Some Australian bird types.



91



•question is capricious and uncertain, but on occasions its loud note

is delightful. For sustained effort in the production of melody I do

not think that any of the bush songsters, with, perhaps, the excep¬

tion of the Reed-warbler, is the equal of the Bell-bird. It is neces¬

sary to point out that this songster is not identical with the so-called

Bell-bird of the coastal districts — the Bell Minah ( Manorhina

melanopkyra). The latter is a honey-eater, whereas the crested

Bell-bii’d is an insect-eater, and belongs to the wooded regions of the

interior. As songsters there is no more comparison to he made

between the two than there is between the Silver-eye and the Reed-

warbler. Gould’s collaborator, Gilbert, regarded the Bell-bird as an

accomplished ventriloquist ; and that is the impression one gets

when listening to and observing the song and the actions of the bird.

At first the notes seem to come softly and swellingly from a distance.

As the song proceeds they rise gradually, until one seems to he

right in the centre of the Hood of melody ; then one discovers that

the bird which seemed to he away off in the distance is close at hand,

in all probability sitting quite still on a dead limb or a stump. The

Bell-birds may be heard at their best in the valleys of the Murray.



SOME AUSTRALIAN BIRD TYPES.


By Alfred J. North. ::


Of the Order Striges, or nocturnal birds of prey, inhabiting

the State, the most common are the Delicate Owl ( Strix delicatula ),

a species very closely allied to—by some considered identical with—

the Barn Owl of Europe, and the Boobook Owl ( Ninox boobook).

One of the latter birds was captured in 1908 in the vestibule of the

Sydney Town Hall. At night-time this species often visits unpro¬

tected aviaries of small birds. In the dense coastal scrubs and

brushes the rare Sooty Owl ( Strix tenebncosa ) and the large Powerful

Owl ( Ninox strenua ) are found; one of the latter birds shot at

Richmond, on the Hawkesbury River, had an “ opossum ” in its claws.


In the Order Steganopodes, the different genera found in the

State, as in Australia, all belong to Old World forms, the members



* Reprinted from the ‘ New South Wales Handbook ’ for the visit of the British

Association.



