STRUTHIDEA AND HYPOCOLIUS. 



51 



GREY STRUTHIDEA (Struthidea cinerea). 

 General colour grey ; each feather with a paler tip ; 

 wings brown ; tail black, the central feathers with a 

 deep metallic green gloss ; bill and feet black ; irides 

 pearly white. Sexes much alike. Hab., southern and 

 eastern portions of the interior of Australia, according 

 to Gould. He observes ("Birds of Australia," Vol. I., 

 pp. 473-4) : " I found it inhabiting the pine ridges, as 

 they are termed by the colonists, bordering the exten- 

 sive plains of the Upper and Lower Namoi, and giving 

 a decided preference to the Callitris pyramidalis, a fine 

 fir-like tree peculiar to the district. It was always seen 

 in small companies of three or four together, on the 

 topmost branches c>f the trees, was extremely quick and 

 restless, leaping from branch to branch in rapid succes- 

 sion, at the same time throwing up and expanding 

 the tail and wings ; these actions being generally ac- 

 companied with a harsh unpleasant note ; their manners, 

 in fact, closely resemble those of the White-winged 

 Corcorax and the Pomatorhini. 



" The following notes on this species I find in Gilbert's 

 journal of the occurrences during his expedition with 

 Leichhardt irom Moreton Bay to Port Essington. They 

 were written on the sixteenth day after his departure, 

 and will not be devoid of interest : 



' ' Oct. 19. Strolled about in search of novelties, and 

 was amply repaid by finding the eggs of Struthidea 

 cinerea. I disturbed the bird several times from a rose- 

 wood-tree growing in a small patch of scrub, and felt 

 assured it had a nest, but could only find one, which I 

 considered to be that of a Grallina ; determined, if 

 possible, to solve the difficulty, I lay down at a short 

 distance within full view of the tree, and was not a 

 little surprised at seeing the bird take possession of, 

 as I believed, the Grallina'' s nest ; I immediately 

 climbed the tree and found four eggs-, the medium 

 length of which was one inch and a quarter by seven- 

 eighths of an inch in breadth ; their colour was white, 

 with blotches, principally at the larger end, of reddish 

 lrown, purplish grey, and greenish grey ; some of the 

 blotches appearing as if they had been laid on with a 

 soft brush. From the appearance of the nest, I should 

 say it was an old one of Grallina, particularly as it 

 contained a much greater quantity of grass for a lining 

 than I ever observed in the nest of a Grallina while 

 that bird had possession of it ; if this be not the case, 

 then the nest of Struthidea is precisely similar, being 

 like a great basin of mud, and placed in the same kind 

 of situation, on a horizontal branch. 



" ' Oct. 21. In the evening I again met with the 

 Struthidea, which I disturbed from a nest like the one 

 above described, and from the new appearance of frhe 

 structure I am inclined to believe it to be constructed 

 by the bird itself, although it does so closely resemble 

 that of Grallina, especially as in this case the nest was 

 placed in a situation far from water, and there were no 

 <&rallince in the neighbourhood. This nest, like the 

 last, had a very thick lining of fine p-rass, and appeared 

 as if just finished for the reception of the eggs.' 



" There is no doubt that the nests above described 

 were those pf Strufhidea : those of Corcorax and 

 Grallina are precisely similar ; and we now know that 

 all three birds build the same kind of mud nests. 



"The food, as ascertained by dissection, is insects; 

 the stomachs of those examined were tolerably hard and 

 muscular, and contained the remains of coleoptera." 



Russ says that this bird is rare in the German 

 market : it has been offered to me more than once ; but 

 unless one has a deep pocket and manv aviaries a bird 

 of this kind is not sufficiently attractive to tempt one 

 to purchase it ; of course it is not a cheap bird, though, 



on account of its sombre colour-ing, it is not excessively 

 dear. 



According to Russ it built a nest in the Berlin 

 Aquarium and several times in the Berlin Zoological 

 Gardens ; in the latter also it laid eggs and brooded 

 young ones, but unhappily without rearing them. In 

 1875 and 1876 the pair nested four times, Professor 

 Peters taking possession of the second nest as well as 

 eggs and young for the Royal Zoological Museum of 

 Berlin. 



The male fed the young more frequently than 

 the female, apparently upon soft food and worms : pos- 

 sibly the want of abundant insect-food may have had 

 something to do with the death of the young, yet Russ 

 speaks of one attaining the age of two months and having 

 its head split open by a white Australian Crow. 



GREY HYPOCOLITJS (Hypocolius ampelinus). 



Delicate huffish ash-coloured ; the crest, throat and 

 under tail-coverts of a purer pale buffish, washed with 

 vinaceous ; lores, sides of face enclosing eye, and a band 

 at back of neck shining blackish ; primaries black, the 

 outer ones shaded with brown at the tips, otherwise 

 with white tips ; secondaries blackish, margined ex- 

 ternally and tipped with ashy ; tertials buffish-ash, 

 blackish at base; tail-feathers broadly smoky black at 

 the tips ; under wing-coverts dull whitish ; sides of 

 breast shaded with ash; bill and feet horn-coloured, 

 the former with black-brown tip. 



The female is smaller, more olivaceous, crown and 

 lores darker ; no black on face or nape ; primaries 

 slightly edged externally with grey-brownish, the apical 

 margin distinct, prominent, white ; less black at the 

 extremity of the tail-feathers, which are ashy grey or 

 drab ; under wing-coverts pale dull buffish. The young 

 bird resembles the female, but is more dingy ; the 

 flights almost uniform in colouring, slightly blackish 

 towards the tips, but not pale-tipped. Hab., N.E. 

 Africa as far as the Niam-Niam country ; the Persian 

 Gulf, and Sind. 



Mr. W. D. Gumming (cf. The Ibis 1886, pp. 478-80) 

 says : " It is not till the middle of June that they 

 breed. 



" In 1883, first eggs were brought by an Arab about 

 the 13th of June, and on the 15th of the same month 

 I found a nest containing two fresh eggs. In 1884, on 

 the 14th of June, a nest was brought me containing 

 four fresh eggs, and on the 15th I found a nest contain- 

 ing also four fresh eggs. 



" 2nd July, I came across four young birds able to 

 fly. On the 3rd, three nests were brought, one 

 containing two fresh eggs, another three young just 

 fledged, and the other four eggs slightly incubated. 

 On the 9th another nest, containing four young just 

 fledged, was brought. On the 15th, I saw a flock of 

 small birds well able to fly ; on the 18th I found a nest 

 containing four young about a couple of days old, and 

 on the 20th a nest containing three eggs well incubated 

 was brought from a place called " Goosba " on the oppo- 

 site bank (Persian side) of the river. 



" The nests are generally placed on the leaves of the 

 date-palm, at no very great' height. The highest I 

 'have seen was built about 10ft. from the ground, but 

 from 3ft. to 5ft. is the average height. 



" They are substantial and cup-shaped, having a 

 diameter of about 3^in. bv 2^in. in de.pth, lined inside 

 with fine grass, the soft fluff from the willow when in 

 seed, wool, and sometimes hair. 



" The eggs are of a glossy leaden white, with leaden- 

 coloured blotches, and spots towards the larger end, 



