THE RED-BACKED DICTUM. 



209 



not even the briglit scarlet hue of the throat and breast can betray its position to the 

 unaccustomed eye of a passenger below. The song of the Dicseum, although very sweet 

 and flowing, is very soft and faint, and seems to be an inward warbling rather than the 

 brilliant melody which is flung so energetically from the vocal organs of many singing- 

 birds. The little bird, however, is possessed of considerable endurance, for its strain, 

 although weak, is long continued. The Dicseum is mostly found among the thick foliage 

 of the Casuarinse, and Mr. Gould relates 

 that he frequently saw it flitting about the 

 branches of a remarkably beautiful parasitic 



plant termed scientifically the Loranthus, __ _- 



which it seems to visit either to eat the 

 soft viscid berries, or for the purpose of 

 preying upon the little insects that come to 

 feed on the flowers. Mr. Gould prefers the 

 latter supposition. 



The flight of the Dicseum is very quick 

 and darting, and it makes more use of its 

 wings and less of its feet than any of the 

 insect-hunting birds. The nest is remarkably 

 pretty, being woven as it were out of white 

 cotton cloth, and suspended from a branch as 

 if the twigs had been pushed through its 

 substance. The peculiar purse-like shape of 

 the nest is shown in the illustration. The 

 material of which it is woven is the soft 

 cottony down which is found in the seed- 

 vessels of many plants. The eggs are four 

 or five in number, and their colour is a dull 

 greyish-white profusely covered with minute 

 speckles of brown. 



The two sexes differ considerably in the 

 colouring of their plumage, the male bird 

 being much more brilliant than his mate. 

 The head, back, and upper parts of the 

 adult male are deep black with a beautiful 

 steely-blue gloss, the sides are brownish- 

 grey, and the throat, breast, and under tail- 

 coverts are a bright glaring scarlet. The 

 abdomen is snowy-white, with the exception 

 of a tolerably large black patch on its centre. 

 The female is more sombre in her apparel, 

 the head and back being of a dull sooty- 

 black, and the steel-blue reflection only 

 appearing on the upper surface of the wings 

 and tail. The throat and centre of the ab- 

 domen are buff, the sides are, pale greyish 



brown, and the under tail-coverts scarlet, of a less brilliant hue than in the male, 

 its dimensions the Dicseum is hardly so large as our common wren. 



AUSTRALIAN DICTUM.— Diccewiu liirundindctwi. 



In 



Another species belonging to the same genus, but an inhabitant of a different part of 

 the world, is equally remarkable for its minute form and the bold richness of its colours. 

 This is the Eed-backed Dictum [Diccewn cruentdtum) of Asia. 



This beautiful wee bird is plentiful in India, extending over a wide range of country, 



and being found in the vast tracts which reach from Calcutta to Assam on the east, and 



as far as Malacca on the north. Like the Australian Dictum, it resides on the summits 



of the loftiest trees, and on account of its very small size is not very often seen, and even 



2. p 



