Part 29

All the upper surface bright olive; tail greyish brown tinged with olive, and crossed by a broad band of blackish brown; throat and under surface yellow; irides brown with a very narrow rim of yellowish white; bill and feet blackish brown.

The figures are of the natural size.

ACANTHIZA LINEATA: Gould.

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

ACANTHIZA LINEATA, Gould. Striated Acanthiza.

Acanthiza lineata, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part V. p. 146; and in Syn. Birds of Australia, Part IV.

This pretty little species inhabits most of the wooded districts of South Australia, particularly the gullies among the mountain ranges; it is also tolerably abundant among the brushes and trees near the brooks and rivulets of the Liverpool range in New South Wales. It is very active and animated in its actions, clinging and prying about among the branches in search of insects in every possible variety of position. It is a permanent resident in the countries above mentioned, but is not found in Van Diemen’s Land or Western Australia. Unfortunately I did not succeed in procuring its nest, but judging from those of the other members of the genus, it is doubtless of a domed form, with a small hole near the top for an entrance; and though I have never seen the eggs, it may be presumed from analogy that they are either purely white, or white speckled with reddish brown.

Its food consists entirely of insects, which are procured from the leaves and flowers of the various trees.

The sexes can only be distinguished by dissection, for no perceptible difference whatever is observable either in their size or the colouring of their plumage.

This species, the least of the genus to which it belongs, and one of the most diminutive of the Australian birds, may be thus described:—

Crown of the head brownish olive, with a fine line of white down the centre of each feather; back and wings greenish olive; tail the same, crossed by a broad band of brownish black near the tip, beyond which the extremities are brownish grey; throat and chest grey, tinged with olive, the margins of the feathers spotted with dark brown, giving these parts an irregular spotted appearance; bill and feet black; irides brown.

The Plate represents the two sexes of the natural size.

ACANTHIZA REGULOÏDES: Vig. & Horsf.

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

ACANTHIZA REGULOIDES, Vig. & Horsf. Regulus-like Acanthiza.

Acanthiza Reguloides, Vig. & Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p. 226.

Dwarf Warbler, var. β? Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. vii. p. 135. No. 161.—Less. Man. d’Orn., tom. i. p. 283.

Many of the actions of this little bird offer a close resemblance to those of the Yellow-tailed Acanthiza (A. chrysorrhœa); like that species, it resorts to the ground for its food; moves about in small flocks of from eight to fifteen in number; when flushed shows the yellow or buff of the rump very conspicuously; always spreads its tail while flying; flits along with a jerking motion, and is very tame. It is extremely common in South Australia, where I observed it in every part of the country I visited, and in New South Wales I even found it in the interior beyond the ranges, and also on the bare ridges between Patrick’s Plains and the Liverpool range. I did not meet with it in Van Diemen’s Land. It evinces a decided preference for the open country or hills slightly covered with brush, where it can feed on the ground and fly to the low shrub-like trees when disturbed; I have also seen it busily engaged among the branches, apparently in search of insects, in the pursuit of which, like the other members of the genus, it displays unusual alertness and address.

Its domed nest is placed among the foliage of the gum, swamp oak and other trees, and is composed of fine grasses interwoven with cobwebs and slightly lined with feathers. The breeding-season comprises the months of September, October and November, and the eggs are four in number.

Crown, back of the neck, upper surface and wings olive-brown, the feathers of the forehead tipped with a lighter colour; rump, upper and under tail-coverts pale ochre; throat and chest white, each feather with a very slight, broken margin of brown; base of all the tail-feathers pale buff, the external margin of the outer feathers and the tips of all brownish buff, the central portion blackish brown; bill brown, the under mandible paler than the upper; feet olive-brown; irides beautiful straw-yellow.

The Plate represents the two sexes of the natural size.

ACANTHIZA CHRYSORRHŒA.

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

ACANTHIZA CHRYSORRHŒA. Yellow-tailed Acanthiza.

Saxicola chrysorrhœa, Quoy and Gaim., Voy. de l’Astrolabe, p. 198. pl. 10. fig. 2.

Acanthiza chrysorrhœa, Gould, Syn. Birds of Australia, Part IV.

Jeȅ-da, Aborigines of the lowland districts of Western Australia.

This well-known species of Acanthiza inhabits Van Diemen’s Land, Western and Southern Australia and New South Wales, in all of which countries it is a permanent resident. It is generally met with in small companies of from six to ten in number, and is so tame that it may be very closely approached before it will rise, and it then merely flies off to a short distance and alights again; during these short flights the yellow of the rump shows very conspicuously.