Part 38

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

PERISTERA HISTRIONICA, Gould. Harlequin Bronzewing.

Peristera histrionica, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., September 8, 1840.

I first met with this new and beautiful pigeon on the 2nd of December, 1839, while encamped on the banks of the Mokai, a river which rises in the Liverpool range, and falls into the Namoi.

I was strolling beside the stream at sunrise, when one of these birds rose from the water’s edge, flew to the distance of forty yards, and again alighted on the ground, where it assumed much of the air and actions of a Sand Grouse (Pterocles). A fortnight after this I descended the Namoi, about one hundred and fifty miles, and while traversing the extensive plains, studded here and there with patches of trees that skirt the Nundawar range, I was suddenly, but agreeably startled by an immense flock of these birds rising before me, and again alighting on the ground at a short distance; finding they would not admit of near approach, I secreted myself, and desired my aboriginal companion Natty to go round and turn the flock towards me: the whole simultaneously rose as before with a loud burring noise, so closely packed, that had they not passed me at a considerable angle, many must have fallen to my shot; as it was I succeeded in obtaining four, two of which were males. Alarmed at so unusual a sound in these solitudes as the discharge of a gun, the remainder winged their way rapidly out of sight. About a week afterwards, while returning from hunting the kangaroo on a distant part of the same plain, we approached a small group of Myalls (Acacia pendula), and Natty suddenly called out, “Look, massa;” in an instant the air before us seemed literally filled with a dense mass of these birds, which had suddenly rose from under the trees at his exclamation; we had scarcely time to raise our guns before they were seventy or eighty yards off; our united discharge, however, brought down eight additional specimens, all of which being merely winged and fluttering about, attracted the attention of our kangaroo dogs, and it was with the greatest difficulty they could be prevented from tearing them to pieces; in the midst of the scramble, a kite, with the utmost audacity, came to the attack, and would doubtless, in spite of our presence, have carried off his share, had not the contents of my second barrel stopped his career. This was the last time I met with the Harlequin Bronzewing. I took every opportunity of making inquiries respecting it of the natives of the interior, and of the stockmen at the out stations, both of whom assured me they had never observed it before the present season. If this assertion be correct, and there seems to be no reason for doubting it, whence has this fine bird made its appearance? Had it always been common in those parts of the country, its size and its beauty must have attracted the attention of the various travellers who have, from time to time, traversed the interior. May we not reasonably suppose that it had migrated from the central regions of this vast continent, which has yet much in store for future discovery? The great length of wing which this bird possesses, admirably adapts it for inhabiting such a country as the far interior is generally imagined to be, since by this means it may readily pass with great ease, and in a short time, over a vast extent of country; this great power of flight is also a highly necessary qualification to enable it to traverse the great distances it is probably often necessitated to do in search of water.

On dissecting the specimens obtained, I found their crops half filled with small hard seeds, which they procured from the open plains, but of what kinds I was unable to determine.

Forehead, stripe from behind the eye, forming a circle round the ear-coverts, and a crescent-shaped mark across the throat snow-white; the remainder of the head, throat and ear-coverts jet-black; all the upper surface, wing-coverts, flanks and two centre tail-feathers deep cinnamon-brown; edge of the shoulder dull white; spurious wing bluish gray, slightly margined with white; primaries brownish gray, margined on their outer web with rufous at the base, largely marked with the same on the inner web, forming a conspicuous patch on the under surface of the wing, and with an oval spot of white at the tip of each feather; secondaries crossed by a beautiful deep crimson bronze on the outer webs near the tip; lateral tail-feathers bluish gray at the base, passing into black toward the extremity, which is white; breast and centre of the abdomen bluish gray; under tail-coverts light buff; nostrils and bill black; bare skin surrounding the eye purplish black; irides dark brown; frontal scales of the legs and feet lilac-red; hind part flesh-red.

The female has only a faint indication of the markings which adorn the male, and is altogether much less brilliant in her appearance.

The figures are those of a male and female of the natural size.

GEOPHAPS SCRIPTA.

J. Gould and H.C. Richter lithog. C. Hullmandel Imp. ]

GEOPHAPS SCRIPTA. Partridge Bronze-wing.

Columba scripta, Temm. Pl. Col. 187; and in Linn. Trans., vol. xiii. p. 127.—Steph. Cont. of Shaw’s Gen. Zool., vol. xiv. p. 284.

Geophaps scripta, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., February 8, 1842.—G. R. Gray, Appendix to Gen. of Birds, p. 12.

This Pigeon has more than ordinary claims to the attention both of the ornithologist and the epicure, since to the first it is of interest as being a typical example of a minor group of the Columbidæ, whose habits and economy are very peculiar, and to the second as a most delicate viand for the table. It is, unquestionably, the best bird I ate while in Australia; and, in my opinion, it is second to none in any other part of the world: the quality of its flesh is so superior to that of the Common Bronze-wing, that the latter cannot for a moment be put in comparison with it; for, as in the Wonga-wonga Pigeon, another most excellent bird for the table, both the upper and under pectoral muscles are white, juicy and delicately flavoured, while in the Common Bronze-wing the upper muscle is brown. It is to be regretted that a bird possessing such high qualifications as an article of food should be so exclusively a denizen of the plains of the interior that it is available to few except inland travellers. It is equally interesting to the sportsman, no other bird not strictly gallinaceous offering so close a resemblance to the members of the genus Perdix (Partridges) in many of its habits and manners as does the Partridge Bronze-wing; and I conceive that in no instance is the theory of the analogical relationship of one group to another more strikingly borne out than in the close resemblance of the members of this group to those of the genus Perdix.

When on the ground it has so much the carriage and actions of a Partridge that it might readily be mistaken for one. I sometimes observed it in pairs, but more frequently in small coveys of from four to six in number, which, when approached, instead of seeking safety by flight, ran off with exceeding rapidity in an opposite direction, and crouched down either on the bare plain or among any scanty herbage that appeared to offer the least shelter. It is withal so excessively tame, that it is not unfrequently killed by the bullock-drivers with their whips, while passing along the roads with their teams. The colouring of the bird assimilates so closely to that of the ground or the herbage, that when crouched down for shelter it is not easily to be seen, and they will often lie until it is all but trodden upon. It rises with extreme rapidity, making a loud burring noise with the wings and generally spinning off, not, as might be supposed, to another part of the plain, but to the horizontal branch of a large tree, on which it immediately squats down quite flat, in the same line with the branch, from which it is not easily distinguished or driven off. The shortness of its wings gives it much the appearance of a Partridge during flight, and it also assimilates in the arrow-like direction of its course to the nearest tree, terminating with a skimming motion of the wings before alighting.

The nearest point to the colony of New South Wales in which I met with this bird was the Liverpool Plains, from whence to as far as I proceeded on the Lower Namoi its numbers appeared to increase. I have also heard from other travellers that it is equally abundant on all the plains and banks of the rivers between New South Wales and the Murray in South Australia; but I have never yet observed it in collections either from the northern or western portions of the continent.

The eggs are two in number, and are deposited on the bare ground without any nest. The young both run and fly strongly when they are only as large as a quail, as I satisfactorily ascertained by killing one which rose before me; but at what bird I had fired I had not the slightest conception until I picked it up.

In speaking of this bird as an inhabitant of the plains, I must not fail to mention that it was far more abundant on such as were intersected by rivers and water-holes; in fact, a good supply of water seemed to be essential to its existence. Its chief food is the seeds of various grasses and other small plants, to which are added at some seasons insects and berries.

Head, all the upper surface and chest light brown, the extremities of the wing-coverts and the edges of the primaries being much paler; the outer webs of several of the greater coverts with a speculum of greenish purple obscured, barred with a darker tint; chin and throat, a broad stripe from the lower mandible to beneath the eye, another stripe from the posterior angle of the eye down the side of the neck, and a spot on the side of the neck snow-white, the interspaces being jet-black, the latter colour surrounding the eye, and also forming a crescent across the lower part of the throat; abdomen grey; flanks white; all but the two centre tail-feathers greyish brown at the base and largely tipped with black; bill black; irides black; naked skin surrounding the eye bluish lead-colour; the corners immediately before and behind the eye mealy vinous red; feet and frontal scales dark purplish vinous red.

The figures are of the natural size.

GEOPHAPS SMITHII.

J. Gould and H.C. Richter del^t. C. Hullmandel Imp. ]

GEOPHAPS SMITHII. Smith’s Partridge Bronze-wing.

Columba Smithii, Jard. and Selb. Ill. Orn., vol. iii. pl. 104.

M̏an-ga, Aborigines of the Cobourg Peninsula.

Partridge Pigeon, Residents of Port Essington.

In structure this species is in every respect a true Geophaps, and the accompanying notes by Mr. Gilbert show that it as closely assimilates in its habits and economy to the type of the genus as it well can. It appears to be abundant on the north coast of Australia, which is the only part of the country from which I have yet received it.