Part 16

Lambert’s Superb Warbler is a species with which we have been long acquainted, being figured in the early voyages to New South Wales as a variety of Malurus cyaneus; but the only species with which it at all assimilates in the disposition and colour of its markings is the M. elegans of Western Australia, of which it forms a beautiful analogue on the eastern coast.

This is one of the few common birds of Australia of which I was not able to find the nest; but its changes of plumage, nidification, the number and colour of its eggs, are doubtless very similar to those of the other members of its family. Its food consists of insects of various kinds, which are sought for on the ground, over which it runs with great facility.

The male has the forehead, ear-coverts, sides of the head and occiput and centre of the back beautiful violet-blue; throat, breast, crescent across the upper part of the back and rump black; scapularies chestnut; wings brown; abdomen white, tinged with brown on the flanks; tail dull greenish blue, indistinctly barred with a darker tint, and lightly tipped with white; bill black; eyes and feet dark brown.

The female has the body dull brown; the throat and under surface much paler; tail-feathers as in the male, but less bright; bill and space round the eye reddish brown; feet brown.

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

MALURUS LEUCOPTERUS: Quoy & Gaim.

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

MALURUS LEUCOPTERUS, Quoy & Gaim.? White-winged Wren.

Malurus leucopterus, Quoy et Gaim. Zool. de l’Uranie, p. 108. pl. 23. fig. 2.?—Vig. & Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p. 222.

Amytis leucopterus, Less. Traité d’Orn., p. 454.

I regret that I have not been able to clear up the doubt which exists in my mind, whether the present beautiful bird is or is not distinct from the one figured by Messrs. Quoy and Gaimard in the “Voyage de l’Uranie,” since on applying at the Museum of the Jardin des Plantes, for the purpose of examining the original specimen, it could not be found: the figure above-quoted, if intended for the present bird, is by no means correct, and it is, moreover, said to be from Dirk Hatich’s Island, on the western coast, a locality very distant from those in which I found the bird here represented; a circumstance which strengthens my belief that they may be distinct: besides which, the bird I have figured is supposed to be exclusively an inhabitant of the interior; I never even observed it between the mountain ranges and the coast; it is therefore scarcely probable that it should inhabit an island like that of Dirk Hatich.

It was tolerably abundant in the patches of low scrub and grassy beds, here and there scattered over the plains which stretch out to the northward of the Liverpool range, and it was equally plentiful on the Lower Namoi: that it extends as far as South Australia, is proved by my having received its nest and eggs from that part of the continent.

It was usually seen either in pairs or in small troops, and evinced so much shyness of disposition as to render the acquisition of specimens a task of no little difficulty, particularly of the full-plumaged male, who appeared to be conscious that the display of his gorgeously-coloured dress might lead to his detection. Its powers of flight are not great, but this is fully compensated for by the extraordinary manner in which it threads the bushes, and passes over the surface of the ground in a series of hopping bounds, whereby it readily eludes pursuit. The most successful mode of obtaining it is to ascertain the precise spot in which it is located, to approach it cautiously, and to remain silent for a short time, when the male will soon show himself by hopping out from the bush; the restless nature of his disposition not admitting of his remaining long concealed.

The beautifully contrasted colours of blue and white, represented in our Plate, is a merely seasonal dress assumed in spring, and continued throughout the breeding-season, which commences in August and terminates in January; before and after this season male birds may be seen in every stage of colouring, from plain uniform brown to that of the perfect livery.

The nest is composed of grasses, rather large and dome-shaped, with a hole near the top for an entrance. The one sent me from South Australia contained two eggs, one of which was the Bronze Cuckoo’s, thus showing that this little bird is also the foster-parent of those birds. The number of eggs laid by the Malurus leucopterus is in all probability four; the one I possess is flesh-white, finely freckled with reddish brown, forming a zone at the larger end, and is eight lines long by six lines broad.

The male has the whole of the head, body above and beneath, and the tail beautiful deep blue; scapularies, wing-coverts and tertiaries snow-white; primaries brown, with their external edges silvery green; bill black; feet brown; eyes dark brown.

The female has the crown of the head, and all the upper surface and flanks brown; throat and abdomen white, faintly washed with brown; external edges of the primaries and tail pale greenish blue; bill reddish brown.

The Plate represents the male and female of the natural size; the Plant is the Brunonia Australis.

MALURUS MELANOCEPHALUS: Vig. & Horsf.

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

MALURUS MELANOCEPHALUS, Vig. & Horsf. Black-headed Wren.

Scarlet-lacked Warbler, Lewin, Birds of New Holl., pl. xiv.

Malurus melanocephalus, Vig. & Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p. 222.

Malurus Brownii, Jard. and Selb. Ill. Orn., vol. ii. pl. 72. fig. 1.

In their “Illustrations of Ornithology,” Sir William Jardine and Mr. Selby have in a very laudable manner endeavoured to clear up what they considered some confusion respecting the present and the preceding species, M. Brownii. These gentlemen have, however, fallen into error in considering the two birds as identical, whereas they are, in fact, totally distinct.

I have never seen the Black-headed Wren from any other locality than New South Wales, and I am consequently led to believe that the south-eastern portion of Australia is its peculiar and limited habitat. It is a local species, not being generally diffused over the face of the country, like several other members of the group, but confined to grassy ravines and gullies, particularly those that lead down from the mountain ranges. I obtained several pairs of adult birds in very fine plumage in the valleys under the Liverpool range, all of which I discovered among the high grasses which there abound; but as the period of my visit was that of their breeding-season, I never observed more than a pair together, each pair being always stationed at some distance from the other, and in such parts of the gullies as were studded with small clumps of scrubby trees.

The Black-headed Wren has many actions in common with the M. cyaneus, and like that species carries its tail erect: it also frequently perches on a stem of the most prominent grasses, where it displays its richly-coloured back, and pours forth its simple song. I did not succeed in finding the nest, although I knew they were breeding around me: it was probably placed among the grasses, but was so artfully concealed that it completely baffled my efforts at finding it.

One might suppose the greater development of feather on the back of this species to have been given it as a defence against the damp and dense grasses of the ravines, among which it usually resides; but from the circumstance of the female not possessing this character of plumage, and the rich garb being only seasonal in the male, this supposition falls to the ground. In their winter dress the sexes very nearly resemble each other; but the males may always be distinguished by the black colouring of the bill and tail-feathers. The young male of the year has the tail-feathers brown, like the females, and it is a curious fact, that at this age these feathers are much longer than in the adult.