Part 24

One of the most interesting points connected with the history of this species is the situations chosen for its nest. All those who have rambled in the Australian forests must have observed, that in their more dense and humid parts an atmosphere peculiarly adapted for the rapid and abundant growth of mosses of various kinds is generated, and that these mosses not only grow upon the trunks of decayed trees, but are often accumulated in large masses at the extremities of the drooping branches; these masses often become of sufficient size to admit of the bird constructing a nest in the centre of them with so much art that it is impossible to distinguish it from any of the other pendulous masses in the vicinity. These bunches are frequently a yard in length, and in some instances hang so near the ground as to strike the head of the explorer during his rambles; in others they are placed high up upon the trees, but only in such parts of the forest where there is an open space entirely shaded by overhanging foliage: as will be readily conceived, in whatever situations they are met with, they at all times form a remarkable and conspicuous feature in the landscape. Although the nest is constantly disturbed by the wind and liable to be shaken when the tree is disturbed, so secure does the inmate consider itself from danger or intrusion of any kind, that I have frequently captured the female while sitting on her eggs, a feat that may always be accomplished by carefully placing the hand over the entrance; that is, if it can be detected, to effect which no slight degree of close prying and examination is necessary.

The nest is formed of the inner bark of trees, intermingled with green moss, which soon vegetates; sometimes dried grasses and fibrous roots form part of the materials of which it is composed, and it is warmly lined with feathers. The eggs, which are three in number and much elongated in form, vary considerably in colour, the most constant tint being a clove-brown freckled over the larger end with dark umber brown, frequently assuming the form of a complete band or zone: their medium length is one inch, and their breadth eight lines.

Lores, circle around the eye, and the ear-coverts deep black; a conspicuous line of yellowish white above and for some distance beyond the eye; crown of the head, and all the upper surface, secondaries, wing-coverts and tail reddish brown, becoming more rufous on the upper tail-coverts and tail; outer edges of the primaries olive; spurious wing blackish brown; throat yellow; chest and flanks olive-brown; centre of the abdomen white; bill brownish black; irides reddish brown; legs purplish flesh-colour, in some specimens flesh-white.

The figures represent the two sexes of the natural size.

SERICORNIS HUMILIS: Gould.

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

SERICORNIS HUMILIS, Gould. Sombre-coloured Sericornis.

Sericornis humilis, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part V. p. 133; and in Syn. Birds of Australia, Part IV.

This species is very generally dispersed over Van Diemen’s Land, and as I have found it on some of the islands in Bass’s Straits, it is not improbable that it may also extend its range to the southern coast of the continent of Australia. Ravines, deep glens, water-courses covered with dense herbage and thickly wooded copses are the situations congenial to the habits of this bird; those that are most humid or damp being apparently preferred to any other; consequently, although it is very abundant and its distribution very general, it is a bird that is less seen, and one whose habits are less known than almost any other of the indigenous birds of the island. In many of its actions it closely resembles the Wren (Troglodytes Europæus), particularly in its manner of hopping about on the ground, and from stone to stone, with its tail erect in search of insects, upon which it solely subsists; it also assimilates to the Wren in the form, construction and situation of its nest; but in the number and colour of its eggs there is much difference. It rarely flies more than a few yards at a time, but secretes itself in the midst of the little thicket in which it has taken up its abode. There is little difficulty in finding the nest; for although it is in general very artfully concealed among the herbage at the base of a tree, on the edge of a shelving bank, or among the thick tangle of the scrub, yet by attentively watching the old birds for a short time, they will soon indicate by their actions the immediate locality of the nest. 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. It is sometimes seen, particularly towards evening, to leave its lurking-place and seek any little open part or glade in the forest, doubtless attracted to such situations in search of food.

The sexes present no difference whatever in the colouring of the plumage, consequently dissection is necessary to distinguish them.

The nest is of rather a large size and of a domed form, outwardly composed of any coarse materials at hand, such as leaves, tufts of grass, roots, &c., the interior being formed of similar substances, but of a finer kind, and the whole carefully lined with feathers. The eggs, which are large for the size of the bird, are three in number, of a reddish white, curiously freckled and marked all over with reddish brown, particularly at the larger end, where the markings assume the form of a zone; they are ten and a half lines long by eight lines broad.

Lores blackish brown, above which an obscure stripe of white; crown of the head and all the upper surface, wings and tail dark olive-brown with a tinge of red, which becomes more conspicuous on the rump and tail-feathers; spurious wing blackish brown, each feather margined with white; throat greyish white, spotted with blackish brown; chest and centre of the abdomen brownish yellow, the former singularly but more obscurely spotted than the throat; flanks chestnut-brown; bill blackish brown; legs dark brown; irides straw-yellow.

The Plate represents the two sexes of the natural size.

SERICORNIS OSCULANS: Gould.

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

SERICORNIS OSCULANS, Gould. Allied Sericornis.

Sericornis osculans, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., January 27, 1847.

The Sericornis osculans inhabits South Australia, where it frequents underwoods and scrubby places, the bottom of dry water-courses, gulleys, &c.; it is naturally shy and retiring in its habits, and evades pursuit by creeping beneath the herbage and making its exit on the other side. It is most nearly allied to the S. frontalis, and is intermediate in size between that species and the S. humilis; from the former it differs in having at all times numerous longitudinal blotches of black on the throat, and from the latter in these spots being much more distinct than in that species. I have seen specimens in which the yellow tint which pervades the centre of the abdomen has given place to grey or greyish white, as shown in the centre figure of the accompanying Plate; but I have never found the tail tipped with white, as in S. maculata and S. lævigaster.

The sexes present the usual characteristic of the genus, in the absence of any black mark on the lores of the female, which are similar to the other parts of the body.

All the upper surface, wings and tail dark brown, all but the two centre feathers of the latter crossed by an obscure band of black near the extremity; spurious wing-feathers black, margined with white; lores black, above which on each side a patch of white, continued in a fine line over the eye; throat and centre of the abdomen greyish white in some and yellowish white in others, marked with a few oblong black spots on the throat.

The female is somewhat smaller in size, and has the lores brown instead of black.

The figures represent two males and a female of the natural size, the upper figure being that of the female.

SERICORNIS FRONTALIS.

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

SERICORNIS FRONTALIS. White-fronted Sericornis.

Acanthiza frontalis, Vig. & Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p. 226.—Gould, Syn. Birds of Australia, Part IV.

Sericornis parvulus, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part V. p. 134; and in Syn. Birds of Australia, Part IV. female.

This little bird inhabits the brushes, as well as all humid situations clothed with thick underwood, such as the sides of creeks, gullies, &c. The locality in which it is most abundant is the south-eastern part of Australia, where it is very numerous in all the dense forests which stretch along the coast between Sydney and Moreton Bay, and I believe I may safely state that its range does not extend westward of the 134th degree of East longitude, beyond which a nearly-allied species is found; the species, therefore, inosculate about Spencer’s and St. Vincent’s Gulfs in South Australia. Like the other members of the genus this bird generally bops about the bottoms of the brushes, selecting in preference the most damp and humid parts, where rotten wood and moss-covered stones afford some peculiar species of insect food, upon which it is destined to live. All the members of this genus are very Wren-like in their habits, actions, the kind of food they select, and in the structure of their nest. 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.