Transcriber’s Note:

The cover image was created by the transcriber and is placed in the public domain.

THE
BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA.

BY

JOHN GOULD, F.R.S.,

F.L.S., F.Z.S., M.E.S., F.ETHN.S., F.R.GEOG.S., M. RAY S., HON. MEMB. OF THE ROYAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF TURIN, OF THE ROY. ZOOL. SOC. OF IRELAND, OF THE PENZANCE NAT. HIST. SOC., OF THE WORCESTER NAT. HIST. SOC., OF THE NORTHUMBERLAND, DURHAM AND NEWCASTLE NAT. HIST. SOC., OF THE NAT. HIST. SOC. OF DARMSTADT AND OF THE TASMANIAN SOCIETY OF VAN DIEMEN’S LAND, ETC.

IN SEVEN VOLUMES.

VOL. II.

LONDON:

PRINTED BY RICHARD AND JOHN E. TAYLOR, RED LION COURT, FLEET STREET.

PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR, 20, BROAD STREET, GOLDEN SQUARE.

1848.

LIST OF PLATES.
VOLUME II.

ÆGOTHELES NOVÆ-HOLLANDIÆ: Vig. et Horsf.
J. & E. Gould del. C. Hullmandel Imp.

ÆGOTHELES NOVÆ-HOLLANDIÆ, Vig. and Horsf.
Owlet Nightjar.

Crested Goat-sucker, Phill. Bot. Bay, pl. in p. 270.

Caprimulgus Novæ-Hollandiæ, Lath. Ind. Orn., vol. ii. p. 588.—Less. Traité d’Orn., p. 265.—Ib. Man., t. i. p. 412.—Vieill. Nouv. Dict. d’Hist. Nat., t. x. p. 234.

—— cristatus, Shaw in White’s Voy., pl. in p. 241.

New Holland Goat-sucker, Lath. Gen. Syn. Supp., vol. ii. p. 261.—Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. x. p. 170.—Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. vii. p. 341.

Bristled Goat-sucker, Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. vii. p. 342.

Caprimulgus vittatus, Ib. Ind. Orn. Supp., p. lviii.

Banded Goat-sucker, Ib. Gen. Syn. Supp., vol. ii. p. 262, pl. 136.—Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. x. p. 152, pl. 17.—Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. vii. p. 342, pl. cxv.

Ægotheles Novæ-Hollandiæ, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p. 197.—De la Fresn. in Guerin, Mag. de Zool. 1838, p. 21, pl. 82.

—— lunulatus, Jard. and Selby, Ill. Orn., vol. iii. pl. 149.

—— Australis, Swains. Class. of Birds, vol. ii. p. 338.

—— cristatus, G. R. Gray, List of Gen. of Birds, p. 7.

Little Mawepawk, Colonists of Van Diemen’s Land. Teringing, Aborigines of the coast of New South Wales.

This very interesting little Nightjar is subject to great variation in the colour and markings of its plumage, a circumstance which has tended to produce much confusion, and greatly to increase the list of synonyms.

It possesses a great range of habitat, being found in every part of Van Diemen’s Land, and throughout the southern portion of Australia, from Swan River on the western coast to Moreton Bay on the eastern; time, and the continued exploration of that vast country, can alone determine how far it may be found to the northward: it is a stationary species, inhabiting alike the densest brushes near the coast, and the more thinly-wooded districts of the interior.

While rambling in the Australian forests I had the good fortune to meet with more than an ordinary number of specimens of this curious bird. I also procured its eggs, and considerable information respecting its habits and actions, which differ most remarkably from those of the true Caprimulgidæ, and on the other hand assimilate so closely to the smaller Owls, particularly those comprised in the genus Athene, as to form as perfect an analogical representative of that group of birds as can possibly be imagined, for which reason the English name of Owlet Nightjar has been assigned to it.

During the day it resorts to the hollow branches or spouts as they are called, and the holes of the gum-trees, sallying forth as night approaches in quest of insects, particularly the smaller Coleoptera, upon which it chiefly subsists. Its flight is straight, and not characterized by the sudden turns and descents of Caprimulgus. On driving it from its haunts I have sometimes observed it to fly direct to a similar hole in another tree, but more frequently to alight on a neighbouring branch, perching across and never parallel to it. When assailed in its retreat it emits a loud hissing noise, and has the same stooping motion of the head observable in the Owls; it also resembles that tribe of birds in its erect carriage, the manner in which it sets out the feathers round the ears and neck, and in the power it possesses of turning the head in every direction, even over the back, a habit it is constantly practising. A pair I had for some time in captivity were frequently leaping to the top of the cage, and had a singular mode of running or shuffling backwards to one corner of it.

While traversing the woods, the usual mode of ascertaining its presence is by tapping with a stone or a tomahawk at the base of the hollow trees, when the little inmate, as represented in the upper figure of our Plate, will almost invariably ascend to the outlet and peep over to ascertain the cause of disturbance. If the tree be lofty or its hole inaccessible, it will frequently retire again to its hiding-place, and there remain until the annoyance be repeated, when it flies off to a place of greater security. In these holes, without forming any nest, it deposits its eggs, which are four or five in number, perfectly white, nearly round, and about one inch and a line in length and eleven lines in breadth. At least two broods are reared by each pair of birds during the year. I have known the young to be taken in Van Diemen’s Land in October, and in New South Wales I have procured eggs in January.

Specimens from Van Diemen’s Land, Swan River, South Australia, and New South Wales, all present considerable difference in the colour and markings of the plumage, but none of sufficient importance to justify their separation into distinct species: in some the nuchal band and the circular mark on the head are very conspicuous, while in others scarcely a trace of these markings is observable; these variations do not depend upon habitat, but are constantly found in specimens from the same localities.

Little or no difference is apparent in the size or plumage of the sexes.

Adults have the patches above the eyes, a semilunar mark at the back of the head, a band round the neck, and all the under surface grey, finely sprinkled with black, and tinged with buff; ear-coverts reddish buff, the remainder of the head blackish brown; all the upper surface and wings dark brown, sprinkled with grey in the form of irregular bars; primaries brown, sprinkled on their outer webs with lighter brown and grey; tail dark, regularly barred with numerous narrow lines of grey sprinkled with black: irides hazel; feet flesh colour.

In immature birds the lunulate markings are much richer in colour and more distinct than in the adults, in many of which they are nearly obliterated, and the irides are nearly black.

The figures are of the natural size.

ÆGOTHELES LEUCOGASTER: Gould.
J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith. C. Hullmandel Imp.

ÆGOTHELES LEUCOGASTER, Gould.
White-bellied Owlet Nightjar.

Ægotheles leucogaster, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., June 25, 1844.

This is altogether a larger and more powerful bird than the Ægotheles Novæ-Hollandiæ; besides which, the white colouring of the lower part of the belly will at all times serve to distinguish it from that species.

It is rather abundant on the Cobourg Peninsula, where it inhabits the forests in the immediate vicinity of Port Essington; how far its range may extend is at present unknown, but it is probable that the bird is distributed over the whole of the northern portion of the continent, and that it there forms the representative of the Æ. Novæ-Hollandiæ, which up to the present time has only been found on the southern.

Mr. Gilbert states that it is abundant in most parts of the settlement at Port Essington, “where it is frequently seen flying about at twilight, and occasionally during the day. On the approach of an intruder it flies very heavily from tree to tree, and on alighting invariably turns round on the branch to watch his approach, moving the head all the time after the manner of the Hawk tribe.”

The sexes when fully adult will not I expect be found to differ in plumage. I attribute the redness of some of my specimens to the age of the individuals; but whether the red varieties or the grey are the most mature birds, I have not had sufficient opportunities of ascertaining.

It feeds on insects of all kinds, and as the bird is strictly nocturnal in its habits, they are, as a matter of course, procured at night.

Head black; the crown, a lunar-shaped mark at the back of the head, and a collar surrounding the back of the neck freckled with grey; back freckled black and white; wings brown, crossed by numerous bands of lighter brown freckled with dark brown; primaries margined externally with buff, interrupted with blotchings of dark brown; tail dark brown, crossed by numerous broad irregular bands of reddish buff freckled with dark brown; ear-coverts straw-white; chin, abdomen and under tail-coverts white; breast and sides of the neck white, crossed by numerous freckled bars of black; irides dark brown; upper mandible dark olive-brown, lower mandible white with a black tip; legs very pale yellow; claws black.

The figures are of the natural size.

PODARGUS HUMERALIS: Vig. & Horsf.
J. & E. Gould del. C. Hullmandel Imp.

PODARGUS HUMERALIS, Vig. and Horsf.
Tawny-shouldered Podargus.

Caprimulgus gracilis? Lath. Ind. Orn. Supp., p. 58.

Gracile Goatsucker? Ib. Gen. Syn. Supp., vol. ii. p. 263.—Steph. Cont. of Shaw’s Zool., vol. x. p. 145.—Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. vii. p. 344.

Podargus? gracilis? Steph. Cont. of Shaw’s Zool., vol. xiii. p. 93.

Podargus Australis? Ib., vol. xiii. p. 92.

Podargus cinereus? Cuv. Règn. Anim., pl. 4. fig. 1.—Vieill. Nouv. Dict. d’Hist. Nat., tom. xxvii. p. 151. pl. G. 37. fig. 3.—Vieill. Ency. Méth., p. 547.

Cold-River Goatsucker, Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. vii. p. 369.

Podargus Humeralis, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p. 198.—Jard. and Selb. Ill. Orn., vol. ii. pl. 88.—Swains. Class. of Birds, vol. ii. p. 338.

So great a similarity reigns throughout the Podargi inhabiting Australia, that it is most difficult to distinguish them; and after a minute examination of a great number of specimens it appears to me that there are five species, only two of which are inhabitants of New South Wales, and to these, in my opinion, the various names of the older authors are referrible. But as it must ever remain a matter of uncertainty as to which these names have been applied, I have preferred to retain for the present bird that proposed by Messrs. Vigors and Horsfield.

The Tawny-shouldered Podargus may be distinguished by the greater breadth of its markings, by the decided admixture of tawny in its colouring, by the feathers of the head having a small round spot of white at the tip, and by the more boldly-marked tips of the coverts. It is plentifully dispersed over New South Wales, where it is not restricted to any peculiar character of country, but inhabits alike the thick brushes near the coast, the hilly districts, and the thinly-wooded plains of the interior. I found it breeding on the low swampy islands studding the mouth of the Hunter, and on the Apple-tree (Angophora) flats of Yarrundi, near the Liverpool Range. In their habits and mode of life the Podargi differ very considerably from the true Nightjars, and also in many particulars from Ægotheles.

Like the rest of the genus, the Tawny-shouldered Podargus is strictly nocturnal, sleeping throughout the day on the dead branch of a tree, in an upright position across, and never parallel to, the branch, and which it so nearly resembles as scarcely to be distinguishable from it. I have occasionally seen it beneath the thick foliage of the Casuarinæ, and I have been informed that it sometimes shelters itself in the hollow trunks of the Eucalypti, but I could never detect one in such a situation; I mostly found them in pairs, perched near each other on the branches of the gums, in situations not at all sheltered from the beams of the midday sun. So lethargic are its slumbers, that it is almost impossible to arouse it, and I have frequently shot one without disturbing its mate sitting close by; it may also be knocked off with sticks or stones, and sometimes is even taken with the hand: when aroused, it flies lazily off with heavy flapping wings to a neighbouring tree, and again resumes its slumbers until the approach of evening, when it becomes as animated and active as it had been previously dull and stupid. The food consists of insects of various kinds; but in what way they are obtained is uncertain, though the contents of the stomach of one I dissected induce me to believe that it does not usually capture its prey while on the wing, or subsist upon nocturnal insects alone, but that it is in the habit of creeping among the branches in search of such as are in a state of repose; and an examination of the tail will, I think, serve to strengthen this supposition, since it in some degree resembles the form and structure of that organ in many of the climbing birds. The power it possesses of shifting the position of the outer toe backwards, as circumstances may require, is a very singular feature, and may also tend to assist them in their progress among the branches. A bird I shot at Yarrundi, in the middle of the night, had the stomach filled with fresh-captured mantis and locusts (Phasmidæ and Cicadæ), which never move at night, and the latter of which are generally resting against the upright boles of the trees. In other specimens I found the remains of small Coleoptera, intermingled with the fibres of the roots of what appeared to be a parasitic plant, such as would be found in decayed and hollow trees. The whole contour of the bird shows that it is not formed for extensive flight or for performing those rapid evolutions that are necessary for the capture of its prey in the air, the wing being short and concave in comparison with those of the true aërial Nightjars, and particularly with the Australian form to which I have given the name of Eurostopodus.

Of its mode of nidification I can speak with confidence, having seen many pairs breeding during my rambles in the woods. It makes a slightly-constructed flat nest of sticks carelessly interwoven together, and placed at the fork of a horizontal branch of sufficient size to ensure its safety; the tree most frequently chosen is an Eucalyptus, but I have occasionally seen the nest on an Apple-tree (Angophora) or a Swamp-Oak (Casuarina). In every instance one of the birds was sitting on the eggs and the other perched on a neighbouring bough, both invariably asleep; that the male participates in the duty of incubation I ascertained by having accidentally shot a bird on the nest without being aware it was so occupied, which on dissection proved to be a male. The eggs are generally two in number, of a beautiful immaculate white, and of a long oval form, one inch and ten lines in length by one inch and three lines in diameter.

The sexes so closely resemble each other both in size and plumage, that a separate description is unnecessary. Like the other species of the genus, it is subject to considerable variation in its colouring; the young, which assume the adult livery at an early age, being somewhat darker in all their markings.

The night-call of this species is a loud hoarse noise, consisting of two distinct sounds, which cannot be correctly described.

The stomach is thick and muscular, and is lined with a thick hair-like substance like that of the Common Cuckoo.

All the upper surface brown, speckled with greyish white and darker brown, the feathers of the crown having a blackish brown stripe down the centre terminating in a minute spot of white; wings similar to the upper surface, but lighter and with bolder black and buff spots, the coverts having an irregular spot of white and tawny on the outer web near the tip, which, as they lie over each other, form indistinct bands across the wing; primaries brownish black, with light-coloured shafts, and with a series of whitish spots on the outer webs, between which they are margined with tawny; their inner webs irregularly barred with the same; tail tawny brown, sprinkled with lighter brown, and crossed with a series of irregular bands of blackish brown, sprinkled with dusky white, each feather having a spot of brownish black near the extremity, and tipped with white; face and all the under surface greyish white, crossed by numerous narrow and irregular bars of tawny, and with a stripe of brown down the centre of each feather, the latter colour being most conspicuous and forming a kind of semilunar mark down each side of the chest; bill light brown, tinged with purple; inside of the mouth pale yellow; tongue long, transparent, and of the same colour with the inside of the mouth; irides brownish orange; feet light brownish olive.

In some the rich tawny colour predominates, while others are more grey.

The bird is represented of the natural size, asleep, in the position it is usually seen during the day.

PODARGUS CUVIERI: Vig. and Horsf.
J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith. Hullmandel & Walton Imp.

PODARGUS CUVIERI, Vig. and Horsf.
Cuvier’s Podargus.

Podargus Cuvieri, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p. 200.

More-pork of the Colonists.

This species is readily distinguished from the Podargus humeralis by the bill being much less robust and of a more adpressed form, while the culmen is sharp and elevated; the bird itself is also of a smaller size and altogether more slender than its near ally. Van Diemen’s Land, if not its exclusive habitat, is certainly its great stronghold, it being there very numerous, as evidenced by the frequency with which I encountered it during my rambles in the woods; and its distribution over the island is so general, that to particularize localities in which it may be found is quite unnecessary, it being equally abundant near the coast as well as in the interior. I observed it both among the thick branches of the Casuarinæ and on the dead limbs of the Eucalypti; it appeared however to evince a greater partiality for the latter, which it closely resembles in colour, and from the position in which it rests, looks so like a part of the branch itself as frequently to elude detection; it is generally seen in pairs sitting near each other, and frequently on the same branch. Like the other members of the genus, this bird feeds almost exclusively on insects, of which Coleoptera form a great part: it is strictly nocturnal in its habits, and although not so active as the true Caprimulgi, displays considerable alertness in the capture of its food, presenting a striking contrast to its inertness in the daytime, when it is so drowsy that it can scarcely be aroused from its slumbers; that portion of its existence being passed in a sitting posture across a dead branch, perfectly motionless and with the bill pointing upwards: it never flies by day unless roused from the branch on which it is sitting, and this is not easily effected, as neither the discharge of a gun nor any other noise will cause it to take wing. It is frequently captured and kept in captivity, where it excites attention more from the sluggishness of its nature and the singular position it assumes than from any other cause: raw meat forms a suitable substitute for its natural food. In captivity it will pass the entire day in sleep on the back of a chair or any other piece of furniture on which it can perch. Like the owl, it is considered by some a bird of ill omen, principally from the extraordinary sound of its hoarse, unearthly cry, which resembles the words more-pork; it not only approaches the immediate vicinity of the houses, but emits this sound while perched in their verandahs and on the buildings themselves; and it is often to be seen perched on the tombstones of the churchyard.

It builds a somewhat neatly-formed flat nest, about seven inches in diameter, in the fork of an horizontal branch; the exterior formed of small sticks, and the interior of the fibrous portions of various plants; the eggs are white, and nearly of a true oval in form, being one inch and nine lines long by one inch and three lines broad.

Considerable variation occurs in the colouring of individuals, the prevailing tint being a dull ashy grey, while others are of a rich chestnut hue; but whether this be indicative of immaturity, or characteristic of the fully adult plumage, I have not been able to satisfy myself. The figures represent both these styles of colouring.

Lores brown, each feather tipped with mealy white, forming a line before and above the eye; feathers of the forehead mealy white, blending into the dull ashy grey of the head and back, all the feathers of which have a stripe of blackish brown down the centre, terminating in a small spot of white, and are moreover minutely freckled with greyish white and dark brown; wing-coverts chestnut, each tipped with an oval spot of white bounded posteriorly with black, forming a line across the wing; remainder of the wing brown, mottled with greyish white, arranged, particularly on the primaries, in the form of irregular bars; scapularies washed with buff and with a broad stripe of blackish brown down the centre; under surface brownish grey, minutely freckled with white, and with a narrow line of blackish brown down the centre; sides of the neck washed with chestnut; tail grey, minutely freckled with greyish white and black, assuming the form of broad irregular bands, each feather with a small spot of white at the tip; irides varying from yellow to reddish yellow and hazel; feet olive-brown.

Other examples have the general tint rich chestnut-brown, with all the markings larger and more decided.

The figures are of the natural size.

PODARGUS PHALÆNOÏDES: Gould.
J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith. C. Hullmandel Imp.

PODARGUS PHALÆNOÏDES, Gould.
Moth-plumaged Podargus.

Podargus Phalænoïdes, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part VII. p. 142.

Nÿ-ane? and In-ner-jïn-ert, Aborigines of the neighbourhood of Port Essington.

The present bird, which is from Port Essington, may be readily distinguished from every other Australian species of Podargus by its small size, by the beautiful, delicate, and moth-like painting of its plumage, and by the colouring of the thighs, which are light brown instead of black; its tail also is rather more lengthened than that of the common species. Like the members of the genus inhabiting Van Diemen’s Land and New South Wales, it exhibits considerable variation in size and colouring; in some a rusty red tint pervades the whole plumage, while in others no trace of this hue occurs. I am inclined to consider that age has much to do with this variation in colour: but whether the red-tinted birds are immature or adult I have had no means of ascertaining; further observation is necessary to determine this point; and I consequently hope the subject will not be neglected by those who may have an opportunity of observing the bird alive: the red-tinted birds occur less frequently than the others.

I have several specimens from the north-west coast of Australia, and Mr. Gilbert states that it is abundant in every part of the Cobourg Peninsula.

Like the rest of the genus it is strictly nocturnal in its habits; becoming animated at the approach of evening, it sallies forth from the favourite branch where it has rested during the day in search of insects, which, I believe, constitute almost exclusively its food; its whole economy in fact, so far as known, so closely resembles that of the Podargus humeralis, that one description would serve for both.

Forehead, sides of the face and all the under surface brownish grey, minutely freckled with black; the feathers of the under surface with a stripe of blackish brown down the centre, these stripes being broadest and most conspicuous on the sides of the chest; all the upper surface brown, minutely freckled with grey, each feather with a broad stripe of black down the centre; shoulders dark brown; coverts freckled with greyish white and with a spot of white, the centre of which is fawn-colour at the tip; primaries dark brown, crossed on their outer webs with an irregular bar of white, the interspaces on the outer primaries rufous; inner webs of the primaries crossed by irregular bands of freckled brown and fawn-colour; tail brown, crossed by numerous broad bands of freckled grey, bounded on either side by irregular blotchings of black; irides orange or reddish hazel; bill horn-colour.

In the other state, to which I have alluded, the whole of the upper surface is of a dark rust-red, freckled on the forehead, wing-coverts and scapularies with white; the bands on the tail less apparent; a rufous tint pervades the grey of the under surface, and the striæ are much narrower than in the specimen above described.

The Plate represents a male and a female, in the differently tinted plumage, of the natural size.

PODARGUS PLUMIFERUS: Gould.
J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith. Hullmandel & Walton Imp.

PODARGUS PLUMIFERUS, Gould.
Plumed Podargus.

Podargus plumiferus, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part XIII. p. 104.

The only information I have to communicate respecting this beautiful Podargus, is, that it is a native of the brushes of the Clarence and neighbouring rivers in New South Wales, and that several examples have come under my notice, of which one is deposited in the Museum at Dublin, another in the Museum at Manchester, and two are contained in my own collection; of the latter, one was sent to me by Mr. Strange of Sydney, and the other was purchased with other Australian birds in London. It is readily distinguished from all the other Australian members of the genus by the more lengthened form of tail, and by the remarkable and conspicuous tufts of feathers which spring from immediately above the nostrils: considerable variation is found to exist in the colouring of the various specimens, some being much redder than the others, and having the markings on the under surface much less distinct and of a more chestnut tint.

Nothing whatever is known of its habits and economy, points which must remain for future discovery and research to make known.

Tuft of feathers covering the nostrils alternately banded with blackish brown and white; all the upper surface mottled brown, black, and brownish white, the latter predominating over each eye, where it forms a conspicuous patch; the markings are of a larger but similar kind on the wings, and on the primaries and secondaries assume the form of bars; tail similar but paler, and with the barred form of the markings still more distinct; centre of the throat and chest brownish white, minutely freckled with brown; sides of the neck and breast, and all the under surface similar, but with a dark line of brown down the centre, and two large nearly square-shaped spots of brownish white near the tip of each feather; bill and feet horn-colour.

The figures are of the natural size.

EUROSTOPODUS ALBOGULARIS.
J. Gould and H. C. Richter, del^t C. Hullmandel Imp.

EUROSTOPODUS ALBOGULARIS.
White-throated Goat-sucker.

Caprimulgus albogularis, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p. 194, note.

—— mystacalis, Temm. Pl. Col. 410.

During my visit to Australia I had opportunities of observing a number of this species; it is still, however, a rare bird in all our collections, and how far it may range over the Australian continent is not known; the south-eastern are the only portions in which it has yet been discovered; and although all the specimens I have seen in collections were procured at Moreton Bay, I have killed three or four of an evening on the cleared lands on the Upper Hunter, which shows that it is far from being a scarce bird in that part of New South Wales. In all probability it is only a summer visitant in the colony, as it was at this season only that I observed it. In the daytime it sleeps on the ground on some dry knoll or open part of the forest, and as twilight approaches sallies forth to the open glades and small plains or cleared lands in search of insects; its flight, which is much more powerful than that of any other Goatsucker I have seen, enabling it to pass through the air with great rapidity, and to mount up and dart down almost at right angles whenever an insect comes within the range of its eye, which is so large and full that its powers of vision must be very great. Most of those I shot were gorged with insects, principally coleoptera and locusts, some of which were entire and so large as to excite surprise how they could be swallowed; in several instances they were so perfect, that I preserved them as specimens for my entomological collection.

Of its nidification I have no information to furnish; it doubtless, however, breeds on the ground, and judging from analogy its eggs will be found to be either one or two in number, and in form and colour partaking of the character of those of Caprimulgus, and not of those of Podargus and Ægotheles.

Contrary to what might have been expected, I found that although the sexes are nearly alike in colour, the females always exceed the males in size and in the brilliance of the tints; the males, on the other hand, have the two white spots on the third and fourth primaries more conspicuous than in the female.

All the upper surface very minutely freckled grey and brown; the feathers on the crown of the head and at the occiput with a large patch of black down the centre; behind the ear-coverts a patch of dark brown sprinkled with brownish buff; from the angle of the mouth passing round the back of the neck an indistinct collar of intermingled buff, chestnut and black; scapularies variegated with dark brown on their outer webs and margined with bright fulvous; wing dark brown variegated with fulvous and grey; secondaries dark brown, with a regular series of bright fulvous spots along each web; primaries blackish brown, the two first without any spot, the remainder spotted like the secondaries, the third having a spot of white on its inner and outer web about the centre of the feather, the fourth with a large white spot on its outer web; two centre and outer webs of the remaining tail-feathers dark brown, marbled with irregular bars of grey; the inner webs of the lateral feathers dark brown, crossed with irregular bands of light buff; throat blackish brown, spotted with bright buff; on each side of the throat a large oval spot of white; breast dark brown, spotted above with dull buff, and broadly freckled with dull buff and grey; abdomen and under tail-coverts bright fulvous, crossed with bars of dark brown; irides dark brown; feet mealy reddish brown.

The Plate represents a female of the natural size.

EUROSTOPODUS GUTTATUS.
J. Gould and H. C. Richter, del^t C. Hullmandel Imp.

EUROSTOPODUS GUTTATUS.
Spotted Goat-sucker.

Caprimulgus guttatus, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p. 192.

Käl-ga, Aborigines of the lowland districts of Western Australia.

Goatsucker, of the Colonists.

As the similitude of its form would lead us to suspect, this species closely resembles the preceding, both in its habits and in the whole of its economy; unlike that species, however, whose range of habitat would appear to be very limited, the present bird is universally, but thinly, distributed over the whole of the southern portion of Australia. I killed it in South Australia and in New South Wales; the collection formed by Mr. Gilbert at Swan River also contained specimens which presented no difference whatever, either in size or markings.

I more than once flushed this bird in open day, when, after mounting rapidly in the air, it performed a few zigzag evolutions and pitched again to the earth at a distant spot. That it breeds on the ground there can be no doubt, as I found a newly-hatched young one on the precise spot from which I had flushed the adult; the little helpless creature, which much resembled a small mass of down or wool, was of a reddish brown colour, not very dissimilar from the surface of the ground where it had been hatched: my utmost endeavours to find the broken shell were entirely unavailing; I am consequently unable to describe the egg, or to furnish any further information respecting the nidification of this singular form.

The sexes are so nearly alike in colour and size that they are not to be distinguished except by dissection; the young, on the contrary, is clothed in a more buffy brown dress until it has attained the size of the adult.

Forehead and centre of the head brownish black, each feather spotted and margined with bright buff; over each eye the feathers are pearly white very finely pencilled with brownish black; lores and sides of the face brown spotted with buff; collar at the back of the head reddish chestnut; back grey freckled with black; scapularies light grey freckled with brownish black, largely tipped with bright buff, with an irregular diagonal patch of black; wing-coverts grey, spotted and freckled with brown, each feather largely tipped with bright buff; primaries and secondaries brownish black, marked on both webs with buff, the buff on the outer webs being in the form of round spots, on the inner webs irregular bars; on the inner web of the first primary is a large spot of pure white, on the second primaries a similar but larger spot, and a small one on the outer web; the third and fourth crossed by a large irregular patch of white; middle tail-feathers light grey, marbled and finely freckled with dark brown; lateral feathers light grey barred with blackish brown and bright buff, and freckled with dark brown, the buff on the outer web of the outside feather forming a regular row of spots; on each side of the throat an oblique line of white; chest dark brown, each feather broadly barred and spotted with light buff; abdomen bright buff, finely and irregularly barred with black; under tail-coverts sandy; bill black; irides very dark brown; feet mealy reddish brown.

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

CAPRIMULGUS MACRURUS: Horsf.
J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith. C. Hullmandel Imp.

CAPRIMULGUS MACRURUS, Horsf.
Large-tailed Goatsucker.

Caprimulgus macrurus, Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xiii. p. 142.

This, the only true Caprimulgus known to inhabit Australia, is I believe identical with the C. macrurus of Dr. Horsfield, whose specimens were procured in Java, while those I possess were obtained at Port Essington, where the bird is moderately plentiful; hence it would appear that it has an unusually wide range of habitat. It inhabits the open parts of the forest and is strictly nocturnal; it mostly rests on the ground on the shady side of a large tree close to the roots, and if disturbed several times in succession takes to the branch of one of the largest trees. I have never seen the eggs of this species, but I possess a young bird apparently only a few days old, which Mr. Gilbert found lying under a shrubby tree, without any nest or even a blade of grass near it; the little creature was so similar in colour to that of the ground upon which it was lying, that it was with difficulty detected, and Mr. Gilbert was only induced to search for it from the very peculiar manner in which the old bird rose, the reluctance it evinced to leave the spot, and its hovering over the place it had risen from, instead of flying off to the distance of nearly a hundred yards, as it usually does.

The sexes are distinguished from each other by the greater extent of the white mark on the primaries and outer tail-feathers; in other parts of the plumage and in size there is no difference.

Its food consists of moths, flies and coleopterous insects, which are taken during flight.

Head brownish grey, very minutely freckled with black; the feathers down the middle of the head and occiput with a large broad stripe of black down the centre; lores, space surrounding the eyes and ear-coverts reddish brown; on each side of the neck a broad stripe of rich buff barred with black; a narrow line of white passes below the angle of the mouth; chin brown; across the throat a band of white bounded below by black, the extremities of the white feathers being of that hue; centre of the back dark brown, freckled with black and buff; shoulders blackish brown; wing-coverts freckled grey, buff and black, each with a large spot of buff at the tip; primaries and secondaries blackish brown, the former crossed at their base, and the latter throughout their entire length, with reddish buff; the second and third primaries crossed near their base with a broad band of white, stained with buff on the outer margin; the first primary with a spot of white only on the margin of the inner web; the first three primaries freckled at their tips, and the remainder for the entire length of their inner webs with brownish grey; scapularies freckled grey and brown, with a large patch of deep dull black on their outer webs, margined externally with buff; rump freckled with dark brown and grey, and with an interrupted line of darker brown down the centre of each feather; two centre tail-feathers minutely and coarsely freckled with very dark brown; the next on each side very dark brown, crossed by irregular bands of freckled brownish grey and black; the next on each side similar, but the bands narrower and less conspicuous; the two outer ones on each side very dark brown for three parts of the length, the apical portion being white, stained with freckled buff and black on the outer webs; the basal or dark portion crossed by narrow indistinct and irregular bars of deep buff; breast freckled buff, grey and brown, some of the feathers in the centre of the breast largely tipped with buff; abdomen and under tail-coverts deep buff, crossed by narrow regular bands of dark brown; irides blackish brown; bill black; feet and claws reddish brown.

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

ACANTHYLIS CAUDACUTA.
J. Gould and H. C. Richter, del^t C. Hullmandel Imp.

ACANTHYLIS CAUDACUTA.
Australian Spine-tailed Swallow.

Hirundo caudacuta, Lath. Ind. Orn. Supp., p. 57. sp. 1.—Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. vii. p. 307.—Vieill. 2nde Edit. du Nouv. Dict. d’Hist. Nat., tom. xiv. p. 535; and Ency. Méth. Orn., Part II. p. 531.

Needle-tailed Swallow? Lath. Gen. Syn. Supp., vol. ii. p. 307.—Steph. Cont. Shaw’s Gen. Zool., vol. x. p. 133.

Pin-tailed Swallow, Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. vii. p. 308.

Chætura Australis, Steph. Cont. Shaw’s Gen. Zool., vol. xiii. p. 76.

Hirundo pacifica, Lath. Ind. Orn. Supp., p. 58.—Vieill. 2nde Edit. du Nouv. Dict. d’Hist. Nat., tom. xiv. p. 511; and Ency. Méth. Orn., Part II. p. 529.

New Holland Swallow? Lath. Gen. Syn. Supp., vol. ii. p. 259.—Steph. Cont. Shaw’s Gen. Zool., vol. x. p. 132.—Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. vii. p. 308.

Chætura macroptera, Swains. Zool. Ill. 2nd Ser., pl. 42.—Gould, Birds of Australia, Part II. cancelled.

This noble species, the largest of the Hirundinidæ yet discovered, is a summer visitant of the eastern portions of Australia, proceeding as far south as Van Diemen’s Land; but its visits to this island are not so regular as to New South Wales, and its stay in these southern latitudes is never protracted. The months of January and February are those in which it has been most frequently observed in Van Diemen’s Land, where it simultaneously appears in large flocks, which after spending a few days disappear as suddenly as they arrived. I am not aware of its having been observed in Western Australia, neither has it occurred in any of the collections formed at Port Essington.

The keel or breast-bone of this species is more than ordinarily deep, and the pectoral muscles more developed than in any other bird of its weight with which I am acquainted. Its whole form is especially and beautifully adapted for aërial progression, and as its lengthened wings would lead us to imagine, its power of flight, both for rapidity and extension, is truly amazing; hence it readily passes from one part of the country to another, and if so disposed may be engaged in hawking for flies on the continent of Australia at one moment, and in half an hour be similarly employed in Van Diemen’s Land.

So exclusively is this bird a tenant of the air, that I never in any instance saw it perch, and but rarely sufficiently near the earth to admit of a successful shot; it is only late in the evening and during lowery weather that such an object can be accomplished. With the exception of the Crane, it is certainly the most lofty as well as the most vigorous flier of the Australian birds. I have frequently observed in the middle of the hottest days, while lying prostrate on the ground with my eyes directed upwards, the cloudless blue sky peopled at an immense elevation by hundreds of these birds, performing extensive curves and sweeping flights, doubtless attracted thither by the insects that soar aloft during serene weather; hence, as I have before stated, few birds are more difficult to obtain, particularly on the continent of Australia, where long droughts are so prevalent; on the contrary, the flocks that visit the more humid climate of Van Diemen’s Land, where they necessarily seek their food near the earth, are often greatly diminished by the gun during their stay.

I regret that I could ascertain no particulars whatever respecting the nidification of this fine bird, but we may naturally conclude that both rocks and holes in the larger trees are selected as sites for the purpose, as well as for a roosting-place during the night. Before retiring to roost, which it does immediately after the sun has gone down, the Spine-tailed Swallow may frequently be seen, either singly or in pairs, sweeping up the gullies or flying with immense rapidity just above the tops of the trees, their never-tiring wings enabling them to perform their evolutions in the capture of insects, and of sustaining themselves in the air during the entire day, without cessation.

The sexes offer no perceptible difference in their outward appearance; but the female, as is the case with the other members of the family, is a trifle smaller than her mate.

Crown of the head, back of the neck, and ear-coverts deep shining green strongly tinged with brown; a small space immediately before the eye deep velvety black; band across the forehead, throat, inner webs of the secondaries nearest the back, a patch on the lower part of the flanks and the under tail-coverts white; wings and tail deep shining green, with purple reflexions; centre of the back greyish brown, becoming darker towards the rump; chest and abdomen dark clove-brown; bill black; feet brown.

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

CYPSELUS AUSTRALIS: Gould.
J. Gould and H. C. Richter, del^t C. Hullmandel Imp.

CYPSELUS AUSTRALIS, Gould.
Australian Swift.

Cypselus Australis, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part VII. p. 141.

As I had never seen or heard of a true Swift in Australia, I was no less surprised than gratified when I discovered this species to be tolerably numerous on the Upper Hunter, during my first visit to that district in 1838. Those I then observed were flying high in the air and performing immense sweeps and circles, while engaged in the capture of insects. I succeeded in killing six or eight individuals, among which were adult examples of both sexes, but I was unable to obtain any particulars as to their habits and economy. It would be highly interesting to know whether this bird, like the other members of the family, returns annually to spend the months of summer in Australia. I think it likely that this may be the case, and that it may have been frequently confounded with the Acanthylis caudacuta, as I have more than once seen the two species united in flocks, hawking together in the cloudless skies, like the Martins and Swallows of our own island. By the discovery of this bird another beautiful instance of representation is brought under our notice; evincing most clearly that the Australian Swift, Swallow and Martin are representatives of the Swift, Swallow and Martin of Europe, each performing in their respective hemispheres similar offices in the great scheme of nature.

Throat and rump white; upper and under surface of the body brown; the back tinged with a bronzy metallic lustre; each feather of the under surface margined with white; wings and tail dark brown; irides, bill and feet black.

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

ATTICORA LEUCOSTERNON: Gould.
J. Gould and H. C. Richter, del^t C. Hullmandel Imp.

ATTICORA LEUCOSTERNON, Gould.
White-breasted Swallow.

Hirundo leucosternus, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part VIII. p. 172.

Boö-de-boö-de of the Aborigines of the mountain districts of Western Australia.

Black and White Swallow of the Colonists.

For the present I have placed this new and elegant Swallow with the members of the genus Atticora; the type of which is the Hirundo fasciata of authors, a bird inhabiting South America, from which country I have seen two species, while South Africa presents us with a third; the present, therefore, may be considered as the representative of the genus in Australia, thus further evidencing that beautiful law of representation alluded to in the page on Cypselus Australis respecting the Swift, Swallow and Martin.

I have never myself seen this bird; the specimen from which my original description was taken was presented to me in 1839 by Mr. Charles Coxen, who had killed it some years before, and who informed me that it was one of a pair that he observed flying over a small lake in the neighbourhood of the Lower Namoi; its companion was not procured.

The second example was killed at Swan River, where Mr. Gilbert in his notes from Western Australia says, “I only observed this bird in the interior, and as far as I can learn, it has not been seen to the westward of York: I am told it is merely a summer visitor. It is a very wandering species, never very numerous, and is generally seen in small flocks of from ten to twenty in number, flying about, sometimes in company with the other Swallows, for about ten minutes, and then flying right away; I noticed this singular habit every time I had an opportunity of observing the species. It usually flies very high, a circumstance which renders it difficult to procure specimens.

“Its flight more nearly resembles that of the Swift than that of the Swallow; its cry also, at times, very much resembles that of the former.

“Its food principally consists of minute black flies.

“This bird chooses for its nest the deserted hole of either the Dalgyte (Perameles lagotis) or the Boodee (a species of Bettongia), in the side of which it burrows for about seven or nine inches in a horizontal direction, making no nest, but merely laying its eggs on the bare sand.”

Crown of the head light brown, surrounded by a ring of white; lores black; a broad band commencing at the eye, and passing round the back of the neck, brown; centre of the back, throat, chest and under surface of the shoulder white; wings and tail brownish black; rump, upper tail-coverts, abdomen and under tail-coverts black; irides dark reddish brown; bill blackish brown; legs and feet greenish grey.

The figures are of the natural size.

HIRUNDO NEOXENA: Gould.
J. Gould and H. C. Richter, del^t C. Hullmandel Imp.

HIRUNDO NEOXENA, Gould.
Welcome Swallow.

Hirundo Javanica, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p. 191.

New Holland Swallow, Griffith’s Edit. Cuv. Anim. King., Aves, vol. vii. p. 96; and H. pacifica, Ibid., pl. not numbered.

Kun̈-na-meet, Aborigines of the lowland districts of Western Australia.

Ber-rin̈-nin, Aborigines of New South Wales.

Like many other Australian birds, this species has been considered to be identical with another or others described by the older writers. Messrs. Vigors and Horsfield, in their “List of Australian Birds,” published in the fifteenth volume of the Linnean Transactions, state that they “have been led into a more detailed description of this species, in order to point out the differences of its characters from those of our European species Hir. rustica, with which it has been generally confounded;” but while they have very clearly pointed out the distinctive characters of the two species, they have, in my opinion, departed from their usual accuracy in considering it to be identical with the bird figured by Sparmann in the “Museum Carlsonianum” under the name of Hirundo Javanica, which is there represented with a square tail, and which, if drawn correctly, is not only specifically but generically distinct. I have also compared specimens of the Australian Swallow with the Hirondelle Orientale of M. Temminck’s “Planches Coloriées,” with which species it was likewise considered to be identical by Messrs. Vigors and Horsfield, but from which also I conceive it to be distinct. On the contrary, the Swallow figured in Griffith’s edition of Cuvier’s “Animal Kingdom” is certainly the Australian bird; but as the specific term there given had been previously employed by Sparmann, as mentioned above, the necessity of a new name for the present species has been forced upon me; and that of neoxena has suggested itself as appropriate, from the circumstance of its appearance throughout the whole of the southern portions of Australia being hailed as a welcome indication of the approach of spring, and its arrival there associated with precisely the same ideas as those popularly entertained respecting our own pretty Swallow in Europe. The two species are in fact beautiful representatives of each other, and assimilate not only in their migratory movements, but also most closely in their whole habits, actions and economy. It arrives in Van Diemen’s Land about the middle or end of September, and after rearing at least two broods departs again northwards in March; but it is evident that the migratory movement of the Swallow, and doubtless that of all other birds, is regulated entirely by the temperature and the more or less abundant supply of food necessary for its existence; for I found that in New South Wales, and every country in Australia within the same latitude, it arrived much earlier and departed considerably later than in Van Diemen’s Land; and Mr. Caley, who resided in New South Wales for several years, and whose valuable notes on the birds of that part of the country have been so often quoted, states that “the earliest period of the year that I noticed the appearance of Swallows was on the 12th of July 1803, when I saw two; but I remarked several towards the end of the same month in the following year (1804). The latest period I observed them was on the 30th of May 1806, when a number of them were twittering and flying high in the air. When I missed them at Paramatta, I have sometimes met with them among the north rocks, a romantic spot about two miles to the northward of the former place.” A few stragglers remain in New South Wales during the whole of the winter, but their numbers cannot be for a moment compared with those to be observed in the summer, and which during the colder months have wended their way to a warmer and more congenial climate, where insect life is sufficiently abundant for the support of so great a multitude. I have never been able to trace this bird very far to the north; it certainly does not visit Java, nor I believe New Guinea, neither have I yet seen it from Port Essington or any part of the north coast, although it is probable that its range does extend thus far.

The natural breeding-places of this bird are the deep clefts of rocks and dark caverns, but since the colonization of Australia it has in a remarkable degree imitated its European prototype, by selecting for the site of its nest, the smoky chimneys, the chambers of mills and out-houses, or the corner of a shady verandah; the nest is also similarly constructed, being open at the top, formed of mud or clay, intermingled with grass or straw to bind it firmly together, and lined first with a layer of fine grasses and then with feathers. The shape of the nest depends upon the situation in which it is built, but it generally assumes a rounded form in front. The eggs are usually four in number, of a lengthened form; the ground colour pinky white, with numerous fine spots of purplish brown, the interspaces with specks of light greyish brown, assuming in some instances the form of a zone at the larger end; they are from eight to nine lines long by six lines broad. At Swan River the breeding-season is in September and October.

The food consists of small flies and other insects.

Forehead, chin, throat and chest rust-red; head, back of the neck, back, scapularies, wing-coverts, rump and upper tail-coverts deep steel-blue; wings and tail blackish brown, all but the two centre feathers of the latter with an oblique mark of white on the inner web; under surface very pale brown; under tail-coverts pale brown passing into an irregular crescent-shaped mark near the extremity and tipped with white; irides dark brown; bill and legs black.

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

CHELIDON ARBOREA: Gould.
J. Gould and H. C. Richter, del^t C. Hullmandel Imp.

COLLOCALIA ARBOREA.
Tree Martin.

Dun-rumped Swallow, Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. vii. p. 309.

Hirundo pyrrhonota, Lath. MSS.—Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p. 190.

Hirundo nigricans, Vieill. Ency. Méth., Part II. p. 525?

Gäb-by-kal̈-lan-goö-rong, Aborigines of the lowlands of Western Australia.

Martin of the Colonists.

The specific term of pyrrhonota having been given to a bird of this group by Vieillot, prior to the publication of the List of Australian Birds by Messrs. Vigors and Horsfield in the Linnean Transactions, as quoted above, I have been necessitated to furnish this species with a new appellation, and have selected that of arborea as indicative of its habits; for in every part of Australia that I have visited, it invariably selects the holes of trees for the purpose of nidification.

It is strictly a summer visitant to Van Diemen’s Land and all the southern portions of Australia, arriving in August and retiring northwards as autumn approaches.

The Tree Martin is a familiar species, frequenting the streets of the towns in company with the Swallow. I observed it to be particularly numerous in the streets of Hobart Town, where it arrives early in September; the more southern and colder situation of the island rendering all migratory birds later in their arrival there.

It breeds during the month of October in the holes of trees, making no nest, but laying its eggs on the soft dust generally found in such places: the eggs are from three to five in number, of a pinky white faintly freckled at the larger end with fine spots of light reddish brown; they are eight lines long by six lines broad.

Its food consists of insects of various kinds, particularly a species of small black fly.

Considerable difference exists both in size and in the depth of colouring of specimens killed in New South Wales, Swan River and Van Diemen’s Land; but as there exists no distinctive character of marking, I am induced to regard them as mere local varieties rather than as distinct species. The Van Diemen’s race are larger in all their admeasurements, and have the fulvous tint of the under surface and the band across the forehead much deeper than in those killed in New South Wales; individuals from the latter locality again exceed in size those from Western Australia.

Specimens from Van Diemen’s Land have the forehead crossed by a fulvous band; head, back of the neck, back and scapularies glossy bluish black; wings and tail brown; rump and upper tail-coverts light fulvous; throat, sides of the neck and flanks light fulvous, with a narrow stripe of dark brown in the centre of each feather; centre of the abdomen nearly white; irides, bill and feet blackish brown.

The figures in the opposite Plate, which are of the natural size, were taken from two of the varieties mentioned above; the upper one from a specimen killed in New South Wales, the other two from birds taken in Van Diemen’s Land.

CHELIDON ARIEL: Gould.
J. Gould and H. C. Richter, del^t C. Hullmandel Imp.

COLLOCALIA ARIEL, Gould.
Fairy Martin.

Collocalia Ariel, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., October 11, 1842.

Until my arrival in the colony of New South Wales I had no idea of the existence of this new and beautiful Martin, nor in fact until I was awakened by its twittering notes at the bed-room window of the inn at Maitland, did I discover that I was surrounded by hundreds of this species, which were breeding under the verandahs and corners of the windows, precisely after the manner of the Common Martin of Europe. Several of their bottle-shaped nests were built round the house, and from these I obtained as many eggs as I desired.

It is numerously dispersed over all the southern portions of Australia, and like every other member of the genus it is strictly migratory, making the southern latitudes its summer residence. It usually arrives in the month of August and departs again in February or March; during this interval it rears two or three broods. The Fairy Martin, unlike the favourite Swallow of the Australians, although enjoying a most extensive range, appears to have an antipathy to the country near the sea, for neither in New South Wales nor at Swan River have I ever heard of its approaching the coast-line nearer than twenty miles; hence while I never observed it at Sydney, the town of Maitland on the Hunter is annually visited by it in great numbers. In Western Australia it is common between Northam and York, while the towns of Perth and Fremantle on the coast, are, like Sydney, unfavoured with its presence. I observed it throughout the district of the Upper Hunter, as well as in every part of the interior, breeding in various localities, wherever suitable situations presented themselves, sometimes in the holes of low decayed trees; while not unfrequently clusters of nests were attached to the perpendicular banks of rivers, the sides of rocks, &c., always, however, in the vicinity of water. The nest, which is bottle-shaped with a long neck, is composed of mud or clay, and like that of our Common Martin, is only constructed in the morning and evening, unless the day be wet or lowery. In the construction of the nests they appear to work in small companies, six or seven assisting in the formation of each nest, one remaining within and receiving the mud brought by the others in their mouths: in shape they are nearly round, but vary in size from four to six or seven inches in diameter; the spouts being eight, nine or ten inches in length. When built on the sides of rocks or in the hollows of trees they are placed without any regular order, in clusters of thirty or forty together, some with their spouts inclining downwards, others at right angles, &c.; they are lined with feathers and fine grasses. The eggs, which are four or five in number, are sometimes white, at others spotted and blotched with red; eleven-sixteenths of an inch long by half an inch broad.

Its flight closely resembles that of the Common Martin; the stomach is tolerably muscular and the food consists of small flies.

The sexes cannot be distinguished by their outward appearance.

Crown of the head rust-red; back, scapularies and wing-coverts deep steel-blue; wings and tail dark brown; rump buffy white; upper tail-coverts brown; under surface white, tinged with rust-red, particularly on the sides of the neck and flanks; the feathers of the throat with a fine line of dark brown down the centre; irides blackish brown; bill blackish grey; legs and feet olive-grey.

The figures are of the natural size.

MEROPS ORNATUS: Lath.
J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith. C. Hullmandel Imp.

MEROPS ORNATUS, Lath.
Australian Bee-eater.

Merops ornatus, Lath. Ind. Orn., Supp. p. xxxv.

Mountain Bee-eater, Lewin, Birds of New Holl., pl. 18.

Variegated Bee-eater, Lath. Gen. Syn., Supp., vol. ii. p. 155, pl. 128.—Ib. Gen. Hist., vol. iv. p. 130, pl. lxix.—Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. viii. p. 158.

Merops melanurus, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p. 208.—Less. Traité d’Orn., p. 238.

Dee-weed-gang, Aborigines of New South Wales.

Bëe-roo-bëe-roo-long, Aborigines of the lowland, and

Ber̈-rin-ber̈-rin, Aborigines of the mountain districts of Western Australia.

Bee-eater of the Colonists.

There can, I think, be little doubt of the present being the only species of Bee-eater inhabiting Australia, since no other came under my notice during my expedition; nor have I seen examples differing from those here figured in any of the numerous collections I have had opportunities of examining, consequently the specific term of ornatus long since applied to it by Dr. Latham must be the one adopted, that of melanurus given by Messrs. Vigors and Horsfield sinking into a synonym.

This bird has so many attractions that it will doubtless be always regarded as a general favourite with the Australians; the extreme beauty of its plumage, the elegance of its form and the graceful manner of its flight all combining to render it especially worthy of their notice; besides which, many pleasing associations are connected with it, for, like the Swallow and the Cuckoo of Europe, its arrival is a certain harbinger of the return of spring, which in the southern hemisphere is, as is well known, at the opposite period of the year to that of the northern; hence the Australian Bee-eater, which is strictly migratory, arrives in New South Wales and all parts of the same latitude in August, and departs northwards in March, the intervening period being employed in the duties of incubation and of rearing its progeny. During the summer months it is universally spread over the whole southern portion of the continent from east to west; and it will be interesting to ornithologists generally, as it was to myself, to know that at Port Essington on the northern coast it is also strictly migratory, being abundantly dispersed over that part of the country when it is absent from the southern. “On my arrival at Port Essington in July,” says Mr. Gilbert, “this bird was extremely abundant in every variety of situation. It is a migratory bird in this part of Australia; a few pairs perhaps remaining to breed, as is evident from the natives being well acquainted with their mode of incubating, and also from my having in one instance seen a pair of old birds with their young, which could not long have left the nest as they were still being fed by their parents. With the exception of these I did not observe this species in any part of the Peninsula or the adjacent islands, from the latter part of August to the time of my leaving in the following March.”

I have never seen this bird either in collections from New Guinea or from any other of the Indian islands; hence we may naturally conclude that the extreme northern parts of Australia form the boundary of its range in that direction, as New South Wales and the same degree of latitude do on the southern. In South Australia and at Swan River it is equally numerous as in New South Wales, generally giving preference to the inland districts rather than to those near the coast; hence it is rarely to be met with in the neighbourhood of Perth, while in the York district it is very common. In New South Wales I found it especially abundant on the Upper Hunter, and all other parts towards the interior, as far as I had an opportunity of exploring. Its favourite resorts during the day are the open, arid and thinly-timbered forests; and in the evening the banks and sides of rivers, where numbers may frequently be seen in company. It almost invariably selects a dead or leafless branch whereon to perch, and from which it darts forth to capture the passing insect, much after the manner of many other of the Fissirostral birds, particularly the Kingfishers, to which it also assimilates in the upright position it assumes while perched. Its flight somewhat resembles that of the Artami, and although it is capable of being sustained for some time, the bird more frequently performs short excursions, and returns to the branch it had left.

I have had frequent opportunities of observing both the eggs and young, which are deposited and reared in holes, made in the sandy banks of rivers or any similar situation in the forest favourable for the purpose. The entrance is about the size of a mouse-hole, and is continued for a yard in depth, at the end of which is an excavation of sufficient size for the reception of the parent, and the deposition on the bare sand of four or five beautiful white eggs, which are ten lines long by eight or nine lines broad.

The stomach is tolerably muscular, and the food consists of various insects, principally coleoptera and neuroptera.

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

Forehead, line over the eye, back and wing-coverts brownish-green; crown of the head and nape orange-brown; wings orange-brown, passing into green on the extremities of the primaries, and broadly tipped with black; two or three of the scapularies, lower part of the back, rump and upper tail-coverts cœrulean blue; tail black, most of the feathers, particularly the two centre ones, slightly margined with blue; lores, line beneath and behind the eye and ear-coverts velvety black; beneath which is a stripe of cœrulean blue; throat rich yellow, passing into orange on the sides of the neck; beneath this a broad band of deep black; under surface like the back, becoming green on the lower part of the abdomen; under tail-coverts light blue; irides light brownish red; bill black; legs and feet mealy greenish grey.

The young are destitute of the black on the throat, and of the blue line beneath the eye.

The figures are of the natural size.

EURYSTOMUS AUSTRALIS: Swains.
J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith. C. Hullmandel Imp.

EURYSTOMUS AUSTRALIS, Swains.
Australian Roller.

Eurystomus orientalis, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p. 202.

Eurystomus Australis, Swains. Anim. in Menag., p. 326.—Ib. Class. of Birds, vol. ii. p. 333.

Coracias pacifica, Lath. Ind. Orn. Supp., p. xxvii?

Pacific Roller, Lath. Gen. Syn. Supp., vol. ii. p. 371?

Natay-kin, Aborigines of New South Wales.

Dollar Bird of the Colonists.

By the older writers this species was considered to be identical with the Eurystomus orientalis, and the merit of first pointing out its distinguishing characters is due to Mr. Swainson, who observes that it is “smaller than E. orientalis; has the bill less compressed, and therefore much broader; the colours lighter, but the wings much bluer; the spurious wings entirely vivid blue, as well as the outer webs of the quills; while in orientalis these parts are almost black.”

It is a very local species, as I have never seen it from or met with it in any other part of Australia excepting in New South Wales, and even there it is migratory, arriving early in the spring; having brought forth its progeny, it retires northwards on the approach of winter. From what I saw of it,—and I had opportunities of observing it almost daily for some length of time,—it seemed to be most active about sun-rise and sunset, and during cloudy days; in sultry weather it was generally perched upon some dead branch in a state of quietude. It is a very bold bird at all times, but particularly so during the breeding-season, when it comes down with the utmost fury upon any intruder that may venture to approach the hole in the tree in which its eggs are deposited.

When engaged in the capture of insects it usually perches upon the dead upright branch of a tree growing beside and overhanging water, where it sits very erect, soaring all around until a passing insect attracts its notice, when it suddenly darts off, secures its victim, and returns to the same branch; at other times it may constantly be seen on the wing, mostly in pairs, flying just above the tops of the trees, diving and rising again with rapid turns in the most beautiful manner. During flight, which, when performed at a considerable elevation, is heavy and laboured, the white spot in the centre of each wing, then widely expanded, shows very distinctly, and hence the name of Dollar Bird bestowed upon it by the colonists.

It is a very noisy bird, particularly in dull weather, when it often emits its peculiar chattering note during flight.

It is said to take the young Parrots from their holes and kill them, but this I never witnessed; the stomachs of the many I dissected contained nothing but the remains of coleoptera.

The breeding-season lasts from September to December; and the eggs, which are three and sometimes four in number, are deposited in the hole of a tree without any nest; they are of a beautiful pearly white, considerably pointed at the smaller end; their medium length is one inch and five lines, and breadth one inch and two lines.

The sexes are alike in plumage.

Head and neck dark brown, passing into the sea-green of the upper surface, and deepening into black on the lores; spurious wing, outer webs of the basal half of the quills, outer webs of the secondaries and the basal half of the outer webs of the tail-feathers vivid blue; six of the primaries with a greenish white basal band; extremities of the primaries black; tail green at the base, black at the tip; throat vivid blue, with a stripe of lighter blue down the centre of each feather; under surface of the shoulder and abdomen light green; under surface of the inner webs of the primaries, and of all but the two centre tail-feathers deep blue, the former interrupted by the greenish white band; irides dark brown; eyelash, bill and feet red; inside of the mouth yellow.

The figures are of the natural size.

DACELO GIGANTEA: Leach.
J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith. C. Hullmandel Imp.

DACELO GIGANTEA, Leach.
Great Brown Kingfisher.

Alcedo gigantea, Lath. Ind. Orn., vol. i. p. 245.

—— fusca, Gmel. edit. of Linn. Syst. Nat., vol. i. p. 454.

Grand Martin-pêcheur de la Nouvelle Guinée, Son. Voy., p. 171. pl. 106.—Buff. Hist. des Ois., tom. vii. p. 181.—Pl. Enl. 663.?

Martin Chasseur, Temm. Man. d’Orn., 2nd edit. p. lxxxviii.

Giant Kingfisher, Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. viii. p. 53.

Great Brown Kingfisher, Lath. Gen. Syn., vol. ii. p. 609.—Ibid. Supp., vol. ii. p. 143.—White’s Journ., pl. in p. 137.—Phill. Voy., pl. in p. 287.—Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. iv. p. 9.

Dacelo gigantea, Leach, Zool. Misc., vol. ii. p. 126. pl. cvi.—Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p. 204.—Swains. Class. of Birds, vol. ii. p. 335.

Choucalcyon australe, Less. Traité d’Orn., p. 248.

Paralcyon gigas, Gloger.

Alcedo gigas, Bodd.

Dacelo gigas, G. R. Gray, Gen. of Birds, 2nd edit. p. 14.

Gogo-bera, Aborigines of New South Wales.

Laughing Jackass of the Colonists.

The Dacelo gigantea is a bird with which every resident and traveller in New South Wales is more or less familiar, for independently of its large size, which in itself would tend to attract attention, its voice is so extraordinary as to be unlike that of any other living creature. In its disposition it is by no means shy, and when any new objects are presented to its notice, such as a party traversing the bush or pitching their tent in the vicinity of its retreat, it becomes very prying and inquisitive, often perching on the dead branch of some neighbouring tree, and watching with the greatest curiosity the kindling of the fire and the preparation of the meal; its presence, however, owing to the quietude with which it passes through the forest, and the almost noiseless manner in which it settles, is seldom detected until it emits its extraordinary gurgling, laughing note, which generally calls forth some exclamation according with the temper of the hearer, such as “There is our old friend the Laughing Jackass,” or an epithet of a less friendly character: not unfrequently does its life pay the penalty of its temerity; for if, as is often the case, the traveller’s larder be ill-provided and his appetite keen, but a few minutes elapse before it is roasting over the fire it was lately surveying with so much curiosity. So remarkable are the sounds emitted by the bird that they have been noted by nearly every writer on New South Wales and its productions. Mr. Caley states that its “loud noise, somewhat like laughing, may be heard at a considerable distance, from which circumstance, and its uncouth appearance, it probably received the extraordinary appellation given to it by the settlers on their first arrival in the colony.” Captain Sturt says, “Its cry, which resembles a chorus of wild spirits, is apt to startle the traveller who may be in jeopardy, as if laughing and mocking at his misfortune;” and Mr. Bennett, in his ‘Wanderings,’ says, “Its peculiar gurgling laugh, commencing in a low and gradually rising to a high and loud tone, is often heard in all parts of the colony; the deafening noise being poured forth while the bird remains perched upon a neighbouring tree; it rises with the dawn, when the woods re-echo with its gurgling laugh; at sunset it is again heard; and as that glorious orb sinks in the west, a last ‘good night’ is given in its peculiar tones to all within hearing.”

The Great Brown Kingfisher does not inhabit Van Diemen’s Land, nor has it yet been met with in Western Australia; it may be said to be almost solely confined to that portion of Australia lying between Spencer’s Gulf and Moreton Bay, the south-eastern corner, as it were, of the continent. The plate in the Pl. Enl., quoted above, has been considered by all previous writers to have reference to this bird, and while I coincide in this opinion, I think that some mistake must have arisen as to the locality, and that it never visits New Guinea nor even the northern coast of Australia, where its place is supplied by the Dacelo cervina and D. Leachii. Unlike most other species, it frequents every variety of situation; the luxuriant brushes stretching along the coast, the more thinly-timbered forest, the belts of trees studding the parched plains and the brushes of the higher ranges being alike favoured with its presence; over all these localities it is rather thinly dispersed being nowhere very numerous.

I believe that this bird seldom, if ever, drinks; consequently the most arid plains are as suitable to its habits as the shrouded river sides and the flat brushes near the coast.

Its food, which is of a mixed character, consists exclusively of animal substances; reptiles, insects and crabs, however, appear to be its favourite diet, upon which it is destined by nature to subsist: it devours lizards with avidity, and it is not an unfrequent sight to see it bearing off a snake in its bill to be eaten at leisure; it also preys on small mammalia. I recollect shooting a Great Brown Kingfisher in South Australia in order to secure a fine rat I saw hanging from its bill, and which proved to be a rare species inhabiting the plains of that part of the country. It breeds during the months of August and September, and generally selects a hole in a large gum-tree for the purpose; making no nest, but depositing its beautiful pearl-white eggs, which are one inch and nine lines long by one inch and five lines broad, on the decomposed wood at the bottom of the hole. When there are young ones in it, it defends its breeding-place with great courage and daring, darting down upon any intruder who may attempt to ascend the tree, and inflicting severe and dangerous blows with its pointed bill.

The sexes present so little difference in the colouring of their plumage, that they are scarcely distinguishable from each other; neither do the young at a month old exhibit any great variation from the adult, the only difference being that the markings are somewhat darker and the brown more generally diffused.

It bears confinement remarkably well, and is one of the most amusing birds for the aviary with which I am acquainted: examples have been brought alive to England; one lived for several years in the Gardens of the Zoological Society of London, and at the moment I am writing (April 1843) a fine individual brought from New South Wales by Mr. Yaldwyn, is now living at his seat at Blackdown in Sussex, where it attracts the attention of every one by its singular actions and extraordinary notes, which are poured forth as freely as in its native wilds.

Forehead brown, each feather with a stripe of blackish brown down the centre; crown of the head, lores, ear-coverts, and a broad band passing round the occiput blackish brown; space between the crown of the head and the band encircling the occiput, and the back of the neck buff, crossed by fine irregular lines of dark brown; back and wings brownish black; the wing-coverts and rump tipped with verditer green; primaries white at the base, black for the remainder of their length, and stained with green on their outer margins immediately behind the white; upper tail-coverts blackish brown, crossed by several broad irregular bands of rusty red; tail brownish black, tipped with white, the white increasing in extent as the feathers recede from the centre; the central feathers crossed near the tip with rusty red; the lateral feathers with brownish black, the bands being very narrow near the tip, and gradually increasing in breadth as they approach the base, where the white interspaces also become tinged with rusty red; under surface pale buffy white, crossed by fine irregular freckled markings of dark brown; upper mandible brownish black; under mandible pale buff; feet olive; irides dark brown; eyelash olive-brown.

The figures represent a male and two young of the natural size.

DACELO LEACHII: Vig. & Horsf.
J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith. Hullmandel & Walton Imp.

DACELO LEACHII, Vig. and Horsf.
Leach’s Kingsfisher.

Dacelo Leachii, Lath. MSS. Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p. 205.

Specimens of this fine Kingsfisher are contained in the British Museum, the Linnean Society, and my own collections, all of which were procured on the north-east coast of Australia, where it evidently replaces the Dacelo gigantea of New South Wales and South Australia.

The specimen in the Linnean Society’s museum was presented by Dr. Brown, who procured it in Keppel Bay on the east coast; and it was subsequently seen at Shoalwater Bay and Broad Sound on the same coast; my own specimens were obtained at Cape York, the north-eastern extremity of Australia.

The habits, actions, food, and indeed the whole of the economy, are so precisely like those of the Dacelo gigantea that a separate description of them is entirely unnecessary.

The male has the head and back of the neck striated with brown and white; sides of the neck and under surface white, crossed with very narrow irregular markings of brown, these markings becoming much broader and conspicuous on the under surface of the shoulder; back brownish black; wing-coverts and rump shining azure-blue; wings deep blue; primaries white at the base, black on their inner webs and blue on the outer; tail rich deep blue, all but the two centre feathers irregularly barred near the extremity and largely tipped with white; upper mandible brownish black, under mandible pale buff; irides dark brown; feet olive.

The female differs but little from the male in the colouring of the plumage, except that the tail-feathers, instead of being of a rich blue barred and tipped with white, are of a light chestnut-brown conspicuously barred with bluish black.

The Plate represents the two sexes about the natural size.

DACELO CERVINA: Gould.
J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith. C. Hullmandel Imp.

DACELO CERVINA, Gould.
Fawn-breasted Kingfisher.

Dacelo cervina, Gould, Birds of Australia, Part II. cancelled.

Lä-rool, Aborigines of Port Essington.

The northern and north-western portions of Australia constitute the true habitat of this species; it was observed in tolerable abundance by Captain Grey during his expedition to the latter part of the country, and specimens of it have also formed a part of every collection of any extent made at Port Essington. In disposition it appears to be more shy and wary than the Dacelo gigantea of New South Wales, of which it is a representative. Mr. Gilbert, whose observations were made on the Cobourg Peninsula, states that it “inhabits well-wooded forests, generally in pairs, is extremely shy and very difficult to procure; it is very fond of perching on the topmost dead branch of a tree, where it has an uninterrupted view of every thing passing around, and pours out its loud discordant tones. Sometimes three or four pairs may be heard at one time, when the noise is so great that no other sound can be heard.

“The natives tell me that it breeds in the honey-season, which is during the months of May, June and July.”

The food of this Kingfisher is doubtless similar to that of the Dacelo gigantea. The stomachs of those examined by Mr. Gilbert were tolerably muscular, and contained the remains of coleopterous and other kinds of insects.

When fully adult the male differs from his mate in having the tail-feathers of a deep and splendid blue instead of brown; a feature which will be readily perceived on reference to the accompanying Plate.

The male has the feathers of the head buffy white, with a central stripe of dark brown, the latter colour becoming most conspicuous on the occiput; throat white; cheeks, ear-coverts, back of the neck, chest and all the under surface sienna-yellow, crossed on the flanks with very minute irregular zigzag bands of brown; primaries black at the tip, white at the base; the base of their external webs, the secondaries and spurious wing rich china blue; greater and lesser wing-coverts, lower part of the back and upper tail-coverts shining light blue; tail and the longest of the upper tail-coverts rich deep blue, the former broadly tipped with white; irides greenish white; upper mandible blackish brown, the cutting edges greenish white; lower mandible greenish white, the base dark brown on the sides, and blue on the under surface; tarsi and feet emerald green; claws black.

The female has the feathers of the head, cheeks, and ear-coverts buffy white, with a central stripe of dark brown; throat white; back of the neck, chest and all the under surface sienna-yellow; the chest, flanks and abdomen crossed by fine zigzag lines of brown; upper part of the back and scapularies umber-brown; primaries blackish brown at the tip and white at the base; the basal portion of their external webs, the secondaries spurious and the wing rich china blue; greater and lesser wing-coverts and upper tail-coverts light shining blue; tail and the longest of the upper coverts rich chestnut-brown, which passes into buff at the tip, the whole transversely marked with eight or nine bands of rich blue black.

The figures are those of the two sexes of the natural size.

HALCYON SANCTUS: Vig. & Horsf.
J. & E. Gould del C. Hullmandel Imp.

HALCYON SANCTUS, Vig. and Horsf.
Sacred Halcyon.

Sacred Kingsfisher, Phill. Bot. Bay, pl. in p. 156.—White’s Voy., pl. in p. 193.

Halcyon Sanctus, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p. 206.—Gould, Syn. of Birds of Aust., Part III.

Halcyon sacra, Jard. and Selb. Ill. Orn., vol. ii. pls. 96 and 97.

Dacelo chlorocephala, var. β. Less. Traité Orn., p. 246.

Kingsfisher of the Colonists.

Kün-yeë-nüh of the Aborigines, Western Australia.

On reference to the synonyms given above, it will be seen that a difference of opinion is entertained from the authors of the “Illustrations in Ornithology” respecting this species being identical with the Halcyon collaris of Mr. Swainson, a bird which I have not yet seen from Australia, although it may possibly be found in the northern part of that continent, since it is common in Java; and I find that Mr. Swainson, in his recently published “Classification of Birds,” has arranged them as distinct.