John Gould

“ While searching for insects, in which it is incessantly engaged, it displays all the scrutinizing habits of the Pari or Tits, clinging about the finest twigs of the outermost branches, prying underneath and above the leaves and among the flowers, uttering all the while or very frequently a low simple song. I found it abundant in every part of South Australia I visited, particularly in the neighbourhood of Adelaide and in the gulleys of the ranges skirting the belts of the Murray; in New South Wales it was frequently seen at Yarrundi, and other parts of the Upper Hunter district. ”

“ Its usual flight is even, steady and graceful, and while flying from tree to tree it gives utterance to its sweet and agreeable song, which at times is so like the full, swelling, shaking note of the Canary, that it might easily be mistaken for the song of that bird. It is a remarkably shy bird, especially the females, which are so seldom seen that I was at first inclined to think they were much less numerous than the other sex, but this I afterwards found was not the case; their favourite haunts are thickly wooded places and the most secluded spots. ”

“ Its elegant little nest, closely resembling a wine-glass in shape, is woven together with exquisite skill, and is generally composed of the inner bark of a species of Eucalyptus, neatly lined with the down of the tree-fern intermingled with flowering stalks of moss, and outwardly matted together with the webs of spiders, which not only serve to envelope the nest, but are also employed to strengthen its attachment to the branch on which it is constructed. ”

“ The males at this season have great confidence, and chase each other up and down the stream with arrow-like quickness, the rich azure-blue of the back glittering in the sun, and appearing more like a meteor as it darts by the spectator than a bird. ”

“ It runs, and occasionally hops, over the surface with great quickness, but flies rather slowly, and upon alighting on a branch raises and closes one wing several times in quick succession, and in a very peculiar manner. When on the plains it utters a loud ringing call, but when perched on the dead branches of the trees soon after day-break, it pours forth a succession of notes of the strangest description that can be imagined, much resembling the sounds of a hand-organ out of tune, which has obtained for it the colonial name of the Organ-Bird. It is very easily tamed ”

“ The districts most suited to its habits are open glades in the forest and thinly-timbered hills: although it readily perches on the trees, its natural resort is the ground, for which its form is admirably adapted, and over which it passes with amazing rapidity, either in a succession of leaps or by running. Fruits being but sparingly diffused over Australia, insects necessarily constitute almost its sole food, and of these nearly every order inhabiting the surface of the ground forms part of its diet. ”

“ There is no one member of the family to which it belongs which undergoes so many changes of plumage as the present species, and it is consequently very puzzling to the ornithologist. In extreme youth, or during the first few months after it has left the nest, the throat, chest and back of the neck is jet-black, while the breast and abdomen are rayed with obscure arrow-shaped markings of the same colour on a greyish white ground; from this state individuals in every variety of change, to the uniform grey throat and head, with black lores and mark under the eye, are to be met with. ”

“ The plumage of both sexes at all ages is so precisely similar, that by dissection alone can we distinguish the male from his mate, or the young from the adult; the female is, however, always a trifle less in all her admeasurements, and the young birds have the corners of the mouth more fleshy and of a brighter yellow than the adults.
All the plumage fine bluish black with the exception of the basal half of the primaries, the basal half and the tips of the tail-feathers, including those portions of their shafts and the under tail-coverts which are snow-white ”

“ Gilbert in Western Australia were remarkably neat and pretty, and were formed of cobwebs, dried soft grasses, narrow strips of gum-tree bark, the soft paper-like bark of the Melaleucæ, &c., and were usually lined with feathers or a fine wiry grass, and in some instances horse-hair; the situations chosen for its erection are the most difficult of access, being the upper side, the extreme end and the dead portion of a horizontal branch. The bird is very reluctant to leave the nest, and will almost suffer itself to be handled rather than desert its eggs. ”

“ The sexes are alike in colour; the young differs from the adult in being much paler, and in being spotted with white on the head and back and with brown on the breast.
The adult has all the upper surface and wings pale brown; wing-coverts slightly tipped with white, and a wash of white on the margins of the tertiaries and tips of the upper tail-coverts; tail dark brown, the external feather white, and the next on each side with a large spot of white on the inner web at the tip; all the under surface pale brownish white, fading into nearly pure white on the chin and abdomen ”

“ The hole occupied by the bird is frequently almost filled up with the bones of small fish, which are discharged from the throat and piled up round the young in the form of a nest. Immediately on leaving their holes the young follow the parents from one part of the brook to another, and are fed by them while resting on some stone or branch near the water’s edge; they soon, however, become able to obtain their own food, and may be observed at a very early age plunging into the water to a considerable depth to capture small fish and insects. ”

“ As it dwells in New South Wales all the year round, breeds upon the trees bordering the cleared lands, and constructs a nest as large and conspicuous as that of the Crow of our own island, there can be no difficulty in procuring as many young ones as might be desired; and I trust, therefore, that whenever opportunities occur for sending living examples to England they will not be neglected.
Cleared lands, open flats and plains skirted by belts of trees are its favourite localities, hence the interior of the country is more favourable to its habits than the neighbourhood of the coast. ”

“ The habitat of the present bird appears to be confined to the south-eastern portions of the continent, where, as is the case with all birds whose range is so limited, it is a stationary species, merely moving from one district to another according to the season; at one time being more numerous on the open coast, and at another among the brushes, as each may offer it a greater variety or more abundant supply of food: the hilly portions of the country intersected with deep ravines are, however, decidedly its most congenial localities. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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 ”

“ The colour of the nest varies with that of the material of which it is formed: sometimes the clay or mud is sufficiently tenacious to be used without any other material, but in those situations where no mud or clay is to be obtained it is constructed of black or brown mould; the bird, appearing to be aware that this substance will not hold together for want of the adhesive quality of the clay, mixes with it a great quantity of dried grass, stalks, &c., and thus forms a firm and hard exterior, the inside of which is slightly lined with dried grasses and a few feathers. ”

“ During the breeding-season, however, it exhibits extreme anxiety at the sight of an intruder in the vicinity of its nest, the site of which is always betrayed by its becoming more agitated and active in its movements as he draws near: if approached unobserved, it may be often seen mounting in the air and singing while its mate is performing the duty of incubation.
From what I have here stated it will be seen that this species has a most extensive range over the southern portion of Australia, and in all probability it will be found in every part of that vast country. ”

“ When the young, which are generally two in number, leave the nest, the feathers of the body are brown, margined with light grey; this colouring is soon exchanged for one of a uniform grey, except on the lower part of the abdomen and under tail-coverts, which are white, and a mark of black which surrounds the eye and spreads over the ears: the throat and forehead in this stage are lighter than the remainder of the plumage, which is somewhat singular, as in the next change that takes place those parts become of a jet-black ”

“ It subsists almost exclusively on small fish and aquatic insects, which it captures in the water by darting down from some bare branch overhanging the stream, and to which it generally returns to kill and devour its prey, which is swallowed entire and head foremost, after the manner of the little favourite of our own island. It is a solitary bird, a pair, and frequently only one, being found at the same spot. During the breeding-season it becomes querulous and active, and even pugnacious if any intruder of the same species should venture within the precincts of its abode. ”

“ As is the case with all the other members of the genus, the sexes present considerable difference in their plumage, the female having the throat of a bright rusty red, while the throat of the male is of a rich greenish lead-colour, like the upper surface,—a style of colouring which has suggested the specific name of plumbea. The young males during the first year so closely assimilate in plumage to the female, that by dissection alone can they be distinguished with certainty. ”

“ The sexes, as will be seen in the accompanying illustration, differ very considerably both in the arrangement of their markings and in the general colouring of their plumage, and it is not until the second year that the young males assume the band on the chest and the pure white throat of the adult. The breeding-season commences in August or September, and continues during the three following months. The nest is cup-shaped, and rather a frail structure, being often so slight that the eggs may be descried through the interstices of the fine twigs and fibrous roots of which it is composed. ”