Part 47

Hemipodius pyrrhothorax, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., November 10, 1840.

Little as is known of the Swift-flying Hemipode, even less information has been obtained respecting the history of the present species, which, although assimilating in some of its characters to the former, differs from it in the marking of the face and neck, and the rufous colouring of the fore part of the throat and chest: it is also somewhat more slender and elegant in its proportions. It first came under my notice while traversing the flats near Aberdeen, on the Upper Hunter, when my dog pointing at what I conceived to be a specimen of the preceding species, a female of the present bird arose before me, and I at once saw, from the rufous colouring of the breast, that it differed from any I had previously seen: my shot was a successful one, and it was with no small delight that I picked up the beautiful bird, from which the accompanying drawing of the female was taken. I diligently sought for others, but was not fortunate enough to meet with a second living specimen. For the little male which enables me to complete my Plate, I am indebted to Mr. Charles Coxen, who had killed it some years before in the neighbourhood of the Liverpool Plains, but who could give me no further information respecting it: he had never seen the female. Of its habits and nidification of course nothing is therefore known: when the distant interior is explored, its true habitat will doubtless be discovered, but until then its history must remain buried in obscurity.

Crown of the head dark brown, with a line of buff down the centre; feathers surrounding the eye, ear-coverts and sides of the neck extremely small, white edged with black; back and rump dark brown, transversely rayed with bars and freckles of black and buff; wings paler, edged with buff, within which is a line of black running in the same direction; primaries brown, margined with buff; throat, chest, flanks and under tail-coverts sandy red, passing into white on the centre of the abdomen; bill horn-colour; irides straw-yellow; feet yellowish white.

The male has a similar character of markings on the upper surface, but the colouring of the throat and flanks is much paler.

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

HEMIPODIUS VELOX: Gould.

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

HEMIPODIUS VELOX, Gould. Swift-flying Hemipode.

Hemipodius velox, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Nov. 10, 1840.

Kar-a-dong, Aborigines of the mountain districts of Western Australia.

Little Quail, of the Colonists.

I found this new and interesting species of Hemipodius abundant in various parts of New South Wales, but whether it has always visited those localities, or has only recently made its appearance there, I cannot say. Mr. Stephen Coxen, on whose estate it was plentiful, and who, it is well known, has for some years paid considerable attention to the Ornithology of Australia, could give me no information respecting it, and it would appear to have escaped the notice of collectors generally, for I have never seen a specimen in any collection either public or private. I clearly ascertained that it is strictly migratory, by finding it abundant in those places in summer which I had previously visited in winter, when no appearance of one was to be seen.

The season of more than usual luxuriance that followed the long and distressing drought of 1838–39, bringing in its train a number of rare and interesting species, was highly advantageous to the objects of my expedition. It was to this season of plenty, when the whole face of the country was covered with the richest vegetation, that I am inclined to attribute the appearance of vast numbers of this species over the district of the whole Upper Hunter, particularly in the flats of Segenho, Invermein, and Yarrundi. It appeared to give preference to the low stony ridges which border and intersect these flats, and which are thinly covered with grasses of various kinds, for it was in such situations I generally found it, though on some occasions I started it from among the rank herbage clothing the alluvial soil of the bottoms. It lies so close as to be nearly trodden upon before it will rise, and when flushed it flies off with such extreme rapidity, as, combined with its small size and the intervention of trees, to render it a most difficult shot to the sportsman. On rising it flies to the distance of one or two hundred yards within two or three feet of the surface, and then suddenly pitches to the ground. As might be expected, it lies well to a pointer, and it was by this means that I found many which I could not otherwise have started.

One of the most singular circumstances connected with the history of this and the following species, is the great difference in the size of the sexes, the males being but little more than half the size of their mates. Pleased as I was at making acquaintance with this little bird, I was still more gratified at finding its nest and eggs. Natty and Jemmy, two intelligent and faithful natives, of the Yarrundi tribe, and who always accompanied me, also caught several of the young which had not left the nest many days.

In addition to the districts above named, I observed it, although rarely, in the interior of the country north of the Liverpool Plains. Before I left Sydney a single specimen was sent me from South Australia, and in my recently arrived collection from Swan River I found both the bird and its eggs; these circumstances proving that it possesses a range of longitude extending from one side of the continent to the other, and in all probability it inhabits a great portion of the northern interior. In Western Australia it is stated to inhabit clear open spots of grass, and may occasionally be met with in the thick scrub, but its most favourite retreat is the grassy valleys of the interior adjacent to water.

It breeds in September and October. The nest is slightly constructed of grasses placed in a shallow depression of the ground under the shelter of a small tuft of grass: the eggs are four in number, of a dirty white, very thickly blotched all over with markings of chestnut, eleven lines and a half long by nine lines broad: the eggs from Western Australia are much lighter in colour, and have the chestnut blotchings much more minute.

The stomach is extremely muscular, and the food consists of grasshoppers and other insects, seeds, etc.

Head, ear-coverts, and all the upper surface chestnut-red; the crown of the head in some specimens has a longitudinal mark of buff down the centre; the feathers of the back, rump, scapularies, and sides of the chest margined with buff, within which is a narrow line of black running in the same direction; the feathers of the lower part of the back are also crossed by several narrow irregular bands of black; primaries light brown, margined with buff on their internal edges; throat, chest, and flanks sandy buff, passing into white on the abdomen; bill horn-colour; irides straw-white; legs and feet yellowish white.

The above is the description of a female: the male has the feathers on the sides of the chest conspicuously margined with buff.

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

COTURNIX PECTORALIS: Gould.

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

COTURNIX PECTORALIS, Gould. Pectoral Quail.

Coturnix pectoralis, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part V. p. 8; and in Syn. Birds of Australia, Part II.—List of Birds in Brit. Mus. Coll., Part III. p. 40.

Stubble Quail of the Colonists of Van Diemen’s Land.

In Van Diemen’s Land, South Australia and New South Wales, the present species is very abundant; I have also received specimens from Western Australia and a single example from the north coast, from both of which localities the specimens are smaller, and have a more buffy tint pervading the under surface; I am not, however, prepared to affirm that they are specifically distinct from the bird here figured, although I am disposed to regard them as such. Open grassy plains, extensive grass flats, and those parts of the country under cultivation, are situations favourable to the habits of the bird; in its economy and mode of life, in fact, it so closely resembles the Quail of Europe (Coturnix communis), that a description of one is equally descriptive of the other. In South Australia it may be found on all the extensive plains to the north of Adelaide; I sometimes flushed a single bird without finding another in the neighbourhood, while at others I met with it in pairs or in small parties of from four to six in number. Although occasionally found in the immediate neighbourhood, it affects totally different situations from those frequented by the Synoïcus Australis, which goes in coveys, and which differs but little in its habits from the Common Partridge (Perdix cinerea). Its powers of flight are considerable, and when flushed, it wings its way with arrow-like swiftness to a distant part of the plain; it lies well to a pointer, and has from the first settlement of the colony always afforded considerable amusement to the sportsman. I need scarcely say that it is an excellent bird for the table, equalling as it does in this respect its European representative. During my rambles in the districts frequented by this Quail, I frequently found its nest and eggs, which bear a strong resemblance to those of our own Quail; much variation, however, exists in their colouring, some being largely blotched all over with brown on a straw-white ground, while from this to a finely peppered marking every variety occurred; the number of eggs in each nest varied from eleven to fourteen. The situations chosen for the nest are also very various; I sometimes found it placed among the thick grass of the luxuriant flats, while at others it was artfully concealed by a tuft of overhanging grass on the open plains, where the temperature was of a much warmer character, and where, from the exposed situation, the sun’s rays caused a degree of heat never felt in the humid situations just alluded to. The chief food of this species is grain, seeds and insects, the grain as a matter of course being only procured in cultivated districts; and hence the name of Stubble Quail has been given to it by the colonists of Van Diemen’s Land, from the great numbers that visit the fields after the harvest is over.

September and the three following months constitute the breeding-season; but it is somewhat later in Van Diemen’s Land than in South Australia and New South Wales.

The average weight of the male is four ounces and a half; the female, which rarely equals her mate in size, may at all times be distinguished by the total absence of the black markings on the chest, and by the throat being white instead of buff.