John Gould

“ The present is one of the smallest yet discovered, and was always a favourite little bird with me, for in the inmost recesses of the forest, where all nature was hushed to quietude, and silence reigned supreme, the presence of the little bird figured in the accompanying Plate, hopping about from stone to stone in search of its insect food, now and then broke the monotony of the scene with its inward warbling strain, which however is so feeble, that it can only be heard when uttered close at hand. ”

“ It is no less interesting to trace the analogies of species inhabiting the opposite portions of a large continent like that of Australia, than to observe how beautifully any peculiar character is preserved in the species of every natural group. ”

“ The nest so perfectly resembles the tufts of living moss which are attached to many of the extremities of the branches of the trees of the brushes, that it is impossible to distinguish the one from the other; and it is a question whether the bird purposely builds its nest in imitation of these hanging masses in order to elude pursuit, or whether it avails itself of the mass already formed, and by a little architectural skill converts it into a receptacle for its eggs. ”

“ The Menura seldom, if ever, attempts to escape by flight, but easily eludes pursuit by its extraordinary power of running. None are so efficient in obtaining specimens as the naked black, whose noiseless and gliding steps enable him to steal upon it unheard and unperceived, and with a gun in his hand he rarely allows it to escape, and in many instances he will even kill it with his own weapons. ”

“ It penetrates to the very depths of the forest, and chooses as its favourite abode the most secluded spots. It is a solitary species, more than a single pair being rarely seen at one time, is excessively quiet in its movements, and so tame, that in the course of my wanderings through the woods of Illawarra and in the neighbourhood of the Hunter, it frequently perched within two or three yards of me while resting my wearied limbs under a dense canopy of foliage, and listening to the songs of the various species surrounding me. ”

“ After the female has chosen the place for her nest, which is always on the ground, the male, like the Skylark, frequently mounts in the air with a tremulous motion of the wings, and after cheering her with his animated song, descends again to the ground or skims off to a neighbouring tree, and incessantly pours forth his voluble and not unpleasing notes. ”

“ This is a very common species in all the brushes of New South Wales; I also observed it in most of the gardens in the neighbourhood of Sydney, as well as in those of the settlers in the interior. It is very Robin-like in its actions, particularly in the habit of raising its tail at the moment of perching, and in the sprightly air with which it moves about. It is by no means shy, and may often be seen crossing the garden walks, perching on some stump or railing, regardless of one’s presence, at which time the fine yellow mark on its rump is very conspicuous. ”

“ When far removed from our native land, recollections and associations are strong incentives to attachment for any object that may remind us of our home; hence this beautiful Robin, which enters the gardens and even the windows of the settlers, is necessarily a great favourite; its attractiveness is moreover much enhanced by its more gay attire, the strong contrasts of scarlet, jet-black and white rendering it one of the most beautiful to behold of any of the birds of Australia. ”

“ If we consider the Pied Robins from Swan River and the north-west coast of Australia as identical with, or mere varieties of, those killed in New South Wales, from which they differ only in being smaller in all their admeasurements, then the range of the present bird will be very extensive, and in fact its dispersion over the Australian continent almost universal. The Petroica bicolor has never been found in Van Diemen’s Land, nor is it probable that it proceeds so far south. It loves to dwell in the open parts of the country rather than in the thick brushes. ”

“ Active and cheerful, and possessing a sweet warbling song, the present bird is as much a favourite in Van Diemen’s Land as the Superb Warbler is in New South Wales, and, like its congener, in the winter season it is equally tame and familiar. It is subject to the same changes of plumage, and its whole economy is so similar as to render a separate description unnecessary. Its nest is also similarly constructed, but is rather of a larger size; it is usually composed of grasses and leaves warmly lined with feathers, and in some instances with the fur of the Kangaroo and Opossum ”

“ The Acanthiza Ewingii is more elegant in all its proportions than its near ally, the Acanthiza Diemenensis, for although it is a smaller bird, its tarsi are longer and more slender. There is also a rich brown mark at the base of the primaries of A. Ewingii, which does not occur in any other known species; the markings of the breast also are more indistinct and clouded with blue-grey, while in A. Diemenensis this part of the plumage is lighter and more inclined to brown. I have never seen this little bird on the continent of Australia, and I believe that it never occurs there. ”

“ Although I have said thus much on the cautiousness of the Menura, it is not always so alert: in some of the more accessible brushes through which roads have been cut it may frequently be seen, and even on horseback closely approached, the bird apparently evincing less fear of those animals than of man. At Illawarra it is sometimes successfully pursued by dogs trained to rush suddenly upon it, when it immediately leaps upon the branch of a tree, and its attention being attracted by the dog which stands barking below, it is easily approached and shot. ”

“ It hops over the ground very quickly and appears a busy little bird, prying among the herbage for its food, which principally consists of the seeds of the grasses and small annuals which abound on the plains and low hills of South Australia. In disposition it is so remarkably tame that it will allow of a very near approach before it will rise, and then it merely flies to the nearest bush or low tree.
The male offers no external difference by which it can be distinguished from the female, neither do the young exhibit any contrast to the adults in their plumage ”

“ The male constantly cheers his mate with a pretty lively song, which, although neither loud nor voluminous, serves to give life to its secluded abode, which in many instances is in the depths of the forests, where few sounds are heard except the monotonous note of the Honey-sucker, and the perpetual rippling of the rivulet as it steals over the stony bed of the gully. ”

“ As an instance how objects which are rare or from remote localities receive a greater share of attention than those with which we are familiar, I may state that while collections of birds have been transmitted to Europe from the most distant parts of the new colony of South Australia, the present little bird, which inhabits the very streets and gardens of Adelaide, like the sparrow in the towns of Europe, had been up to the period of my visit utterly disregarded ”

“ The sexes are very similar in colour, but the female may at all times be distinguished by her smaller size and the less strongly contrasted tints of her plumage, particularly in the hue of the streak running through the eye and extending over the ear-coverts, which is neither so dark nor so broad as in the male. ”

“ Instead of exerting any power of flight, they effected their escape by the extraordinary manner with which they tripped over the small openings and through the scrub, each troop appearing to have a leader, and keeping just beyond the range of the gun: this shyness was rather remarkable, since I and my party were probably the only white persons they had ever encountered; like the Chestnut-backed Ground Thrush, they would appear to have an instinctive dread of man. ”

“ Novelty in itself has attractions, but when with novelty, beauty and elegance are combined, the attractions are augmented beyond measure. With this trite observation I here introduce to the notice of the ornithologist a species not only the most beautiful of the family to which it belongs, but which has its plumage adorned with colours and markings that render it conspicuously different from every other bird known ”

“ Gilbert states that “it is a solitary species and is generally found in the most retired spots in the thickets, where its mournful, slowly drawn-out note only serves to add to the loneliness of the place. Its powers of flight, although sometimes rapid, would seem to be feeble, as they are merely employed to remove it from tree to tree. The natives of the mountain districts of Western Australia have a tradition that the first bird of this species speared a dog and drank its blood, and thus obtained its red bill.” ”

“ Among its many curious habits, the only one at all approaching to those of the Gallinaceæ is that of forming small round hillocks, which are constantly visited during the day, and upon which the male is continually trampling, at the same time erecting and spreading out its tail in the most graceful manner and uttering his various cries, sometimes pouring forth his natural notes, at others mocking those of other birds, and even the howling of the native dog or Dingo. ”

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

“ The male has all the upper surface dark brown, each feather margined with olive-brown; upper tail-coverts rufous; lores black; stripe above the eye and throat whitish; all the under surface pale brownish grey, deepening into buff on the under tail-coverts, and with a series of minute spots of brown on the breast; irides hazel; bill dark lead-colour in summer, fleshy brown in winter; tarsi yellowish grey; feet bluish ashy grey.
The female is smaller and is destitute of the black lores; in other respects she is so like the male that a separate description is unnecessary. ”

“ It is a species seldom seen in collections, which may be attributed to the circumstance of its being strictly confined to the interior, a part of the country where collections are much less frequently formed than near the coast. The only parts of Australia whence I have received or in which I have killed it, are the Liverpool Plains, and the banks of the rivers Mokai and Namoi.
The adult male and female are scarcely to be distinguished by outward appearance; the female is, however, a trifle less than her mate in size. The young, on the contrary, present a very different appearance ”

“ The Coach-whip Bird is a shy and recluse species, for although its full notes indicate its presence, it rarely exposes itself to view, but generally keeps in the midst of the densest foliage and among the thickest climbing plants, frequenting alike those that have intertwined themselves with the branches of the tallest shrubs, and those that form almost impenetrable masses near the ground, and through which it threads its way with the utmost ease. In these arboreal habits it less resembles Menura than in other parts of its economy. ”

“ I shot the specimen, which on dissection proved to be a young male.
In habits and disposition this and the following species are very dissimilar to the Red-breasted Robins (Petroica) , being much less spirited in all their actions. They prefer the most secluded and remote parts of the forest, particularly the bottoms of deep gullies, the seclusion of which is seldom broken by the voice or presence of any living being, and where animal life is almost confined to aphides and other minute insects, upon which they exist. ”

“ The male is readily distinguished from the female by the blue colouring of the throat, and by a somewhat greater development of the tail-feathers. The decomposed or loose structure of these feathers, much resembling those of the Emu, has suggested the colonial name of Emu Wren for this species, an appellation singularly appropriate, inasmuch as it at once indicates the kind of plumage with which the bird is clothed, and the Wren-like nature of its habits. ”

“ The female, who is rather smaller than her mate, is brown above, a few of the feathers on the back and the wing-coverts crossed with red as in the male; lores, line over the eye, sides of the face, chin, upper tail-coverts and tail as in the male, but not quite so brilliant; breast and flanks greyish brown, the latter ornamented with a few small spots of white; centre of the abdomen buff. ”

“ Nyern-de and Jee-ra, Aborigines of the interior of Western Australia.
The present is the first species of the genus that has been discovered in Western Australia; the two examples in my own collection are all that I have yet seen; these were shot in the interior by Mr. Gilbert, who states that “it inhabits the thickets, and is almost always on the ground in families of from four to seven in number: it carries its tail more erect than any other bird I have seen, and certainly no bird runs or rather hops over the surface of the ground with greater rapidity.” ”

“ After satisfying myself that the gaily-adorned plumage of the male is only assumed during the summer season, I endeavoured to ascertain at what periods these changes take place, and I found that the adult males generally begin to assume their blue dress in March, and to throw it off again for their winter garb in August ”

“ The old males, however, have at all seasons the bill black, whereas the young males during the first year, and the females, have this organ always brown; the tail-feathers also, which with the primaries are only moulted once a year, are of a deeper blue in the male than in the other sex. As spring advances they separate into pairs, the male undergoing a total transformation, not only in the colour, but also in the texture of its plumage ”