Part 23

The sexes so closely assimilate in colour and markings that they are only to be distinguished by dissection.

The young assume the adult colouring from the nest, but have the tips of the spurious wing orange instead of red.

Forehead and crown of the head black, the feathers of the latter having a stripe of white down the centre; a stripe of deep orange-yellow commences at the base of the upper mandible and runs above the eye, where it is joined by a stripe of white which leads to the occiput; back of the neck and back brownish olive-grey; rump and upper tail-coverts yellowish brown; wings black, the external edges of the third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh primaries white at their base and tipped with white; secondaries margined with white and reddish brown; tail black, each feather tipped with white; sides of the face and neck grey; throat and upper part of the chest yellow; centre of the abdomen white; flanks and under tail-coverts brownish buff, the former tinged with yellow; irides brownish red; bill at the tip and along the culmen dark brown tinged with blue, the remainder yellowish white; legs and feet greenish grey.

The Plate represents a male, a female, and three young birds of the natural size.

PARDALOTUS AFFINIS: Gould.

J. & E. Gould del. C. Hullmandel Imp. ]

PARDALOTUS AFFINIS, Gould. Allied Pardalote.

Pipra striata? Gmel. et Auct.

Striped-headed Manakin, Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. x. p. 29, pl. 4.—Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. vii. p. 237, pl. cix.

Pardalotus affinis, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part V. 1837, p. 25.—Syn. Birds of Australia, Part II.

The Pardalotus affinis is distinguished by the yellow tips of its spurious wings and by the margin of the third primary only being white. The bird figured by Shaw and Latham, as quoted above, has in all probability reference to the present species, but not, in my opinion, to the Pipra striata of Gmelin, whose description does not agree with the Van Diemen’s Land bird, or with any of those from New South Wales; he distinctly states that the tips of some of the wing-coverts are yellow, and that the spurious wing is tipped with white, and, moreover, adds that it is a native of South America.

The Allied Pardalote is distributed over every part of Van Diemen’s Land, and may be regarded as the commonest bird of the island: wherever the gum and wattle exist there also may the bird as certainly be found; giving no decided preference to trees of a high or low growth, but inhabiting alike the sapling and those which have attained their greatest altitude. It displays great activity among the branches, clinging and creeping about in the most easy and elegant manner, examining both the upper and under sides of the leaves with the utmost care in search of insects. It is equally common in all the gardens and shrubberies, even those in the midst of the towns, forming a familiar and pleasing object, and enlivening the scenery with its sprightly actions, and piping, though somewhat monotonous note. Its food consists of seeds, buds, and insects, in procuring which its most elegant actions are brought into play.

I am led to believe that it is strictly confined to Van Diemen’s Land and the islands in Bass’s Straits, having never observed it on the mainland, or seen specimens in any one of the numerous collections I have examined from New South Wales.

The season of nidification occupies at least four months, during which two or more broods are reared. Eggs may be found in September, and on reference to my journal I find that near George Town, on the 8th of January, I took from a nest in the hole of a tree five fully-fledged young. The nest in this instance was of a large size, and of a round domed form like that of the Wren, with a small hole for an entrance; it was outwardly composed of grasses and warmly lined with feathers. The eggs vary from three to five in number, and are of a beautiful white, nine lines long by seven lines in diameter.

The holes selected for the nest are sometimes high up in the loftiest trees, at others within a few feet of the ground. The young birds have the tips of the spurious wing orange instead of yellow; and although the whole plumage possesses the same character as that of the adults, the markings are less brilliant and well-defined. The sexes offer no observable difference in their colouring by which they can be distinguished.

Forehead and crown of the head black, the latter with a stripe of white down the centre of each feather; a stripe of yellow commences at the base of the upper mandible, and runs above the eye, where it is joined by a stripe of white, which proceeds nearly to the occiput; back of the neck and back greyish olive-brown; rump and upper tail-coverts olive-brown; wings black, each of the primaries slightly tipped with white, and the third externally edged with white; the secondaries edged with white and rufous, and the tips of the spurious wing yellow; tail blackish brown, each feather having a transverse mark of white at the tip; ear-coverts and cheeks grey; throat yellow, passing into lighter yellow on the flanks; centre of the abdomen white; irides olive-brown; bill black; feet brown.

The figures are of the natural size.

PARDALOTUS MELANOCEPHALUS: Gould.

J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith. Hullmandel & Walton Imp. ]

PARDALOTUS MELANOCEPHALUS, Gould. Black-headed Pardalote.

Pardalotus melanocephalus, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., part v. p. 149; and in Syn. Birds of Australia, Part IV.

I have received numerous examples of this species from Moreton Bay, where it probably takes the place of the P. striatus, from which it is distinguished by the black colouring of its head and by its thicker bill, but to which it is very nearly allied, as well as to the P. uropygialis; it is in fact directly intermediate between the two, having the black head of the latter without the yellow colouring of the rump. There is no external difference in the sexes.

Nothing whatever is known of its history.

Crown of the head, lores and ear-coverts black; over each eye a stripe commencing at the nostrils, the anterior half of which is orange, and the posterior white; sides of the face and neck white; back of the neck and back olive-grey; upper tail-coverts brownish buff; tail black, each feather tipped with white; wings blackish brown, the third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh primaries white; secondaries edged and tipped with white; one of the wing-coverts broadly margined on the inner web with white, forming an oblique line across the shoulder; spurious wing tipped with crimson; line down the centre of the throat, the breast and middle of the abdomen bright yellow; vent and under tail-coverts buff; hill black; feet brown.

The figures are of the natural size.

PARDALOTUS UROPYGIALIS: Gould.

J. & E. Gould del,^t C. Hullmandel Imp. ]

PARDALOTUS UROPYGIALIS, Gould. Yellow-rumped Pardalote.