible on its
western side. We saw not the smallest appearance of vege-
tation, but inconceivable myriads of Penguins completely and
densely covered the whole surface of the island, along the
ledges of the precipices, and even to the summits of the hills,
attacking us vigorously as we waded through their ranks, and
pecking at us with their sharp beaks, disputing possession ;
which, together with their loud coarse notes, and the insupport-
able stench from the deep bed of guano which had been
forming for ages, and which may at some period be valuable
to the agriculturalists of our Australian colonies, made us glad
to get away again, after having loaded our boats with geolo-
gical specimens and Penguins." Captain Carniichael, in his
description of the island of Tristan d'Acunha, says " the
Crested Penguin {Catarrhactes chri/socoma, Briss.) conceals
itself among the long grass, and in the bottom of ravines
where they open upon the shore. Here they assemble in
countless multitudes, and keep up a moaning noise, which
can be heard at a great distance fi'om the mountain ; and the
bold, inhospitable coast around you is calculated to excite e^
train of ideas by no means pleasant,"

NATATORES. 517

Genus CHRYSOCOMA, Stephens.

The members of this genus are among the most ornamental
of this fine family, the graceful plumes trending backwards
from the sides of their heads adding much to their beauty.
They are neither the largest nor the smallest members of the
family; some species exceeding them in size, while others are
much less.

Sp. 668. CHRYSOCOMA CATARRACTES.

Crested Penguin.

Aptenodytes catarractes, Gmel. Edit. Linn. Syst. Nat., torn. i. p. 558.

chrysocome, Lath. Ind. Orn., vol. ii, p. 878.

saltator, Steph.

Pinguinaria cristafa, Shaw, Nat. Misc., pi. 437.
Crested Penguin, Lath. Gen. Syn., vol. vi. p. 56L
Chrysocoma catarractes, Bonap. Compt. Rend, de I'Acad. Sci., torn. xli.
1856.

Eudyptes chrysocome, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. vii. pi. 83.

For a fine example of this singular Penguin I am indebted
to my friend Ronald C. Gunn, Esq., of Launceston, Tasmania,
who informed me that it had been washed on shore on the
northern coast of that island after a heavy gale. It is less
])lentiful in that part of the world than in many others, for
although it is occasionally found on the shores of Tasmania
and the south coast of Australia, it is most numerous on the
islands of Amsterdam and St. Paul. It is found in vast
abundance on the island of Amsterdam, where it may often be
seen basking and standing erect on the rocks, in company
with the seals.

Head, neck, back, and sides black ; over each eye a stripe
of pale yellow feathers, which are lengthened into a crest
behind ; wings black externally, their posterior edge and under

518 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

surface white ; breast and under surface silvery white ; bill
reddish brown ; feet greyish white.

The female is said to differ in having the yellow feathers
over the eye shorter, or not prolonged into a crest.

Genus EUDYPTULA, Bonaparte.

The members of this genus are the most diminutive in size
of the entire family. Two species inhabit the southern parts
of Australia and Tasmania.

Sp. 669. EUDYPTULA MINOR.

Little Penguin.

Aptenodytes minor, Forst. Comm. Goett., torn. iii. p. 147.
Little Penguin, Lath. Gen. Syn., vol, vi. p. 572, pi. 103.
Spheniscus minor, Temm. Man. d'Orn., torn. i. p. 113.
Aptenodyta minor, Vieill. Ency. Meth. Orn., part i. p. 68, pi. 17. fig. 1.
Eudyptula minor, Bonap. Compt. Rend, de FAcad. Sci,, torn. xli.

1856.
Korora, Aborigines of New Zealand.

Spheniscus minor, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. vii. pi. 84.

This species is very abundant all round Tasmania, in Bass's
Straits, and on the south coast of Australia generally, where
it frequents those parts of the sea that are favourable to its
habits and mode of life, and where the depth of the water is
not too great to prevent its diving to the bottom. It is also
often seen in the deep bays and harbours, and some distance
up the great rivers, but never I believe in fresh water ; seas
abounding in small islands, whose sides are not too precipitous
for it to ascend for the purpose of breeding, being the local-
ities most frequently resorted to. It is so numerous on nearly
all the low islands in Bass's Straits, from September to
January, that any reasonable number of the birds and their
eggs may be procured without the slightest difficulty.

NATATORES. 519

From the weight of the body and the density of the
phimage, this bird swims very deep in the water, the head,
neck, and npper part of the back only being above the sur-
face. Its powers of progression in the deep are truly astonish-
ing; it bounds through this element like the porpoise, and
uses its short fin-like wings as well as its feet to assist it in its
progress ; its swimming powers are in fact so great, that it
stems the waves of the most turbulent seas with the utmost
facility, and during the severest gale descends to the bottom,
where, among beautiful beds of coral and forests of sea- weed,
it paddles about in search of crustaceans, small fish, and
marine vegetables, all of which kinds of food were found in
the stomachs of those I dissected.

A considerable portion of the year is occupied in the process
of breeding and rearing the young, in consequence of its being
necessary that their progeny should acquire sufficient vigour
to resist the raging of that element on which they are destined
to dwell, and which I believe they never again leave until by
the impulse of nature they in their turn seek the land for the
purpose of reproduction. Notwithstanding this care for the
preservation of the young, heavy gales of wind destroy them
in great numbers, hundreds being occasionally found dead on
the beach after a storm ; and when the sudden transition
from the quiet of their breeding-place to the turbulence of
the ocean, and the great activity and muscular exertion then
required, are taken into consideration, an occurrence of this
kind will not appear at all surprising.

Some of the islands in Bass's Straits, where the Penguins are
numerous, are completely intersected by paths and avenues,
and so much care is expended by the birds in the formation
of these little walks that every stick and stone is removed,
and in some instances even the herbage, by which the surface
is rendered so neat and smooth as to appear more hke the
work of the human hand than the labour of one of the lower
animals. The islands generally chosen for this purpose are

530 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

also resorted to by the " Mutton Bird " [Nedris hrcvicaudus),
both species appearing to breed in perfect harmony.

From what I personally observed while residing on the
breeding-islands of this bird, the task of incubation would
seem to be mutually performed by both sexes, each regularly
relieving the other during the night.

The eggs are either deposited in a depression of the surface
of the ground, or in a slanting hole of moderate depth ; they
are two in number, and of a small size compared with the
dimensions and weight of the bird ; they are white, two
inches and a half long and two inches broad.

From their incapacity for running and their total inability
to fly, the parent birds are very easily captured, and when
taken with the hand offer no other resistance than a smart peck
with the bill. The young, until they are nearly as large as
the adult, are covered with a thick coating of long down, which
is suddenly thrown off and replaced by short stiff feathers,
which become perfectly developed before the bird ventures
upon the sea.

The note is hoarse and discordant, almost as loud and
somewhat resembling the barking of a dog.

There is no external difference observable in the sexes,
which may be thus described : —

The feathers of the upper surface light blue, with a fine
black line down the centre of each ; the whole of the under
surface silvery white ; eyes flat ; irides pale bufFy white, with
a net-work of dark brown round the outer margin, and with
a fine* ring of the same colour near the pupil, giving the
appearance of a double iris ; bill horn-colour, deepening into
slaty black on the culmen and tip ; feet yellowish white ;
nails black.

NATATOUES. 521

Sp. 670. EUDYPTULA UNDINA, Gould.

Faery Penguin.

Aptenodytes undina, Gould in Proc, of Zool. Soc, part xii. p. 57.
Eudyptida minor, Bonap. Compt. Rend, de TAcad. Sci., 1856.

Spheiiiscus undina, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. vii. pi. 85.

This is undoubtedly the smallest Penguin yet discovered,
for it is considerably less in size than the S. minor, from
which it also differs in its comparatively smaller wing, and in
the deeper blue colouring of the upper surface of the body :
by many persons it might be regarded as the young of S. minor,
but I invariably found the young of that species, while still
partially clothed in the downy dress of immaturity, to exceed
considerably in size all the examples of this species, even when
adorned in the adult livery, and possessing the hard bill of
maturity \ there can be no question, therefore, of the two
birds being distinct.

Por the first example that came under my notice I am
indebted to the kindness of Ronald C. Gunn, Esq., who in-
formed me that it was one of some hundreds that had been
thrown ashore dead at Circular Head, during one of those severe
gales that occasionally occur in Bass's Straits ; subsequent to
this the bird came under my own observation, and I obtained
another example on Waterhouse Island, where it was breeding.

Its habits, manners, mode of life, and food are precisely
similar to those of S. minor.

The whole of the upper surface, flanks, and upper side of
the wings glossy light blue, with a narrow stripe of black
down the centre of each feather, the black mark being broadest
and most conspicuous on the back ; all the under surface of
the body, the under side and the inner margin of the upper
side of the wings, and the inner webs of the tail-feathers
silky white ; bill reddish brown beneath, black above ; feet
yellowish white.

Total length 13| inches; bill \\; tarsi |.

BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

APPENDIX.

In the Introduction to the present Handbook (vol. i. p. 6)
I have stated that I should confine my remarks " to the birds
of the Australian Continent, Tasmania, and those Islands of
the Great Barrier Reef which properly belong to Australia,"
and this I have accordingly done in the preceding pages ; but
I now think it will be well to append an account of the
species pertaining to other countries, about twenty-four in
number, which have been figured in the folio edition and the
three supplementary parts which have since been issued, as I
believe that the interest of the present volumes will thereby
be enhanced to those who possess the illustrated work. The
species alluded to comprise the curious Bidiinculus strigirodris,
Semioptera wallacei, Strigops habroptilus, and a few others
from New Zealand, Norfolk and Lord Howe's Islands, &c.
These will be arranged in the same order as those which have
preceded them. The names connected with these additional
species will be found in their proper place in the general
Index.

524 BIRDS or AUSTRALIA.

Family STRIGID^.

Genus SCELOGLAUX, Kaup.

But one species of this highly curious form is at present
known.

Sp. 1. SCELOGLAUX ALBIFACIES.

Wekau.

Athene albifacies, G. R. Gray, Voy. of Ereb. and Terr. Birds, p. 2.
Scehglaux albifacies, Kaup. — G. R. Gray, Cat. of Gen. and Subgen.
of Birds in Brit. Mus., p. 8.

Sceloglaux albifacies, G-ould, Birds of Australia, foL, Supplement,
pi.

This bird is one of tlie many strange inhabitants of our
antipodal country New Zealand. An Owl it unquestionably
is, but how widely does it differ from every other member of
its family ! Its prominent bill, swollen nostrils, and small
head are characters as much accipitrine as strigine ; its short
and feeble wings indicate that its powers of flight are limited,
while its lengthened legs and abbreviated toes would appear
to have been given to afford it a compensating increase of pro-
gression over the ground. On what does this bird live?
There are no indigenous small quadrupeds in the country upon
which we might infer, from its structure and what we know of
the economy of other terrestrial Owls (such as the Burrow-
ing Owl of North America, Surnia cmiicularid), it would feed.
Does it partially feed on the larvae of such Lepidoptera as
Hepiahis virescens, so subject to the attack of that singular
fungus the 8phcBria Bobertsi ? It would indeed be interest-
ins: to ascertain how it maintains existence.

Of this very rare and singular bird only two examples are
known to me : of these one is in the British Museum, the
other in the collection of J. H. Giu-ney, Esq., a gentleman

APPENDIX. 525

mucli attached to Ornithology, as his liberal donations to the
Norwich Museum abundantly testify. Both these specimens
were collected on the middle and south islands of New
Zealand : that in the British Museum is the original of Mr.
G. R. Gray's Athene albifacies and the type of Dr. Kaup's
genus Scdoglaux.

The full-sized figure of this bird in the folio edition may
be the means of making it more generally known ; I trust
that the attention of travellers will be directed to the species,
and that ere long we may be furnished with some account
of its habits and economy, of which, at present, nothing is
known.

Mr. Percy Earl, who obtained at Waikonaiti, in the south
island of New Zealand, the specimen in the British Museum,
states that it is known to the natives by the name of Welcau.

Plumage of the upper surface chocolate-brown, each fea-
ther margined with fulvous ; some of the scapularies with a
lengthened mark of dull white within the margin and others
on the edge ; primaries spotted along the outer margin with
buffy white ; secondaries and tertiaries crossed by indistinct
or interrupted bars of buffy white, assuming on those near the
body the form of spots ; spurious wing very dark brown ;
tail brown, crossed by five narrow irregular bars of buffy
white and tipped with fulvous ; fascial disk pale sandy-
brown, except on the forehead, throat, and ear-coverts, which
are whitish, each feather with a streak of brownish-black
down tlie centre ; feathers of the under surface deep fulvous,
with a broad mark of dark brown down the centre of each,
the former tint increasing on the lower part of the abdomen
and thighs, when it again gradually fades into dull white on
the lower part of the tarsi ; toes sickly-green, thinly beset
with hair-like feathers ; cere much developed and of a lead
colour ; bill bluish horn-colour at the base, passing into yel-
lowish horn-colour at the tip, the under mandible yellow.

626 BIRDS or AUSTRALIA.

FamHy SAXICOLID-aE,

Sp. 2. PETROICA ERYTHROGASTRA.

Norfolk Island Robin.

Muscicapa erythrogastra, Lath. Ind. Orn.j vol. ii. p. 479.

multicolor, Gmel. Edit. Linu. Syst. Nat., vol. i. p. 944.

Red-bellied Flycaicher, Lath. Gen. Syn., vol. iii. p. 343. pi. 50.
Petroica pulchella, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, part vii. p. 142, male.
modesta, Gould lb., part v. p. 147, female.

Petroica erythrogastra, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. iii. pi. 4.

Under the impression that this Robin, which I believe to
be strictly confined to Norfolk Island, and the Petroica muti-
color, with which it has been confounded, were identical, and
that the terms erythrogastra and multicolor were synonymous,
I was induced to characterize the male under the name of
pulcliella, and the female under that of modesta, believing as I
then did that they were distinct; subsequent research has
however enabled me to perceive the errors into which I had
fallen, and I now proceed to point out the differences between
the two species, and to restore to the Norfolk Island bird the
term erythrogastra, originally applied to it by Latham. The
P. erythrogastra may be distinguished then from its near ally
by the greater size of the bill ; by the greater extent and more
silvery hue of the white feathers on the forehead ; by the tail
being wholly black, while in the F. multicolor the lateral
feathers are white ; by the white on the wing forming a large
spot near the shoulder, instead of a line as long as the second-
aries ; and by the scarlet of the breast and abdomen being
much more intense in colour : the females of the two birds
also differ from each other, the tail of the P. erythrogastra
being wholly brown, while that of the P. multicolor has the
lateral tail-feathers marked with white.

The male has the forehead silvery white ; a, small patch on

APPENDIX. 527

the wings near the shoulder, under wing-coverts, the flanks,
and under tail-coverts white ; chest and abdomen very rich
scarlet, the remainder of the plumage deep black ; bill black ;
feet brown.

The female has the crown of the head, all the upper surface,
wings, and tail reddish brown ; throat white, tinged with
brown ; chest and centre of the abdomen washed with scarlet ;
lower part of the abdomen and under tail-coverts white ; flanks
brown ; bill blackish brown ; feet yellowish brown.

Family MEKULID^.

Sp. 3. PITTA VIGORSI, Gouid.

Vigors' Pitta.

Pitta brachyura, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p. 218,
Brachyurus vigorsi, Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., torn. i. p. 255, Brachy-

urns, sp. 12.
Coloburis vigorsi, Cab. et Heine, Mus. Hein., Theil ii. p. 4.

Pitta vigorsii, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. iv. pi. 2.

The single specimen of this beautiful species of Pitta which
formed part of the late collection of the Linnean Society of
London, was considered by Vigors to be identical with the
Pitta brachyura, but it differs from that species in many im-
portant characters, among the most conspicuous of which may
be noticed its larger size, and the narrow streak of light
greenish grey which passes from the nostrils over each eye,
and nearly surrounds the occiput.

I have not been able to obtain any decided information
respecting the portion of Australia from which it was said to
have been obtained, and I think it very probable that it may
have been procured in one of the neighbouring islands off the
north coast of that country, especially as it is now stated to
inhabit Lombock.

528 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

Crown of the head, ear-coverts, and back of the neck jet-
black; a narrow stripe of greenish grey commences at the
nostrils, passes over each eye, surrounds the crown, and
nearly unites at the occiput ; back, scapularies, outer edges
of the secondaries, and the greater wing-coverts bronzy green ;
shoulders, rump, and upper tail-coverts fine lazuline blue;
throat white; chest, flanks, and thighs tawny buff; centre of
the abdomen dark blood-red, passing into scarlet on the under
tail-coverts ; primaries black, with a white bar across the
centre of the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth ; tail black, tipped
with green ; bill dark brown ; legs flesh-colour.

Sp. 4. MERULA POLIOCEPHALA.

Grey-headed Blackbird.

Turdus puliocephalus, Lath. Ind. Orn. Supp., xliv. 25.

fuliginosus, Lath, in Lamb. Icon, ined., vol. ii. pi. 42.

Merula nestor, Gould. — Jard. and Selb. 111. Orn., new series, pi. 37.
Ash-headed Thrush, Lath. Gen. Syn. Supp., vol. ii. App. p. 373.
Turdus fuliginosus, Lath. Ind. Orn. Supp., xlii. ?
Sooty Thrush, Lath, Gen. Syn. Supp., vol. ii. p. 185 ?

Meru'a poliocephala, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, Supplement,
pi.

The present species appears to have been known for a
much longer period than I had supposed ; indeed I was not
aware that Latham had given a good description of the bird
under the name of Turdus jjoliocephalus, otherwise I should
not have proposed the additional name of Nestor. When
Norfolk Island was first made a penal settlement, this bird
was doubtless very common there ; but I have reason to
believe it has now become scarce, having been partially
extirpated by the Government oflicers and convicts who
lived on this beautiful island for many years. Some short
time since, I described a second species of this form from
Lord Howe's Island, under the name of Merula vinitiricta ;

APPENDIX. 529

and I have seen a third species in the British Museum,
which I beUeve is from New Caledonia. All these have a
general resemblance both as to form and style of colouring ;
and it would be as well perhaps if they were formed into
a new genus ; for I have always considered them somewhat
removed from the true Mended, of which the Blackbird of
our own island is a familiar example. I have long wished to
know something of the habits and economy of these birds,
but at present nothing has been ascertained : there appears
to be less difference in the colouring of the sexes than occurs
among the MerulcB of the North ; for the birds I consider to
be females are very similarly coloured, and are only a trifle
less in size.

'Head, neck, and front of the throat light ashy brown, the
remainder of the plumage dark sooty black ; in some speci-
mens the under tail-coverts have a stripe of dull white down
the centre of each ; bill, eyelash, and feet yellow.

Sp. 5. MERULA VINITINCTA, Gould.

Vinous-tinted Blackbird.
Merula vinitincta, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, part xxiii. p. 15.

Memla vinitincta, Gould, Bii'ds of Australia, Supplement, fol., pi.

Although birds of this form are common in Europe, India,
Africa, and South America, none have yet been discovered in
Australia and New Zealand; yet, strange to say, two very
distinct species inhabit the small group of islands lying nearly
midway between those two countries. This is rather sur-
prising, and the ornithologist is at a loss to conceive why
such a form should thus be dotted over the face of the globe ;
that, however, such is the fact, is proved by Mr. Macgillivray
having procured two fine examples of the present bird- on
Lord Howe's Island. I regret that no account of their habits
accompanied the specimens, for it would be most interesting

VOL. II. 2 M

530 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

to know the character of the vegetation and other circum-
stances favourable to their existence. In size and form the
Merula vinitincta very closely approximates to the M. nestor
of Norfolk Island, but differs very considerably in its colouring.

The male has the head and nape blackish-brown ; upper
surface and wing-coverts reddish-brown ; wings brown mar-
gined with olivaceous ; tail brown ; throat dark bluish-grey ;
under surface vinaceous red ; bill bright gamboge-yellow ;
eyelash yellow ; tarsi and toes yellow.

Total length 8 inches ; bill 1 ; wing 4 J ; tail 3f ; tarsi 1:^ .

Family ?

Genus NEOMORPHA, Gould.

New Zealand claims for her avi-fauna the only species of
this highly curious form at present known, a form rendered
the more singular from the great difference in the develop-
ment of the mandibles in the two sexes.

Sp. 6. NEOMORPHA GOULDII, G. B. Gray.

HuiA.

Neomorpha acutirostris, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, part iv. p. 144.

crassh'ostris, Gould, lb., p. 145.

■ gouldii, G. E.. Gray, List of Gen. of Birds, p. 12.

Huia, Aborigines of New Zealand.

Neomorpha gouldii, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. iv. pi. 19.

Two specimens of this highly curious and anomalous bird,
male and female, wanting the legs and wings, were described
by me in 1836, when, from the great difference in the form
and length of their bills, I very naturally concluded that they
constituted two distinct species, many genera, even, having
been founded upon more trivial differences of character. Mr.
George Robert Gray, however, entertained a different opinion

APPENDIX. 531

and, while engaged upon his valuable little work entitled ' A
List of the Genera of Birds/ conceiving they w^ere sexes of
the same species, and that, therefore, both my names were
inappropriate, inasmuch as, if either were retained, it might
lead to some misconception, has been pleased to dedicate it
to myself, a compliment which I duly appreciate ; and I have
only to hope that this name may be adopted by ornitho-
logists.

" These birds," says Dr. DiefFenbach, " which the natives call
Huia, are confined to the hills in the neighbourhood of Port
Nicholson, whence the feathers of the tail, which are in great
request among the natives, are sent as presents to all parts of the
island. The Maories regard the bird with the straight and
stout beak as the male, and the other as the female. In three
specimens I shot this was the case, and both birds are always
together. These fine birds can only be obtained with the help
of a native, who calls them with a shrill and long-continued
whistle, resembling the sound of the native name of the
species. After an extensive journey in the hilly forest in
search of them, I had at last the pleasure of seeing four alight
on the lower branches of the trees near which the native
accompanying me stood. They came quick as lightning,
descending from branch to branch, spreading out the tail, and
throwing up the wings. Anxious to obtain them I fired, but
they generally come so near that the natives kill them with
sticks. Their food consists of seeds and insects : of their
mode of nidification the natives could give me no information.

Mr. E. L. Layard, in his ' Ornithological Notes from the
Antipodes,' says, " The ' Huia,' ever a rare bird, is said to be
almost extinct. The tail-feathers are still sought after to
adorn the heads of the chiefs. It is singular that birds not
now used as food by the natives should be scarce and more
wary than in olden times when they formed one of the staple
articles of diet. Can this arise from their fear at the sound of
firearms ? "—7/5/,<?, 1863, p. 244.

2 M '2

532 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

The whole of the plumage black, glossed with green ; the
tail largely tipped with white ; bill horn-colour, much darker
at the base ; wattles rich orange ; legs and toes blackish horn-
colour ; claws light horn-colour.

Family EPIMACHID-51.

Genus SEMIOPTERA, G. R, Gray.

At present the single species known of this genus stands
alone and is rendered very remarkable by the white plumes
which spring from the centre part of each wing.

Sp. 7. SEMIOPTERA WALLACEI, G. B. Gray.

Standard-wing.

Paradisea wallacei, G. R. Gray in Proc. of Zool. Soc^, part xxvii.

p. 130.
Semiopte7'a, G. R. Gray, lb.

Semioptera wallacei, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol.. Supplement,
Pi.

The Standard-wing, the most remarkable Insessorial bird
that has been discovered for many years, was obtained
by A. R. Wallace, Esq., in the island of Batchian, one of the
Moluccas, which, according to Guthrie's ' Geography,' " pro-
duces cloves, is very fruitful, and belongs to the Dutch ; long.
125° 5' E." How much gratified Mr, Wallace must have
been when this remarkable form first met his gaze ! and how
enthusiastically does he write on this and the other objects
with which he was surrounded : —

In a letter to Mr. S. Stevens he says, " Here I have been
only five days, yet I believe I have already secured the Jnest
and most wonderful bird in the island. I consider it the
greatest discovery I have yet made ; and it gives me hopes of
getting other species in Gilolo and Ceram. There is also here
a species of Monkey — much further eastwards than in any

APPENDIX. 533

other island ; so you see this is a most curious locality, com-
bining forms of the East and West of the Archipelago, yet
with species peculiar to itself. It also differs from all the other
Moluccas in its geological formation, containing iron, coal,
copper, and gold, with a glorious forest vegetation, and fine
large mountain streams : it is a continent in miniature. The
Dutch are working the coals ; and there is a good road to the
mines, which gives one easy access to the interior forests."

At the meeting of the Zoological Society, held on the 22nd
March, 1859, Mr. G. R. Gray remarked that "this bird
proves to be a new form : it has, springing from the lesser
coverts of each wing, two long shafts, both of which are
w^ebbed on each side at the apex. It is the possession of
these peculiar winged standards that induces me to propose
for it the subgeneric appellation of Semioptera \ and I further
add the provisional specific name of wallacei, which a:ppella-
tion I think is justly due to Mr. Wallace for the indefatigable
energy he has hitherto shown in the advancement of ornitho-
logical and entomological knowledge, by visiting localities
rarely if ever travelled by naturalists."

This beautiful bird is very closely allied to Ptilorhis, and on
comparing it with the well-known Rifle-bird of Australia,
Ptilorhis paradisea, it will be seen that they are very similar
both in their structure and in the disposition of their mark-
ings : the same great difference in the outward appearance of
the sexes also occurs in both.

Mr. Wallace informed me in a letter, which I subsequently
read at a meeting of the Zoological Society, that " the Semi-
optera frequents the lower trees of the virgin forests, and is
almost constantly in motion. It flies from branch to branch
and clings to the twigs and even to the vertical smooth trunks
almost as easily as a Woodpecker. It continually utters a harsh
croaking cry, something between that oi Paradisea apodaaud
the more musical cry of Cicinnurus regius. The males, at
short intervals, open and flutter their wings, erect the long

534 BIEDS OF AUSTRx\LIA.

shoulder feathers, and expand the elegant shields on each
side of the breast. Like the Birds of Paradise, the females
and young birds far outnumber the fully plumaged birds,
which renders it probable that the extraordinary accessory
plumes are not fully developed until the third or fourth year.
The bird seems to feed principally upon fruit, but it probably
takes insects occasionally.

"I have obtained a few examples of apparently the same
bird from Gilolo, but in these the crown is of a more decided
violet hue, and the plumes of the breast are much larger."

On the basal half of the upper mandible a series of erected
tuft-like feathers of a pale sandy buff, blending on the forehead
into the delicate velvety dove-coloured feathers of the crown
and occiput ; sides of the head, back of the neck, and upper
surface light brown, becoming darker and having a velvety
appearance on the back and scapularies, each of these feathers
has also a very narrow edging of a lighter hue ; wings light
brown, fading into buffy white, with a silver gloss at the tips
of the primaries and secondaries ; shafts of the primaries
white ; the two lengthened plumes springing from each shoul-
der snowy white ; tail brown with white shafts, and becoming
of a silvei y light brown at the tip ; throat, neck, chest, and
projecting side-feathers of the breast bordered with brilliant
green, giving it a scaled appearance ; flanks washed with the
same colour, but less brilliant ; thighs light brown ; irides
deep blue ; bill horny-olive ; feet orange ; claws horny.

The female has the tuft on the upper mandible and the
crown of the head the same as in the male, and is entirely de-
void of the green colouring and lengthened plumes both of the
breast and wings, her entire plumage being brown, without
ornamentation of any kind.

APPENDIX. 535

Family ?

Sp. 8. ZOSTEROPS ALBIGULARIS, Gould.

White-breasted Zosterops.
Zosterops alhogularis, Gould in Proc. of Zool. See, part iv. p. 75.

Zosterops albogularis, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, Supplement,
pi.

The members of the genus Zosterops have a most extensive
range over the Old World. India proper has its own pecu-
liar species, and so have Southern Africa, Japan, and China ;
but the countries in which the species are most numerous are
Australia, Lord Howe's and Norfolk Islands, and the great
Papuan group, including New Caledonia and the adjacent
islands : in all these localities they occur in abundance.
Every island appears to have its own particular species, and
some of them two or three : Lord Howe's Island has two, and
in Norfolk and Philip Islands two others occur, and there are
at least three or four very distinct species in Australia. The
present bird was characterized by me as long since as August
1836 ; its native country is Norfolk Island, whence specimens
have been sent from time to time ever since it was formed
into a penal settlement. As is the case with the other
members of the genus, there appears to be but little difference
in the outward characters of the sexes, all the specimens that
have reached this country being very similar.

All the upper surface and wing-coverts greenish olive,
strongly tinged with chestnut on the back ; wings and tail
brown, margined with olive-green ; a broad zone of white
feathers surrounds each eye, bounded in front and below with
black ; throat and centre of the abdomen white ; flanks pale
chestnut ; under tail-coverts pale yellow ; bill and legs lead-
colour.

Total length 5^ inches; bill \; wing 3 ; tail 2-J-; tarsi 1.

586 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

Sp. 9. ZOSTEROPS TENUIROSTRIS, Gould.
Long-billed Zosterops.

Zosterops ienuirostris, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, part iv. p. 7Q.

lateralis, Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 198, Zosterops,

sp. 5.

Zosterops tenuirostris, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., Supplement,
pi.

The specific name of tenuirostris has been given to this bird
from the circumstance of its bill being more prolonged than
those of the other members of the genus ; its body is also
more slender and elegant in contour than that of any of its
congeners. Its native country is Norfolk Island, whence all
the specimens I have seen have been forwarded by way of
New South Wales. It is a very distinct and well-defined
species, and is of large size when compared with most of its
near allies. Of its manners and mode of life nothing has yet
been recorded, which is much to be regretted, as they might
present some peculiarities consequent upon the particular
character of the vegetation of the remote island it inhabits,
the native productions of which diff'er very considerably from
that of Australia. I fear the time is gone by when we might
expect to glean any information respecting it, for it can
scarcely be supposed that the Pitcairn Islanders, who now
inhabit Norfolk Island, have acquired a taste for natural
history.

All the specimens I have seen being similarly coloured, I
believe that the sexes, like those of Zosterops alhogularis, do
not diff'er in outward appearance.

Head, all the upper surface, and wing-coverts olive-green,
brightest on the head and upper tail-coverts ; wings and tail
brown, margined with olive-green ; throat yellow, stained
with red in the centre ; centre of the abdomen and under
tail-coverts pale yellow ; flanks olive brown ; bill and legs
light brown, inclining to lead-colour ; eye surrounded by a

APPENDIX. 537

narrow zone of white feathers, bounded below by a Hne of
blackish brown.

Total length 5| inches ; bill | ; wing 2f ; tail 2^ ; tarsi |.

Sp. 10. ZOSTEROPS STRENUUS, GouU.

Robust Zosterops.
Zosterops strenuus, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, part xxiii. p. 166.

Zosterops strenuus, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, Supplement, pi.

Lord Howe's Island, although but scantily supplied with
vegetation, is not devoid of bird-life even of the great order
of Insessores, being inhabited by at least two species of the
present genus. Her Majesty's Ship ' Herald,' commanded by
Captain Denham, having paid a visit to this interesting spot
in the wide ocean, Mr. Macgillivray had an opportunity of
extending his fame as a successful naturalist by securing and
sending, with many other interesting objects, an example
of each of these species, which I find to be quite different
from all others that have come under my notice. Its prominent
characters consist in its comparatively great size, robust body
and powerful bill ; at the same time, in the general style of
its colouring, in its snow-white eye-ring, and in all other
essential points, it closely agrees with the other species of
the genus of which it is a member.

The only specimen of this new bird which has yet been
transmitted to this country now forms part of the National
Collection.

Head and upper surface bright olive-green, with a mark of
dark grey across the shoulders ; wings and tail slaty-brown,
margined with greenish-olive ; eyes surrounded by the usual
ring of white feathers, beneath which is a narrow line of
black ; chin and throat yellow ; flanks pale vinaceous-brown ;
centre of the abdomen nearly white ; imder tail-coverts pale
yellow ; bill and feet bluish-black.

Total length 5f inches ; bill 1 ; wing 2-1 ; tail 2 J ; tarsi |-.

538 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

Sp. 11. ZOSTEROPS TEPHROPLEURUS, Gould.

Grey-breasted Zosterops.
Zosterops tephropleuriLS, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, part xxiii. p. 166.

Zosterops tephropleurus, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., Supple-
ment, pi.

The Grey-breasted Zosterops, the second species sent from
Lord Howe's Island by Mr. Macgillivray, rather exceeds in
size the well-known Australian Z. dorsalis, and moreover
differs in having a much more robust bill and less highly
coloured flanks; in other respects the two birds are very
similar.

Head and upper surface bright olive-green, with a wash of
grey across the shoulders ; wings and tail slaty-brown, mar-
gined with olive-green ; throat dull yellow ; around the eyes
a circle of white feathers, below which is a mark of black ;
under surface pale vinaceous-brown, becoming gradually
paler on the lower part of the abdomen, and passing into the
pale yellow of the under tail-coverts.

Total length 4f inches ; bill f ; wing 2f ; tail 2^ ; tarsi f .

Among the many pleasing recollections connected with my
explorations in Australia, none are more grateful than those
pertaining to this little group of birds, whose pretty cup-
shaped nests and spotless blue eggs remind one of those of
our own Hedge Accentor.

Pamily PSITTACID-aE.

Genus STRIGOPS, G. R. Gray.

I question if any country is tenanted by so many extra-
ordinary and anomalous ornithological forms as New Zealand.
The singular forms there found may be regarded as a set-off
to the almost entire absence of Mammals. Among the birds
the Strigops will ever be regarded with interest ; and it is to
be regretted that so curious a bird should be nearly extinct.

APPENDIX. 539

and equally so that no law for the preservation of such
interesting objects has been instituted.

Sp. 12. STRIGOPS HABROPTILUS, G. R. Gray.

Kakapo.
Strigops habroptilus, Gray, Gen. of Birds, vol. ii. p. 427. pi. cv.

Strigops habroptilus, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol, Supplement,

Pl.
Long before 1845, when a skin of this extraordinary Parrot
was for the first time sent to Europe, we had conclusive evi-
dence of the existence of the species, from the circumstance
of plumes made of its feathers being worn by the Maories. It
is somewhat strange, however, that such a lengthened period
should have elapsed after the discovery and possession of New
Zealand before so singular a bird should have found its way
to Europe. At no very distant date it doubtless inhabited
alike all the islands of the New Zealand group ; but it pro-
bably no longer exists in the northern island, its extirpa-
tion thence being doubtless attributable to a variety of
causes : it is that portion of the country in which the natives
have chiefly resided, and the introduction since the visit of
the celebrated navigator Cook, of the Pig, the Dog, the Cat,
and that universal pest the brown or Norway Rat, has doubt-
less tended greatly to produce such a result ; for these animals
having now become wild, we may reasonably infer that they
have played no inconsiderable part in the destruction, not
only of this comparatively helpless bird, but of many others ;
the time is probably not far distant when these marauders
will obtain a footing in the middle and southern islands,
the result of which may be anticipated by what has already
occurred.

The first published account of this singular bird is that
given by Dr. Lyall, R.N.,in the Proceedings of the Zoological
Society of London for 1852, M'hich I here transcribe : —

" Although the Kakapo is said to be still found occasionally

540 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

on some parts of the high mountains in the interior of the
north island of New Zealand, the only place where we met
with it, dm'ing our circumnavigation and exploration of the
coasts of the islands in H.M.S. 'Acheron,' was at the S.W. end
of the middle island. There, in the deep sounds which in-
tersect that part of the island, it is still found in considerable
numbers, inhabiting the dry spurs of hills or fiats near the
banks of rivers, where the trees are high, and the forest com-
paratively free from fern or underwood.

" The first place where it was obtained was on a hill nearly
4000 feet above the level of the sea. It was also found living
in communities on flats near the mouths of rivers close to the
sea. In these places its tracts resembled footpaths made by
man, and led us at first to imagine that there must be natives
in the neighbourhood. These tracks were about a foot wide,
regularly pressed down to the edges, which are two or three
inches deep amongst the moss, and cross each other usually at
right angles.

" The Kakapo lives in holes under the roots of trees, and is
also occasionally found under shelving rocks. The roots of
many New Zealand trees growing partly above ground, holes
are common under them ; but where the Kakapo is found
many of the holes appeared to have been enlarged, although no
earth was ever found thrown out near them. There were
frequently two openings to these holes, and occasionally, though
rarely, the trees over them were hollow for some distance up.

" The only occasion on which the Kakapo was seen to fly
was when it got up one of these hollow trees and was driven
to an exit higher up. The flight was very short, the wings
being scarcely moved ; and the bird alighted on a tree at a
lower level than the place from whence it had come, but soon
got higher up by climbing, using its tail to assist it.

" Except when driven from its holes, the Kakapo is never
seen during the day, and it was only by the assistance of
dogs that we were enabled to find it.

APPENDIX. 541

" Before dogs became common, and when the bird was
plentiful in inhabited parts of the islands, the natives were in
the habit of catching it at night, using torches to confuse it.
It offers a formidable resistance to a dog, and sometimes
inflicts severe wounds with its powerful claws and beak. At
a very recent period it was common all over the west coast of
the middle island, but there is now a race of wild dogs said
to have overrun all the northern part of this shore, and to have
almost extirpated the Kakapos wherever they have reached.
Their range is said to be at present confined by a river or
some such physical obstruction, and it is to be feared that if
they once succeeded in gaining the stronghold of the Kakapo
(the S.W. end of the island) the bird may soon become extinct.

" During the latter half of February and the first half of
March, whilst we w^ere amongst the haunts of these birds, we
found young ones in many of the holes, frequently only one,
never more than two, in the same hole. In one case where
there were two young ones I found also an addled e^g. There
was usually, but not always, an old bird in the same hole
with the young ones.

" They build no nest, but simply scrape a slight hollow
amongst the dry dust formed of decayed wood. The young
were of different ages, some being nearly fully fledged, and
others covered only with down. The egg is white and about
the size of a pigeon's, two inches and an eighth long by one
inch and nine-sixteenths broad.

" The cry of the Kakapo is a hoarse croak, varied occasion-
ally by a discordant shriek when irritated or hungry. The
Maories say that during winter they assemble together in large
numbers in caves, and at the times of meeting, and, again be-
fore dispersing to their summer haunts, that the noise they
make is perfectly deafening.

" A good many young ones were brought on board the
ship alive. Most of them died a few days afterwards, pro-
bably from want of sufficient care ; some died after being

542 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

kept a month or two, and the legs of others became deformed
after they had been a few weeks in captivity. The cause of
the deformity was supposed to be the want of proper food,
and too close confinement. They were fed chiefly on soaked
bread, oatmeal, and water and boiled potatoes. When let
loose in a garden they would eat lettuces, cabbages, and grass,
and would taste almost every green leaf that they came across.
One, which I brought within six hundred miles of England
(when it was accidentally killed), whilst at Sydney, ate eagerly
of the leaves of a Banksia and several species of Eucalyptus,
as well as grass, appearing to prefer them all to its usual diet
of bread and water. It was also very fond of nuts and
almonds, and during the latter part of the homeward voyage
lived almost entirely on Brazilian ground-nuts.

" On several occasions the bird took sullen fits, during
which it would eat nothing for two or three days at a time,
screaming and defending itself with its beak when any one
attempted to touch it. It was at all times of an uncertain
temper, sometimes biting severely when such a thing was
least expected, It appeared to be always in the best humour
when first taken out of its box in the morning, hooking on
eagerly with its upper mandible to the finger held down to
lift it out. As soon as it was placed on the deck it would
attack the first object which attracted its attention — some-
times the leg of my trowsers, sometimes a slipper or a boot.
Of the latter it was particularly fond ; it would nestle down
upon it, flapping its wings and showing every symptom of
pleasure. It would then get up, rub against it with its sides,
and roll upon it on its back, striking out with its feet whilst
in this position.

" One of these birds, sent on shore by Capt. Stokes to the
care of Major Murray of the 05tli Regiment at Wellington,
was allowed to run about his garden, where it was fond of
the society of the children, following them like a dog wherever
they went.

APPENDIX. 543

"Nearly all the adult Kakapos which I skinned were
exceedingly fat, having a thick layer of oily fat or blubber on
the breast which it was very difficult to separate from the
skin. Their stomachs contained a pale green, sometimes
almost white, homogeneous mass, without any trace of fibre
in it.

"There can be little doubt but that their food consists
partly of roots (their beaks are usually more or less covered
with indurated mud), and partly of the leaves and tender
shoots of various plants. At one place where the birds were
numerous we observed that the young shoots of a leguminous
shrub growing by the banks of a river were all nipped off,
and this was said by our pilot, who had frequented these
places for many years in a whaling vessel, to be the work of
the KaJcapo.

"Their flesh is white, and is generally esteemed good
eating."

I have also been kindly favoured with the following notes
on this bird by His Excellency Sir George Grey.

" The Strigops is called Kaha-po or Night Kaka by the
aborigines of New Zealand, from the nocturnal habits of the
bird. During the day it remains hid in holes under the
roots of trees or rocks ; or, very rarely, perched on the boughs
of trees with a very dense thick foliage : at these times it
appears stupid from its profound sleep, and if disturbed or
taken from its hole immediately runs and tries to hide itself
again, delighting, if practicable, to cover itself in a heap of
soft dry grass ; about sunset it becomes lively, animated, and
playful, issues forth from its retreat and feeds on grass, weeds,
vegetables, fruits, seeds, and roots : when eating grass it
rather grazes than feeds, nibbling the grass in the manner of
a rabbit or wombat. It sometimes climbs trees, but generally
remains upon the ground, and only uses its short wings for
the purpose of aiding its progress when running, balancing
itself when on a tree or in making a short descent, half-jump,

544 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

half-flight from a higher to a lower bough. When feeding, if
pleased with its food, it makes a continued grunting noise :
it is a greedy bird and choice in its food, showing an evident
relish for anything of which it is fond. It cries repeatedly
during the night with a noise not very unlike that of the
Kaka, but not so loud.

" The KaJcapo is a very clever and intelligent bird, in fact
singularly so ; contracts a strong afl'ection for those who are
kind to it, shows its attachment by climbing about and rub-
bing itself against its friend, and is eminently a social and
playful bird ; indeed, were it not for its dirty habits, it makes
a far better pet than any other bird with which I am ac-
quainted ; for its manner of showing its attachment, by play-
fulness and fondling, is more like that of a dog than a bird.

" It builds in holes under trees and rocks, and lays two or
three white eggs, about the size of a Pullet's, in the month of
February ; and the young birds are found in March.

" At present, 1854, the bird is known to exist only in the
middle island of New Zealand, on the west coast, between
Chalky Harbour and Jackson's Bay, and in the northern
island about the sources of the Whangarie, and in part of the
Taufa countries. It was, within the recollection of the old
people, abundant in every part of New Zealand, and they say
that it has been exterminated by the cats introduced by
Europeans, which are now found wild and in great numbers
in every part of the country ; they say also that the large rat,
introduced from Europe, has done its part in the work of
destruction.

" The natives assert, that when the breeding-season is over
the Kakapo lives in societies of five or six in the same hole ;
and they also state that it is a provident bird, and lays up in
the fine season a store of fern-root for the bad weather. I
have had five or six of these birds in captivity, but never suc-
ceeded in keeping them ahve for more than eighteen months
or two years. The last I had I sent home as a present to

APPENDIX. 545

the Zoological Society, but I am informed it died off Cape
Horn."

Since the above was published, Mr. Julius Haast, of Can-
terbury, New Zealand, has published some notes on this
species in the ' Verhandlungen ' of the Zoological and Bota-
nical Association of Vienna, of October 10th, 1863, a trans-
lation of which is given in the 'Ibis' for 1864, p. 340, from
which the following are extracts : —

" The principal resorts of the Kakapo are the grass-plots
in the open and mossy beech-woods near mountain streams,
and rocky declivities, beneath large moss-covered stones over-
grown by beech-roots ; also the mossy banks of the larger
rivers which are occasionally flooded by a sudden thaw or
heavy rains. It is remarkable that it is never found on the
eastern side of the Alps, though extensive beech-forests
occur there also : the only part excepted is the valley of the
Makavora Kiver, which forms the Wanaka Lake. It appears,
therefore, to be confined to the western slope of the principal
mountain-chain, and only to pass over the low and wooded
defile that leads from the sources of the Haast River to those
of the Makavora. Even here, however, it is not found beyond
the mouth of the river near the Wanaka Lake, as lower down
there are no forests. The Kakapo is very frequently met
with in the valley of the last-named river and in the Maka-
vora forest. In the Wilkin Valley it is less numerous, and in
the Hunter Valley it is not to be met with. Until now it has
been supposed to be a night bird, but my observations con-
vince me that this is not always the case. It is true that its
call is mostly heard about an hour after sunset, at which time
it commences to roam about where the thick foliage creates a
kind of artificial darkness, but I have several times met with
it in the daytime. On one occasion as soon as the bird saw
me it threw itself off the tree as if it were shot and escaped
under some large fragments of rock, without opening its
wings or using them in any way to ])reak its fall. It is

VOL. II. 2 N

546 BIRDS or AUSTRALIA.

strange that a bird with well-formed wings should prefer to
use its feet as a means of locomotion, especially when the feet
seem rather formed, from the position of the toes, for climbing
than for walking or for running. To ascertain whether the
Kakapo would not fly, or at least flutter when pursued, I had
a large specimen which had been captured by my dog with-
out being injured, brought to an open place where there was
sufficient space to open its wings while running ; but instead
of attempting so to do the bird ran towards the nearest thicket,
moving much like a fowl with a celerity that, considering the
position of its toes and its unwieldy form, greatly surprised
me. Viewed sideways the wings appeared to be closely
pressed to the body, but from behind they were observed to
be sliglitly open, more apparently for the purpose of preserving
a right balance than to aid it in running. Though the body
does not seem formed for much locomotion it roams to con-
siderable distances sometimes. On one occasion we found
the impression of its feet in sand more than half a mile from
the river's bank. The crops of those we examined were gene-
rally filled with enormous quantities of minutely divided
moss ; they were greatly distended, and sometimes so heavy
that a single one weighed several ounces. Two specimens
had eaten the berries of a species of Coriaria, which had given
a peculiar smell to their flesh. A peculiarity resulting from
this vegetable diet is that the bird instead of having, like
others, an oily soft kind of fat under the skin, possesses a
great quantity of firm and white fat. Its flesh is better and
more substantial than that of any other species of Parrot and
of exquisite flavour .... I expected to find the Kakapo in
well-excavated caves, with entrances which would only permit
the inhabitant to enter; but I found, with a single exception,
that the habitations consisted of clefts or fissures in rocks,
holes between the roots of decayed trees, or natural openings
between fragments of rock, where my large dog easily entered,
and generally returned, head foremost, carrying his prey in his

APPENDIX.

547

mouth. The Maories told me the Kakapo was a very valiant
bird, and often fought successfully with their dogs ; but my
dog, though punished at times, never had a serious battle

with one of them It has been said that the Kakapo

lives in flocks, but I have never found more than one bird in
a hole, though very frequently I have observed a second hole
about thirty or forty yards distant, the bird in which was
generally of a different sex from the first. It appears to me,
therefore, that the birds live singly, but at night go together
in pairs for the double purpose of feeding and reproduction.
When the female roams about with her young she utters a
peculiar call, more resembling the grunting of a pig than
anything else.

" In former years the Marnia plains were a celebrated
hunting-ground of the Maories for this bird. They generally
went there on fine moonlio-ht nio;hts when the berries of the
Tertu [Coriaria sarmentosa), a favourite food of the bird,
were ripe, and ran them doAvn partly with dogs, or even killed
them with long sticks upon the Tertu bushes. Another mode
was when they had found their holes to introduce a long
stick to which they had fastened several strong flax snares ;
feeling the bird with the end of it, they twisted the stick
until some part of the bird was caught in the snares, and thus
drew it out. The cry of the Kakapo, heard during the night,
very much resembles the gobble of the Turkey."

The following is Mr. G. R. Gray's description of this
remarkable species : —

" Upper surface sap-green, with a verdigris tinge on the
wings ; each feather marked in the middle with yellow, which
is margined on the sides with black, from which spring irre-
gular transverse bands of the same colour ; the outer webs of
the greater wing-coverts, quills, secondaries, and entire tail
brownish buff, irregularly banded transversely with black ;
between every alternate set lemon-yellow ; the inner webs of
quills and secondaries black, more or less transversely banded

2 N 2

548 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

with lemon-yellow ; under surface pale greenish yellow, tinged
with lemon-yellow, more or less marked along the shaft with
pale yellow, which is narrowly margined with brownish black ;
some of the feathers have transverse bands of the same colour ;
the top of the head brownish black, margined outerly with
sap-green, tinged in some places with verdigris, and marked
in the middle with pale yellow ; the front cheeks, ear-coverts,
and the projecting feathers of the face pale umber, marked in
the middle with yellowish white ; bill white ; feet plumbeous-
black.

Total length 2 feet 4 inches ; bill 1 inch 8 lines ; wings 11^ ;
tail 9J; tarsi If.

Genus NESTOR, M'agler.

Proposed for the Psittacus hypopolius, the only species of
the form then known, but of which three others have since
been discovered.

Sp. 13. NESTOR HYPOPOLIUS.

Ka-ka Parrot.

Psittacus hijpopolius, Forst. Draw., No. 50.

meridionalis, Gmel. Edit. Linn. Syst. Nat., torn. i. p. 333.

nestor, Lath. Lid. Orn., vol. i. p. 110.

australis, Shaw, Mus. Lever., pi. at p. 87.

(Kakadoe) nestor, Kuhl, Consp. Psitt. in Nov. Act. pp. 12, 86.

Nestor hypopolius, Wagl. INIon. Psitt. in Abhand. &c., pp. 505, 696.
Southern Brown Parrot, Lath. Gen. Syn., vol. i. p. 264.
Nestor novce-zelandia, Less. Traite d'Orn., p. 191.
Centrourus australis, Swains. Class, of Birds, vol. ii. p. 303.
Ka-ka, Natives of New Zealand.

Nestor hypopolius, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., Supplement, pL

Although New Zealand has been known to us since the
days of our celebrated voyager Captain Cook, and been a
British possession for so many years, but little has been
recorded respecting the habits and economy of this species of

APPENDIX. 549

Parrot. Had an opportunity offered for my visiting New
Zealand, this void in the history of one of the most interesting
of the great group of Parrots should certainly have been filled
up ; and I would call the attention of the residents of New
Zealand to the subject, in the hope that some of them will
study and record the habits and economy of the bird before
it be extirpated, and its name and a few stuffed skins alone
left as an evidence of its once having existed.

In his ' Notes on the Birds of New Zealand,' a translation
of which will be found in the ' Ibis ' for 1 8C2, Dr. Juhus
Haast says : — " The noisy Kaka plays a conspicuous role in
the forest. It is a gregarious bird, perching generally on the
highest trees ; but, as soon as the assembled flock hear a
noise unknown to them, they approach and amuse the
traveller by their various quarrelsome notes and shrieks. If
in shooting at them one only be wounded so that it may be
secured, it is an easy matter to shoot one after the other, as
they always come back when they hear the cry of a wounded

companion." If surprised by a dog the Kaka becomes

" a respectable opponent, for with outstretched wings he
throws himself on his back, and defends himself stoutly with
bill and claws."

A very great dissimilarity both in size and colouring occurs
in different examples of this species, so much so as to induce
a belief, both in my own mind and in that of others, that they
may constitute two species. Some of the specimens have the
whole of the crown and back of the neck and the outer portion
of the wings bluish grey ; others appear to be real Nestors,
having very hoary heads ; some have very distinct collars of
beautiful fringed feathers at the back of the neck, while in
others this featm'e is more feebly developed. It will be a
question for the colonists to determine if there be more than
a single species, or if the differences seen in the skins sent to
Europe are indications only of local varieties, and to what
cause they may be due.

550 BIRDS or AUSTRALIA.

Crown of the head and nape hoary, sHghtly tinged with
green, and with a narrow edging of brown to each feather;
ear-coverts striated with dull orange and brown ; feathers at
the cheeks and front of the throat hoary, bordered with
brown, and washed with red at the base of the bill ; all the
nppcr surface olive-brown, each feather margined with dark
brown, and the feathers of the neck tipped with three semi-
circles of orange-brown and orange ; wings and tail olive,
becoming paler on the margins and tip ; under wing-coverts
scarlet, crossed by narrow bands of black ; primaries and
secondaries deeply toothed on their internal webs with light
salmon-colour, those of the tail with deep reddish salmon-
colour ; feathers of the breast olive, with a narrow crescent of
brown near the tip, beyond which is a second of dark reddish
orange ; lower part of the back, upper tail-coverts, abdomen,
and under tail-coverts olive, largely tipped with deep rich red,
within which, near the end, is a narrow crescent of brown ;
bill horny ; feet mealy brown.

Sp. 14. NESTOR PRODUCTUS, Gould.

Phillip Island Parrot.

Wilson's Parrakeet, Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. ii. p. 170?

Long -hilled Parr akeet. lb., p. 171?

Plyctolophus pruductus, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, part iv. p. 19.

Nestor productus, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. v. pi. 6.

I regret to state that the native haunts of this fine bird
have been so intruded upon, and such a war of extermination
been carried on against it, that it is now entirely extirpated,
and a few stuft'ed specimens are the only mementos of its
having existed. Until lately it still lived on Philip Island
(an islet lying off Norfolk Island), but in this small domain
it is no longer to be found.

During my stay at Sydney I had an opportunity of seeing
a living example in the possession of Major Anderson, and

APPENDIX. 551

was much interested with many of its actions, wliich were so
different from those of every other member of its family, that 1
felt convinced they were equally different and curious in a
state of nature. This bird was not confined to a cage, but
permitted to range over the house, along the floors of Avhicli
it passed, not with the awkward waddling gait of a Parrot
but in a succession of leaps, precisely after the manner of the
Corvidcd. Mrs. Anderson, to whom T am indebted for the little
I could learn respecting it, informed me that it was found
among the rocks and upon the loftiest trees of Philip Island, that
it was so tame as to be readily taken aliVe with a noose, and
that it fed upon the blossoms of the white- wood tree, or white
Hibiscus, sucking the honey of the flowers : the mention of
this latter circumstance induced me to examine the tono:ue of
the bird, which presented a very peculiar structure, not, like
that of the true honey-feeding Parrakeets (the Trichot^lossi),
furnished with a brush-like termination, but with a narrow
horny scoop on the under side, which, together with the ex-
tremity of the tongue, resembled the end of a finger with the
nail beneath instead of above : this peculiarity in the struc-
tm'e of the organ is doubtless indicative of a corresponding pe-
culiarity in the nature of the food upon which the bird sub-
sists. Mrs. Anderson told me that it lays four eggs in the
hollow part of a tree, but beyond this I was unable to ascer-
tain anything respecting its nidification. I may mention that
I once saw a living example of the bird in England. It was
in the possession of Sir. J. P. Miflbank, Bart., who informed
me that it evinced a strong partiality to the leaves of the com-
mon lettuce and other soft vegetables, and that it was also
very fond of the juice of fruits, of cream and butter.

It would appear from the numerous specimens I have ex-
amined that the sexes scarcely differ from each other in colour;
the young, on the contrary, have but little of the j'ich yellow
and red markings of the breast, that part being olive- brown
like the back.

552 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

The general colour of the upper surface brown ; head and
back of the neck tinged with grey, the feathers of these parts
as well as of the back margined with a deeper tint ; rump,
belly, and under tail-coverts deep red ; cheeks, throat, and
chest yellow, the former tinged with red ; shoulders on their
inner surface yellow tinged with rufous olive; tail-feathers
banded at the base with orange-yellow and brown ; the inner
webs of the quill-feathers at the base and beneath, with dusky
red and brown ; irides very dark brown ; bill brown ; nos-
trils, bare skin round the eve, and feet dark olive-brown.

Sp. 15. NESTOR ESSLINGII, De Souance.

Prince of Essling's Parrot.

Nestor esslingii, De Souance, Rev. et Mag. de Zool. 1856, p. 223.
novcB-zelandicB, Bouap. Rev. et Mag. de Zool. 1854, p. 155.

Nestor esslingii, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, Supplement pi.

A single specimen only of this magnificent Parrot has come
under my notice ; and this example is perhaps the only one
that has yet been sent to Europe. It formerly formed part of
the collection of the Prince D'Essling of Paris, but now graces
the National Museum of Great Britain. It is in a most per-
fect state of preservation, and is, without exception, one of the
finest species, not only of its genus, but of the great family of
Parrots. The native country of this bird is supposed to be
New Zealand; but I, as well as M. de Souance, have failed
to learn anything definite on this point. In size it even ex-
ceeds the great Ka-ka {Nestor hj/popolius), which it resembles
in the form of its beak, while in its general colouring it closely
assimilates to the iV^. producfus ; in some features of its plu-
mage, however, it differs from both. In both those species
the tail-feathers are strongly toothed on the under surface with
red ; in the N. esslingii no such marks occiu", the toothing on
the iimer webs of the primaries is not so clear and well de-

APPENDIX. 553

fined, and the liglit-coloured interspaces are more freckled
with brown.

I need scarcely remark how interesting additional examples
of any of these rare Parrots would be to our collections, espe-
cially of the present species ; second only to which would be
a knowledge of the country it inhabits.

The following is M. de Souance's account of this bird,
which, as he is the original describer of this species, is given
in his own words : —

" Nestor Esslingii, nob. Le Nestor dont nous allons
donner la description est, sans contredit, I'oiseau le plus re-
marquable de la collection Massena. Intermediaire entre le
N. hjpopolius et le N. j^roductuSy ce magnifique Perroquet
reunit, dans son plumage, des details caracteristiques de ces
deux especes.

" Coloration generale semblable a celle du N. Jij/popoUus :
tout le dessus de la tete gris blanchatre, les plumes auricu-
laires jaune orange tres-vif, les joues rouge orange ; les plumes
de la poitrine gris cendre, mais largement bordces de brun ;
une large ceinture d'un blanc jaunatre regne sur le milieu du
ventre ; le bas-ventre, les cuisses et les couvertures de la
queue rouge brun ; bee et pieds de couleur sombre. L. T.
50 cent, ; aile 30 cent. Nouvelle-Zelande ? Un autre in-
dividu, jeune, ressemble tout-a-fait au jeune de I'espece ordi-
naire, mais il offre quelques plumes blanches sur I'abdomen, ce
qui indique clairement qu'il appartient a cette espece.

" En comparant cette espece avec ses deux congcneres plus
anciemicment connus, nous voyons qu'il differe du N. /ij/popo-
lius, dont, au reste, il est fort voisin, par la coloration plus
vive de ses joues et par sa ceinture blanche. Nous signale-
rons dans le iV. prodtidus, un fait analogue a celui que nous
avons deja remarquc dans les Lorictdus 2jMlippe7isis, L. Regu-
lus, L. Bonajjarti; c'est-a-dire, le prolongement excessif dela
mandibule superieure, qui rappelle ce que Ton voit parmi les
especes americaines, chez V Enicognathus Icpiorhynchus, et

554 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

pour les Cacatoes, dans le genre Licmetis. Ici rien de pareil
n'a lieu : le bee entiereraent semblable a celui du N. hijpopo-
lius. M. Gould, dans ses ' Oiseaux de I'Australie/ figure un
jeune N. produdus, qui par sa poitrine grise semblerait avoir
quelques rapports avec cette espece et qui s'en eloigne beau-
coup cependant par sa tete brune et la forme de son bee.
Nous caracterisons done les trois especes de Nestor de la
maniere suivante : — 1° TV. hjpopolius. Bee grand et fort ;
dessus de la tete blanc grisatre ; plumes auriculaires et joues
faiblement nuancees de jaune et de rouge. 2° N. Esslingii.
Bee grand et fort ; sommet de la tete blanc grisatre ; plumes
auriculaires et joues tres vivement colorees de jaune et de
rouge orange ; poitrine gris brun, une large ceinture blanc
jaunatre sur I'abdomen. '6° N. p)rodiictiis. Bee tres-allonge et
grele; sommet de la tete brun; les joues d'un jaune nuance
de rouge ; la gorge, la poitrine et les couvertures inferieures
des ailes jaune pale. Le jeune a la poitrine brune."

To this list M. de Souanee would doubtless have added my
Nestor fiotahilis had he been aware of its existence.

Sp. 16. NESTOR NOTABILIS, Gould.

Kea Parrot.
Nestor notahilis, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, part xxiv. p. 94.

Nestor notabilis, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., Supplement, pi.

It must be remembered that we are indebted to Mr. Walter
Mantell for the acquisition of a recent specimen of the Notornis :
and second only in importance to this extraordinary and almost
extinct bird, is the present remarkable species of Parrot, a
bird equally rare as the Notornis, and apparently equally as
near its extinction. When writing on any of the birds of the
New Zealand and adjacent group of islands, it soon becomes
evident that we are dealing with the few remaining members
of an extremely ancient fauna, the remnants, in fact, of genera
and species which in the lapse of a few years will be entirely

APPENDIX. 555

effaced from the surface of onr globe. The Phihp Island
Parrot {Nestor productus) is already gone ; and the Kaka
{Nestor kypopolius) must soon follow, but not so soon, pro-
bably, as the present bird. With what care, then, should
such relics be preserved in our museums ; to none but her-
metically sealed cases should they be consigned. Let it be
remembered how great are our regrets that the evidence of
the former existence of the Dodo comprises only a single foot
and head and a few dried bones. •

As I have nothing to add to the few remarks respecting
the history of the present bird accompanying my original
description in the ' Proceedings of the Zoological Society,' I
cannot do better than transcribe them here : —

"■ ^\\Q, Nestor notahilis, which is called ''■ KecV by the na-
tives differs, from its near allies N. h?/popolius and N. productus
in the greater uniformity of its colouring, in the yellow-
toothed markings of the inner webs of the primaries and
secondaries, and in the orange toothed markings of the inner
webs of the tail-feathers ; and in the yellow colouring of the
under mandible.

" Mr. Mantell informed me that he first heard of the
existence of the Ked about eight years ago, from some old
natives whom he was questioning as to the birds of the Mid-
dle Island. They said the Ked somewhat resembled the Kdka
{Nestor hi/popolius), but that, unlike that bird, it was green ;
and added that it used formerly to come to the coast in severe
winters, but that they had not seen it lately. Mr. Mantell
only obtained two specimens of this fine bird : they were shot
in the Murihiku country ; and for one of them he was indebted
to Mr. John Lemon of Murihiku.

" General hue olive-green ; each feather tipped in a cres-
centic form with brown, and having a fine line of the same
colour down the shaft ; feathers of the lower part of the back
and the upper tail-coverts washed near the tip with fiery
orange-red ; primaries brown, margined at the base with

556 BIRDS OV AUSTRALIA.

greenish blue ; tail dull green ; inner webs of the lateral
feathers brown, toothed on their basal two-thirds with orange-
yellow ; all the tail-feathers crossed near the extremity with
an indistinct band of brown, and tipped with olive-brown;
feathers of the axillae fine scarlet ; under wing-coverts scarlet
tipped with brown, the greater ones banded with brown
and with yellow stained with scarlet ; basal portion] of the
primaries and secondaries largely toothed with fine yellow,
which is jiot perceptible on the upper surface unless the wings
are very widely spread ; upper mandible dark horn-colour ;
under mandible yellow, becoming richer towards the point ;
feet nearly yellowish olive.

"Total length 18 inches; bill 2^; wing 12^; tail 7^;
tarsi If.

" Habitat. The Middle Island, New Zealand."

Family COLUMBID^.
Genus DIDUNCULUS, Peale.

Of this extraordinary form only one species has yet been
discovered ; and in all probability it will ever stand alone.

Sp. 17. DIDUNCULUS STRIGIROSTRIS.

DiDUNCULUS.

Didunculus, Peale.

Gauthodon strigirostris, Jard. in Aun. and Mag. of Nat.- Hist., vol. xvi.
p. 175. pi. 9.

Gnathodon strigirostris, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. v.
pi. 76.

The researches of modern zoologists have not perhaps
brought to light a more curious object than the Bidunculus,
the first description of which 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

APPENDIX. 557

Lady Harvey, who purchased it at a sale in Edinburgh, and
whose extensive collection of natural history in that city is
always open when science can be promoted, for a specimen of
this remarkable bird ; " and adds " we are aware of no exist-
ing description, though there is one allusion made to a bird
which may eventually turn out to be this. In Mr. Strick-
land'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 the rarities a new bird allied to the Dodo,
which he proposes to name ' Didtinculus ; ' and we believe
* stri^irostris ' has been applied specifically."

In this state the subject remained until the year 1862,
when Dr. Bennett communicated some observations on this
rare bird to the ' Sydney Morning Herald ' of August the 19th
and September the 3rd. This latter communication was
subsequently read at a Meeting of the Zoological Society of
London and published in their ' Proceedings.' The following
are its principal features.

" The Rev. John B. Stair, of Broadmeadows, Victoria," says
Dr. Bennett, " who was formerly resident for some time at
the Samoan or Navigator group of Islands, which are believed
to be the exclusive habitat of this singular bird, informed the
Secretary of the Acclimatization Society of Victoria that it is
named by the natives 'Manu-mea' or Red-bird, from the
most predominant colour of its plumage being chocolate-red.
It was formerly numerous, and we may therefore be surprised
that it should not have been seen and procured by the early
navigators ; now it is nearly extinct. It feeds on plantains,
and is partial to the fruit of the ' Soi,' a species of Dioscorea
or yam, a twining plant abundant in the islands, and pro-
ducing a fruit resembling a small potato. In disposition it
is exceedingly shy and timid. Like the Ground- Pigeons it

558 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

roosts on bushes or stumps of trees, find feeds on the ground.
It also builds its nest in such situations. During the breeding-
season both parents aid in the duty of incubation, relieve each
other with great regularity, and are so intent on the perform-
ance of their duty that, when sitting on their eggs, they may
be easily captured by the hand. Two living birds were
obtained in this way by Mr. Stair. They are also taken by
the natives with birdlime or springes, and shot with arrows,
the sportsman concealing himself near an open space in which
a quantity of the ' soi,' their favourite food, has been placed.

" The first living bird obtained was accidentally killed ; the
second, when placed in confinement, at first was sullen and
refused food, but soon became reconciled to captivity and
throve well. The natives fed it upon boiled taro (the root of
the Caladium escidentmu), rolled into oblong pellets, in the
same manner as they fed their pet Wood-Pigeons and Doves.
The power of wing of most of the Pigeon tribe is very
great, and it also obtains in this bird. It flies through the air
with a loud noise like the Topknot Pigeon {Lopholaimus
antardicus) of the Illawarra district, and many others of the
Australian Pigeons ; and Mr. Stair describes it as making
so great a noise with its wings on rising that, when heard at
a distance, it resembles the rumbling of distant thunder, for
which it might be mistaken. Mr. Stair considers that the
bird may yet be found at Savaii; the largest and most moun-
tainous island of the group, but thinks it does not at present
exist on that of Upolu."

In a communication to the Zoological Society of London,
read at their Meeting on November the 10th, 1863, Dr. Ben-
nett stated that he had recently had an opportunity of exa-
mining a living example which had been brought to Sidney by
Mr. J. Williams. " At first it was rather shy and wild, but
afterwards became more tame, and manifested but little fear.
This feeling was, however, occasionally exhibited by uttering
some rapid ' coos,' and by fluttering its wings. It is a stupid

APPENDIX. 559

looking bird, and has no particular attraction except in the
anomalous and extraordinary form of the beak, which cannot
fail to excite the attention of the most ordinary observers.
The only sound it utters is a quick ' Coo-coo-coo,' the beak
being always a little open when the notes are emitted. The
bird was captured about five miles from Apia, in the Island of
Upolu ; it is evident, therefore, that a few still remain there,
It is, however, agreed by every one with whom I have con-
versed, that has resided at the Navigators' Islands, that it is
nearly extinct, both from being eaten by the natives as well
as by cats, rats, and other vermin. Its food consisted at first
of boiled yams, but it will eat bananas, apples, bread, and
boiled potatoes."

Another paper, by Dr. Bennett, on this extraordinary bird,
was read at the Meeting of the Society on the 22nd of March
I8G4, in which he says: — "In the contour of the bill, the
form and position of the nostrils, and several other characters,
the Didunculus difiers from any other living species yet known.
Although a smaller bird in size, it approximates the nearest
in all its characters to the extinct Dodo, and, like it, combines
the characters of a rapacious bird with that of the harmless
Pigeon. Although the mandibles are powerful in structure,
yet the beak is never used as an offensive weapon ; for, when
the hand is placed in the cage, or the bird is seized for re-
moval from one cage to another, it never attempts to bite ;
but, on the contrary, is so timid that, after fluttering about
or running into a dark corner, it soon becomes subdued and is
easily taken." Speaking of another living pair he had recently
purchased. Dr. Bennett says : — " They would nibble into
minute bits the seeds of loquats, almonds, and hemp-seed,
with the same action as the Parrot tribe when feeding. When
I first had them, boiled potatoes and bread formed their diet ;
the former being soft were torn and swallowed in large pieces,
but the latter they placed under their feet and tore with their
hooked beak into small bits. It was sui)posed that the bird

5G0 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

never drinks water, but this I soon found to be incorrect.
Tliey invariably feed in the light, but will not take food if
anyone be present. They run with great rapidity, elongating
the body and depressing the head, and in the action of running
resemble Grouse."

Another living Didmcuhs having arrived in Sydney, Dr.
Bennett, with his wonted liberality, purchased it at a very
high price, and sent it to London, as a present to the Zoolo-
logical Society, in charge of Mr. Broughton, the steward of the
*La Hogue,' whose experience in the management of birds
enabled him to bring it home in safety, and it lived for some
months in the Society's Gardens, in the Regent's Park, an
object of interest to all scientific ornithologists ; its skin is
now in the National collection at the British Museum, and its
body will afford Mr. Parker the opportunity of preparhig and
publishing a valuable memoir on its osteology. Referring
to this specimen, Dr. Bennett states that the whole of the
time it was in his " possession it never became domesticated,
nor evinced the slightest attachment to the lady v^^ho daily
fed it ; it was the same to her as to strangers, and I do not
consider the Bidunculiis a bird which will be readily reconciled
to captivity. Por some time it would be comparatively tame,
and then, without any apparent cause to account for the
change, become very wild."

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 ; irides
dark reddish brown ; orbits flesh-colour ; bill orange, red at
the base, the remainder yellowish; tarsi and feet bright
orange-red.

APPENDIX.

561

Fanuly STRTJTHI0NID51.

Sp. 18. CASUARIUS BENNETTI, Gould,

MOORUK.

Casuarius bennetii, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, part xxv. p. 269,

pi. 129.
Mooruk, Aborigines of New Britain.

Casuarius bennetti, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., Supplement, pi.

Who would have supposed the former existence of an
extensive group of Struthious birds of great magnitude and
comprising many species? and vv^liat naturalist would have
imagined that so much of the bony structures of these birds
would have been brought to light — that not only their generic
but their specific characters may be accurately described, and
even their entire skeletons mounted in our museums? Yet
these things have been realized within the last few years, the
indefatigable zeal and careful study of Professor Owen having
enabled him to determine and arrange the semi-fossilized re-
mains of numerous species of a great family of birds which
formerly existed on our globe, and of which some few remain
to testify as to the character of their plumage and their eco-
nomy of life. The Casuarius heimetti is one of the few living
representatives of this almost extinct group, and its discovery
must be hailed with interest, tending as it does to throw a
light on the history of those huge birds of remote antiquity —
the Binornis and its allies. Professor Owen considers this
new bird and the Cassowary {Casuarius galeatus) to be the
most nearly aUied living types of his genus Palapteri/x ; and
if this opinion be correct, we may infer that the habits and
economy, as well as the kind of plumage and the character
of country inhabited by the extinct birds, were very similar.
The Mooruk lives reclusely in the gullies and humid parts of
dense forests, feeding upon the roots of ferns and plants pe-

VOL. II. 2 o

562 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

culiar to such situations. The hair-Uke character of its
feathers bespeak these habits and mode of Hfe, as much as
the phimes of the Ostriches aud Rheas do their adaptation
for open plains and savannahs.

Compared with the Cassowary, the Mooruk is a smaller and
shorter bird, and has much thicker legs ; and the helmet, in-
stead of being in the form of an elevated casque with a short
rounded ridge, rises high at the base, and then branches out
into two overhanging lobes, the horny part which unites them
being lowest in the centre — the back part of this elevated
double crest being flat and rising rather obliquely from the
head near the occiput. The colouring of the Mooruk, when
it first arrived in England, was rufous mixed with black on
the back and under part of the body, and raven-black about
he neck and breast ; the loose wavy skin of the neck was
beautifully coloured with iridescent tints of bluish purple,
pink, and an occasional shade of green ; and the feet and legs
were of a pale ash-colour. The body has now become gene-
rally darker, the bare skin of the fore part of the neck of
a more uniform smalt blue, and the legs of a some-
what darker tint.

Dr. Bennett, after whom I have named the bird as a just
compliment to one who has ever manifested the greatest love
for Natural History, besides presenting the living birds to
the Zoological Society, has enriched the volumes of their
' Proceedings ' with some interesting details as to the habits of
the bird while living in his possession at Sydney — some in
the form of letters to myself, others as direct communications;
and these I have great pleasure in reproducing here : —

The Mooruk was obtained at a native village under two
hills, named by navigators the Mother and Daughter, on that
part of the coast of New Britain lying between Cape PalHser
and Cape Stephen.

" The feet and legs, which are very large and strong, are
of a pale ash-colour, and exhibit a remarkable peculiarity in

APPENDIX. 563

the extreme length of the claw of the inner toe on each foot, it
being nearly three times the length which obtains in the
claws of the other toes. This bird, which is immature,
differs from the Casuarius galeatus in having a horny plate
instead of a helmet-like protuberance on the top of the head,
which callous plate has the character of, and resembles, mo-
ther-of-pearl darken d with black lead : the form of the bill
differs considerably from that of the Emu {Dromaius Novce-
HoUandicB) , being narrower, longer, and more curved, and
having a black and leathery cere at the base ; behind the
plate of the head is a small luft of black hair-like feathers,
which are continued in greater or lesser abundance over most
parts of the neck."

In Dr. Bennett's next communication, direct to the Society,
he says : —

" On the 26th of October, 1858, the ' Oberon ' cutter of
forty-eight tons arrived in Sydney, having two fine young
specimens of the ' Mooruk ' on board, stated to be male and
female. Captain Devlin informed me he had had them eight
months, that he procured them soon after his arrival at New
Britain, and since that time had been trading about the
islands. They were about half the size of the specimens
sent to England last year. He also told me that the
natives capture them when very young, and rear them by
hand. The old b]rds are very swift of foot, and possess great
strength in the legs ; on the least alarm they elevate the head,
and, seeing danger, dart among the thick bush, thread about
in localities where no human being could follow them, and
disappear like magic. Their powers of leaping are very ex-
traordinary. It was from this circumstance the first bird
brought from New Britain was lost : from its habit of leaping
it one day made a spring on the deck and went overboard ; it
was blowing a strong breeze at the time, and the bird per-
ished. I succeeded in purchasing these birds ; and Captain
Slater, the present commander of the ' Oberon,' brought

2 o 2

5G4 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

them to ray house in a cab ; and when placed in the yard
they walked about as tame as turkeys. They approached
anyone that came into the yard, pecking the hand as if desi-
rous of being fed, and were very docile. They began by
pecking at a bone in the yard, probably not having tasted any
meat for some time, and would not, while engaged upon it,
touch some boiled potatoes which were thrown to them ; in-
deed we found afterwards they fed better out of a dish than
from the ground — no doubt, having been accustomed early to
be fed in that manner. They were as famihar as if born and
bred among us for years, and did not require time to recon-
cile them to their new situation, but became sociable and
quite at home at once. We found them next day rather too
tame, or, like spoilt pets, too often in the way. One or both
of them would walk into the kitchen ; while one was dodging
under the tables and chairs, the other would leap upon the
table, keeping the cook in a state of excitement ; or they
would be heard chirping in the hall, or walk into the library
in search of food or information, or walk up stairs, and then
be quickly seen descending again, making their peculiar chirp-
ing, whistling noise : not a door could be left open, but in
they walked, familiar with all. They kept the servants con-
stantly on the alert : if one of them went to open the door,
on turning round she found a ' Mooruk ' behind her ; for they
seldom went together, generally wandering, apart from each
other. If any attempt was made to turn them out by force,
they would dart rapidly round the room, dodging about under
the tables, chairs, and sofas, and then end by squatting down
under a sofa or in a corner ; and it was impossible to remove
the bird except by carrying it away : on attempting this, the
long, powerful, muscular legs, would begin kicking and strug-
gling, and soon get released, when it would politely walk out
of its own accord. I found the best method was to entice
them out, as if you had something eatable in the hand, when
they would follow the direction in which you wished to lead

APPENDIX. 565

tliem. The housemaid attempting to turn the bird out of one
of the rooms, it gave her a kick and tore her dress. They
walked into the stable among the horses, poking their bills
into the manger. When writing in my study, a chirping
whistling noise is heard ; the door, which is ajar, is pushed
open, and in walk the ' Mooruks,' who quietly pace round
the room, inspecting everything, and then as peaceably go
out again. If any attempt is made to turn them out, they
leap, dart about, and exhibit a wonderful rapidity of move-
ment, which no one would suppose possible from their quiet
gait and manner at other times. Even in the very tame state
of these birds, I have seen sufficient of them to know that, if
they were loose in a wood, it would be impossible to catch
them, and almost as difficult to shoot them. One day, when
apparently frightened at something that occurred, I saw one
of them scour round the yard at a swift pace, and speedily
disappear under the archway so rapidly that the eye could
hardly follow it, upsetting all the poultry in its progress that
could not get out of the way. The lower half of the stable-
door, about four feet high, was kept shut, to prevent them
going in ; but this proved no obstacle, as it was easily leaped
over by these birds. They never appeared to take any notice
of, or be frightened at, the Jabiru or Gigantic Crane, which
was in the same yard, although that sedate, stately bird was
not pleased at their intrusion. One day I remarked the Jabiru
spreading his long wings, and clattering his beak, opposite
one of the 'Mooruks,' as if in ridicule of their wingless con-
dition. ' Mooruk,' on the other hand, was preening its fea-
thers, and spreading out its funny little apology for wings, as
if proud of displaying the stiff horny shafts with which they
were adorned. Captain Devlin says the natives consider them
to a certain degree sacred, rear them as pets, and have great
affection for them ; he is not aware that they are used for food,
but if so, not generally ; indeed, their shy disposition and
power of rapid running, darting through the brake and bush,
would almost preclude their capture.

566 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

" The height of the largest or male of these young birds, to
the top of the back, was two feet two inches, and of the
female two feet. The height of the largest or male bird,
when erect, to the top of the head, was three feet two inches,
and of the female three feet."

An egg presented to me by Dr. Bennett is five and a half
inches long by three and a half inches broad ; the ground-
colour very pale buff, with the entire surface covered with
pale green corrugations.

An egg laid in the Gardens of the Zoological Society is
pale grass-green closely freckled with a paler colouring, and
much smoother and more finely granulated than that of the
Common Cassowary. It measures 6'0 by 3*45 inches, and
weighed 22|^ oz. Its shape is more elongated and pyriforra
than that of the Cassowary or of the Emu.

" The pair of Mooruks," says Dr. Sclater in his ' Notes on
the Incubation of Struthious Birds,' " which we received from
Australia in 1858 have last year, and again this year, bred in
the Zoological Gardens. The male performs the duties of in-
cubation, the female not interfering in the matter. Last year
after an incubation which lasted seven weeks, a single young
one was hatched on the 4th of September, but was unfortu-
nately destroyed by rats the same day. This year the male
commenced to sit on the 25th of April, on six eggs, and we
hope to be more fortunate." — Froc. ZooL Soc, 1863, p. 234.

At a subsequent meeting Dr. Sclater reported that " on the
17th of June, after an incubation of fifty-two days, a single
young bird was produced, which, however, was in a very
weak state, and only lived about twelve hours, I may re-
mark that this is the fourth year in which the female Mooruk
has attempted to breed. In April 1860 three eggs were laid
without intercourse with the male bird, and of course unfruit-
ful. In 1861 four unproductive eggs were likewise deposited.
In 1862, out of six eggs deposited, a fine and healthy bird
was hatched on September the 4th, after seven weeks incuba-

APPENDIX. 567

tion, by the male bird. Unfortunately, however, as before
mentioned, it was destroyed by rats the night after its birth."
—Proc. Zool. Soc, 1863, p. 518.

Family APTEEYGIDJS.

Of this strictly New Zealand family two or three species are
now in existence, and others may yet be discovered.

Genus APTERYX, Shaw.

For our first knowledge of the existence of an J2Jteri/x we
are indebted to the late Dr. Shaw, to whom the specimen
figured by him in the' Naturahsts' Miscellany' was presented
by Captain Barclay, of the ship ' Providence,' who brought it
from New Zealand about 1812. Dr. Shaw's figure was accom-
panied by a detailed drawing of the bill, foot, and rudimentary
wing, of the natural size. After Dr. Shaw's death, his at that
time unique specimen passed into the possession of the late
Earl of Derby, then Lord Stanley. His Lordship's being a pri-
vate collection, and no other specimen having been seen either
on the continent or in England, the existence of the species was
doubted by naturalists generally for upwards of twenty yeai's.
M. Temminck, it is true, placed it with hesitation in an order to
which he gave the title of Liertes, comprehending the present
bird and the Dodo ; but other naturalists were inclined to
deny its existence altogether. The history of the bird re-
mained in this state until June 1833, when the late Mr.
Yarrell published in the ' Transactions of the Zoological
Society ' an interesting paper, detailing all that had been
previously made known respecting it, and fully established it
among accredited species : this paper was accompanied by a
figure from the original specimen then in the possession of the
late Earl of Derby, but now forming part of his Lordship's
magnificent bequest to the Town of Liverpool.

568 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

Sp. 19. APTERYX AUSTRALIS, miaw"^

Kiwi Kiwi.

Apteryx australis, Shaw, Nat. Misc., vol. xxiv. pis. 1057. 1058?
Apterijx, Temm. Man. d'Orn., 2nd edit. Anal. p. cxiv, ?
Apterous Penguin, Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. x, p. 394 ?
Dromiceius novtB-zelandice, Less. Man. d'Orn., torn. ii. p. 210 ?
Kiwi-Kiwi, Aborigines of New Zealand.

Apteryx australis, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. vi. pi. 2.

In the ' Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London '
for the year 1850, Mr. Bartlett has recorded his opinion that
two species of Apteryx have been confounded under the above
specific name, and if this view be correct it is probable that
the bird figured by me is the one he has named A. mantelli.

" In calling the attention of the Meeting," said Mr. Bart-
lett, " to the large collection of specimens of the genus Apte-
ryx on the table, I beg to state that I have been led to make
a careful examination of all the individuals I could find in the
various collections in London and elsewhere in consequence of
an Apteryx belonging to Dr. Mantell having been placed in my
hands by that gentleman a few days since, which appeared
to me to differ from all that I had before seen. As a care-
ful comparison of this bird with the specimens above men-
tioned fully justified me in considering it as a distinct species,
I was about to describe it as a new one ; but most for-
tunately I heard that the original specimen, figured and de-
scribed by Dr. Shaw, and to which he applied the name of
Apteryx australis, was in the collection of the Earl of Derby
at Knowsley. It is with much pleasure I acknowledge his
Lordship's kindness in honouring me with the loan of the
bird, which has enabled me to identify the large Apteryx
belonging to Dr. Mantell as pertaining to this species, and also
to determine most satisfactorily the distinctive characters of
the common species, which is considerably smaller, and to

APPENDIX.

569

whicli the name of Apteryx australis has long been erro-
neously applied. This bird differs from the original Apteryx
australis of Dr. Shaw in its smaller size, its darker and more
rufous colour, its longer tarsus which is scutulated in front, its
shorter toes and claws, which are dark horn-coloured, its
smaller wings, which have much stronger and thicker quills,
and also in having long straggling hairs on the face. I may,
however, remark, that although individuals of this species
differ much in size, depending probably on age, sex, &c., I
have found no exception to the distinctive characters above
given, I therefore propose the name of Apteryx mantelli for
the smaller and more common species — a humble effort to
commemorate the exertions of Walter Mantell, Esq., to whom
we are indebted for so many valuable discoveries in the natu-
ral history of New Zealand.

" I subjoin a short description of the two species, in order
that they may be more readily recognized.

Apteryx australis.
Colour, pale greyish-brown,

darkest on the back.

inches.

Entire length 30

Bill from forehead .... 6
Tarsus (reticulated) ... 2\
Middle toe and claw ... 3|
Wings with soft slender quills j

face with short hairs.

Apteryx mantelli.
Colour, dark rufous brown,
darkest on the back.

inches

Entire length 23

Bill from forehead .... 4

Tarsus (scutulated) .... 2|

Middle toe and claw ... 2^

Middle claw longest, all the

claws dark horn-colour. Wings

with strong thick quills; face

with long straggling hairs.

" The entire length being taken from skins, I consider of
little value ; the entire length of a bird ought always to be
taken before a bird is skinned.

" In conclusion I would remark that the Apteryx australis
belonging to Dr. Mantell was collected by his son in Dusky
Bay, and I have been informed by Dr. Gray that the original
bird described by Dr. Shaw was brought from the same

570 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

locality. As far as I am able to ascertain, all the specimens
of Apteryx mantelli are from the North Islands.

" The favourite localities of this bird are those covered with
extensive and dense beds of fern, among which it conceals
itself, and, when hard pressed by dogs, the usual mode of
chasing it, takes refuge in crevices of the rocks, hollow trees,
and in the deep holes which it excavates in the ground, in
the form of a chamber ; in these latter situations it is said to
construct its nest of dried fern and grasses, and to deposit its
eggs, the number and colour of which have not been clearly
ascertained."

"While undisturbed," says Mr. Short, in a letter to Mr.
Yarrell, " the head is carried far back in the shoulders, with
the bill pointing to the ground ; but, when pursued, it runs
with great swiftness, carrying the head elevated like the
Ostrich. It is asserted to be almost exclusively nocturnal in
its habits, and it is by torchlight that it is usually hunted by
the natives, by whom it is sought after with the utmost
avidity, the skins being highly prized for the dresses of the
chiefs ; indeed, so much are they valued, that the natives can
rarely be induced to part with them. The feathers are also
employed to construct artificial flies for the capture of fish,
precisely after the European manner. When attacked it
defends itself very vigorously, striking rapid and dangerous
blows with its powerful feet and sharp spur ; with which it
is also said to beat the ground in order to disturb the worms
upon which it feeds, seizing them with its bill the instant
they make their appearance; it also probably feeds upon
snails, insects, etc."

" The Apteryx is so scarce a bird, even in New Zealand," says
Dr. Sclater, " that it can hardly be expected that we should be
well acquainted with its mode of reproduction. His Excel-
lency Sir George Grey has lately sent me an extract from a
letter addressed to him by T. E. Manning, Esq., dated Hoki-
anga, on the north-western coast of the Northern Island,

APPENDIX. 571

February the 2nd, 1863 : — * Several years ago, an old native,
who had been a great Kiwi-hunter in the times when the
Kiwi were plentiful, told me a strange tale about the manner
in which the Kiwi hatches its eggs. I, of course, cannot
vouch for the correctness of the story, but think it worth
relating ; he said that the Kiwi did not sit, like other birds,
upon the egg, but under it, first burying the egg in the ground
to a considerable depth, and then digging a cave or nest
under it by which about one third of the lower end was
exposed, and so lying under the egg and in contact with the
lower end, which came, as it were, through the roof of the
nest or burrow. The appearance of the egg, which I propose
to send, corroborated this statement, for two-thirds of its
length (the small end) was perfectly clean and white, and
about one-third (the large end) was very much discoloured
and very greasy, evidently from contact with the body of the
bird. The difference in the colour and condition of the ends
of the egg was quite remarkable and well defined by a
circular line passing round the egg.'

" Mr. E. L. Layard has favoured me with the following
information on the same subject, forwarded to him by Mr.
Webster, also resident at Hokianga, which contains much
more positive information.

" Mr. Webster writes as follows : — ' A fortnight ago a
native, out shooting Pigeons, discovered a Kiwi's egg pro-
truding out of a small hole at the root of a Kauri-tree;
removing the egg, he put his arm, to the elbow, up the hole,
and got hold of the parent-bird. Does it not appear to be a
strange position for an egg to be in ?

" ' An old native, who professes to know something about
them, states that they lay but one egg at a time. The nest
is merely a hole scraped out by the bird, and generally about
the roots of a tree where the ground is dry ; the egg is covered
with leaves and moss, the decomposition of which evolves
heat sufficient to bring forth the young. The process takes

572 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

six weeks. When hatched, the mother, by instinct, is at
hand to attend to her offspring.'

"Fortunately we are able to test these statements to a
certain extent by the observations of the habits of the female
Apteryx mantelli in our Gardens, which, although unmated,
has for several years produced eggs. She laid her first egg
on the 9th of June 1859 ; since which date she has laid nine
others, generally producing one early in the year, and a
second about three months after, making two in each year.
She has more than once manifested a disposition to sit upon
her egg, having been discovered, after its deposition, placed
above it, just in such an attitude as would be assumed if this
were the case, and resisting all attempts to move her from
her position. It would appear probable, therefore, —

" 1 . That the Apteryx lays one egg only at a time.

"2. That this is deposited within a hollow tree, as recorded
by Mr. Webster, and that the female incubates thereon.

" 3. That the Apteryx breeds twice a year."

Should the bird I have figured in the folio edition prove to
be A. mantelli and not A. australis, the following notes, by
Dr. Hochstetter, will have reference to it.

"In the northern districts of the Northern Island this species
appears to have become quite extinct. But in Houtourou, or
Little Barrier Island, a small island situated in the Gulf of Hau-
raki, near Auckland, completely wooded, rising about 1000
feet above the sea-level, and only accessible when the sea is
quite calm, it is said to be still tolerably common. In the
inhabited portions of the southern districts of the Northern
Island, also, it has become nearly extirpated by men, dogs,
and wild cats, and is only to be found in the more inaccessible
and less populous mountain-chains, that is, in the wooded
mountains between Cape Palliser and East Cape. — Nat. Hist.
Bev., 1861, p. 506.

A most careful and elaborate paper " On the Anatomy of
the Apteryx," by Professor Owen, will be found in the second

APPENDIX. 573

volume of the ' Transactions of the Zoological Society of
London.'

It is said to be an inhabitant of all the islands of New
Zealand, particularly the southern end of the middle island.

Face and throat greenish brown, all the remainder of the
plumage consisting of long lanceolate hair-like feathers, of a
chestnut-brown colour, margined on each side with blackish
brown ; on the lower part of the breast and belly the feathers
are lighter than those of the upper sm-face, and become of a
grey tint ; bill yellowish horn-colour, its base beset with
numerous long hairs ; feet yellowish brown.

Sp. 20. APTERYX OWENII, Gould.

Owen's Aptertx.
Apteryx oivenii, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, part xv. p. 94.

Apteryx owenii, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. vi. pi. 3.

The acquisition of a new species of Apteryx is an evidence
that our knowledge of the natural productions of New Zealand
is far from complete.

The specimen from which my description was taken was
sent to me by Mr. F. Strange, of Sydney, in 1850 ; since
that time several others have come under my notice, all of
which were from the South Island of New Zealand.

It is rendered conspicuously different from the J. ausfralis,
with which it accords in size, by the irregular transverse
barring of the entire plumage, which, together with its
extreme density and hair-like appearance, gives it more the
resemblance of a mammal than of a bird ; it has also a shorter,
more slender, and more curved bill; and the feathers also
differ in structure, being broader throughout, especially at
the tip, and of a loose decomposed and hair-like texture.

" In the spurs of the Southern Alps, on Cook's Strait, in the
province of Nelson," says Dr. Hochstetter, " that is, in the
higher wooded mountain-valleys of the Wairau chain, and

574 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

westward of Blind Bay, in the wooded mountains between the
Motucha and Aorere valleys, this species is still found in
great numbers. During my stay in the province of Nelson I
had two living examples, a male and a female. They were
procured, by some natives I sent out for the purpose, in the
upper wooded valleys of the river State, a confluent of the
Aorere, in a country elevated from 2000 to 3000 feet above
the sea-level." — IS at. Hist. Rev., 1861, p. 505.

I have characterized this new species under the name of
Apteryx oivenii, feeling assured that it can only be considered
a just compliment to Professor Owen, who has so ably in-
vestigated the remains of the extinct birds of New Zealand.

Face, head, and neck dull yellowish brown ; throat somewhat
paler ; all the upper surface transversely rayed with blackish
brown and fulvous, each individual feather being silvery
brown at the base, darker brown in the middle, then crossed
by a lunate mark of fulvous, to which succeeds an irregular
mark of black, and terminated with fulvous ; under surface
paler than the upper, caused by each feather being crossed
by three rays of fulvous instead of two, and more largely
tipped with that colour ; the feathers of the thighs resemble
those of the back ; bill dull yellowish horn-colour ; feet and
claws fleshy brown.

Total length 18 inches; bill — gape to lip 3|-, breadth at
base 2-j ; middle toe and nail 2 J ; tarsi 2^.

FamHy HIMANTOPODID^.

Sp. 21. HIMANTOPUS NOV^-ZELANDI^, Gould,

New Zealand Stilt.
Himantopus nova-zelandia, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, part ix. p. 8.

Himantopus Novae-Zelaudiae, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. vi.
pi. 25.

As might be expected, the colonization of New Zealand has

APPENDIX. 575

brought to light many ornithological novelties peculiar to those
islands, the natural productions of which are even at this time
so imperfectly known. The species here described is interesting,
not so much for its beauty, as for its forming another member
of the very limited genus Rimantopus, of which until lately
only one species was known. I regret to say that no infor-
mation as to its habits, changes of plumage, or the localities
in which it is found, has been acquired ; the two specimens
I have seen were merely labelled — " Waders killed at Port
Nicholson." They are not only different from all other
known species, but are also very dissimilar in plumage
and in size, one being very much larger than the other;
though the dissimilarity in size is not greater than I have
observed to exist betwen the sexes of the White-headed
Stilt. The least of the two, which I presume to be the fe-
male, has the whole of the plumage black or blackish brown;
while the other has the forehead, the front of the neck, and
the breast white ; the tail and all the remainder of the plu-
mage being black, like the other. I am inclined to beheve
that the difference in colouring is either attributable to youth,
or that it is a seasonal character ; in all probability, the en-
tirely black plumage is that of summer.

The following is a description of the darkest-coloured bird
figured in the folio edition of the ' Birds of Austraha.'

The whole of the plumage sooty black, with the exception
of the back, wings, and tail, which are glossed with green ;
bill black ; feet pink red ; the other specimen has the fore-
head, lores, chin, front, and sides of the neck, chest, and under
tail-coverts white.

Total length 16 inches ; bill 3 ; wing 9|- ; tail 3 J ; tarsi 3 J.

576 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

Family EALLIDiG.
Genus NOTORNIS, Owen.

In all probability the only known species of this form is the
solitary remnant of a group of birds which was formerly nu-
merous in New Zealand and the neighbouring islands.

Sp. 22. NOTORNIS MANTELLI, Owen.

Mono.
Notornis mantelli, Owen in Trans, of Zool. Soc, vol. iii. p. 377.

Notornis mantelli, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, Supplement, pi.

The acquisition of a new species is always a matter of great
interest ; but when, as in the present instance, it is of one so
nearly extinct as to be only known to us previously by its
fossil or semi-fossilized remains, the interest becomes enhanced
in the highest degree ; it is well known that the existence of
the celebrated Dodo is all but traditionary, a fate which, but
for Mr. Walter Mantell's fortunate acquisition of a living ex-
ample, would probably have been shared by the present bird,
the characters of which were first made known to us by
Professor Owen from the semi-fossilized remains previously
obtained and sent home by the same talented explorer after
whom it is named.

That few living examples remain, is evident from the fact
that the mounted specimen in Dr. Mantell's possession is the
only one that has yet heen seen ; all the information respect-
ing it that has been obtained is comprised in the following in-
teresting account communicated by him to the Zoological
Society of London, and published in their ' Proceedings ' for
1850 :—

" This bird was taken by some sealers who were pursuing
their avocations in Dusky Bay. Perceiving the trail of a large
and unknown bird on the snow with which the ground was

APPENDIX. 577

then covered, they followed the foot-prmts till they obtained a
sight of the Notornis, which their dogs instantly pursued, and
after a long chase caught alive in the gully of a sound behind
Resolution Island. It ran with great speed, and upon being
captured uttered loud screams, and fought and struggled vio-
lently ; it was kept alive three or four days on board the
schooner and then killed, and the body roasted and ate by
the crew, each partaking of the dainty, which was declared to
be delicious. My son fortunately secured the skin.

" Mr. Walter Mantell slates, that, according to the native
traditions, a large Rail was contemporary with the Moa, and
formed a principal article of food among their ancestors. It
was known to the North Islanders by the name of ' Molio,*
and to the South Islanders by that of 'Takahe ' ; but the bird
was considered by both natives and Europeans to have been
long since exterminated by the wild cats and dogs, not an
individual having been seen or heard of since the arrival of the
English colonists. That intelhgent observer, the Rev. Richard
Taylor, who has so long resided in the islands, had never
heard of a bird of this kind having been seen. In his ' Leaf
from the Natural History of New Zealand,' under the head of
* Moho^ is the following note : * Rail, colour black, said to
be a wingless bird as large as a fowl, with red beak and legs ;
it is nearly exterminated by the cat : its cry was keo, keo.' '
The inaccuracy and vagueness of this description proves it to
be from native report and not from actual observation. To
the natives of the pahs or villages on the homeward route,
and at Wellington, the bird was a perfect novelty and excited
much interest. I may add, that upon comparing the head
of the bird with the fossil cranium and mandibles, and the
figures and descriptions in the ' Zoological Transactions,' my
son was at once convinced of their identity ; and so delighted
was he by the discovery of a living example of one of the sup-
posed extinct contemporaries of the Moa, that he immediately
wrote to me, and mentioned that the skull and beaks were

VOL. II. 2 p

578 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

alike in the recent and fossil specimens, and that the abbrevi-
ated and feeble development of the wings, both in their bones
and plumage, were in perfect accordance with the indications
afforded by the fossil humerus and sternum found by him at
Waingongoro, and now in the British Museum, as pointed out
by Professor Owen in the memoir above referred to.

" In concluding this brief narrative of the discovery of a
living example of a genus of birds once contemporary with
the colossal Moa, and hitherto only known by its fossil remains,
I beg to remark that this highly interesting fact tends to con-
firm the conclusions expressed in my communications to the
Geological Society — namely, that the Dinornis, Falapteryx,
and related forms, were coeval with some of the existing
species of birds peculiar to New Zealand, and that their final
extinction took place at no very distant period, and long after
the advent of the aboriginal Maories."

Upon a cursory view of this bird it might be mistaken for
a gigantic kind of Porphi/rio, but on an examination of its
structure it will be found to be generically distinct. It is
allied to Porphi/rio in the form of its bill and in its general
colouring, and to Trihonyw in the structure of its feet, while
in the feebleness of its wings and the structure of its tail it
differs from both.

From personal observation of the habits of Trihonyx and
Porphyrio, I may venture to affirm that the habits and economy
of the present bird more closely resemble those of the former
than those of the latter; that it is doubtless of a recluse
and extremely shy disposition ; that being deprived, by the
feeble structure of its wing, of the power of flight, it is com-
pelled to depend upon its swiftness of foot for the means
of evading its natural enemies ; and that as is the case with
Trihonyx, a person may be in its vicinity for weeks without
even catching a glimpse of it.

From the thickness of its plumage and the great length of
its back-feathers, we may infer that it affects low and humid

APPENDIX. 579

situations, marshes, the banks of rivers, and the coverts of
dripping ferns, so abundant in its native country ; like Por-
2)hp-io, it doubtless enjoys the power of swimming, but would
seem, from the structure of its legs, to be more terrestrial in
its habits than the members of that genus.

I have carefully compared the bill of this example with that
figured by Professor Owen under the name of Notornis man-
telli, and have little doubt that they are referable to one and
the same species.

I cannot conclude these remarks without bearing testimony
to the very great importance of the results which have attended
the researches of Mr. Walter Mantell in the various depart-
ments of science to which he has turned the attention of his
inquiring mind, nor without expressing a hope that he may
yet be enabled to obtain some particulars as to the history of
this and the other remarkable Ijirds of the country in which
he is resident.

Head, neck, breast, upper part of the abdomen, and flanks
purplish blue ; back, rump, upper tail-coverts, lesser wing-
coverts and tertiaries dark olive-green, tipped with verditer-
green ; at the nape of the neck a band of rich blue separating
the purphsh blue of the neck from the green of the body ;
wings rich deep blue, the greater coverts tipped with verditer-
green, forming crescentic bands when the wing is expanded ;
tail dark green ; lower part of the abdomen, vent, and thighs
dull bluish black ; under tail-coverts white ; bill and feet
bright red.

Total length of the body, 26 inches ; bill, from the gape to
the tip, 2\ ; from the tip to the posterior edge of the plate on
the forehead, 3 ; wing, 8 J ; tail, Z\ ; tarsi, 3^ ; middle toe, 3;
nail, f ; hind toe, | ; nail, f .

2 p 2

580 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

Family ANATID-ffi.
Genus SPATULA, Boie.

Sp. 23. SPATULA VARIEGATA, Gould.

Variegated Shoveller.

Spatula variegata, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, part xxiv. p. 95.

rhynchotis, G. R. Gray, in Dieft. Trav. in New Zeal., vol. ii.

p. 198.

Spatula variegata, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, Supplement,
pi.

Among the novelties brought by Mr. Walter Mantell from
New Zealand was a species of Shoveller Duck, which is cer-
tainly new to science, for with no one of the members of this
well-defined and widely spread genus can it be confounded.
Its nearest ally is the Australian species, Spatula rhynchotis ;
but it differs from it in its more variegated plumage, and in
other particulars. Supposing it to have been collected at the
same time as the fine Parrot Nestor notabilis, the Middle
Island of New Zealand will be the part where at least it is
occasionally found. It is somewhat strange that so large a
bird as this duck should not have fallen to the gun of the
collector before ; yet, on the other hand, how seldom does the
common Shoveller of Europe {Spatula clypeata) come under
the notice of the sportsman ; even in the parts of England
where it is most common, he may pass years without an
opportunity occurring for shooting one.

The Spatula variegata, which forms the fifth and is by far
the handsomest species of the genus Spatula, is distinguished
from the other members by the dark crescentic markings
which decorate the feathers of the breast, sides of the neck,
and scapularies. The species of this well-defined form pre-
viously described are Spatula clypeata, which inhabits Europe,
North America, India, and China ; S. rhynchotis, which is
found throughout Australia ; S. maculata, the habitat of which

APPENDIX. 581

is Chili and probably the neighbouring countries of Peru and
Bolivia ; and ^S'. capensis of South Africa.

Crown of the head and space surrounding the base of the
bill brownish black ; on either side of the face between the
bill and the eye a lunar-shaped streak of white, bounded
posteriorly with speckles of black ; cheeks, sides, and back of
the neck dark grey with greenish reflexions ; front of the neck
dark brown, each feather narrowly fringed with white ; back
brownish black, the feathers of the upper part margined with
greyish brown ; feathers of the breast, sides of the lower part
of the neck, the mantle and scapularies white, with a crescent
of blackish brown near the tip ; under surface dark chestnut
blotched with black; flanks lighter chestnut barred with
black ; lesser wing-coverts dull greenish blue ; greater whig-
coverts dark brown, fringed at the tip with white ; first elon-
gated scapularies blue-grey, with a conspicuous line of white
on the outer web next to the shaft, bounded posteriorly with
black ; the next blue-grey, margined on the inner web with
white ; the remainder greenish black, with a lengthened lan-
ceolate mark of dull or brownish white down the centre of
the apical half ; speculum deep green ; primaries dark brown
with lighter shafts ; under surface of the shoulder white ; on
each side of the vent a patch of white freckled with black ;
under tail-coverts black, tinged with shining green ; tail dark
brown ; irides bright yellow ; bill dark purplish black, the
under mandible clouded with yellow ; legs and feet yellow.

Up to the present time (Nov. 1865) no second specimen
has reached Europe, and the colouring of the female is un-
known to us.

Total length \Q\ inches ; bill 3 ; wing 9| ; tail 4^ ; tarsi If.

583 BIRDS OP AUSTRALIA.

FamUy PELECANID^.

Genus PHALACROCORAX, Brisson,

Sp. 24. PHALACROCORAX PUNCTATUS.
Spotted Cormorant.

Pelecanus punctatus, Spami. Mus. Carls., vol. i. t. 10.

ncevius, Gmel. Linn., vol. i. p. 575.

Phalacrocorax dilophus, Vieill.

^ punctatus, Steph. Cent, of Shaw's Gen. Zool., vol. xiii. p. 88.

ncevius, Cuv. llegn. Anim., p. 565.

Graculus punctatus, G. R. Gray, App. DiefF. Trav. in New Zeal., vol. ii.

p. 201.
Crested Shag, Cook's last Voy., vol. i. p. 151.
Spotted Shag, Lath. Gen. Syn., vol. vi. p. 602, pi. civ.
Pa-degga-degga, Aborigines of New Zealand.

Phalacrocorax punctatus, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. vii
pi. 71.

This beautiful species of Cormorant is a native of New
Zealand ; but although numbers of Europeans have now for
many years visited those islands, it is extremely rare in our
collections, and the following brief note by Latham is all that
has been recorded respecting it.

" Prequent in Queen Charlotte's Sound ; builds among the
rocks, and not unfrequently on trees when growing near the
water. The name it is there known by is Pa-dec/ga-dcggar

It builds among rocks, and not unfrequently on trees when
growing near the water.

Vertical and occipital crest, crown of the head, and throat
sooty black ; back of the neck, lower part of the back, and
rump glossy green ; a white stripe commencing above the eye
passes down each side of the neck to the flanks ; lower part
of the neck, chest, and abdomen beautiful leaden grey ; under
tail-coverts and tail black; mantle, scapularies, and wings

APPENDIX. 583

brownish ash, all the feathers except the secondaries and pri-
maries having a small spot of black at their tip ; from the
throat, sides, and back of the neck, and thighs, arise nmnerous
plume-like white feathers of a soft loose texture ; those on the
sides and back of the neck are very numerous, but on the
other parts they are few and thinly scattered.

584 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

The following Table of the Range or Distribution of the Australian
Birds so far as at present known is intended to indicate the species
that have been found in each of the seven colonies into which Au-
stralia is divided. Zoologically speaking, these colonies are not so
many natural provinces ; at the same time we cannot fail to notice
that the avifaunse of New South Wales and Victoria are in the
main very different from those of Western and Northern Australia;
in which latter I include the Victoria River and Port Essington,
or that portion ofthe country, parallel to the Cape York district,
on the north-east coast, now forming part of Queensland. Those
persons in either of the colonies who possess this Handbook may,
by consulting the Table, at once see what species are found in the
part of the country in which they may be residing, and, with very
little trouble to themselves, improve the list by adding an asterisk
in cases of omission.

Those species the names of which are printed in italics are not
Australian, but are added for the reasons given at the commence-
ment of the Appendix. With regard to the authorities for the
names employed, I have pursued the same plan as that adopted in
my other publications : that is, where the original generic and
specific names remain unchanged, the name of the author is given ;
but where these names have been altered, it is omitted. In my
own case, however, I have retained my name to such of the species
originally described by me as are now adopted by ornithologists,
notwithstanding that in many instances they have been placed in
genera different from those to which I had assigned them.

TABLE OF DISTRIBUTION.

585

Name of Species.

^

a

'^

a

o

■ (jj

!/J

a

fs

<U

^

(y

O bo

a 9

Aquila audax

Hieraetus morphnoides, Gould

Polioaetus leucogaster

Haliastur leucosternus, Gould

? sphenurus

Pandion leucocephalus, Gould

Falco hypoleucus, Gould

melanogenys, Gould

subiiiger, Gray

lunulatus, Lath

Hieracidea berigora

— — occidentalis, Gould

Tinnunculus cenchro'ides

Leucospiza raii

nov£e-hollandiae

Astur radiatus

approximans

cruentus, Gould ,

Accipiter torquatus

Gypoictinia melanosternon, Gould ,

Milvus afRnis, Gould

isurus, Gould

Elanus axillaris

scriptus, Gould

Baza subcristata, Gould-

Circus assimilis, Jard. Sf Selb

jardinii, Gould

Strix castanops, Gould

novie-hollandi«, Steph

tenebricosus, Gould

delicatulus, Gould

Sceloglaux albifacies ; . .

Hieracoglaux strenuus, Gould

rufus, Gould ,

connivens

Spiloglaux marmoratus, Gould

boobook

maculatus

jEgotheles novje-hoUandiaB

leucogaster, Gould

Podargus strigoides ,

cuvieri, Vig. cf- Horsf.

megacephalus ,

brachypterus, Gould

phalajnoides, Gould

papuensis, Quay et Gaim..

pluraiferus, Gould

marmoratus

Eurostopodus albogularis

guttatus

Caprimolgus macrurus, Horsf..

Chaetura caudacuta

Cypselus pacificus

»?

I. p. 8

— 11

— 13

— 17

— 20

— 22

— 24

— 26

— 28

— 29

— 31

— 33

— 35

— 37

— 38

— 40

— 41

— 43

— 45

— 47

— 49

— 61

— 53

— 55

— 56

— 58

— 60

— 62

— 64

— 65

— 66

II. p. 524
I. p. 68

— 69

— 71

— 73

— 74

— 76

— 79

— 81

— 84

— 87

— 89

— 89

— 90

— 91

— 93

— 94

— 96

— 98

— 100

— 103

— 105

586

BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

Name of Species.

Ilirundo frontalis, Quoy et Gaim.

fretensis, Gould

Ilydroclielidon nigricans

Lagenoplastes ariel, Gould

Clieramoeca leucosterna, Gould. . . .

Merops ornatus, Lath

Eiirystomus pacificus

Dacelo gigas

leacliii, Vig. S( Horsf.

cervina, Gould

Todiramphus sanctus

■ pyrrhopygius, Gould

sordidus, Gould

Cyanalcyon macleayi

Syma flavirostris, Gould

Tanysiptora sylvia, Gould

Alcyone azurea

diemenensis, Gould

pulchra, Gould

pusilla ,.

Artamus sordidus

■ minor, Vieill.

cinereus, Vieill.

■ albiyentris, Gould

melanops

personatus, Gould

superciliosus, Gould

leucopygialis, Gould

Pardalotus punctatus

■ rubricatus, Gould

quadragintus, Gould ,

striatus

affinis, Gould

melanocephalus, Gould

uropygialis, Gould

Strepera graculina ,

fuliginosa, Gould

arguta, Gould

anaphonensis

Gymuorhina tibicen

leueonota, Gould -

organicum, Gould

Cractieus nigrogularis, Gould ....

picatus, Gould ,

argcnteus, Gould ,

quoyii

torquatus

cinereus, Gould

leucopterus, Gould

Grallina picata

Graucalus melanops

parvirosti'is, Gould, ,

— ■ — mentalis, Vig. ^ Horsf. ....

<y

<

I. p. 107

— 110

— Ill

— 113

— 115

— 117

— 119
122

— 124
125
128
130
132
133
1.35
137

- 139

■ 141
141
142
143
146
147
149

■ 149
150

- 152

- 154

- 157

- 158

- 160

- 161

- 163

- 165

- 166

- 168

- 170

- 171

- 173

- 175

- 176

- 178

- 180

- 181

- 182

- 183

- 184

- 186

- 187

- 188

- 192

- 194

- 195

TABLE OF DISTRIBUTION.

587

Name of Species.

Graucalus hypoleucus, Gould

swamsonii, Gould

Pteropodocys phasianella, Gould

Campcphaga jardinii, Eiijjj}. ■■

karu

leucomela, Vig. ^- Horsf. | *

humei'alis, Gould

Pachycephala gutturalis

glaueura, Gould

melanura, Gould

rufiventris

faleata, Gould

lanoides, Gould

riifogularis, Gould

gilbertii, Gould

simplex, Gould

olivacea, Vig. ^- Horsf

Collui'icincla harmonica

niiiventris, Gould

brunnea, Goidd

selbii, Jard

parvula, Gotdd

YU&ga&tev, Gozdd | *

Falcimculus frontatus

leucogaster, Goidd

Oreoica cristata

Chibia bracteata, Goidd

Manucodia goiildii, G. R. Gray

Khipidiii-a albiscapa, Goidd

preissi, Cab

rufifrons

dryas, Goidd

isura, Gould

Sauloprocta motacilloides

picata, Gould

Seisura inquieta

Piczorhynchus nitidus, Gould

Arses kaupi, Gould

Myiagra plumbea, Vig. ^' Horsf.

concinna, Goidd

iiitida, Gould

latirostris, Gould

Machairirhynchus flaviventer, Gould

Microeca fascinans

assimiJis, Gould

fla\'igaster, Gould

Monarcha carinata

trivirgata

leucotis, Gould

Gerygone albogularis, Gould

fuBca, Gould

culicivora, Gould

magnirostris, Gould

G?

196

197

199

200

202

203

204

207

209

211

212

213

214

215

216

217

218

220

222

223

224

225

226

228

229

231

235

236

238

240

240

242

242

244

246

246

249

251

252

254

255

256

257

258

260

261

262

263

264

266

267

268

270

588

BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

Name of Species.

Gerygone lasvigaster, Gould

■ chloronota, Gould

Smicrornis brevirostris, Gould

— — flavescens, Gould

Ery throdryas rhodinogaster

rosea, Gould

Petroica multicolor

erythrogastra

goodenovii

phcenicea, Gould

Melanodryas cucuUata

picata, Gould

Amaurodryas vittata

Poecilodryas cerviniventris, Gould.

superciliosa, Gould

Drymodes brunneopygia, Gould,

superciliaris, Gould

Eopsaltria australis

griseogularis, Goidd

leucogaster, Gould

capito, Gould

Menura superba, Dav

victoria;, Goidd

alberti, Gould

Psophodes crepitans

nigrogularis, Goidd

Sphenostoma cristatum, Gould

Malurus cyaneus

longicaudus, Goidd

melanotus, Gould

splendens

elegans, Gould

pulcherrimus, Gould

lamberti, Vig. Sf Horsf. ,

amabilis, Gould

coronatus, Gould

leucopterus, Quoy et Gahn. ? . .

leuconotus, Gould

melanocephalus, Vig. cf" Homf.

cruentatus, Gould

Amytis textilis

striatus, Gould

macrourus, Gould

Stipiturus malachurus

Sphenura brachyptera

longirostris, Goidd

Atrichia clamosa, Gould

Hylacola pyrrhopygia

cauta, Gould

Pycnoptilus floccosus, Gould

Cisticola magna, Gould

■ exilis

. lineocapilla, Gould

O"

*?

a s

270
271
273
274
276
277
279
526
280
282
283
285
286
288
289
290
291
293
294
296
297
298
302
307
312
314
316
317
320
322
323
324
326
327
328
329
330
332
333
334
335
337
338
339
342
343
344
346
347
348
349
350
351

TABLE OF DISTRIBUnON.

589

Name of Species.

Cistieola isura, Gould

noficeps, Gould

Sericornis citreogularis, Gould

humilis, Gould

osculans, Gould

frontalis

laivigaster, Gould

maculatus, Gould

magnirostris, Gould

Acanthiza pusilJa

diemenensis, Gould

uropygialis, Gould

aj)icali8, Gould

pyrrhopygia, Gould

inomata, Gould

naua, Vig. %■ Horsf.

lineata, Gould

magna, Gould

Greobasileus clirysorrhous

reguloides

Eplitliianura albifrons

aurifrons, Gould

tricolor, Gould

Xerophila leucopsis, Gould

Pyrrholaemus brunneus, Gould

Origma rubricata

Calamanthus fuliginosus

campestris, Gould

Chthonicola sagittata

Ajithus australis, Vig. ^ Horsf.

Cincioramphus cruralis

cantillans, Gould

Ptenoedu8 rufescens'

Sphenaeacus galactotes

gramineus, Gould

Calamoherpe australis, Gould ..

longirostris, Gould

Mirafra Horsfieldii, Gould

Zonieginthu s bellus

oouleus

Stictoptera bichenoTii

anniilosa, Gould

jEgintha temporalis

Bathilda ruficauda, Gould

Aidemosyne modesta, Gould

Neochmia phaeton

Stagonopleura guttata

Ttcniopygia castanotis, Gould ..

Poephila gouldia;, Gould

mirabilis, Homh. et Jacq. . .

acuticauda, Gould

personata, Gould

leucotis, Gould

<y

a q

.352
353
354
356
358
359
360
361
362
364
365
367
368
369
370
371
372
373
374
376
377
380
380
382
384
385
388
389
390
392
394
395
397
399
400
402
403
404
406
407
409
410
411
412
414
415
417
419
420
421
422
423
424

590

BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

Name of Species.

Poephila cincta, Gould

Donacola castaneothorax, Gould

pcctoralis, Gould

Mimia flaviprymna, Gould ,

Emblema picta, Gould ,

Pitta 8trepitati8, Tcmvi

vifforsii, Gould

iris, Gould ,

Merula 2Mliocephala

vinitincta

Cinclosoma punctatuin

castaneonotum, Gould

cinnamomeum, Gould

castaneothorax

Oreocincla luiiulata

Ptilonorhjnchus bolosericeus, Kuhl.

Ailuroeclus smithii

Chlamydodera nuchalis

maculata, Gould

guttata, Gould

cerviniventris, Gould

Sericulus melinus

Mimeta viridis

affiuis, Gould

flavocincta

Sphecotheres maxillaris

ilaviventris, Goidd

Corcorax melanorhamphus

Struthidea cinerea, Gould

Corvus australis, Gmel.

Neomorpha Gouldii, G-. R. Gray

Calornis metallica

Pomatostomus temporalis

rubeculus, Gould

supereiliosus

I'uficeps

Meliornis novte-hoUandia;

longirostris, Goidd

sericea, Goidd

mystacalis, Gould

Liehmera australasiana

Glyciphila f ul vif rou s

albifrons, Gould

fasciata, Goidd

Stigmatops ocularis, Gould

- — — subocularis, Goidd,

Ptilotis lewinii, Swains

sonora, Goidd '.

versicolor, Gould

fasciogularis

flavigula, Gould

leucotis

o5

«!

^

rc;

TJ

f3

o

(/}

fl

fs

%

<a

^

l^i

(y

auricomis *

ST3

I. p. 425

— 426

— 427

— 428

— 429

— 430

II. p. 627

I. p. 432

II. p. 528

— 529

I. p.

433
435

— 437

— 438

— 439

— 442

— 446

— 448

— 450

— 452

— 454

— 456

— 462

— 465

— 466

— 467

— 468

— 470

— 472

— 475
II. p. 350
I. p. 477

— 479

— 481

— 482

— 484

— 486

— 488

— 490

— 491

— 493

— 495

— 497

— 499

— 500

— 501

— 503

— 604

— 506

— 607

— 508

— 510

— 511

TABLE OF DISTRIBUTION.

591

Name of Species,

Ptilotis eratitia, Gould

ornata, Gould

plumula, Gould

flavescens, Gould

— — flava, Gould

penicillata, Gould

fusca, Gould

chiysops

filigera

Stomiopera imi color, Gould

Plectorhyncha lanceolata, Gould ....

Meliphaga phrygia

Liclniotentha picata, Gould

Entomophila picta, Goxdd

Conopophila albigularis, Gould ....

rufigxilaris, Gould

Acanthogenys rufigularis, Gould....

Anthochjera inauris, Gould

carunculata

Anellobia mellivora

lunulata, Gould

Tropidorhynchus corniculatus

biiceroides

argenticeps, Gould

citreogularis, Gould

sordidus, Goidd

Acantliorliynehus tenuirostris ,

superciliosus, Gould

Myzomela sanguinolenta

erythrocephala, Gould

pectoralis, Gould

nigra, Goidd

obscura, Gould

Entomyza cyanotis

albipenuis, Goidd

Melithreptu8 validirostris, Goidd. . .

gularis, Goidd

— — lunulatus

chloropsis, Gould

albogularis, Gould

melanocephalus, Gould

Myzantha garrula

obscura, Gould

lutea, Gould

flavigida, Gould

Manorhiiia nielanophrys

Dicaum liirimdinaceum

Nectarinia australis, Gould

Zosterops cajridescens

gouldi, Bonap

liileus, Goidd

alhigidaris, Gould ,

— — tenuiostris, Goidd

p-

513
515

— 616

— 517

— 518

— 519

— 520

— 521

— 522

— 523

— 525

— 527

— 520

— 530

— 532

— 533

— 534

— 536

— 538

— 541

— 543

— 545

— 547

— 548

— 549

— 550

— 551

— 553

— 555

— 556

— 557

— 558

— 559

— 560

— 563

— 566

— 666

— 568

— 570

— 571

— 573

— 574

— 576

— 577

— 678

— 579

— 581

— 684

— 587

— 588

— 590
II. p. 535

— 536

592

BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

Name of Species.

Zosterops strcnuus, Gould

■ tejjhrophnirus, Gould

Ptilorhis paradisea, Swains

victoriae, Gould

Craspedophora magnifica

Climacteris scandens, Temm

rufa, Gould

erythrops, Gould

melanonota, Gould

melanura, Gould

leucophfea

Orthonyx spinicaudus, Temm

Sittella chrysoptera

leucocephala, Gould

leucoptera, Gould

pileata, Gould

Cuculus canoroides, Milll. ?

Cacomantis pallidus

flabellitbrmis

insperatus, Gould

dumetorum , Gould

Mesocalius osculans, Gould

Laraproeoccyx plagosus

minutillus, Gould

basalis

Scythrops novse-lioUandije, Lath.

Eudynamis flindersi

Centropus phasianus

macrourus

melanurus

Cacatua galerita

leadbeateri

— — sanguinea, Gould

roseicapilla

Licmetis tenuirostris

pastinator, Gould

Strigops habroptilus

Nestor hypopolius

productus

esslingii

notabilis

Calyptorhynchus banksii

macrorhynchus, Gould

— — naso, Gould

leachii

funereus

xanthonotus, Gould

baudinii, Vig

Microglossum aterrimum

Calloceplialon galeatum

Polytelis barrabandi

alexandrse

melanura

G?

O 03

a §

n.p
I. p.

II. p.

,637

638

691

595

593

698

600

602

603

604

605

607

609

610

611

612

614

615

618

619

620

621

623

625

626

628

632

634

636

636

2

5

6

8

11

12

539

648

660

662

554

13

15

17

18

20

22

25

27

29

31

32

33

TABLE OF DISTRIBUTION.

59;i

Names of Species.

Aprosmictus scapuUitus

Ptistes erythropterus

coccineoptenis, Gould

Platycercus barnardi, Vig. S( Hori^.

semitoi'quatus

zonai'ius

pennantii

adelaidensis, Gould

flaviventris

flaveolus, Gould

palliceps, Vig

cyanogenys

venustus

eximius

splendidus, Gould

icterotis

Piirpureicephalus pileatus

Psephotus hffimatorrhous, Gould .

xanthorrhous, Gould

clirysopterygius, Goidd

pulcherrimus, Gould

multicolor

hismatonotus, Gould

Euphema chrysostoma

elegans, Gould

aurantia, Gould

petropliila, Goidd

pulchella

splendida, Gould

bourkii

Melopsittacus undulatus

Calopsitta nov;p-liollandia;

Pezoporus formosus

Geopsittacus occidentalis, Gould .

Latliamus discolor

Triclioglossus multicolor

rubritorquis, Vig. Ii( Horsf..

chlorolepidotus

Ptilosclera versicoL :r

Glossopsitta australis

porphyroccphala

piisilla

Ptilinopus 8wain.9onii, Gould ....

ewingii, Gould

Lamprotreron superbus

Megaloprepia magnifica

assimilia

Leucomelivna norfolciensis

Myristicivora spilorrlioa

Lopholaimus antarctici^s

Chalcophaps clirysoclilora

longirostris, Goidd

Jjeucosarcia picata

O*

>

II,

p. 35
37
39
40
42
43
44
46
4?
50
61
h2
53
55
57
58
00
62
03
65
67
68
69
71
73
75
76
77
79
80
81
84
86
88
90
93
95
96
98
100
102
103
106
107
108
110
111
112
114
116
118
119
120

VOL. II.

2 Q

594

BIRDS Of AUSTRALIA.

Name of Species.

Phaps chalcoptera

elegans

histrionica, Gould

Gcophaps scripta

smithii

Lophophaps plumifera, Gould...

■ ferruginea, Gould

Ocyphaps lophotes

Petrophassa albipennis, Gould. . .

Erythrauchiena humeralis

Geopelia tranquilla, Gould

placida, Gould

Stictopelia cuneata

Macro pygia phasianella

Didunculiis strigirostris

Talegallus lathami

Leipoa ocellata, Gould

Megapodius tumulus, Gould . . .
Turnix melanogaster, Gould . . .

varius

scintillans, Gould

melanotus, Gould

castanotus, Gould

velox, Gould ,

pyrr ho thorax, Gould

Pedionomus torquatus, Gould . .
Coturnix pectoralis, Gould .....

Synoicus australis

diemenensis, Gould

sordidus, Gould

cervinus, Gould

Excalfatoria australis, Gould . .

Dromaius novte-hoUandiaj

irroratus, Bartlett

Casuarius australis, Wall.

Apteryx australis, Shaw

owenii, Gould

Choriotis australis

CEdicnera us grallarius

Esacus magnirostris

IJaematopus longirostris, Vieill.

fuliginosus, Gould

Lobivanellus lobatus .

personatus, Gould —

Sarciophorus pectoralis

Squatarola helvetica

Charadrius orientalis

Eudromias australis, Gould .
Cirrepidesmus asiaticus? —

jEgialites monacha

Ochthodromus nigrifrons . . . .
jEgialophilus ruficapillus ....
■ inornatus, Gould

0-1

II.

122

125

127

130

133

135

137

139

141

142

144

145

146

148

556

150

155

167

178

179

181

182

183

184

186

187

190

193

194

195

195

197

200

204

206

568

573

208

210

213

215

217

218

220

222

224

225

227

229

231

232

235

237

TABLE OF DISTRIBUTION.

595

Name of Species.

^gialophilus ? bicinctus

Ei'ythrogonys cinctus, Gould

Actitiu'us bartramius

Glareola grallaria, Temm

orientalis, Leach

Himantopus leucocephalus, Gould

novm-sclandicB, Gould

Cladorhynchus pectoralis

Eecurvirostra rubricoUis, Temm

Limosa melanuroides, Gould

— — uropygialis, Gould

Limnocinclus acuminatus

Ancylochilus subarquatus

Actodromas australis

Tringa canutus

tenuirosti'is

Tereliia cinerea

Actitis hypoleucos

Glottis glottoides

Totanus stagnatilis

Gambetta pulverulentus

Strepsilas interpres

Galliiiago australis

Rhynchffia australis, Gould

Numenius cyanopus, Vieill.

uropygialis, Gotdd

minor, MilU

Carphibis spinicollis

Threskiornis strictipennis

Falcinellus igneus

Platalea regia, Gould

Platibis flavipes, Gould

Grus australasianus, Gould

Xenorhynchus australis

Ardea cinerea, Linn

sumatrana, Raffl

pacifica. Lath

novse-hoUandise, Lath

Herodias alba

egrettoides

melanopus

garzetta

picata, Gould

Demiegretta jugularis

.greyi

Nycticorax caledonicus

Botaurus poiciloptilus

Butoroides flavicoUis

macrorhyncha, Gould

javanica

Ardetta pusilla

Porphyrio melanotus, Temm.

<y

s *

*?

II. p. 238

- 240

- 242

- 243

- 245

- 246

- 574

- 248

- 249

- 251

- 252

■ 254

■ 256

■ 257

- 259
§60
261
263
265
267
268
269
271
274
277
279
280
282
284
286
287
288
290
293
295
296
297
299
301
303
304
305
305
306
307
309
311
313
315
316
317
319
321

596

BIRDS OP AUSTRALIA.

Name of Species.

Porphyrio bellus, Gould

Tribonyx mortierii, Duhiis

ventralis, Gould

Gallinula tcnebrosa, Gould

Fulica australis, Gould

Parra gallinacea. Tetnm

HypotEenidia philippensis

Rallus brac'hipus, Swains

Eulabeornis castaneiventris, Gould

Porzana fluminea, Gould

palustris, Gould

? tabuensis

Erythra quadristrigata

Chenopis atrata

Cereopsis nova3-hollandiffi, Lath. ...

Anseranas melanoleuca

Chlamydoelien j ubata

Nettapus pulchellus, Gould

albipennis, Gould

Tadorna radjah

Caaarca tadornoides

Anas superciliosa. Gmel

punctata, Cuv

Stictonetta ntevosa, Gould

Sjjatula rhynchotis

clypeata

Malacorhynchus mcmbranaceus ...

Dendrocygna gouldi .■

eytoni. Gould

Nyroca australis, Gould

Erismatura australis

Biziura lobata

Larus pacifieus

Bruchigavia j amesonii

— - — gouldi . .

Stercorarius catarrhactes

Sylochelidon caspia

Thalasseus cristatus

poliocercus, Gould

bengalensis

Sterna melanorhyneha, Gould

■ gracilis, Gould

melanauchen, Temm

Sternula nereis, Gould

Gelochelidon macrotarsa

Gygis Candida

Hydrochelidon leucopareia

Onychoprion fuliginosa

panayensis

Anous stolidus

melanops, Gould

leucocapillus, Gould

Procelsterua albivitta

Hi (-

II.

,322
324
325
328
329
330
334
336
338
339
340
341
343
346
350
352
354
357
359
360
361
363
365
367
368
370
372
374
375
377
379
381
385
387
388
389
392
394
396
397
398
399
400
402
403
405
406
408
411
413
417
419
420

TABLE or DISTRIBDTION,

597

Name of Species.

Diomedea exulans, Linn

bracliy ura, Temm

cauta, Gould

eulminata, Gould

cliloroi'hynchos, Lath

melanophrys, Temm

Phcebetria fidiginosa ,

Ossif Vaga gigantea ,

Majaqueus couspicillatus, Gould

Adamastor cincrea

Pterodroma inacroptera

atlantica, Gould

solandi'i, Gould

^strelata leueocephala

mollis, Gould

leucoptera

cooki

Halobwna coerulea

PufRnus nugax

Nectris brevicaudus

• carneipes, Gould

Thiellus sphenurus, Gould

Thalassoica glacialoides, Smith

Daption capensis

Prion turtur

ariel, Gould

banksii

vittatus, Cuv

Procellaria nereis, Gould

Oceanites oceanica

Fregetta melanogaster, Gould

grallaria

Pelagodroma fregata

Haladroma urinatrix

Pelecanus conspicillatus, Temm

Phalaerocorax noTse-hollaDdice, Steph. . . .

varius

leucogaster, Goidd

melanoleiicus, Vieill.

stictoeephalus

punctatus

Plotus novu-hollandiap, Goi'M

Tachypctes aquila

minor

Phaeton phoenicurus, Gmel

Sula australis, Gould

eyanojis, Sundev

fiber, Linn

piscator, Linn

Podiceps australis, Gould

nestor, Goidd

gularis, Gould

Chrysocoma catarractes

a §

II. p. 427

— 433

— 434

— 43G

— 437

— 438

— 441

— 443

— 445

— 446

— 449

— 449

— 450

— 451

— 453

— 454

— 456

— 457

— 458

— 459

— 465

— 466

— 467

— 469

— 472

— 473

— 474

— 474

— 476

— 478

— 479

— 480

— 482

— 483

— 486

— 488

— 490

— 492

— 493

— 495

— 582

— 49()

— 499

— 499

— 501

— 504

— 506

— 507

— 509

— 511

— 512

— 513

— 517

598

BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

i

•2

03

ID

s

7i

es

's

2

si

Name of Species.

ee

2
1

4

'S

^,5

'Si'

NewS
Queen

o

O

-2

1

o

121

03

Eud vptula minor

* *

«-

«-

II. p. 618

— 521

undina, Gould

...'

...

*

On a review of the above Table it will be seen that of the 670
species of birds found in Australia 400 have been observed in New
South Wales, 427 in Queensland, 348 in Victoria, 312 in South
Australia, 239 in Western Australia, 235 in Northern Australia,
and 162 in Tasmania.

As might be expected, some species overstep the boundaries
assigned to them, particularly where the physical features of the
neighbouring division of the country do not materially differ from
those in which they are mostly found : thus the luxuriant brushes
of New South Wales and Queensland are alike frequented by the
Menura, the Rifle, Regent, and many other birds which are absent
from the Colonies where that kind of vegetation does not occur.
There are, again, other species, such as the Actiturus hartramws,
Terekia cinerea, and Sjjatula clypeata, which can only be con-
sidered as accidental visitors.

INDEX.

Acanthiza, i. 364.

cdbifrotis, i. 377.

cipicalis, i. 368.

brunnea, i. 384.

Chesnut-runiped, i, 367.

chrysorrhcen, i. 374.

diemertensis, i. .365.

ewingii, i. 365.

frontalis, i. 359.

Great, i. 373.

inornata, i. 370.

lineata, i. 372.

Little, i. 371.

Little Brown, i. 364.

-magna, i. 373.

magnirostra, i. 362.

nana, i. .371.

Plain-coloured, i. 370.

pusilla, i. 364.

pyrrhopygia, i. 346.

Red-nimped, i. 369.

reguloidcs, i. .j76.

Striated, i. 372.

Tasmanian, i. 365.

uropygialis, i. 367.

Western, i. 368.
Acanthogenys, i. 534.

nifigularis, i. 534.
Acantliorhynchus, i. 550.

dubim?, i. ool.

superciUosus, i. 553.

tenuirostris, i. 551.
Acantbylis caudacida, i. 103.

niidipes, i. 103.
Accipiter, i. 45.

appro.rimans, i. 41.

cirrhocephalus, i. 45.

radiatiis, i. 40.

torquatiis, i. 45.
Acrooephalus amtralis, i. 402.

lonr/iroHtris, i. 403.
Actitis," ii. 263.

empusa, ii. 263.

Actitis hypoleucos, ii. 263,
Actiturus, ii. 242.

bartramius, ii. 242.
Aetodroma.'', ii. 257.

australis, ii. 257.
Adamastor, ii. 446.

cinerea, ii. 446.

typus, ii. 446.
^gialites, ii. 2.30.

hiaticula, ii. 231.

monacha, ii. 231.

mgrifrons, ii. 232.
^gialitis bicinctu9, ii. 238.

nigrifrons, ii. 232.
^gialophilus, ii. 234.

rujicapilhis, ii. 235.
^gintha, i. 411.
^gintha temporalis, i. 411.
-^gotheles, i. 78.

australis, i. 79.

cristatus, i. 79.

leucogaster, i. 81.

lunuliitKs, i. 79.

novce-hoUandice , i. 79.
^strelata, ii. 451.

cooki, ii. 456.

mollis, ii. 453.

leucocepkala, ii. 451.

leucoptera, ii. 454.
Aidemosyne, i. 4L3,

modesta, i. 414.
Ailuroedus, i. 445.

smithii, i. 440.
Alarm-bird, ii. 218.
Albatros, Black, ii. 441.

Blnck-eyebrowed, ii. 438.

Culminated, ii. 436.

Short-tailed, ii. 433.

Shy, ii. 434.

Sooty, ii. 441.

Wandering, ii. 427.

Yellow-nosed, ii. 437.
Alcedinidse, i. 121.

600

INDF.X.

Alcedo azwea, i. 139.
fusca, i. 122.

gigdiitea, i. 122.

(/if/as, i. 122.

tribrachys, i. 139.
Alcyone, i. 138.

audrtdis, i. 139.

aziirea, i. 139.

diemenenxis, i. 141.

IJulchra, i. 141.

pnsUla, i. 142.
Alectiira lathami, ii. I-jO.
Alsocomiis leucomela, ii. 112.
Amadina ncuticauda, i. 422.

ammlosa, i. 410.

castaneothnrax , i. 426.

castanotis, i. 419.

cincta, i. 425.

(fouldice, i. 420.

guttata, i. 417.

lathami, i. 417.

modesta, i. 414.

nitida, \. 406.

pectoralis, i. 427.

ruficavda, i. 412.

temporalis, i. 11.
Amaurodryas, i. 286,

M«ate, i. 286.
Ampelidag ?, i. 156.'
Aniytis, i. 335.

leiicoptenis, i. 330.

macrounis, i. 338.

striatus, i. 337.

tea;«7is, i. 335, 337.
Anas, ii. 263.

arcuata, ii. 374.

atrata, ii. 346.

caruncidata, ii. 381.

clypeata, ii. 370.

fasciata, ii. 372.

juhata, ii. 354.

leucomelas, ii. 360.

leucophrgs, ii. 363.

lohata, ii. 381.

melanoleuca, ii. 352.

memhranacea, ii. 372.

ncevosa, ii. 367.

phdonia, ii. 346.

jrunctata, ii. 365.

ra^rtA, ii. 360.

rhynchotis, ii. 368.

rubens, ii. 370.

semipalt7iata, ii. .352.

superciliosa, ii. 363.

tadornotdes, ii. 361.
Anatidfe, ii. 345, 580.
Ancylochilus, ii. 256.

subarquatus, ii. 256.
AneUobia, i. 540.

Anellobia kmulata, i. 54-3.

mellimra, i. 541.
Anous, ii. 412.

cinereus, ii. 420.

leucocapil/wi, ii. 419.

leucoceps, ii. 41.3.

Vherminieii, ii. 408.

mdanops, ii. 417.

niger, ii. 413.

stolidus, ii. 41-3.
Anser griseus, ii. 350.
Anseranas, ii. 352.

melanoleuca, ii. 352.
Anthochrera, i. 536.

carunculata, i. 536, 538.

inauris, i. 5-36.

Icivinii, i. 538.

lunulata, i. 543.

mellivora, i. 541.

phryqia, i. 527.
AnthusJ 1. 392.

australis, i. 392.
fuliginosus, i. .388.

minimus, i. 390.

paUescens, i. 392.

rufescens, i. 397.
Aprosmictus, ii. 35.

erythropterus, ii. 37.

scapulatus, ii. 35.
Aptenodyta minor, ii. 518.
Aptenodytes catarractes, ii. 517.

chrysocome, ii. 517.

minor, ii. 518.

saltator, ii. 517.

nndina, ii. 521.
ApterygidfB, ii. 567.
Apteryx, ii. 567.

australis, ii. 568.

owenii, ii. 573.

Owen's, ii. 573.
Aquila, i. 8.

albirostris, i. 8.

audax, i. 8.

cuneicaudata, i. 8.

fucosa, i. 8.

morphnoides, i. 11.

(Uroaetus) audax, i. 8.
Ardea, ii. 295.

«/6«, ii. 301.

r/s7i«, ii. 305.

hidlaragang, ii. 297.

ccerulea, ii. 307.

caledonica, ii. 311.

Candida, ii. 301.

cinerea, ii. 295.

flavicollis, ii. 315.

flavirostris, ii. .303.

fusca, ii. 296.

garzetta, ii. 305.

INDEX.

601

Ardea insif/nis, ii. 296.

intermedia, ii. 303.

javanica, ii. 317.

fugtdaris, ii. 307.

leucophaa, ii. 295.

leiicops, ii. 299.

macttlata, ii. .319.

matook, ii. .307.

melanoj)s, ii. 304.

modesta, ii. 301.

nigra, ii. 315.

nigrirostris, ii. 303.

novce-hoUandice, ii. 299.

orientalis, ii. 305.

jjocijica, ii. 297.

poiciloptilu, ii. 31.3.

piisilla, ii. 319.

rectirostris, ii. 296.

sparinannii, ii. 311.

sumatrana, ii. 296.

typhon, ii. 296.

(Herodicos) picata, ii. 306,
Ardeidfe, ii. 294.
Ardeola J9?«i7/a, ii. 319.
Ardetta, ii. 319.

Jlavicollis, ii. 315.

gotddi, ii. 315.

onacrorhyncha, ii. 316.

pusilla, ii. 319.

stagnatilis, ii. 317.
Arses, i. 251.

kaupi, i. 251.
Artamidae, i. 143.
Artamus, i. 143.

albiventris, i. 149.

aJbovittatus, i. 143.

citiereus, i. 147.

lencopygialis, i. 154.

lineahts, i. 143.

melanops, i. 149,

minor, i. 146.

jyersonatus, i. 150.

sordidus, i. 143.

superciliosus, i. 152.
Astur, i. 40.

ct/6?«, i. 38.

appro.vii7ians, i. 41.

cruentus, i. 43,

fasciatuJi, i. 41.

novce-hollatidice, i. 37, 38.

radiatus, i. 40, 41.

?-«u, i. 37.

testaceiis, i. 40.

(Leucospiza) novee-IioUandire,!. 38.

(Micronisus) torquatus, i. 45.
Athene alhofacies, ii. 524.

boobook, i. 74.

connivens, i. 71.

? fortis, i. 71.
VOL. u.

Atlieue fro)d(da, i. 71.

7)tac>d(itif, i. 76.

marmorata, i. 73.

/•({/i:/, i. 09.

? strettmi, i. G8.
Atrichia, i. 344.

clamosa, i. 344.
Attagen aquUa, ii. 499.

ar/f/, ii. 499.
Atticora leucostermm, i. 1 15.
Aiistralasia novcc-hollandicc, ii. 93.
Avicida subi^cristata, i. 56.
Avocet, Rednecked, ii. 249,

Tcrck, ii, 261.

Banksianus avstraUs, ii. 18.

galeatns, ii. 29.
Barita anaphonenses, i. 173.

destructor, i. 184.

qnoyi, i. 183.

strepera, i. 168.

tibicen, i. 175, 176.
Ban'ahandius mclamtrus, ii. 33.

rosarens, ii. 31.
Bartramia laficanda, ii. 242.
Bathilda, i. 412.

rvjicauda, i. 412.
Baza, i. 56.

subcristata, i. 56.
Bee-eater, Australian, i. 117.
Bell-bird, i. 231,579.
BeruiclajM^ato, ii, 354,
Bittern, Australian, ii. 313.

Little Brown, ii. 315.

Little Grey, ii. 317,

Little Mangrove, ii. 317.

Minute, ii. 319.

Thick-billed MangToye, ii. 316.

Yellow-necked Mangi-ove, ii. 315.
Biziura, ii. .381.

fo6«to, ii. 381.

nov<e-hollandi(e, ii. 381.
Black Duck, ii. 3()3.

Magpie, i. 170.

Eed-bin, ii. 217.

Swan, ii, 346.
Blackbird, Greyheaded, ii. 528.

Vinous-tinted, ii. 529.
Blood-bird, i. 5.55.
Blue-bonnet, ii. 62.

Eye, i. 5()0.

Parrot, ii. (iO.

Pigeon, i. li)2.

Wren, i. 317.
Booby, ii. 507.

Brown, ii. 507.
Botaurus, ii. 313.

australis, ii. .■513.

mehmotiix, ii. 313.

2r

602

INDEX.

Botaurus poeciloptila, ii. 313,

poiciloptilus, ii. 313.
Bower-bird, Fawn-breasted, i. 454.

Great, i. 448.

Guttated, i. 452.

Satin, i. 442.

Spotted, i. 450.
Bracbyprorus cineretis, i. 472.
BracbyptraUus ralloides, ii. 324.
Bracbystoma cinereo, i. 472.
Bracbyurus strepitmis, i. 430.
Bristle-bird, i. 342.

Long-billed, i. 343,
Bronze- wing, Brusb, ii. 125.

Common, ii. 122.

Crested, ii. 139.

Harlequin, ii. 127,

Partridge, ii. 130,

Plumed, ii. 135.

Rust-coloured, ii. 137.

Smitb's Partridge, ii, 133.
Brown-tail, i. 365.
Brucbigavia, ii. 387,

ffouldi, ii. 388.

fameso7iu, ii. 387.
Brusb-Turkey, ii. 150.
Buceros cornicidatus, i. 545.
Bulastes citieretis, i. 186.

leucoptertcs, i. 187.

torquatus, i. 184.
BiU'binus (/rallanus, ii. 210.

macinirostris, ii. 213.
Busb-Iiark, Horsfield's, i. 404.
Bustard, Australian, ii. 208.
Butaetus mophno'ules, i. 11,
Butcber-bird, i. 184,
Buteo connivens, i, 71,

7nelanosternon, i. 47,
Butoroides, ii. 314.

JiavicolUs, ii. 315.

javanica, ii, 317,

macrorhyncJia, ii, .316.
Buzzard, Black-breasted, i. 47.

Cacatua, ii. 2,

aterrima, ii. 27.

banksii, ii. 13, 20.

chrysolopJius, ii. 2.

eos, ii. 8.

(/aleata, ii. 29.

galerita, ii. 2.

leadbeateri, ii. 5.

nasica, ii, ll,

rosea, ii. 8.

roseicapilla, ii. 8.

sanguinea, ii. 6.

viridis, ii. 18.
Cacomantis, i. 615.

cmereuSf i. 615.

Cacomantis dumetomm, i, 620,
JlaheUiformis, i, 618,

inceHns, i, 618.

inornatus, i. 615.

insperahis, i. 617,

pallidus, i. 615.
Calamantbus, i. 387,

campestris, i. 389,

Field, i. 389.

fuliqinos'us, i. 388.

"Striated, i, 388.
Calamobei'pe, i. 401.

australis, i. 402.

longirostris, i. 403.
Calidris australis, ii. 257.

canutus, ii. 259.
Callocepbalon, ii. 28.

australe, ii. 29,

galeatimi, ii. 29.
Calodera maculata, i. 450,

nuchalis, i. 448,
Calopsitta, ii. 84,

Grey, ii. 84.

novcs-hoUandice, iii 84.
Calornis, i. 477.

metallica, i. 477,

Sbiuing, i. 477.
Calyptorb;^aicbus, ii. 12.

banksii, ii. 13, 18.

haudinii, ii. 25.

cooki, ii. 18.

funercus, ii. 20.

galeatus, ii. 29.

leachii, ii. 18.

macrorhipu'hus, ii. 15.

naso, ii. 17.

solandri, ii. 18.

stellatus, ii. 13, 18,

xanthonotus, ii. 22.
Campepbaga, i. 200.

Black and Wbite, i. 203.

humeralis, i. 204.

hgpoleuca, i. 196.

Jardine's, i. 200.

jardinii, i. 200.

karu, i. 202.

leucomela, i. 203.

melanops, i. 192.

Nortbern, i. 202.

Wbite-sbouldered, i. 204.

(Lalage) karu, i. 202,
Campepbaginte, i. 191,
Canary Parrot, ii. 81,
Caprimulgidse, i. 78,
Caprimulgiis, i. 100.

albogularis, i. 96.

cristatus, i. 79.

gracilis ?, i, 84.

guttatus, i. 98.

INDEX.

603

Caprimulgus macrunts, i. 100.
megacephahm, i. 89.
mystacalis, i. 96.
novce-Jiollanclice, i. 79.
■podargus ?, i. 84.
strigoidcs, i. 84.
vittatus, i. 70.
Carbo albiventer, ii. 490.
dwiidiatus, ii. 493.
hi/pohucus, ii. 492.
Cai-pWbis, ii. 282.

spinicoUis, ii. 282.
Carpopliaga assimilis, ii. 111.
hictuosa, ii. 114.
magnifica, ii. 110.
norfotciensis, ii. 112.
spilorrlioa, ii. 114.
Casarca, ii. 361.

tadornoides, ii. 361.
Cassowary, Australian, ii. 206.
New'HoUand, ii. 200.
Soutbem, ii. 200.
Van Diemen's Land, ii. 200.
Casuarius, ii. 206, 561.
australis, ii. 206.
hetmctti, ii. 561.
novai-JioUandice, ii, 200.
Cat-Bii-d, i. 446.
Catarractes noster, ii. 389.
skua, ii. 389.
vulgaris, ii. 389.
Catharacta sktia, ii. 389.
Catheturus australis, ii. 150.
Ceblepyi'is hmneralis, i. 204.
jardinii, i. 200.
lineatus, i. 197,
maxima, i. 199.
melanojis, i. 192.
Cecropis/y(w»teZjs, i. 107.
nigricans, i. 111.
pyrrhonota, i. Ill,
Centi'opus, i. 633.
gigas, i. 634.
leucogaster, i. 634.
macrourus, i, 6.36.
melanurus, i. 636.
pJiasianinus, i. 634.
lihasiamis, i. 634,
variegatus, i. 634.
Centrouiiis australis, ii. 548,
Cerchneis immacnlatus, i, 35.
Cercoronus inehntorlutmphus, i. 470,

mcJanorhynchus, i, 470.
Cereopsis, ii. 350.
australis, ii. 3.50.
cineri'us, ii. 350.
New IloUand, ii. 350.
nov(C-hoUandi(P, ii. 350.
Certhia auriculata, i. 511.

Certbia australasia;, i. 555.
australasiana, i. 493.
cceridescens, i. 587.
canescens, i. 220.

chrysotis, i. 520.
dibajiha, i. .355.

c/i7»^ff, i. 587.

erythropygia, i. 555,

fulvifroiis, i. 49-5,

leucoplicea, i. 605,

leiicoptera, i, 605.

lumdata, i, 568, 495,

mellivora, i. 495, 541,

novce-hollandice, i, 486.

picumnus, i. 605.

pyrrhoptera, i. 493.

sangtdnolmta, i. 555.

tenuirostris, i. 551.
CertbiadiB ?, i. 598.
Ceyx azurea, i. 139.

cyanea, i. 139.

pusilla, i. 142.
Cbsetura, i. 103.

australis, i. 103.

caudacuta, i. 103.

macroptera, i. 103.

nudipes, i. 103,
Cbalcites basalts, i. 626.

oscidans, i, 621.
Chalcopbaps, ii. 118.

chrysocJilora, ii. 118.

Imiqirostris, ii. 119.
Cbanuei-Bill, i. 628.
Cbaradiiadte, ii. 210.
Cbaradrius, ii. 225.

asiaticus, ii. 229.

bicinctus, ii. 238,

caspius, ii, 229.

cueidlatus, ii. 231.

frenatus, ii. 210.

grallarius, ii. 210.

Jumieyeri, ii. 231.

hiaficula, ii. 231.

hypu>nelas, ii. 224.

lobatms, ii. 218.

longipcs, ii. 210.

marginatus, ii. 235.

vic'lanops, ii. 232.

monachus, ii. 231.

nigrifrons, ii. 232.

orientalis, ii. 225.
pcctoralis, ii. 222.
pluvialis orientalis, ii. 225.

rujicapillus, ii. 235.

fonpiutus, ii. 231.

tricolor, ii. 222.

vancUoides, ii. 222.

veredus, ii. 229.
xanthochcilus, ii. 225.
2r2

C04

INDEX.

Chelidon arhorea, i. 111.

ariel, ii. 113.
Chenopis, ii. 340.

atratu, ii. 340.
ClieramcBca leucosterna, i. 115.
Cherry-picker, i. 505.
Chibia, i. 235.

hracteata, i. 235.
Clilamvder.i cervinirentr!^, i. 454.

ffiittata, i. 452.

mactihita, i. 450.

nuchalis, i. 448.
Chlamydoclieii, ii. 354.

jiihata, ii. 354.
Clilamydodera, i. 447.

cervinivetdris, i. 454.

yuttata, i. 452.

macidata, i. 450.

nuchalis, i. 448.
Chloebia (/ouhh'<s, i. 420.
Clioriotis, ii. 207.

austral IK, ii. 208.
Clioristopus semipalmatus, ii. 352.
Choucalcyon aiistrale, i. 122.
Clirysocoecyx basalk, i. 620.

chalcitcs, i. 626.

hicklus, i. 023, 626.

malai/amis, i. 020,

minidiUus, i. 025.

osculans, i. 021.

pKciUtrus, i. 020.
Clirysocoma, ii. 517.

catarracfes, ii. 517.
Chtlaonicola, i. 31)0.

Little, i. 390.

minima, i. 300.

sagittata, i. 390.
Ciconia australis, ii. 293.

leucoptera, ii. 293.
Ciconidse, ii. 292.
Cincloramphus, i. 393.

Black-breasted, i. 395.

Brown, i. 394.

cantatoris, i. 395.

cantillans, i. 395.

cruralis, i. 394.

rufescens, i. 397.

Rufous-tinted, i. 397.
Cinclosoma, i. 433.

castaneithora.r, i. 438.

castaneonotum, i. 435.

castaneothorax, i. 438.

castanotum, i. 435.

castanotus, i. 435.

cinnamotneum, i. 437.

cinnamomeus, i. 437.

2)unctatut)i, i. 433.
Cinnyris rubruter, i. 655.

Circus, i. 58.

assimiUs, i. 58.

axillaris, i. 53.

ffouldi, i. 58.

jardinii, i. 00.
(Spilocircus) jardinii, i. 00.
Cirrepidesmus, ii. 229.

asiaticus ?, ii. 229.
Cisticola, i. 349.

e.ii7As, i. .350.

t'siwa, i. 352.

lineicapilla, i. 351.

lineocapiUa, i. 351.

magna, i. 349.

rvjiceps, i. 353.
Cladorhynchus, ii. 248.

jjectoralis, ii. 248.
Cliniacteris, i. 598.

erythrops, i. 602.

leucophaa, i. 605.

melanonota, i. 603.

melanotus, i. 603.

inelanura, i. 604.

2)icu)imus, i. 605.

?•«//«, i. 600.

scandens, i. 598.
Clypeaia brachi/rhgnchos, ii. 370.

macrorhynchos, ii. 370.

2ilatyrhynchos, ii. 370.

pomariua, ii. 370. '
Coacli-whip-bird, i. 312.
Cobbler's Awl, i. 551.
Cockatoo, Banksian, ii. 13.

Baudin's, ii. 25.

Blood-stained, ii. 6.

Crested, ii. 2.

Funereal, ii. 20.

Gang-gang, ii. 29.

Great-billed Black, ii. 15.

Great Black, ii. 27.

Great Palm, ii. 27.

Great Sulphur-crested, ii. 2.

Leach's, ii. 18.

Leadbeater's, ii. 5.

Long-billed, ii. 11.

Long-nosed, ii, 11.

Piidf, ii. 5.

Red-tailed Black, ii. 17.

Rose, ii. 8.

Rose-breasted, ii. 8.

Rose-coloured, ii. 8.

Western Black, ii. 17.

Western Long-billed, ii. 12.

White-tailed Black, ii. 25.

Yellow-eared Black, ii. 22.
Cockatoo-Parrakeet, ii. 84. •
Colaris ;jrtc^(?«s, i. 119.
Collocalia arborea, i. 111.

ariel, i. 113.

INDEX.

G05

Colliiricincla, i. 219.

hruunea, i. 223.

cinerea, i. 220.

harmonica, i. 220.

2)arvula, i. 225.

rectirostris, i. 224,

riifigaster, i. 220.

iiifiventris, i. 222.

sc/6«V, i. 224.

strigata, i. 224.
Coloburis strcpitans, i. 430,

vifforsi, ii. 527,
Columba antarctica, ii. 116,

chalcoptera, ii. 122.

chn/sochlora, ii. 118.

cHueata, ii. 146.

(lilopha, ii. 116.

ele(/(ins, ii. 125.

erythrauclien, ii. 142.

humeralis, ii. 142.

insmpta, ii, 130.

jamiesonii, ii. 120.

javanica, ii. 118,

lawsonii, ii, 125,

leucomela, ii. 112.

leueovielana, ii. 112.

lophotcs, ii. 139.

macquarie, ii. 146.

VHU/niJica, ii. 110.

mdaiiiilcKea, ii. 120.

norfolcicnsis, ii, 112.

jyallida, i. 615.

jjhasianella, ii, 148,

jncata, ii. 120,

ptirjnirata , ii. 100.

scripta, ii, 130.

smithii, ii, 133.

spiloptera, ii. 146.

superba, ii. 108.

(Peristera) hidrionica, ii. 127.
Coluinbida3, ii, 105, 556.
Common Lark, i, 392.
Conopopliila, i. 532.

albiffularis, i. 532.

rujigularis, i. 533.
Conurus cceruleo-harhatus, ii. 4'>.

chrysostonms, ii. 71.

Zo?7' scintillatus, ii. 98.

piwpureo-cephalus, ii. GO.
Cookilaria leucoptera, ii. 454.

mollis, ii. 453.

solanclri, ii. 450.
Coot, Australian, ii. 329.
Coracia inelanoramphos, i. 470.
Coracias pacijica, i. 1 19.

sayittata, i. 462.

strepera, i. 168.

iihiccn, i. 175.

(GalguUi>) ^wci^crt, i, 119,

Coracidie, i. 119.
Corcorax, i. 470.

aitstralis, i. 470.

leucopterus, i. 470.

melnnorhamphus, i. 470.

melanorhynclms, i. 470.

White-winged, i. 470.
Coripliilus versicolor, ii. 98,
C/ormorant, Australian, ii, 488,

Little, ii, 492.

Little Black, ii, 495,

Pied, ii. 490,

Spotted, ii. 582.

White-breasted, ii. 492.
CoronicA fuliyinosa, i. 170.

strepera, i. 168.
Corvida3, i. 475.
Corvus, i. 475.

aurittts, i. 312.

australis, i. 475.

cariniculatiis, i. 538.

coroneoides, i. 475.

coronouh'S, i. 475.

cyanoleucos, i, 188,

yraciiliiuts, i, 108.

lei(coptfru>i, i. 470.

melanops, i. 192.

olivacetis, i. 312.

paradoxus, i, 538,

squamulosus, i. 442.

strejjerus, i. 108.

versicolor, i. 173.
Corydon yaleatus, ii. 29.
Corydonix yiyantetis, i. 634,

leucoyaster, i. 634,

j)hasianus, i, 634,

varieyatus, i, 634.
Cosmaerops ornatus, i. 117.
Coturnix, ii. 190.

australis, ii. 193.

pectoralis, ii. 190,
Coucal, Black-tailed, i, 630.

Great-tailed, i. 636,

I'heasant, i, 634.
Cracticus, i. 179,

argenfeus, i. 182,

cinereus, i, 186,

cuiteicaudatus, i. 173,

cyanoleuca, i. 188.

destructor, i. 184.

fuliyinosus, i. 170.

hypoleucus, i. 178.

leucopterus, i. 187.

niyroyularis, i. 180.

2)icatus, i. 181.

quoyii, i. 183.

rohustus, i. 180.

streperus, i. 168.

tihicen, i. 175,

606

INDEX.

Cracticus torquatm, i. 184.

varms, i. 180.
Crake, Little Water, ii. 340.
Spotted Water, ii. 3-39.
Tabuan Water, ii. 341.
White-eyebrowed Water, ii. 343.
Crane, Australian, ii. 1^90.
Blue, ii. 299, 307.
White, ii. 304.
Craspedophora, i. 595.
maijnifica, i. 595.
Crateropodidse ?, i. 479.
Creadion canmculatus, i. 536.
Crow, i. 475.

White-eyed, i. 475.
Crow-Shrike^"^ Black-throated; i. 180.
CoUard, i. 184.
Cinereous, i. 186.
Grey, i. 173.
Hill, i. 171.
Pied, i. 168, 181.
Piping-, i. 175,
Quoy's, i. 183.
Silvery-backed, i. 182.
Sooty, i. 170.
Tasmanian, i. 178.
White-backed, i. 176.
White-breasted, i. 176.
White-winged, i. 187.
Cuckoo, Australian, i. 614.
Black-eared, i. 621.
Black-tailed, i. 621.
Bronze, i. 623.
Brush, i. 619.
Fan-tailed, i. 618.
Golden, i. 623.
Greater, i. 615.
Lesser, i. 618.
Little Bronze, i. 625.
Narrow-billed Bronze, i. 626.
Pallid, i. 615.
Square-tailed, 1. 620.
Cuculida3_, i. 618.
Cuculus, i. 614.

albostriffcitus, i. 615.
auratus, i. (j2Q.
basalis, i. 626.
ccmorokles, i. 614.
chalcites, i. 626.
cinpracens, i. 618.
cinerascens, i. 618.
cine7'etis, i. 615.
cyanocephalus, i. 632.
dumetormn, i. 620.
Jlahelliformis, i. 618.
Jlnvusyi. 618.
Jlindersii, i. 632.
f/igas, i. 634.
horsfiekU, i, 614.

Cuculus incerttis, i. 618.
inornatiis, i. 615,
insperatus, i. 619.
malm/anus, i. 626.
vietaUiciis, i. 623.
optatus, i. 614.
osculans, i. 621.

pliasianus, i. 634.

placjosus, i. 623.

priommis, i. 618.

pyrrliophanus, i. 618.

pijrrhophanes, i. 618.

rufulus, i. 618.

variegatuSj i. 615.

variolosus, i. 618.

versicolor, i. 623.
Cimcuma Imicogaster, i. 13.
Curlew, Australian, ii. 277.
Cursorius isahelliniis, ii. 229.
Cyaualcyon, i. 132.

macleayi, i. 133.

pyrrliopygia, i. 130.
Cygnus atrahis, ii. 346.
C-\Tiura torqtmta, i. 377.
CJT[3selida3_, i. 102.
C_ypselus, i. 105.

austraUs, i. 105.

leuconotus, i. 103.

pacificus, i. 105.

vittatus, i. 105.
Cysticola campestris, i. 349.

exilis, i. 350.

isura, i. 352.

lineocapilla, i. 351.

magna, i. 349.

rujiceps, i. 363.

Dab-chick, ii. 512.
Dacelo, i. 121.

cervicalis, i. 125.

cervina, i. 125.

chlorocephala, i. 128.

gigantea, i. 122.

gigas, i. 122.

leachii, i. 124.

saliissii, i. 125.
Dactylostrix castanops, i. 62.
Doedalion candidum, i. 38.
Daption, ii. 469.

capensis, ii. 469,
Darter, New Holland, ii. 496.
Dasyornis abeiUei, i. 312.

australis, i. 342.

longirostris, i. 343.

striattis, i. 337.
Demiegretta, ii. 307.

asJia, ii. 305.

greyi, ii. 309.
jtigiilaris, ii. 307.

INDEX.

607

DendrocygTia, ii. 374.

arcuata, ii. 374.

eTjtoni, ii. 375.

f/ouldi, ii. .374.
'Deiiaio])hrjsJlavipri/mnus, i. 428.
Diamond-bird, i. 157.

Allied, i. 163.

Black-headed, i. 165.

Forty-spotted, i. 160.

Eed-lored, i. 158.

Spotted, i. 157.

Striated, i. 161.

Yellow-rumped, i. 166.
Dicseum, i. 581.

atrogaster, i. 581.

hinmdinacetim, i. 581.

pardalokis, i. 581.

Swallow, i. 581.
Dicruridae, i. 234.
Dicrurus bnlkassiris, i. 235.

hracteattts, i. 235.
Diduncidus, ii. 556.

strigirostris, ii. 556.
Diomedea, ii. 427.

antarciica, ii. 441.

brachyura, ii. 433.

cawta, ii. 4-34.

chinensis, ii. 43.3.

chlororhynclios, ii. 437.

chi'ysostomu, ii. 437.

ctdmituda, ii. 436.

exidans, ii. 427.

fuUgmosa, ii. 441.

fusca, ii. 441.

melaiwphrys, ii. 438.

palpebrata, ii. 441.

( Phcebeti'ia) /j^/zV/Zwosff, ii. 441.

rThalassarcbe) cauta, ii. 434.

^ ) chlororhynclios, ii. 437.

( ) cidminata, ii. 4.36.

( ) melanophrys, ii. 438,

Diver, ii, 511.
Dollar-bird, i. 119.
Donacola, i. 426.

castaneothorax, i. 426.

Jlavipryimia, i. 428.

pectoralis, i. 427.
Dottrel, Allied, ii. 237.

Asiatic, ii. 229.

Australian, ii. 227.

Black-fronted, ii. 2.32.

Double-banded, ii. 238.

Hooded, ii. 231.

Red-capped, ii. 235,

Red-eved, ii. 240.

Ring,ii. 23i.
Dove, Barred-shouldered, ii. 142.

Little Turtle-, ii. 146.

Peaceful, ii. 144.

Dove, Placid, ii. 145.

Turtle-, ii. 146.
Dromteus irroratus, ii. 204.
Droniaius, ii. 200.

ater, ii. 200.

irroratus, ii. 204.

7iov(S-hollandi(S, ii. 200.
Dromiceus anstralis, ii. 200.

emu, ii. 200.

novcB-zelandice, ii. 568,
Drongo-Shi-ike, i. 2.35.
Drymodes, i. 289.

hrunneopygia^ i. 290.

supcrciliaris, i. 291.
DryniophUa carinata, i. 262.

trimrgaia, i. 263.
Duck^ Australian Wild, ii. 363.

Black, ii. 363.

Blue-billed, ii. 379.

Grey, ii. 363.

Evton's Tree-, ii. .367.

Freckled, ii. 367.

Hawkesbuiy, ii. 354.

Lobated, ii, 381.

Membranaceous, ii. 372,

Mountain, ii. .361,

Musk, ii. 281.

New HoUaud, ii. 372.

Pink-eyed, ii. 372.

Shovel-nosed, ii. .368.

Supercilious, ii. 36.3.

Wlaistling, ii. 374.

Whistling Tree-, ii. 374.

White, ii. .360.

W^hite-eyed, ii. 377.

WTiite-wiuged, ii. 377.

W' ood, ii. 354.
Dysporus^6«-, ii. 507.

sula, ii. 507.

Eagle, Hawk, i. 8.

Little, i. 11.

Little Swamp, i. 20.

Mountain, i. 8.

Wedge-tailed, i. 8.

W^histling, i. 20.

White-breasted Sea-, i. 17.
Egret, Australian, ii. 301.

Little, ii. .305.

Pied, ii. 306.

Plumed, ii. 303.

Sombre, ii. 305.

Spotless, ii. 304.
Egretta alba, ii. .301.

egrettoides, ii. 303.
Eidopsaris hicincttis, i. 665.
Elanus, i. 63,

axillaris, i. .53.

viela7ioptert(Sy i. 63.

COS

INDEX.

Elanus notatus, i. 53,

scriptns, i. 55.
Emblema, i. 429.

2)id(i, i. 429.
Emu, ii. 200.

Spotted, ii. 204.
Entomopliila, i. 530.

alhu(f%daris, i. 532.

rtifognlaris, i. 533.

picata, i, 529.

pida, i. 530.
Eiitomyza, i. 5G0.

alhi2}ennis, i. 563.

cyanotis, i. 5G0.
Eoloplius roseicapilhfs, ii. 8.

roseus, ii. 8.

sanc/uineus, ii. G.
Eopsaltria, i. 292.

australis, i. 293.

capita, i. 297.

Jlavicollis, i. 293.
flavHiastra, i. 293.

griscogidaris, i. 294.

leticoffaster, i. 29G.

jyarmda, i. 293.
Eplithianura, i. 377.

aJbifrons, i. 377.

awifrons, i. 380.

Orange-fronted, i. 380.

tricolor, i. 380.

Tri-coloured, i. 380.

White-fi'onted, i. 377.
Epimacliidfe, i, 590, ii. 532.
Epimachus brisbanii, i. 591.

maynijicus, i. 595.

paradisetis, i. 591, 595.

ref/ms, i. 591.

splendidus, i. 595.
Erismatura, ii. 379.

australis, ii. 379.
Erythra, ii. 343. _

leucophrys, ii. 243.

quadristrigata, ii. 243.
Erythrauclia3na, ii. 142.

hiimeralis, ii. 142.
Erytlirodryas, i. 275.

rhodi^iogaster, i. 27G.

>-oseff, i. 277.
Erytlirogonys, ii. 240.

cinctus, ii. 240.
Esacus, ii. 213.

magnirostris, ii. 213.
Estrelda anmdosa, i. 410.
6e?fo, i. 406.

bichenovii, i. 409.
7nodesta, i. 414.
ocidea, i. 407.

phaeton, i. 415.

Estrelda ritjicaudu, i. 412.

temporalis, i. 411.
Eudromias, ii. 227.

aastralis, ii. 227.
Eudvnamis, i. 631.
"australis, i. 632.
Jlindcrsi, i. 632.
Eudynaniys australis, i. 632.
Jlindcrsii, i. 632.

orie/dalis, i. G.')2.
Eudyptes chnjsoconie, ii. 517.
Eudyptula, ii. 518.

ininor, ii. 518.

vndina, 2, 521.
Eulabeornis, ii. 338.

castaneiveidris, ii. 338.
Euplienia, ii. 71.

aurantiu, ii. 75.

bourkii, ii. 80.

chrgsogaster, ii. 75.

clirgsostoma, ii. 71.

discolor, ii. 90.

elegans, ii. 73.

j)etrophila, ii. 76.

palchella, ii. 75, 77.

S2)le)idida, ii. 79.

imdidata, ii. 81.
Eurostopodus, i. 95.

albogularis, i. 96.

guttafus, i. 98.
Eurystomus, i. 119.

australis, i. 119.

orientalis, i. 119.

paeijicu^, i. 119.
Excalfatoria, ii. 197.

australis, ii. 197.

Falcinellus, ii. 286.

igneiis, ii. 286.

magnificus, i. 595.
Falco, i. 24.

fl?Z>i<s, i. 38.

axillaris, i. 53.

berigora, i. 31.

cenchroides, i. 35.

clarus, i. 37.

connivens, i. 71.

frontatiis, i. 29.

fncostis, i. 8.

hgj)oleucns, i. 24.

leucogaster, i. 13.

lotigipennis, i. 29.

lunulatus, i. 29.

macro2n(S, i. 26.

meknwgengs, i. 26.

melanops, i. 45.

norcB~hollandi(p, i. 38.

^yonticeriamis, i. 17.

radiatus, i. 40, 41.

INDEX.

009

Falco submc/e)-, i. 28.

torqunttis, i. 45.

(Hierofaico) mbm^fer^ i. 28.

(Hypotriorclus) frontalus, i. 29.
Falcon, Black, i. 28.

Black -cheeked, i. 1, I'o.

Gi-ey, i. 24.

Little, i. 29.

White-lionted, i. 29.
Falconidae, i. 8.
Falcunculus, i. 227.

Jlavigulus, i. 228.

fruntattis, i. 228.

youkli, i. -I'lti.

(/uthimlis, i. 2'}1.

k'ucoqader , i. 229.
Fantail, Black, i. 244.

K^ortheiii, i. 242.

Pied, i. 240.

Pi-eiss's, i. 24vO.

Rufous-fronted, i. 240.

Wliite-shafted, i. 2.j8.

Wood, i. 242.
Fedoa terekensis, ii. 2G1.
Fig-eatf-r, i. 588.
Finch, Bicheno's, 1. 409.

Black-iumped, i. 410.

Chestnut-breasted, i. 426.

Chestnut-eared, i. 419.

Crimson, i. 415.

Fire-tailed, i. 406.

Painted, i. 429.

Plain-coloured, i. 414.

Red, i. 415.

Red-eared, i. 407.

Red-eyebrowed, i. 411.

Red-tailed, i. 412.

Spotted-sided, i. 417.

White-breasted, i. 427.

Yellow-runiped, i. 428.
Fire-tail, i. 406.
Flycatcher, Allied, i. 200.

Black-fronted, i. 2Go.

Broad-ljilled, i. 256.

Brown, i. 258.

Carinated, i. 202.

Kaup's, i. 251.

Leaden-coloured, i. 252.

Pretty, i. 254.

Restless, i. 246.

Shining, i. 249, 255.

White-eared, i. 264.

Yellow-bellied, i. 261.

Yellow-breasted, i. 257.
Forty-spot, i. 160.
Fregata minor, ii. 499.
Fregetta, ii. 479.

ffr alluvia, ii. 480.

vielanugaster, ii. 479,
vox.. II,

Fregetta melanogastrn, ii. 479.
Fregilus kucopterus, i. 470.
Frigate-biid, Great, ii. 499.

Small, ii. 499.
Frigate, Lesser, ii. 499.
Friar, i. 545.
Friar-bird, i. 545.

Helmeted, i. 547.

Silveiy-crowned, i. 548.

Sordid, i. 550.

YeUow-throated, i. 549.
Fiingilla hella, i. 406.

bichenovii, i. 409.

lathami, i. 417.

leucovepliala, var., i. 417.

(>c)(k'a, I. 407.

phaeton, i. 415.

quinticulur, i. 411.

temporalis, i. 411.
Fringillidaj, i. 405.
Fmit-l'igeon, Allied, ii. 111.

Ewing's, ii. 107.

Magnificent, ii. 110.

Superb, ii. 108.

Swainson's, ii. 106.

White-headed, ii. 112.
Fulica, ii. 329.

australis, ii. 329.

Gabianus f/eorgi, ii. 385.
Gairay^scrt, ii. 413.

(/onlcli, ii. ,388.

jamesoni, ii. .388.
Gia\<i;vi\\iii pafifictis, i. 119.
Gallinago, ii. 271.

australis, ii. 271.
Gallinula, ii. 328.

mi/stacinus, ii. 243.

tcnebrosa, ii. 328.

ventralis, ii. .326.
Gallinule, Black-backed, ii. 321,

Sombre, ii. 328-
Gambetta, ii. 268.

pulverulentus, ii. 268.
Gamiet, Australian, ii. 504.

Brown, ii. 507.

Lesser, ii. 509.

Masked, ii. 506.

Red-legged, ii. 509.
Garzetta immacidata, ii. 304.
Gelastes gouldi, ii. 388.

jamesoni, ii. 387.
Gelochelidon, ii. 403,

macrofarsa, ii. 403,
Geobasileus, i. 374.

liufl-rumped, i, 376,

chri/sorrhoKS, i. 374.

reyuloidas, i. 376.

Yellow-rumped, i. 374.
2s

610

INDEX.

Geopelia, ii. 144.

cuneata, ii. 146,

placida, ii. 145.

trmiquiUa, ii. 144.
Geophaps, ii. 130.

scripta, ii. 130.

smithii, ii. 133.

plumifera, ii. 135.
Geopsittacus, ii. 88.

occidentalis, ii. 88.
Geronticus spinicollis, ii. 282.
Geiygone, i. 265.

alhogularis, i. 266.

Brown, i. 267.

Buff-breasted, i. 271.

chloronotus, i. 271.

euUcivora, i. 268.

ftisca, i. 267.

Great-billed, i. 270. •

Icevig aster, i. 270.

Tnagnirostris, i. 270.

Western, i. 268.

White-fronted, i. 266,
Glareola, ii. 243.

australis, ii. 243.

grallaria, ii. 243.

isabella, ii. 243.

orientalis, ii. 245.
Glareolidse, ii. 243.
Glossopsitta, ii. 100.

australis, ii. 100.

porphyrocepliaJus, ii. 102.

pusilla, ii. 103.
Glottis, ii. 265.

canescens, ii. 265,

glottoides, ii. 265.
Glyciphila, i. 495.

albifrons, i. 497.

fasciata, i. 499.

fnhnfrons, i. 495.

melanops, i. 495.

ocularis, i. 500.

subocularis, i. 501.
Gnatbodon strigirostris, ii. 556.
Goatsucker, i. 98.
Godwit, Barred-rumped, ii. 252.

Black-tailed, ii. 251.

Terek, ii. 261.
Goose, Black and White, ii. 352.

Cape Barren, ii. 350.

Cereopsis, ii. 350.

Green Pygmy, ii. 357.

Little, ii. 357.

Maned, ii. 354.

Mother Carey's, ii. 443.

Semipalmated, ii. 352.

White-quilled Pygmy, ii. 359,
Goshawk, Australian, i. 41.

New Holland, i. 37

Goshawk, Radiated, i. 40.

West Australian, i. 43.

White, i. 38.
Gracalus carboides, ii. 488.

leucogaster, ii. 492.

tnelanoleucKS, ii. 493.

varius, ii. 490.
Gracula cganotis, i. 560.

melanocephala, i. 574.
picata, i. 188.

strepera, i. 168.

viridis, i. 462.
Graculus punctatus, ii. 582.
Grallatores, ii. 199.
Grallina, i. 187.

mistralis, i. 188.

bicoloT, i. 283.

cyanoleuca, i. 188.

melanoleuca, i. 188.

picata, i. 188.

Pied, i. 188.
Grape-eater, i. 588.
Grass-bird, Little, i. 400.

Tawny, i. 399.
Grass-Finch, Banded, i. 425.

BeautifiU, i. 421.

Gouldian, i. 420.

Long-tailed, i. 422.

Masked, i. 423.

White-eared, i. 424.
Grass-Pai-rakeet, Blue-banded, ii. 71.

Bourke's, ii. 80.

Chestnut-shouldered, ii. 77.

Elegant, ii. 73.

Orange-bellied, ii. 75.

Splendid, ii. 79.

Warbling, ii. 81.
Grass-Warbler, Exile, i. 350.

Great, i. 349.

Lineated, i. 351.

Rufous-headed, i. 353.

Square-tailed, i. 352.
Graucalus, i. 191.

Black-faced, i. 192.

Ground, i. 199.

hypoleucus, i. 196.

melanops, i. 192.

melanotis, i. 192.

mentalis, i. 195.

parvirostris, i. 194.

phasianellus, i. 199.

Short-billed, i. 194.

swainsotiii, i. 197.

Swainson's, i. 197.

fenuirostris, i. 200.

Varied, i. 195.

White-bellied, i. 196.
Grebe, Australian Tippet, ii. 511.

Black-throated, ii. 513.

INDEX.

611

Grebe, Hoary-lieaded, ii. 512.

Green-leek, ii. 31.

Green Parrot, ii. 48.

Greenshank, ii. 265.

Grev Duck, ii. 263.

Grinder, i. 246.

Ground Parrakeet, ii. 86.

Parrakeet, Western, ii. 88.
Ground Tlirush,Chestnut-backed,i. 435.

Chestnut-breasted, i. 438.

Cinnamon-coloured, i. 437.

Spotted, i. 433.
Grus, ii. 290.

australasianus, ii. 290.
Gull, Crimson-billed, ii. 387.

Gould's Silver, ii. 388.

Larger, ii. 385.

Little, ii. 387.

Pacific, ii. 385.

Silver, ii. 387.
Gyg-is, ii. 404.

Candida, ii. 405.
Gymnopbrys torquatus, i. 568.
Gymnorbina, i. 174.

anaphonensis, i. 173.

hypoleuca, i. 178.

leuconota, i. 176.

organicmn, i. 178.

tibicen, i. 175.
Gj'^poictinia melanosternon, i. 47.

Haematops gitlaris, i. 566.

Itmulatus, i. 568.

vaItdi)-ostris, i. 565.
Hsematopus, ii. 215.

australasianus, ii. 215.

fidif/inosus, ii. 217.

lonffirostris, ii. 215.

picatus, ii. 215.
Haladroma, ii. 483.

urinatrix,\i. 483.
Yislcy on flavirostr is, i. 135.

incinctus, i. 133.

macleayi, i. 133.

pyrrhopyaia, i. 130.

sacra, i. 128.

sancta, i. 128.

sanctus, i. 128.

sordidus, i. 132.

i^YVCiSi?) Jiaiirostrk, i. 135.
Ilalijeetus calcii, i. 40.

canorus, i. 20.

leucogaster, i. 13.

leiicostermis, i. 17.

sphenurus, i. 13.
Haliaetus (Ictinoaotus) canorus, i. 20.

( ) leucosternon, i. 17.

(Pontoaetus) leucoyaster, i. 13.
Ilaliieus fuelanolettcus, ii. 493.

Haliastur, i. 17.

leucosternus, i. 17.

? sphenurus, i. 20.
Haliplaua /wZ/r/»;osa, ii. 408.

gouldi, ii. 408.

panayensis, ii. 411.

serrata, ii. 408.
Halobsena, ii. 457.

ccerulea, ii. 457.
Halodroma, ii. 483.

urinatrij;, ii. 483.
Harrier, Allied, i. 58.

Jardine's, i. 60.
Hawk, Blue, i. 26.

Brown, i. 31.

Collared Sparrow-, i. 45.

Crested, i. 56.

Fisb, i. 22.

Little, i. 45.

Little Fish, i. 22.

Nankeen, i. 35.

Orange-speckled, i. 31.

Swamp, i. 58.

Western Brown, i. 33.

Whistling, i. 20.

White, i. 38.
Hawksbury Duck, ii. 354.
Helopus caspius, ii. 392.
Hemipodius castanotus, ii. 183,

melanogaster, ii. 178.

melanotus, ii. 182.
pyrrliotliorax , ii. 186.

scintillans, ii. 181.

varius, ii. 179.

velox, ii. 184.
Hen, Port Egmont, ii. 389.
Herodias, ii. 301.

alba, ii. 301.

asha, ii. 305.
egrettoides, ii. 303.
garzetta, ii. 305.
greyi, ii. 309.
imtnaculata, ii. 304.
jugularis, ii. 307.
melanops, ii. 304.
novcB-hollandicp, ii. 299.
p)armosus, ii. 305.
picata, ii. 306.
plumiferus, ii. 303.
syrmatophorus, ii. 301.
Heron, Blue Reef, ii. 307.
Common, ii. 295.
Great-billed, ii. 296.
Nankeen Night, ii. 311,
Pacific, ii. 297.
Wliite-fronted, ii. 299.
AVhite-nocked, ii. 297,
White Keet; ii. 308.
Yellow-necked, ii. 315.

G12

INDEX.

Heteroscenes occidimtalis, i. 615.

paliidns, i. 615.
Hiaticula hicincta, ii. 238.

inornata, ii. 237.

monaeha, ii. 281.

nigrifrons, ii. 232.

rujicapilla, ii. 235.
Hieraetus, i. 11.

morphnoides, i. 11.
Hieracidea, i. 31.

beriyora, i. 31.

occidcntalis, i. 33.
Hieracog-laiix, i. 68.

comdvens, i. 71.

rufus, i. 69.

strenmms, i. 68.
HimantopodidjB, ii. 246, 574.
Himautopus, ii. 240, 574.

leucocephalus, ii. 246.

nova-zelandiiff, ii. 574,

pfdmatns, ii. 248.
IlinuulinidiB, i. 106.
Hirundo, i. 107.

ajms, i. 105.

ariel, i. 113.

caudacuta, i. 103.

fronfalis, i. 107.

fusca, i. 103.

leucosfermts, i. 115,

neoxena, i. 107.

nigricans, i. 111.

pacijica, i. 103, 105.

pyri'honota, i. 111.

(Herse) //ojitofc, i. 107.

^ ) nigricans, '\. 111.

( ) pgrrhmiofa, i. 111.

Hirundaplis nndipes, i. 103.
Honey-eater, Banded, i. 557.

Black, i. 558.

Black-headed, i. 573.

Black-throated, i. 566.

Blue-faced, i. oGO.

Brown, i. 500.

Fasciated, i. 499, 507.

Fulvous-fronted, i. 495.

Fuscous, i. 520.

Garrulous, i. 574.

Graceful, i. 615.

Lanceolate, i. 525.

Least, i. 601.

Lewin's, i. 503.

Long-billed, i. 488.

Lunulated, i. 668.

Luteous, i. 577.

Moust ached, i. 491.

New Holland, i. 486.

Obscure, i. 559.

Painted, i. 530.

Pied, i. 529.

Honey-eater, Plumed, i. 516.

Red-headed, i. 556.

Red-throated, i. 533.

Sanguineous, i. 565.

Singing, i. 504.

Sombre, i. 576.

Spinv-cheeked, i. 534.

Streaked, i. 622.

Strong-billed, i. 665,

Swan River, i. 570.

Tasmanian, i. 493.

Varied, i. 506.

Uniform-coloured, i. 523,

Warty-faced, i. 527.

Wattie-cheeked, i. 513.

Wattled, i. 536, 538.

White-cheeked, i. 490.

White-eared, i. 510.

Wiiite-fronted, i. 497.

White-quilled, i. 563.

White-plumed, i. 519.

White-throated, i. 497, 532, 571.

Yellow, i. 518.

Yellow-faced, i. 521.

Yellow-throated, i. 508, 578.

Yellow-tinted, i. 517.

Yellow-tufted, i. 511.
Honey-sucker, Brown, i. 600.

Larger, i. 604.

White-throated, i. 495.
Huia, ii. 530.
Hydrocheliden, ii. 406.

fluviatilis, ii. 406.

hyhrida, ii. 406.

leiicopareia, ii. 406.
Hydrobates lohatus, ii. 381.
Hpdroprogne caspia, ii. 392.
Hylacola, i. 345.

cauta,\. 347.

Cautious, i. 347.

pyrrhopygia, i. 346.

Red-rumped, i. 346.
Ilylochelidon, i. 110.

nigricans, i. 111.
Hypoleucus leucogaster, ii. 492.

melanoleucus, ii. 493.

varius, ii. 490.
Hypotsenidia, ii. 334.

philippensis, ii. 334.

Ibis, Black-necked, ii. 284.
falcinellus, ii. 286.
"Glossy, ii. 286.
lamellicollis, ii. 282.
lathami, ii. 282.
New Holland, ii. 282.
sj)inicollis, ii. 282.
Straw-necked, ii. 282.
strictipennis, ii. 284.

INDEX.

613

Ibis, White, ii. 284.
Ichthyiaetus leucogadei; i. 13.
leracidea berigora, i. 31.

occidoitalis, i. 33.
leraglaux connivens, i. 71.

riifa, i. 69.

stremia, i. 68.
Insessore.s, i. 78,

Jabiru, Australian, ii. 292.
New Holland, ii. 293.
Jungle-fowl, ii. 167.

Ka-Ka Parrot, ii. 548.
Kakadoe crista tricolorata, ii. 5.

rosea, ii, 8.

ruhro-galeatus, ii. 29.

sulfureus major vd auatralcnsi.s, ii. 2.

tenuirostris, ii. 11.
Kakapo, ii. 539.
Kea Parrot, ii. 554.
Kestrel, i. 35.
Kingfisher, i. 128.

Azure, i. 139.

Beautiful, i. 141.

Bush, i. 133.

Fawn-breasted, 125.

Giant, i. 122.

Great Brown, i. 122.

Leach's, i. 124.

Little, i. 142.

MacLeav's, i. 133.

Red-backed, i. 130-

Sacred, i. 128.

Sordid, i. 132.

Tasmanian, i. 141.

White-tailed, i. 137.

Yellow-bellied, i. 135.
Kite, i. 51.

Allied, i. 49.

Black-slioiddered, i. 53.

Letter-winged, i. 55.

Square-tailed, i. 5l.
Kitta holosericea, i. 442.

viresce)is, i. 446.
Kiwi-Kiwi, ii. 568.
Knot, ii. 259.
Koel, Australian, i. 632.

Lagenoplastes, i. 112.

ariel, i. 113.
Lalage humeralis, i. 204,

karu, i. 202.

leucomela, i. 203.
Lamprococcyx, i. 623.

busalis, i. (326.

mimdillm, i. 625.

plagosus, i. 623.

metalUeus, i. 477.

Lamprotreron, ii. 108.
superba, ii. 108.
superbus, ii. 108.
Land-Rail. ii. 334.
Laniadse, i. 167.
hsLnius frontatus, i. 228.
karu, i. 202.
macidarius, i. 212.
robustus, i. 195.
saturnimis, i. 220.
torqnatus, i. 184.
Laridse, ii. 384.
Lark, Sand-, ii. 235.
Larus, ii. 384.

catarrhactes, ii. 389.
frontalis, ii. 385.
fnseus, ii. .389.
georgi, ii. 385.
jamesanii, ii. .387.
leucomelas, ii. 385.
novce-h.oUandi(P, ii. 387. ~~
novee-liollandia;, var., ii. .388. -
pacijicus, ii. 385.
scopuliiius, ii. 387.
Lathamus, ii. 89.
azureus, ii. 77.
concinnus, ii. 100,
discolor, ii. 90.
pusillus, ii. 103.
ndnfrons, ii. 90.
Laughing Jackass, i. 122.
Leather-neck, i. 550.
Leipoa, ii. 155.

ocellata, ii. 15.5.
Ocellated, ii. 155.
Lepidogenys subcristatus, i. 56.
Leptoglossus cucullatns, i. .551.
Leptolophus auriconiis, ii. 84. '
Leptopteryx albovittata, i. 143.

minor, i. 146.
Leptorhynchus ^jec<o?-afe, ii. 248.
Leptotarsis eytoni, ii. 375.
Lestris antarctica, ii. 389.
catarractes, ii. 389.
catharactes, ii. 389.
Leucomela^na, ii. 112.

norf olden sis, ii. 112.
Leucosarcia, ii. 120.

picata, ii. 120.
Leucospiza, i. 37.

novce-hollandice, i. .38.
raii, i. 37.
Lewinia brachipus, ii. 336.
Lichenostomus cratitius, i. 513.

occidentalis, i. 51.3.
Lichmera, i. -J 93.

auMralasiana, i. 49.3.
ocularis, i. 500.
Licmetis, ii. 10.

(ai<

INDEX.

Licmetis nasicus, ii. 11.

pastinator, ii. 12.

temdrostris, ii. 11.
Licliiiotentlia, i. 529.

picata, 1. 529.
Limicula indiana, ii. 201.
Lininrtcinclus, ii. 254.

aciimmatus, ii. 254.
Limosidee, ii. 251.
Limosa, ii. 251.

melanuroidcs, ii. 251.

recurvirostra, ii. 261.

tereh, ii. 261.

uropygialis, ii. 252.
Lobivanelhis, ii. 218.

lobatus, ii. 218.

personatus, ii. 220.
Lopliocliroa Icadheatcri, ii. 5.
Lopholaiinus, ii. 116.

ontarcticus, ii. 116.
Lophopliaps, ii. 135.

ferrurjinea, ii. 137.

plumifera, ii. 135.
Lopliorhynclius antarcticus, ii. 116.

dilophus, ii. 116.
Lory, Crimson-winged, ii. 39.

King, ii. 35.

Red-winged, ii. 37.
Lorikeet, Blue-bellied, ii. 93.

Little, ii. 103.

Musk, ii. 100.

Porphyry-crowned, ii. 102.

Red-collared, ii. 95.

Scaly-breasted, ii. 96.

Swift, ii. 90.

Varied, ii. 98.
Loxia hella, i. 406.

fascinans, i. 258.

guttata, i. 417.

nitida, i. 406.
Lyi-e-bird, i. 298.

Prince Albert's, i. 307.

Queen Victoria's, i. 302.

Macbasrirhynclius, i. 257.

Jlaviventer, i. 257.
Macropygia, ii. 148.

phasianella, ii. 148.
Magpie, i. 181.

Little, i. 188.

White, i. 178.
Magpie-Lark, i. 188.
Majaqueus, ii. 445.

carneipes, ii. 465.

conspiciUatifs, ii. 445.
Malacorhynchus, ii. 372.

fasciatus, ii. 372.

mcmhranacens, ii. 372.
Malurus, i. 317.

Malurus amahilis, i. 328.

broimiii, i. 333, 334.

coronatus, i. 329.

crumtatu^, i. 334.

cyaneus, i. 317.

elec/ans, i. 324.

exilis, i. 350.

galactotes, i. 399.

lamberti, i. 327.

leuconotus, i. 332.

leucopterus, i. 330.

longicaudus, i. 320.

inalachuriis, i. 339.

melanocejyhalus, i. 333.

melanotus, i. 322.

palustris, i. 339.

pectoralis, i. 323, 342.

pidcherrimus, i. 326.

spkndens, i. 323.

teAiilis, i. 335.
Mangrove-Bittern, Little, ii. 317.

Thick-billed, ii. 316.

Yellow-necked, ii. 315.
Man-of-War Bird, ii. 499.
Manorhina, i. 579.

Jlavigula, i. 578.

garrula, i. 574.

lutea, i. 577.

inelanocephalus, i. 574.

melanophrys, i. 579.

obscura, i. 576.

viridis, i. 579.
Manorina viridis, i. 579.
Manucode, GoiUd's, i. 236.
Manucodia goiddii, i. 236.

heraudretii, i. 236.
Mareca castatiea, ii. 365.

punctata, ii. 365.
Martin, i. 111.

Fairy, i. 113.
Megalestris catarractes, ii. 389.
Megaloprepia, ii. 110.

assimiUs, ii. 111.

mngnijica, ii. 110.
Megalopterus stolidus, ii. 413.
Megalurus cruralis, i. 394.

galactotes, i. 399.

gramineus, i. 400.

rufescens, i. 397.
Megapode, Australian, ii. 167.
Megapodidas, ii. 149.
Megapodius, ii. 167.

menura, i. 298.

tumulus, ii. 167.
Megastrix tenebn'cosa, i. 65.
Melanodryas, i. 283.

cucullata, i. 283.
picnta, i. 285.
Meleagris Hndesayii, ii. 150.

INDEX.

615

Melichsera lumdata, i. 643.

melUvora, i. 541.
Melicophila picata, i. 529.
Meliorais, i. 486.

lonr/imstris, i. 488.

7)ii/sfacalis, i. 491.

novcc-hoUandice, i. 486.

sericea, i. 490.
Meliphaga, i. 526.

affinis, i. 573.

albiventris, i. 495.

atricapiUa, i. 568, 573.

auricornis, i. 511.

australasiana, i. 493.

balqonera, i. 486.

barbata, i. 486.

brevirostris, i. 568.

cardinalis, i. 555.

chrysocephala, i. 456.

chrysops, i. 521.

chrysotis, i. 503.

ccerulea, i. 587.

cratitia, i. 513.

cyanops, i. 560.
Jlava, i. 518.
Jlavescens, i. 517.

Jlavigula, i. 508.

fitsca, i. 520.

ftdvifrons, i. 495.

inornata, i. 493.

leucotis, i. 510.

longirostris, i. 488.

lunulata, i. 568.

mystacalis,'\. 491.

novce-hoUandice, i. 486.

ornata, i. 515.

penicillata, i. 519.

phrygia, i. 527.

phimida, i. 516.

riifiyidaris, i. 534.

sericea, i. 490.

seficeola, i. -!90.

sonora, i. 504.

tenuirostris, i. 551.

torquata, i. 5(')8.

utdcolor, i. 52.'>.
versicolor, i. 506.
Melipliagidfe, i. 485.
Melithreplus, i. 564.

albiyidari'i, i. 571.

c/doropsis, i. 570.

Jlavicollis ?, i. 508.

yidarix, i. .566.
laitceolnttis, i. 525,
lunuhdifs, i. 568.
melanocephalus, i. 573.
melanoJeticus, i. 49.3.
novfP-Jiollatidifc, i. 486.
iHilidirodris, i. 565.

Melithreptiis virescens, i. 565.
Melittophagus ornatus, i. 117.
Melopsittacus, ii. 81.
undulntus, ii. 81.
Menura, i. 298.
alberti, i. 307.
Z^;-a, i. 298.
noi-ee-hollandice, i. 298.
pm'adisea, i. 298.
superba, i. 298.
victor ice, i. 302.
vulgaris, i. 298.
Menuridse, i. 298.
Meropidfe, i. 116.
Merops, i. 116.

caruncidatus, i. 538.
chrysopterus, i. 541.
cornicidatus, i. 545.
cyanops, i. 560.
garridus, i. 574.
melatmrus, i. 117.
monachus, i. 545.
ornatus, i. 117.
phrygius, i. 527.
temdpennis, i. 117.
thouini, i. 117,
Merula, ii. 528.
nestor, ii. 528.
poliocephala, ii. 528.
vinitineta, ii. 529.
Memlidte, i. 430, ii. 529.
Mesocalius, i. 621.
osculuns, i. 621.
jjalliolatm, i. 621.
Microcarbo stictocephalus, ii. 495.
Microchelidon hirundi,'iacea, i. 581.
Micrceca, i. 258.

assimilis, i. 260.
fascinans, i. 258.
Jlavigaster, i. 261.
•macroptera, i. 258.
Microgl(3ssum, ii. 26.
rtto-, ii. 27.
aferrimum, ii. 27.
Microglossus aterrimua, ii. 27.

griseus, ii. 27.
Micropiis australis, i. 105.

?7'«r/to, i. 105.
Milvus, i. 49.

nffinis, i. 49.
isurus, i. 51.
sphcnurus, i. 20,
(Ilydroictinia) affmis, i. 49.
Mimeta, i. 4()1.
(iffinix, i. 465.
Jiaro-cincta, i. 46(),
mcndo'ides, i. 462.
viridix, i. 4<>2.
Mimetes,^«j;o-ci'«c<«-s-, i. 466.

616

INDEX.

Mimetes viricUs, i. 462.
Miner, i. 574.
Mirafra, i. 404.

lior^ddii, i. 404.
Mock Regent Bird, i. 527.
Moho, ii. 576.
Monarcha, i. 262.

carinata, i. 262.

lencotis, i. 264.

trivir(/(ita, i. 263.
Moorhen, ii. 325.
Mooruk, ii. 561.
More-pork, i. 87.

Little, i. 79.
Moreton Bay Roso-liill, ii. 51.
Morinellus australis:, ii. 227.

caspins, ii. 229.
Motacilla aiistralis, i. 293.

ei/cmca, i. 317.

dubia, i. 207.

pusilla, i. 364.

solitaria, i. 385.

superha, i. 317.
Motacillidfe, i. 392.
Mountain Duck, ii. 361.

Thrush, i. 439.
Munia, i. 428.

Jlavipri/mna, i. 428.
Muscicapa auriconm, i. 511.

australis, i. 293.

harhata, 1. 354.

crepitans, i. 312.

cticullata, i, 283.

erythropasfcr, var., i. 282.

erytliroc/ustra, ii. 526.

georgiana, i. 294.

goodenovii, i. 280.

gularis, i. 296.

lathami, i. 276.

nialachura, i. 339.

multicolor, i. 270, ii. 526.

mystacca, i. 511.

nov(B-holla)i(li(e, i. 511.

^Jectoralis, i. 207.

rvjifrons, i. 240.

vitiata, i. 286.
MuscicapidjB, i. 237.
Muscipeta carinata, i. 262.

(Muscicapa) australis, i. 293.
Musk Parakeet, ii. 100.
Mutton-bird, ii. 459.
Mycteria australis, ii. 293.
Myiagra, i. 252.

concimia, i. 254.

latirostris, i. 256.

macrojjtera, i. 258.

nitida, i. 255.

plutnbea, i. 252.

rubecidoides, i, 255.

Myristicivora, ii. 114.

norfolciensis, ii. 112.

spilorrhoa, ii. 114.
Myzantha, i. 574.

Jlavigula, i. 578.

Jlavirostris, i. 579.

yarrtda, i. 574.

/jrfeffl, i. 577.

melanophrys, i. 579.

ohscvra, i. 576.
Myzomela, i. 555.

erythrocephala, i. 556.

nigra, i. 558.

obscura, i. 559.

pectoralis, i. 557.

sanguinolenta, i. 555.

Nankeen-bird, ii. 311.
Nanodes discolor, ii. 90.

elegans, ii. 73.

pidchellus, ii. 77.

undulatus, ii. 81.

venustus, ii. 71.

? zonarius, ii. 4^3.
Natatores, ii. 345.
Native Companion, ii. 290.

Hen, ii. 324.

Pheasant, ii. 155.

Sparrow, i. 407.

Thrush, i. 218.

Turkey, ii. 208.
Nectarinia, i. 583.

australis, i. 584.

frcenata, i. 584.
Nectris, ii. 459.

brevieaudus, ii. 459.

carneipes, ii. 465.
Neochmia, i. 415.

phaeton, i. 415.
Neomorpha, ii. 530.

acutirostris, ii. 530.

crassirostris, ii. 530.

gouldi, ii. 530.
Neops chrysoptera, i. 609.
Nestor, ii. 548.

esslingii, ii. 552.

hypopolius, ii. 548.

notabilis, ii. 554.

novce-zelandicp, ii. 548, 552.

productris, ii. 550.
Nettapus, ii. 357.

alhipennis, ii. 359.

coromandelianus, ii. .359,

pulclicUus, ii. 357.
Nicoclarius optatus, i. 614.
Niglit-fleron, Caledonian, ii. 311,

Nankeen, ii. 311.

New Holland, ii. 311.
Nightjar, Owlet, i. 79,

INDEX.

617

Nightjar, Large-tailed, i, 100.

Spotted, 1. 98.

White-bellied Owlet, i. 81.

White-throated, i. 96.
Nisus amtralis, i. 45.

rUrospiza) approximans, i. 41.

( ) radiatus, i. 41.

( ) torquatus, i. 45.

Noctua boobook, i. 74.

frontata, i. 71.

macidata, i. 76.
Noddy, Grey, ii. 420.

Lesser, ii. 417.

White-capped, ii. 419.
Notodela karu, i. 202.
Notornis, ii. 576.

manteUi, ii. 576.
Numenius, ii. 277.

australis, ii. 277.

cinereus, ii. 261.

cyanopus, ii. 277.

minor, ii. 280.

minutus, ii. 280.

rostratus, ii. 277.

uropngialis, ii. 279.
Nutmeg-Pigeon, White, ii. 114.
Nycticorax, ii. 310.

caledonicus, ii. 311.
Nymphicus novce-hollandice, ii. 84.
Nyroca, ii. 377.

australis, ii. 377.

Oceanites, ii. 478.

oceanica, ii. 478.

wilsoni, ii. 478.
Ochthodromus, ii. 237.

? bicinctus, ii. 238.

inornatus, ii. 237.
Ocyphaps, ii. 139.

lophofes, ii. 139.
Dcypterus albovittattis, i. 143.

cinereus, i. 147,

fuscatus, i. 146.

minor, i. 146.

personatus, i. 150.

super ciliosus, i. 152.
CEdicnemus, ii. 210.

gralkirius, ii. 210.

lonyipes, ii. 210.

magnirostris, ii. 213.
Onychoprion, ii. 408.

fuliginosn, ii. 408.

fvliginosus ?, ii. 408. ^

panaya, ii. 411.

panayensis, ii. 411.

serrata, ii. 408.
Oreocincla, i. 439.

lunulata, i. 439.

macrorhyncha, i. 439.
VOL. u.

Oreocincla novce-hoUandiiS, i. 439.
Oreoica, i. 231.

Crested, i. 231.

cristata, i. 231.

gutturalis, i. 231.
Organ -bird, i. 178.
Origma, i. 385.

rubricata, i. 385.

solitaria, i. 385.
Oriole, Allied, i. 465.

Chestnut-backed, i. 466.

New South Wales, i. 462.
Orioliis affinis, i. 465.

Jlavocinctus, i. 466,

regens, i. 456.

regiits, i. 456.

variegatus, i. 462.

viridis, i. 462.
Orthonyx, i. 607.

macidatus, i. 607.

Spine-tailed, i. 607.

spinicandiis, i. 607.

temmincki, i. 607.
Osprey, White-headed, i. 22,
Ossifraga, ii. 443.

gigantea, ii. 443.

macroptera, ii. 449.
Otididse, ii. 207.
Otis australasianiis, ii. 208.

australis, ii. 208.
Owl, Boobook, i. 74.

Brown or Cuckoo, i. 74,

Chestnut-faced, i. 62.

Cuckoo or Brown, i. 74.

Delicate, i. 66.

Great, of the Brushes, i. 68.

Marbled, i. 73.

Masked, i. 64.

Rufous, i. 69.

Sooty, i. 65.

Spotted, i. 76.

Winking, i. 71.
Oxyura australis, ii. 379.
Oyster-catcher, Black, ii. 217,

Sooty, ii. 217.

White-breasted, ii. 215,

Pachycephala, i. 206.

australis, i. 293.
fulcata, i. 213.
fuliqinosa, i. 207.
fus'ca, i. 207.

gilberti, i. 216.

glaucura, i. 209.

gutturalis, i. 207.

inornata, i. 216,

lanoides, i. 214.

melanura, i. 211.

olivacea, i. 218.

2 T

618

INDEX.

Pachycephala ^edo/-a&, i, 212,

rufivenUns, i. 212.

rufogularis, i. 215.

simplex, i. 217.

striata, i. 212.
Pachyptila banksii, ii. 274.

forsteri, i. 474.

vittata, ii. 474.
Palseornis anthopeplus, ii. 33.

harrabandi, ii. 31.

melanura, ii. 33.

novce-hollandice, ii. 84.

? rosaceus, ii. 31.
PaUene caudaciita, i. 103.

leuconota, i. 103.

macroptera, i. 103.
Pandion, i. 23.

ffouldii, i. 22.

leucQcephalus, i. 22.
Paradiseidse ?, i. 441.
Paralcyon cervina, i. 125.

,9«(7as, i. 122.
Pardalotus, i. 156.

affinis, i. 163.

melanocephalus, i. 165.

ornatus, i. 161.

punctcctus, i. 157.

quadragintus, i. 160.

rubricatus, 1. 158.

striatus, i. 161.

uropycficdis, i. 166.
Parkinsonius mirahili&, i. 298.
Parra, ii. 330.

Comb-crested, ii. 330.

gallinacea, ii. 330.
Parrakeet, Adelaide, ii. 46.

Banded, ii. 43.

Barnard's, ii. 40.

Barraband's, ii. 31.

Beautiful, ii. 63, 67.

Black-tailed, ii. 33.

Blue-bauded Grass-, ii. 71.

Blue-cheeked, ii. 52.

Bourke's Grass-, ii. 80.

Chestnut-shouldered Grass-, ii. 77.

Cockatoo, ii. 81.

Eleg-aut Grass-, ii. 73.

Golden-shouldered, ii, 65.

Ground-, ii. 73, 86.

Lono'-billed, ii. 550.

Musk, ii. 100.

Orang'e-bellied, ii. 75, 77.

Pacific, ii. 100.

Pale-headed, ii. 51.

Pennant's, ii. 44.

Red-capped, ii. 60.

Red-rumped, ii. 69.

Red-shouldered, ii. 90,

Red-vented, ii. 62.

Parrakeet, Rock-, ii. 76.

Rose-hill, ii. 55.

Small, ii. 103.

Splendid, ii. 57.

Splendid Grass-, ii. 79.

Swamp, ii. 86.

Swift, ii. 90. .

The Princess of Wales's, ii. 32.

Twenty-eight, ii. 41.

Varied, ii. 68.

"Warbling Grass-, ii. 81,

Western Ground-, ii. 81,

Wilson's, ii. 550.

Yellow-bellied, ii. 48.

Yellow-cheeked, ii. 58.

Yellow -collared, ii. 41.

Yellow-rumped, ii. 50.

Yellow-vented, ii. 63.
Parrot, Barnard's, ii. 40.

Bauer's, ii. 43.

Blue, ii. 60.

Blue-bellied, ii. 93.

Brown's, ii. 53.

Canary, ii. 81.

Crimson-winged, ii. 37.

Green, ii. 48.

Ka-ka, ii. 548.

Mountain-, ii. 33.

Nonpareil, ii. 55.

Orange-bellied, ii. 77.

Pennantian, ii. 44.

Pheasant, ii. 46.

Philip Island, ii. 550.

Prince of Essling's, ii. 552.

Red-crowned, ii. 29.

Scarlet and Green, ii. 35.

Scarlet-breasted, ii. 31.

Small, ii. 103.

Smutty, ii. 53.

Southern. Brown, ii. 548.

Tabuan, ii. 35.

Undulated, ii. 81.

Van Diemen's, ii. 48.

Varied, ii. 68.
Partridge, New Holland, ii. 178.
Passer stultus, ii. 413.
Pedionomus, ii. 187.
microurus, ii. 187,
tot-qtmtus, ii. 187.
Pelagodroma, ii. 482.
fref/ata, ii. 482.
marina, ii. 482.
Pelecanidse, ,ii. 485, 582.
Pelecanoides urinatrir, ii. 483.
Pelecanopus pelecanoides, ii. 394, 420.
poliocercus, ii. 396.
torresi, ii. 397,
Pelecanus, ii. 486.
aquilus, ii. 499.

INDEX.

619

Pelecanus austraJis, ii. 486.

conspicillatus, ii. 486.

dimidiatiis, ii. 493.
Jiber, ii. 507.
fuscescens, ii. 490.

leucocephalus, ii. 409.

melanoleucus, ii. 493.

minor, ii. 499.

ncevius, ii. 382.

pahnerstoni, ii. 499.

^tca, ii. 490.

punctattis, ii. 382.

serratcyr, ii. 509.

sw/a, ii. 507.

varius, ii. 490.
Pelican, Austi-alian, ii. 486.

New Holland, ii. 486.
Pelidna subarquata, ii. 256.
Penguin, Apterous, ii. 568.

Crested, ii. 517.

Fairy, ii. 521.

Little, ii. 518.
Perdicidse, ii. 190.
Perdix australis, ii. 193.

varia, ii. 179.
Peristera chalcoptera, ii. 122.

elegans, ii. 125.

histrionica, ii. 127.

scripta, ii. 130.
Pernis (Hyptiopus) svicristatus, i. 56.
Petrel, Allied, ii. 458.

Atlantic, ii. 449.

Black -bellied Storm-, ii. 479.

Blue, ii. 457.

Cape, ii. 469.

Cook's, ii. 456.

Diving, ii. 483.

Fleshy-footed, ii. 465.

Frigate, ii. 482.

Giant, ii. 443.

Great Grey, ii. 446.

Great-%vinged, ii. 449.

Pintado, ii. 469.

Short-tailed, ii. 459.

Silvery-grey, ii. 467.

Soft-plumaged, ii. 453.

Solander's, ii. 450.

Spectacled, ii. 445.

Wedge-tailed, ii. 466.

White- and Black-spotted, ii. 469.

White-bellied Storm-, ii. 480.

White-faced Storm-, ii. 482.

While-headed, ii. 451.

W^hite-winged, ii. 454.

Yellow-webbed Storm-, ii. 478.
Petrochelidon nigricans, i. 111.
Petrceca cuculluta, i. 283.

goodenovii, i. 280.

multicolor, i. 279.

IPetrodca. phoenicefi, i. 282.
Petroica, i. 278, 526.

bicolor, i. 283.

? ce7-viniventris, i. 288.

erythrogadra, ii. 526.
fusca, i. 286.

goodenovii, i. 280.

modesta, ii. 620.

mvlticolor, i. 279.

phcenicea, i. 282.

pulchella, ii. 526.

rhodinogaster, i. 276.

rosea, i. 277.

super ciliosa, i. 289..
Petrophassa, i. 241.

albipennis, ii. 141.
Pezoporus, ii. 86.
fortnosus, ii. 86.

rvjifrons, ii. 60, 86.
Phaeton, ii. 601.

ervbescens, ii. 501.

phcenicurus, ii. 501.

rubricauda, ii. 501.
Phalacrocorax, ii. 488, 582.

carboides, ii. 488.

dilophus, ii. 582.
Jlavirhynchus, ii. 493.

hypoleucus, ii. 490.

leucogaster, ii. 492.

melanoleticus, ii. 493.

n<evius, ii. 582.

novce-hollandits, ii. 488.

punctatus, ii. 582.

stictocephalus, ii. 495.

stdcirostris, ii. 495.

varius, ii. 490.
Phaps, ii. 122.

chalcoptera, ii. 122.

elegans, ii. 125.

histrionica, ii. 127.

picata, ii. 120.
Pheasant, i. 298.

Native, ii. 155.

Parrot, ii. 46.
Philedon buceroides, i. 547.

cceruleus, i. 587.

rubrifrons, i. 495.
Philemon erythrotis, i. 611,

garrtdus, i. 674.

ornatus, i. 117.

pkrygius, i. 627.
Flaleg&dma falcinellus, ii. 286.
Phoebetria, ii. 441.

fidiginosa, ii. 441.
Pica gularis, i. 312.

olivacea, i. 312,
Piezorhynchus, i. 249.

nitidus, i. 249.
Pigeon, Allied Fruit-, ii. 111.

6.20

INDEX.

Pigeon, Bronze, ii. 122.

Bronze-winged, ii. 122.

Brush Bronze-wing, ii. 125.

Cape, ii, 4(39.

Common Bronze-wing, ii. 122.

Crested Bronze-Aving, ii. 139.

Crested, of the Marshes, ii. 139.

Ewing's Fruit-, ii. 107.

Harlequin Bronze-wing, ii. 127.

Large-tailed, ii. 148.

Little Bronze, ii. 125.

Little Green, ii. 118.

Long-billed Green, ii. 119.

Magnificent Fruit-, ii. 110.

Partridge Bronze-wing, ii. 130.

Plumed Bronze-wing, ii. 135.

Rust-coloured Bronze-wing, ii,
137.

Smith's Partridge Bronze-wing,
ii. 133.

Superb Fruit-, ii. 108.

Swainson's Fruit-, ii. 106.

Top-Knot, ii. 116.

White-fleshed, ii. 120.

White-headed Fruit-, ii. 112.

White Nutmeg-, ii. 114.

White-quilled Rock, ii. 141.

Wonga-wonga, ii. 120.
Pinguinaria cristata, ii. 517.
Pipit, Australian, i. 392.
Pipra desmai-etii, i. 581.

punctata, i. 157.

striata, i. 161, 163.
Piscatrix Candida, ii. 509.
Pitta, i. 430, ii. 527.

brachyura, ii. 527.

iris, i. 432.

Noisy, i. 430.

Rainbow, i. 432,

strepitans, i. 430.

versicolor, i. 430.

Vigors's, ii. 527.

vigorsi, ii. 527.
Plain- Wanderei', CoUared, ii. 187.
Platalea, ii. 287.

Jlavipes, ii. 288.

regia, ii. 287.
Platibis, ii. 288.

Jlavipes, ii. 288.
Platycercus, ii. 40.

adelaidensis, ii. 46.

adelaidiee, ii. 46.

amathusia, ii. 52.

harnardii, ii. 40.

harrabandi, ii. 31.

baueri, ii. 43.

brownii, ii. 53.

caledonicus, ii. 48.

cyanogenys, ii. 52.

Platycercus eriithropterus, ii. 37.

eximivs, ii. 55.

Jlaveolus, ii. 50.

Jlaviventris, ii. 48.

hcematogaster, ii. 62, 6-3.

Ji(r7natonotus, ii. 69.

icterodes, ii. 58.

icterotis, ii, 58.

ignitus, ii. 55.

melainirus, ii. ,33.

multicolor, ii. 68.

palliceps, ii. 51.

pennantii, ii. 44,

pileafus, ii. 60.

pidcherrimus, ii. 67.

rosaceus, ii. 31.

rufifrons, ii. 60.

scaindaris, ii. 35.

scapidatus, ii. 35.

semitorqtiatns, ii. 42.

splendidus, ii. 57.

stanleyii, ii. 58.

venustus, ii. 53.

xanthog aster, ii. 48.

xanthorrhous, ii. 63.

zonarius, ii. 4.3.
Platyrhynehus rubecula, i. 255.
Plautus albatrtis, ii. 427.
Plectorhyncha, i. 525.

lanceolata, i. 525.
Plotus, ii. 496.

nov(S-hollandi<s, ii. 496.
Plover, Australian Golden, ii. 225,

Black-breasted, ii. 222.

Bi-idled, ii. 210.

Chestnut-breasted, ii. 238.

Grey, ii. 224.

High-legged, ii. 210.

Large-biUed Shore-, ii. 213.

Masked, ii. 220.

Red-necked, ii. 235.

Southern Stone-, ii. 210.

Wattled, ii. 218, 220.
Pluvialis xanthocheilus, ii. 229.
Plyctolophus banksii, ii, 13.

? baudinii, ii. 25.

cookii, ii. 18.

eos, ii. 8.

e7-ythropterus, ii. 5.

fanereus, ii. 20.

galeatus, ii. 29.

galeritus, ii. 2.

leadbeateri, ii. 5.

2)rodiictns, ii. 550.

solandri, ii. 18.

temiirostris, ii. 11.
Pnigocichla harmonica, i. 220.
Podargus, i. 82.

australis ?, i. 84.

INDEX.

621

Podargus brachypterus, i. 89,

cinereus ?,\. 84.

cuvieri, i. 87.

Cuvier's, i. 87.

? gracilis ?, i. 84.

Great-headed, i. 89.

Immeralis, i. 84.

Marbled, i. 94.

mannoratus, i. 94.

megucephalua, i. 89.

Moth-plumaged, i. 90.

Papuan, i. 91.

papuensis, i. 91.

phalcenoides, i. 90.

Plumed, i. 93.

plumiferus, i. 9.3.

Short-winged, i. 89.

stanleyanus, i. 89.

strigoides, i. 84.

Tawny-shouldered, i. 84.
Podiceps, ii. 511.

australis, ii. 511.

dominicus, var., ii. 513.

gularis, ii. 513.

nestor, ii. 512.

poliocephalus, ii. 512.
Podicipidae, ii. 510.
Pcecilodryas, i. 287.

cerviniventris, i. 288.

siqjerciliosa, i. 289.
PoephUa, i. 420.

acuticauda, i. 422.

cincta, i. 425.

gouldice, i. 420.

leucotis, i. 424.

mirabilis, i. 421,

personata, i. 423,
Polioaetus, i. 13.

leucogaster, i. 1.3.
Poliocephalus nestor, ii. 512.
Polophilus gigas, i. 634.

leucogaster, i. 6.34.

phasianus, i. 634.

variegatus, i. 634.
Polytelis, ii. 30.

(dexandrce, ii. 32.

harrabandi, ii. 31.

melanura, ii. .33.
Pomatorhinusyrjyo/««, i. 479.

rubecidus, i. 481.

ruftceps, i. 484.

superciliosus, i. 482.

temporalis, i. 479.

trivirgatidi, i. 479.
Pomatostomus, i. 479.

Chestnut-crowned, i. 484.

Red-breasted, i. 481.

rubeeulus, i. 481.

ruficeps, i. 484.

Pomatostomus superciliosus, i. 482.

Temporal, i. 479.

temporalis, i. 479.

AVTiite-eyebrowed, i. 482.
Poodytes gramineus, i. 400.
Poor Soldier, i. 545.
Poi-phjTio, ii. 320.

Azure-breasted, ii. 322.

bellus, ii. 322.

Black-backed, ii. 321.

melanotus, ii. 321.
Poi-t-Egmont Hen, ii. 389.
Porzana, ii. 339.

Jluminea, ii. 339.

leucophrys, ii. 24-3.

palustris, ii. 340.

? tabuensis, ii. 341.
Praticola campestris, i. 389.

fuliginosa, i. 388.
Pratincole, Australian, ii. 243.

Oriental, ii. 245.
Priofinus brevicaudus, ii. 459.

carneipes, ii. 465.
Prion, ii. 471.

aneZ, ii. 473.

banksii, ii. 474.

Banks's, ii. 474.

Broad-billed, ii. 474.

Dove-like, ii. 472.

Fairy, ii. 473.

Grey-backed Storm-, ii. 476.

turtur, ii. 472.

vittattts, ii. 474.
Procellaria, ii. 476.

adamastor, ii. 446.

(equorea, ii. 482.

atlantica, ii. 449.

brevirostris, ii. 449.

capensis, ii. 469.

cinerea, ii. 446.

coerulea, ii. 457.

conspicillata, ii. 445.

cooA;?, ii. 456.

eookii, ii. 454.

forsteri, ii. 457, 474.

fregata, ii. 479, 480, 482.
fuliginosa, ii. 449.

gigantea, ii. 44.3.

glacialoides, ii. 467.

grallaria, ii. 479, 480.

htesitata, ii. 446.

hasitafa, ii. 446.

hypoleuca, ii. 482.

larvata, ii. 445.

lessonii, ii. 451.

leiicocephaln, ii. 451.

macrojitera, ii. 449.

marina, ii. 482.

mollis, ii. 453.

622

INDEX.

Procellaria ncsvia, ii. 469.
nereis, ii. 476.
migax, ii. 458.
oceanica, ii. 478, 479.
ossifragn, ii. 443.
similkj ii. 457.
solan dri, ii. 450.
tridactyla, ii. 483.
turtiir, ii. 472.
urinatrix, ii. 483.
vayahiinda, ii. 451.
velox, ii. 454, 456.
vittata, ii. 474.
Procellaridfe, ii. 421.
Procelsterna, ii. 420.
alhiritta, ii. 420.
Psephotus, ii. 61.

chrysopterygius, ii. 65.
hcfmatogaster , ii. 62.
h(ematonotus, ii. 69.
hcsmatorrhous, ii. 62.
multicolor, ii. 68.
pulcherrimus, ii. 67.
xanthorrhous, ii. 63.
Psilopus alhogularis, i. 266.
brevirostris, i. 273.
eidicivorus, i. 268.
fuscus, i. 267.
oUvacens, i. 266.
Psittacidee, ii. 1, 538.
Psittacula^ore«^z's, ii. 102.
Psittacvis aterrimus, ii. 27.

australis, ii. 90, 100, 548.

banksi, ii. 13.

banksianus, ii. 90.

barrabandii, ii. 31.

baueri, ii. 43.

broivnii, ii. 48, 53.

capitatus, ii. 55.

chlorolepidotus, ii. 96.

chrysogaster, ii. 77.

chrysostomus, ii. 71.

concinnus, ii. 100.

cyanogaster, ii. 93.

cyanoitielas, ii. 43.

cyanopygius, ii. 35.

discolor, ii. 90.

edivardsii, ii. 77.

elegmis, ii. 44.

eos, ii. 8.

ei'ythroijterus, ii. 37.

eximius, ii. 55.
Jimbriatus, ii. 29.
fiaviventris, ii. 48.
formosus, ii. 86.

fimereifs, ii. 20.

galeatus, ii. 29.

galeritus, ii. 2.

gigas, ii. 27.

Psittaciis gloriosus, ii. 44.
golinth, ii. 27.
griseus, ii. 27.
hcematodus, ii. 93.
hcematopus, ii. 93.
humeralis, ii. 90.
hypopoliiis, ii. 548.
icterotis, ii. 58.
lathamii, ii. 90.
leachii, ii. 18.
magnijicus, ii. 13.
mclanotus, ii. 37.
nwridionalis, ii. 548.
midticolor, ii. 68, 93.
nasiciis, ii. 11.
nestor, ii. 548.
novce-hollandice, ii. 84, 93.
nuclialis, ii. 103.
pacijicus, ii. 100.
pennantii, ii. 44.
phoenicocephalus, ii. 29.
pidchellus, ii. 77.
purpurea, ii. 102.
purpureocephalus, ii. 60.
purpureas, ii. 102.
pusiUus, ii. 103.
ruhrifrotis, ii. 100.
scapulatus, ii. 35.
semicollaris, ii. 9-3.
semitorquatus, ii. 41.
solandrii, ii. 18.

spilendidus, ii. 44.

swainsoni, ii. 31.

tabuensis, var. ^, ii. 35.

temminckii, ii. 18.

tenuirostris, ii. 11.

terrestris, ii. 86.

undulatus, ii. 81.

velatus, ii. 100.

venustus, ii, 53, 71.

viridis, ii. 43.

zonarius, ii. 43.

(Banlisianus) australis, ii. 13, 20.

( ) galeatus, ii. 29.

(Cacatua) goliath, ii. 27.

(Conurus) formosus, ii. 86.

( ) hfematopus, ii. 93.

( ) pulchellus, ii. 77»

( ) piisillus, ii. 103.

( ) undulatus, ii. 81.

(Kakadoe) banksii, ii. 13.

( ) fimereus, ii. 20.

( ) galeritus, ii. 2.

{ ) nestor, ii. 548.

(Probosciger) aterrimus, ii. 27.

( ) goliath, ii. 27.

(Sagittifevj anthoj)eplus, ii. 33.

( ) barrabandi, ii. 31.

( ) melanura, ii. 33.

INDEX.

623

Psittacus rosaceus, ii. 31.
Psitteuteles versicolor, ii. 98.
Psophodes, i. 312.

Black-throated, i. 314.

crepitcms, i. 312.

nigrogularis, i. 314.
Ptenoedus, i. 397.

rufescens, i. 397.
Pterodroma, ii. 449.

atlantica, ii. 449.

macroptera, ii. 449.

solandri, ii. 450.
Pteropodocys, i. 198.

phasianella, i. 199.
Ptilinopus, ii. 106.

ewingii, ii. 107.

piirpuratus, var. regina, ii. 106.

superbus, ii. 108.

swainsonii, ii. 106.
Ptilonorhynchus, i. 441.

holosericeus, i. 442.

macieayii, i. 442.

nuchalis, i. 448.

smithii, i. 446.

squamulosus, i. 442.

viridis, i. 446.
Ptilopus ewin(/i, ii. 107.

swainsoni, ii. 106.
Ptilorhis, i. 591.

paradisea, i. 591.

paradiseus, i. 591.

victor i(s, i. 593.
Ptilorhynchus holosericeus, i. 442.
Ptiloris, magmyica, i. .595.

paradisea, i. 591.

paradiseus, i. 591.

victoria, i. 593.
Ptilosclora, ii. 98.

versicolor, ii. 98.
Ptilotis, i. 502.

auricomis, i. 511.

chrysops, i. 521.

chrysotis, i. 503.

cratitia, i. 513.

cratitius, i. 51-3.

fasciogularis, i. -507.

Jilig'era, i. 522.

Jlava, i. 518.

Jlavescens, i. 517.

Jlaviyula, i. 508.

fusca, i. 520.

leucotis, i. 510.

leivinii, i. 50->.

ornata, i. 515.

ornatus, i. 515.

2)eiiicillata, i. 519.

petiicillatus, i. 519.

plumula, i. -516.

plumulus, i. 516.

Ptilotis sonora, i. 504.

sonorus, i. 504.

unicolor, i. 523.

versicolor, i. 506.
Ptistes, ii. 37.

cocci neopter us, ii. 39.

erythropterus, ii. 37.
Puffinuria garnotii, ii. 483.

urinatrix, ii. 483.
Puffinus, ii. 458.

assimilis, ii. 458.

brevicaudus, ii. 459,

carneipes, ii. 465.

cinereus, ii. 446.

rmgax, ii. 458.

sphemirus, ii. 466.
Piu'pureicephalus, ii. 60.

jiileatus, ii. 60.
Pycnoptilus, i. 348.

Downy, i. .348.

floccosus, i. 348.
Pyrrhocora.x leucopterus, i. 470.

violaceus, i. 442.
Pyrrholsemus, i. 383.

hrunneus, i. 384.

Quail, Brown, ii. 193.

Least Swamp-, ii. 197.

Little, ii. 184.

New Holland, ii. 193.

Northern Swamp-, ii. 195.

Painted, ii. 179.

Pectoral, ii. 190.

Sombre Swamp-, ii. 195.

Stubble-, ii. 190.

Swamp-, ii. 193.

Tasmanian Swamp-, ii. 194.

Thick -billed, ii. 183.

Varied, ii. 178.
Quaker, ii. 311.

Eadja eytoni, ii. 360.

Rail, Chestnut-bellied, ii. 338.

Pectoral, ii. .3.34.

Tabuan, ii. 341.
Rallidte, ii. 320, 576.
Rallus, ii. 336.

brachipus, ii. 336,

lewinii, ii. 336.

philippensis, ii. 3.34.

qiiadriMridtus, ii. 243.

quudristrigidus, ii. 243.
Raptores, i. 7.
Ra.sore.s, ii. 105.
Recurvirostra, ii. 249.

novfc-hollandite, ii. 249.

rubricoUis, ii. 249.
Recurvirostridc'B, ii. 249.
Red-bill, i. 411.

624

INDEX.

Red-throat, i. 384.
Reed- Warbler, i. 402.
Reed-Warbler, Lon^-billed, i. 403.
Reef- Heron, Blue, ii. 307.

White, ii. 308.
Regent-bird, i. 456.

Mock, i. 527.
Rhantistes lessoni, ii. 451.

leucoptera, ii. 454.

mollis, ii. 453.
Rhipidura, i. 237.

albiscapa, i. 238.

di-yas, i. 242.

jlahellifera, i. 238.

isura, i. 242.

motacilloides, i. 244.

picata, i. 246.

preissi, i. 240.

rivfifrons, i. 240.
Rhynchsea, ii. 274.

Australian, ii. 274.

atistralis, ii. 274.
Rhynchaspis clypeata, ii. 370,

fasciata, ii. 372.

membranacea, ii. 372.

rhynhcotis, ii. 368.
Rifle-bird, i. 591.

Magnificent, i. 595.

Queen Victoria's, i. 593.
Robin, i. 279.

Black, i. 283.

Buff-sided, i. 288.

Dusky, 1. 286.

Eastern-Scrub, i. 291.

Flame-breasted, i. 282.

Grey-breasted, i. 294.

Hooded, i. 283.

Large-headed, i. 297.

Norfolk-Island, ii. 526.

Pied, i. 285.

Pink-breasted, i. 276.

Red-capped, i. 280.

Scarlet-breasted, i. 279.

Scrub-, i. 290.

White-bellied, i. 296.

White-eyebrowed, i. 289.

Yellow, 1. 293.

Yellow-breasted, i. 293.
Rock-Pigeon, White-quilled, ii. 141.
Rock-Warbler,_i. 385.
Roller, Australian, i. 119,

Pacific, i. 119.
Rose-hill, ii. 58.

Moreton Bay, ii. 51.

Sagittifer minor tmdulatus, ii. 81.
Salicaria solitaria, i. 385.
Sand-Lark, ii. 235.
Sandpiper, Bartram's, ii. 242.

Sandpiper, Common, ii. 263.

Curlew, ii. 256.

Great, ii. 260.

Green, ii. 263.

Grey, ii. 224.

(Jrey-rumped, ii. 268.

Least, ii. 257.

Little, ii. 257.

Marsh, ii. 267.

Swiss, ii. 224.

Terek, ii. 261.

Wattled, ii. 218.
Sarciophorus, ii. 222.

pectoralis, ii. 222,
Satin Bird, i. 442.

Sparrow, i. 255.
Sauloprocta, i. 243.

motacilloides, i. 244.

picata, i. 246.
Sauropatis pyrrhopyf/ia, i. 130.

sancta, i. 128.

sordida, i. 132.
Saxicola chrysorrhcea, i. 374.

rhodinogaster, i. 276.

splendens, i. 323.
SaxicolidjB, i. 275, ii. 526.
Sceloglaux, ii. 524.

albifacies, ii. 524.
Schceniclus albescens, ii. 257.

australis, ii. 254.

maynus, ii. 260.

subarquatifs, ii. 256.
Scolopacidae, ii. 271.
Scolopax australis, ii. 271.

canescens, ii. 265.

chloroptis, ii. 265.

cinerea, ii. 261.

Jistulans, ii. 265.

glottis, ii. 265.

grisea, ii. 265.

hardwickii, ii. 271.

natans, ii. 265.

subarquata, ii. 256.

terek, ii. 261.

totanus, ii. 265.
Scrub-bird, i. 344.
Scythrops, i. 628.

australasice, i. 628.

atistralis, i. 628.

goerang, i. 628.

novcp.-hollandicB, i. 628.
Seisura, i. 246.

inqwieta, i. 246.

volitans, i. 246.
Semioptera, ii. 532.

wallacei, ii. 532.
Sericornis, i. 353.

Allied, i. 358.

Buff-breasted, i. 360.

INDEX.

625

Sericoruis citrevgularis, i. 364.

frontalis, i. 3-58.

humilis, i. 3.36.

Icevigaster, i. 360.

Large-billed, i. 362.

maeidatus, i. 361.

magnirostris, i. 362.

osculans, i. 357,

parvidus, i. 358.

Sombre-coloured, i. 356.

Spotted, i. 361.

Wbite-fronted, i. 359.

Yellow-tliroated, i. 354.
Sericiilus, i. 456.

chn/socephalus, i. 456.

nmynirostris, i. 456.

melinus, i. 456.

reqens, i. 456.
Shag, Black, ii. 488.

Black and White, ii. 490.

Crested, ii. 582.

Little, ii. 492.

New Holland, ii. 488.

Pied, ii. 490.

Spotted, ii. 582.
Shieldrake, Chestnut-coloured, ii. 361.

New-Holland, ii. 361.

Radjah, ii. 360.
Shoveller, Australian, ii. .368.

European, ii. 370.

New-Holland, ii. 368.

Variegated, ii. 580.
Shrike-Thrush, Brown, i. 223.

Buff-bellied, i. 222.

Harmonious, i. 220.

Little, i. 225.

Rusty-breasted, i. 226.

Selbv's, i. 224.
Shrike-fit, Frontal, i. 228.

White-bellied, i. 229.
Singing Lark, i. 397.
Sitta chnisoptera, i. 609.
Sittella, 'i. 608.

Black-capped, i. 612.

chrysoptera, i. 609.

leucocephala, i. 610.

leiicoptera, i. 611.

melanocephala, i. 612.

Orange-winged, i. 609.

pileata, i. 612.

tenuirostris, i. 610.

White-headed, i. 610.

White-winged, i. 611.
Smicrornis, i. 272.

hrevirostris, i. 273.
Jlavescens, i. 274.

Short-billed, i. 273.

Yellow-tinted, i. 274.
Skua, Creat, ii. 389.

VOT,. II,

Skua Gull, ii. 389.
Skylark, i. 395.
Snipe, Land-, ii. 257.

New-Holland, ii. 271.

Terek, ii. 261.
Solenoglossus zeylanicus, ii. 27.
Sparvius cirrhocephalus, i. 45.

lunulatus, i. 29.

melanops, i. 45.

niceus, i. 38.

radiatus, i. 40,

tricolor, i. 4-5.
Spatula, ii. 368, 580.

clypeuta, ii. 370.

rJtytichotis, ii. 368, 580.

varieyata, ii. 580.
Sphecotheres, i. 467.

australis, i. 467.

canicollis, i. 467.

Jlaviverdris, i. 468.

yrisea, i. 467.

maxillaris, i. 467.

Northern, i. 468.

Southern, i. 467.

virescens, i. 467.

viridis, i. 467.
SpheniscidiB, ii. 615.
Spheniscus minor, ii. 518.

Kndina, ii. 521.
Sphenceacus, i. 399.

yalactotes, i. 399.

yrainineus, i. 400.
Sphenostoma, i. 315.

cristrda, i. 316.

cristatmn, i. 316,
Sphenura, i. 342.

bradiyptera, i. 342.

lonyirostrk, i. 343.
Spiloglaux, i. 73.

hoohook, i. 74.

bubnk, i. 74.

mactdatus, i. 76.

marmorutus, i. 73.
Spine-bill, i. 551.

White-eyebrowed, i. 553.
Spoonbill, Royal, ii. 287.

Yellow-legged, ii. 288.
Squatarola, ii. 224.

helvetica, ii. 224.
Squeaker, i. 173.
Stagonopleura, i. 416.

castanotis, i. 419.

yuttata, i. 417.
Standard-wing, ii. 532.
Stercorarius, ii. 389.

catarrhactes, ii. 389,
Sterna, ii. 398.

ajinix, ii. 397.

alba, ii, 408,

'1 IT

026

INDEX.

Sterua boiit/alensiK, ii. 397.

Candida, ii. 405.

caspia, ii. 392.

cristata, ii. 394.

delamotta, ii. 40G.

fuliginosa, ii. 408.

gracilis^ ii. 399.

guttata, ii. 408.

hyhrida, ii. 406.

leucogenys, ii. 406.

leucopareia, ii. 406.

macrotarsa, ii. 403.

media, ii. 397.

megarhynchos, ii. 392.

melanaKchcH, ii. 400.

melanorhyncha, ii. 398.

oahuensis, ii. 408.

panaya, ii. 411.

panayensis, ii. 411.

pelecanoides, ii. 394.

poliocerca, ii. 396.

sancti-pauli, ii. 399.

serrata, ii. 408.

stolida, ii. 413.

sumatrana, ii. 400.

tschegrava, ii. 392.

w'/ox, ii. 394, 398.

(Onychoprion) serrata, ii. 408.

(Sylochelidon) strenuus, ii. 392.

(Thalassea) melanorhyncha,\\. 398.
Sternidje, ii. 392.
Sternula, ii. 402.

melanauchen, ii. 400.

nereis, ii. 402.
Stictonetta, ii. 367.

ncerQsa, ii. 367.
Stictopelia, ii. 146.

cuncata, ii. 146.
Stictoptera, i. 409.

anmdosa, i. 410.

bichenovii, i. 409.
Stigmatops, i. 500.

ocularis, i. 500.

suboeularis, i. 501.
Stilt, Banded, ii. 248.

New Zealand, ii. 574.

White-headed, ii. 246.
Stiltia grallaria, ii. 243.
Stipiturus, i. 338.

malacJmrits, i. 339.
Stomiopera, i. 523.

unicolor, i. 523.
Stone-Plover, Southern, ii. 210.
Storm-Petrel, Black-bellied, ii. 479.

Grey-backed, ii. 476.

White-bellied, ii. 480.

White-faced, ii. 482.

Yellow-webbed, ii. 478.
Strepera, i. 167.

Strepera anaphonensisf i. 173.

arguta, i. 171.

fuliginosa, i. 170.

graculina, i. 168.

melanoptera, i. 171.

plumhea, i. 173.

versicolor, i. 173.
Strepsilas, ii. 269.

coUaris, ii. 269.

interprcs, ii. 269.
Strigidse, i. 62, ii. 524.
Strigops, ii. 538.

hahroptihts, ii. 539.
Strix, i. 62.

boohooli, i. 74.

castanops, i. 62.

Cyclops, i. 64.

delicatulus, i. 66.

novce-JiollandifS, i. 64.

2)ersonata, i. 64.

tenebricosus, i. 65.
Struthidea, i. 472.

cinerea, i. 472.

Grey, i. 472.
Struthionidie, ii. 199, 561.
Sturnidfe, i. 477.
Sturnus virescens, i. 665.
Sula, ii. 503.

australis, ii. 504.

brasiliensis, ii. 507.

Candida, ii. 509.

cyanops, ii. 506.

erythrorhyncha, ii, 509.

^6er, ii. 507.

fusca, ii. 507.

jyersonata, ii. 506.

jnscator, ii. 509.

ruhripeda, ii. 509.

rubripes, ii. 509.

serrafur, ii. 504.
Sun-bird, Australian, i. 584.
Superb Warbler, i. 317.

Banded, i. 322.

Black-backed, i. 322.

Black-headed, i. 333.

Blue -breasted, i. 326.

Brown's, i. 334.

Crowned, i. 329.

Graceful, i. 324.

Lambert's, i. 327.

Long-tailed, i. 320.

Lovely, i. 328.

White-backed, i. 332.

W^hite-winged, i. 330.
Swallow, Black and White, i. 115.

Needle-tailed, i. 103.

Pin-tailed, i. 103.

Torres Straits', i. 110.

Tree, i. 111.

INDEX.

627

Swallow, Welcome, i. 107.

White-breasted, i. 11. '5.
Swamp-hen, ii. 322,

Little, ii. 341.
Swamp-Quail, ii. 193.

Least, ii. 197.

Northern, ii. 195.

Sombre, ii. 195.

Tasmanian, ii. 194.
Swan, Black, ii. 346.

Black, of Van Diemen, ii. 346.

Shawian, or Black, ii. 346.
Swift, Australian, i. 105.

Spine-tailed, i. 103.
Sylochelidon, ii. 392.

caspia, ii. 392.

iwliocerca, ii. 396.

strenuus, ii. 392.
Sylvia annulosa, i. 587.

chri/so2)s, i. 521.

a/anea, i. 317.
flavigastra, i. 293.

hirundinacea, i. 581.

lateralis, i. 587.

hucojih^a, i. 258.

pusilla, I. 364.

rtibricata, i. 385.

rxjlventris, i. 212.

sagittata, i. 390.
Sylviadae, i. 401,
Syma, i. 135.

Jlavirostris, i. 135.
Synoicus, ii. 192.

australis, ii. 193.

cervinus, ii. 195.

? chineiisis, ii. 197.

dietnenensis, ii. 194.

sordidus, ii. 195,

Tachybaptus gidaris, ii, 513.
Tachypetes, ii, 498.

aqitihi, ii. 499,

arid, ii. 499.

minor, ii. 499.
Tadonia, ii. 360.

radjah, ii. 360.
Tseniopygia, i. 418.

castonotii<, i. 419.
Talegalla hdhniii, ii. 150.
Tale^allus, ii. 1.50.

Utthami, ii. 150.

Wattled, ii. 150.
Tantalidte, ii. 281,
1&ni»\m falcineUiis, ii. 286,

igveus, ii, 286.
Tanysiptera, i. 137.

si/ivi(i, i. 137.
Teal, ii. .-Um.

Australian, ii. 365.

Terekia, ii. 261.

cinerea, ii. 2(51.

Javauica, ii. 261.
Tern, Bass's Straits, ii. 396.

Black-naped, ii. 400.

Caspian, li. 392.

Caspian, variety, ii. 394.

Crested, ii. 394.

Graceful, ii. 399.

Indian, ii. 397.

Little, ii. 402. _

Long-legged, ii. 403.

Marsh, ii'. 406.

Noddy, ii. 413.

Panayan, ii. 411.

Sooty, ii. 408.

Southern, ii. 398.

Torres Straits', ii. 394.

White, ii. 405.

Yellow-billed, ii. 394.
Thalasseus, ii. 394.

heugalensis, ii. 397.

ca^pins, ii. 392.

cristatus, ii. 394.

pelecanoides, ii. 394.

poliocercus, ii. 396,

torresii, ii, 397,
Thalassidroma leucogaster, ii. 480,

marina, ii, 482.

melanogastcr, ii, 479,

nereis, ii. 476.

oceanica, ii. 478.

wilsonii, ii. 478,
Thalassoica, ii. 467.

glaeialoides, ii, 467.
Thickhead, Black-tailed, i. 211.

Gilbert's, i. 216.

Grey-tailed, i. 209.

Lunated, i. 213.

Olivaceous, i. 218.

Plain-coloured, i. 217.

Red-throated, i. 215.

Rufous-breasted, i. 212.

Shrike-like, i, 214,

White-throated, i. 207.
Thiellus, ii. 4(>6.

spJieniirifs, ii. 466.
Threskiornis, ii. 284.

strict ipcnni^, ii, 284.
Thrush, i. 222,

Ash-headed, ii, 528,

Sooty, ii. 528.
Thunder-1)ird, i. 207.
Tinnuncuhis, i. 35.

ccnchroides, i. 35.
Todirliamphus, i. 127.

aiistralasifp, i. 128.

macleagi, i. 133.

pyrrhopggiiis, i. 130.

628

INDEX.

Todirlianiplms sancfus, i. 128.

sordidus, i. 132.
TodusJlav{(/asler, i. 2U."».

ruhecula, i. 2o5.
Totanus, ii. 266.

acuminatus, ii. 254.

bai'traynius, ii. 242.

ca?npestns, ii. 242.

ylotto'ides, ii. 265.

griseopygms, ii. 268.

hypoleucos, ii. 263.
Java/u'cus, ii. 261.

meld/topijyixs, ii. 242.

ptdverulentus, ii. 268.

stagnatilis, ii. 267.

sumatranus, ii. 261.

tenuirostris, ii. 260.

varieyatus, ii. 242.

vigorsi, ii. 265.
Tree-creeper, Black-backed, i. 003.

Black-tailed, i. 604.

Brown, i. 599.

Red-eyebrowed, i. 602.

Rufous, i. 600.

White throated, i. 605.
Tree-Duck, E-vton's, ii. 375.

Whistling, ii. 374.
Tribonyx, ii. 323.

Black-tailed, ii. 325.

mortierii, ii. 324.

Mortier's, ii. 324.

ventralis, ii. 325.
Trichoglossus, ii. 92.

australis, ii. 100.

cJdorolcpidotus, ii. 90.

concumus, ii. 100.

discolor, ii. 90.

htematopus, ii. 93.

matoni, ii. 96.

viulticolor, ii. 93.

poiphyrocephcdus, ii. 102.

pusillus, ii. 103.

rubritorquis, ii. 95.

swainsonii, ii. 93.

versicolor, ii. 98.
Tringa, ii. 259.

albescens, ii. 257:

australis, ii. 254.

bartramia, ii. 242.

calidris, ii. 259.

canutus, ii. 259.

cinerea, ii. 259.

crassirostris, ii. 260.

ferruginea, ii. 259.

glareola, ii. 268.

qrisea, ii. 259.

helvetica, ii. 224.

hypoleucos, ii. 263.

interpres, ii. 2(59.

Tringa isUmdica, ii. 259.

leucojitera, ii. 2()3.

fo6frf«, ii. 218.

lonyicauda, ii. 242.

Marsh, ii. 254.

minor, ii. 263.

ncevia, ii. 259.

squatarola, ii. 224.

subarquata, ii. 256.

tenuirostris, ii. 260.
Tringidse, ii. 254.
Tringoides baHramius, ii. 242.

hypoleucos, ii. 263.
Tropic-bird, New Holland, ii. 501.

Red-tailed, ii. 501.
Tropidorhynchus, i. 545.

aryenticeps, i. 548.

buceroides, i. 547.

citreoyidaris, i. 549.

cornicidatus, i. 645.

cyanotis, i. 560.

monachus, i. 548.

sordidus, i. 550.
Turdus badius, i. 220.

brachypterus, i. 342.

cristdtus, i. 231.

cyaneus, i. 560.

d Hut us, i, 220.

chibius, i. 246.

frioolus, i. 479.

fuliyinosus, ii. 528.

gutturalis, i. 207.

harmonicus, i. 220.

inquietus, i. 246.

leucotis, i. 510.

lunularis, i. 207.

Ivnulatus, i. 439.

maxillaris, i. 467.

melanophrys, i. 579.

melinus, i. 456.

muscicola, i. 246.

iwliocephalus, ii. 528.

jyunctatns, i. 4.33.

sordidus, i. 143.

varius, i. 439.

volitans, i. 246.
Turkey, ii. 208.

Brush, ii. 150.

Native, ii. 208.
Turnicidfe, ii. 177.
Tiirnix, ii. 177.

BLack-backed, ii. 182.

Black-breasted, ii. 178,

castanofMs, ii. 183.

Chestnut-backed, ii. 183.

gouldiana, ii. 187.

melanogaster, ii. 178.

melanofus, ii. 182.

pyrrothorax, ii. 18G.

INDEX.

629

Tuniix, Red-chested, ii. 180.

schitillans, ii. 181.

Speckled, ii. 181.

Swift-flyiug, ii. 184.

Varied^ ii. 179.

varius, ii. 179.

velox, ii. 184.
Turnstone, ii. 269.
Turtledove, Little, ii. 14G.
Tiu'tur ? lophotes, ii. 139.
Twenty-eight Parrakeet, ii. 41.
Typlion rectirostris, ii. 296.

Vanellus gaUinaceus, ii. 218.

griseus, ii. 224.

helveticus, ii. 224.

lobatus, ii. 218.

melanogaster, ii. 224.

novce-hollamlife, ii. 218.
Vanga cinerea, i. 186.

destructor, i. 184.

nigrogularis, i. 180.
Viralva leucopareia, ii. 406.
Viiltur mtdax, i. 8.
Vulture, New Holland, ii. \-)0.

Wagtail Flycatcher, i. 244.
Water-Crake, Little, ii. .340.

Spotted, ii. 339.

Tabnan, ii. 341.

White-eyebrowed, ii. .343.
Water-Rail, Lewin's, ii. 3-36.
Wattle-bird, i. 536, 538.

Brush, i. 541.

Little, i. 543.

Lunulated, i. 543.
Wedge-bill, Crested, i. 316.
Wekau, ii. 524.
Whale-bird, ii. 472.
Whimbrel, Australian, ii. 270.

Little, ii. 280.
Whistling Dick, i. 224.
White Duck, ii. ,360.
White-eye, i. 587.
Wonga-wonga, ii. 120.
Wood-Duck, ii. 354.
Wood-Robin, Rink-breasted, i. 276.

Wood-robin, Rose-breasted, i. 27
Wood-Swallow, i. 143, 147.

Black-faced, i. 149.

Grev-breasted, i. 147.

Little, i. 146.

Masked, i. 150.

White-eyebrowed, i. 152.

"SMiite-rumped, i. 154.

White-vented, i. 149.
Wren, i. 368.

Emu, i. .339.

Large-tailed, i. 338.

Striated, i. 337.

Textile, i. 335.

Xanthomyza phrygia, i. 527.
^eraeijmnesomi, ii. 387.
Xenorhynchus, ii. 293.

australiK, ii. 29.3.
Xenus cinereits, ii. 261.
Xerophila, i. 382.

levcopsis, i. .382.

White-faced, i. 382.

Zanthomyza phrygia, i. 527.
Zonseginthus, i. 406.

hellm, i. 400.

nitidus, i. 406.

ocuhus, i. 407.
Zosterops, i. 587, ii. 535.

albogularis, ii. 535.

chhronotus, i. 588.

caridencens, i. 587.

dorsaUs, i. 587.

gouldi, i. 588.

Green-backed, i. 588.

Grey-backed, i. 587.

Grey-brea-sted, ii. 538.

lateralis, ii. 534.

Long-billed, ii. 536.

hiteus, i. 590.

Robust, ii. 537.

streniius, ii. 537.

temiirostris, ii. 534.

tephn^plrurxs, ii. 5.38.

White-breasted, ii. 535.

Yellow, i. .590.

THi; END.

Printed by Taylok and Fkaxcis, Kcd Lion Court, Fleet Street.

J?

AMNH LIBRARY

100049903