382 



MUSEUM OF ANIMATED NATURE. 



[Promeropes. 



appears short and excessively small in comparison 

 with the tail. To add to the singularity of this bird na- 

 ture has placed above and below its wings feathers of 

 an extraordinary form, and such as one does not see 

 in other birds : she seems, moreover, to have pleased 

 herself in painting this being, already so singular, 

 with her most brilliant colours. The head, the neck, 

 and the belly are glittering green; the feathers 

 which cover these parts have the lustre and softness 

 of velvet to the eye and to the touch ; the back is 

 changeable violet; the wings are of the same colour, 

 and appear, according to the lights in which they 

 are held, blue, violet, "or deep black, always, how- 

 ever, imitating velvet. The tail is composed of 

 twelve feathers ; the two middle are the longest, and 

 the lateral ones gradually diminish : *it is violet 

 or changeable blue above, and black beneath. 

 The feathers which compose it are as wide in 

 proportion as they are long, and shine both above 

 and below with the brilliancy of polished metal. 

 Above the wings, the scapulars are very long and 

 singularly formed; their barbs are very short on 

 one side and very long on the other. These feathers 

 are of the colour of polished steel, changing into 

 blue, terminated by a large spot of brilliant green, 

 and forming a species of tuft or appendage at the 

 origin of the wings. Below the wings spring long 

 curved feathers directed upwards : these are black 

 on the inside, and brilliant green on the outside. 

 The bill and feet are black." (' Voy. a la Nouvelle 

 Guinee.') Lesson states that he procured several 

 individuals of this gorgeous species on the coasts of 

 New Guinea, where it appears to be common. We 

 are not aware that the structure of the tongue is 

 known, and its present situation is provisional. 



We shall here pass from the Tenuirostral families, 

 and revert to some forms in other sections of the 

 Insessorial order, which we have as yet omitted to 

 notice ; and first we invite attention to a group or 

 genus of the Fissirostral tribe, termed by Vieillot, 

 Artamus (Upra^os, butcher), and by Cuvier, more 

 appropriately, Ocypterus (swift -wing). The former 

 name, however, has the right of priority. These 

 birds, says Cuvier, have the beak conical, rounded, 

 without a ridge, and very slightly arched at the tip, 

 which is sharp ; the upper mandible presents merely 

 the trace of a notch on each side; the tarsi are 

 short; the wings even pass beyond the tail, and 

 they have the same rapidity of flight as the 

 swallows, but to it they add the courage of the 

 shrikes, and fear not even to attack the raven. 

 They are natives of Australia, India, and the isles of 

 the Indian Seas. They are continually on the wing 

 in chase of insects. 



The French terms given by Cuvier are " Les 

 Langrayens, ou Pies-grieches-Hirondelles." Mr. 

 Swainson calls them Swift-Shrikes. By the colonists 

 of Australia they are designated wood-swallows. 

 Cuvier and most naturalists have placed these birds 

 with the shrikes; but we think that Mr. Gould's 

 observations on their habits will corroborate our 

 opinion respecting their situation among the Fissi- 

 rostres ; indeed Sonnerat's account of the Indian 

 wood-swallow (Artamus leucorhynchos, Pie-grieche- 

 Dominiquaine des Philippines) is a sufficient testi- 

 mony. He states that this bird flies with rapidity, 

 poising itself in the air like the swallows, and is, 

 moreover, an inveterate enemy to the crow, which, 

 in spite of the superiority of size possessed by that 

 antagonist, it not only dares to oppose, but to pro- 

 voke. 



Of the Australian species Mr. Gould has described 

 and figured six in his splendid work on the birds of 

 that portion of the globe. 



1685. — The Common Wood-Swallow 



(Artamus sordidus). The Sordid Thrush, Turdus 

 sordidus, Latham ; Ocypterus albovittatus of Cuvier; 

 Artamus lineatus, Vieillot; Artamus albovittatus, 

 Vigors and Horsfield; Leptopteryx albovittata, 

 Wagler; Be-wo-wen of the aborigines of the low- 

 land and mountain districts of Western Australia; 

 and Work of the aborigines of King George's 

 Sound. According to Mr. Gould, whose history of 

 these birds we follow, the present species has an 

 extensive range from east to west on the continent 

 of Australia, and is spread over the southern por- 

 tion, being also found in Van Diemen's Land. Its 

 northern range is not accurately known, but no 

 specimens have been received from the north coast. 

 In Van Diemen's Land it is as migratory as our 

 swallows in England, arriving in October, the begin- 

 ning of the Australian summer, and after rearing 

 two broods departing northwards, that is, towards 

 warmer latitudes. Oil the continent of Australia it 

 is only partially migratory, for though the great 

 body leave their summer haunts, still in favourable 

 districts where insect food is abundant some remain 

 stationary throughout the year. The birds bred in 

 Van Diemen's Land, according to Mr. Gould, are 

 larger than those either of the Swan River district, 

 of South Australia, or of New South Wales ; and 

 this difference he attributes to a superabundance of 



food in that humid island. May not the species be 

 distinct ? • 



In the situation of its nest this bird is not bound 

 by any definite rule, varying the site accordingly to 

 circumstances. Mr. Gould saw one in a thickly- 

 leaved bough near the ground, some in naked forks, 

 others on the side of the bole of a tree, in niches 

 formed by a portion of the bark being separated 

 from the trunk. The nest (Fig. 1686) is rather 

 shallow, of a rounded form, composed of fine twigs 

 neatly lined with fibrous roots/ The eggs, which 

 are generally four in number, differ in the disposi- 

 tion of their markings. The ground-colour is dull 

 white, spotted and dashed with dark umber brown ; 

 in some a second series of greyish spots were ob- 

 served, as if on the inner surface, and showing 

 themselves through the shell. The nests of the 

 Van Diemen's Land variety were found to be larger, 

 more compact, and more neatly formed than those 

 on the continent of Australia. 



Mr. Gould thus details the remarkable habits of 

 these birds, in the work to which we have already 

 alluded : — . 



" This wood-swallow, besides being the com- 

 monest species of the genus, must, I think, be ren- 

 dered a general favourite with the Australians, not 

 only from its singular and pleasing actions, but by 

 its often taking up its abode and incubating near 

 the houses, particularly such as are surrounded by 

 paddocks and open pasture-lands skirted by large 

 trees. It was in such situations as these in Van 

 Diemen's Land, at the commencement of spring, 

 that I first had an opportunity of observing this 

 species ; it was then very numerous on all the 

 cleared estates on the north side of the Derwent, 

 about eight or ten being seen on a single tree, and 

 half as many crowding one against another on the 

 same dead branch, but never in such numbers as to 

 deserve the appellation of flocks : each bird ap- 

 peared to act independently of the other ; each, as 

 the desire for food prompted it, sallying forth from 

 the branch to capture a passing insect, or to soar 

 round the tree and return again to the same spot ; 

 on alighting, it repeatedly throws up and closes one 

 wing at a time, and spreads the tail obliquely prior 

 to settling. At other times a few were seen perched 

 on the fence surrounding the paddock, on which 

 they frequently descended, like starlings, in search 

 of coleoptera and other insects. It is not, however, 

 in this state of comparative quiescence that this 

 graceful bird is seen to the best advantage ; neither 

 is it that kind of existence for which its form is es- 

 pecially adapted ; for although its structure is more 

 equally suited for terrestrial, arboreal, and aerial 

 habits than that of any other species I have ex- 

 amined, the form of its wing at once points out the 

 air as its peculiar province ; hence it is that, when 

 engaged in pursuit of the insects which the serene 

 and warm weather has enticed from their lurking- 

 places among the foliage to sport in higher regions, 

 this beautiful species in these aerial flights displays 

 its greatest beauty, while soaring above in a variety 

 of easy positions, with its white-tipped tail widely 

 spread. Another very extraordinary and singular 

 habit of this bird is that of clustering like bees on 

 the dead branch of a tree : this feature was not seen 

 by me, but by my assistant, Mr. Gilbert, during his 

 residence at Swan River; and I have here given 

 his account in his own words : — ' The greatest 

 peculiarity in the habits of this bird is its manner 

 of suspending itself in perfect clusters, like a swarm 

 of bees ; a few birds suspending themselves on the 

 under side of a dead branch, while others of the 

 flock attach themselves one to the other, in such 

 numbers that they have been observed nearly of the 

 size of a bushel measure.' It was very numerous in 

 the town of Perth until about the middle of April, 

 when I missed it suddenly, nor did I observe it 

 again until near the end of May, when I saw it in 

 countless numbers flying, in company with the 

 common swallows and martins, over a lake about 

 ten miles north of the town ; so numerous in fact 

 were they, that they darkened the water as they 

 flew over it. Its voice greatly resembles that of 

 the common swallow in character, but is much 

 harsher." 



Fig. 1687 represents a swarm of these birds 

 clustering like bees. 



The general colour of this species is black ; belly 

 and upper parts of the rump white ; tail-feathers, 

 except the two middle, tipped with white; bill 

 greyish ; legs black. 



1688. — The Cinereous Wood-Swallow 



(Artamus cinereus). The range of this species ex- 

 ceeds even that of the preceding. It is a native 

 of Timor, and occurs both on the eastern and west- 

 ern coast of Australia, in which latter locality it 

 was observed by Mr. Gilbert. It is the largest of 

 the Australian Artami. In Western Australia, ac- 

 cording to Mr. Gould, this bird, though rather local 

 in its distribution, is by no means uncommon, par- 

 ticularly a-t Swan River, where it inhabits the lime- 



stone hills near the coast, and the Clear Hills of the 

 interior, assembling in small families, and feeding 

 not only upon insects, which it takes like the rest of 

 the genus, but also upon the seeds of the Xan- 

 thorhcea ; such indeed is the eagerness with which 

 they devour the seeds of this grass-tree, that several 

 may be often seen at a time crowded together on 

 the perpendicular seed-stalks of the plant, busily 

 engaged in extracting them. Among the lime- 

 stone hills, however, where grass-trees, and indeed 

 trees in general, are few, these birds visit the broken 

 rocky ground in quest of insects and their larvae. 



The present species breeds in October and No- 

 vember, making a deeper and more cup-shaped 

 nest than the other members of the group. It is 

 composed sometimes of fibrous roots lined with 

 hair-like grasses, and sometimes of grass-stems and 

 other herbage. It is placed either in a scrubby 

 bush or amongst the leaves of the Xanthorhoea. 

 The usual colour of the eggs is bluish white blotched 

 with lively reddish brown, intermixed with obscure 

 spots and purplish grey dashes, the markings most- 

 numerous towards the larger end ; there is, how- 

 ever, great variety both in colour and in the cha- 

 racter of the markings. The next subject to which 

 we would advert is the genus Troglodytes. 



This genus, which comprises the true Wrens, is 

 placed by Mr. Selby in the family Certhiadse (or 

 Creepers), and this we believe to be its true 

 situation. 



1689.— The Common Wren 

 (Troglodytes Europeans). This is the Troglodyte, 

 Roytelet, Beuf de Dieu, Berichot, and Roy Bertaud 

 of the French ; Reillo, Regillo, Rectino, Reatin, 

 Fiorracino, Sericciolo, Re d'Uccelli, and Sbueca- 

 fratte of the Italians ; Nelle Konge of Brunnich ; 

 Schneekonig, Konickerl, and Zaunschlupfrel of 

 Kramer ; Zaun Sanger of Meyer ; Haus und Wald- 

 zaunkonig of Brehm; Katy or Kitty Wren, and 

 Kitty, provincial English ; Dryw of the ancient 

 British. 



This well-known bird is spread over the whole of 

 Europe, and is everywhere noted for its familiarity 

 and its sprightly habits. In our island it is very 

 common, and braves the severity of our winter, 

 flitting from spray to spray, and traversing the 

 hedge-rows with restless activity. Its actions are 

 very smart, it takes short flights, alights on a twig, 

 towards the bottom of the hedge, flirts up its short 

 tail, utters a cry like cldt-chii, and disappears in 

 the maze of branches like a mouse, passes out on 

 the other side, and repeats its flight. In the depth 

 of winter it frequents farm-yards, cow-sheds, and 

 similar places, both for the sake of shelter and food. 

 The song of this bird is varied and pleasing, and 

 small as the warbler is, its notes are loud and clear. 

 We have often seen it on a sunshiny day, even in 

 the middle of winter, perched on a naked twig, 

 singing with great vivacity, evidently cheered by 

 the transient gleam. 



Throughout the greater part, or whole of Europe 

 the wren is King of Birds, Little King, King of Cold, 

 Snow-King, &c. (Te degli Uccelli, Roitelet, Roi de 

 Froidure, Schnee-Kbnig, &c.) : but what has given 

 rise to this title, which is as old as Aristotle, who 

 says it is called Tlpe<rPvs teal Ba<xi\evs, Elder and King, 

 it is impossible to conjecture. 



The wren breeds early, and begins to prepare its 

 nest in March ; and various are the places chosen as 

 a site, sometimes under the thatched covering of an 

 outhouse, sometimes in a niche or cavity between 

 the branches of a tree, often amidst the ivy cover- 

 ing aged trees or old walls, or the side of a hay- 

 rick. It is a domed structure with a small lateral 

 aperture ; generally it consists externally of green 

 moss, but it varies the material according to situa- 

 tion and the colour of the objects around ; on 

 a stump or rock, for example, grey lichens and 

 withered grass compose its outer coating: internally 

 it is lined with hair, feathers, wool, and other soft 

 materials. We have seen nests of this composed of 

 fine dried grasses or hay, mixed with bits of leaves, 

 moss, and lichens. 



The eggs are usually from six to eight in number, 

 of a yellowish white, sprinkled, especially at the 

 larger end, with reddish brown. It is a curious 

 circumstance that the wren often makes several 

 nests, deserting them when they are finished 0r 

 nearly so ; these it is asserted are the work of the 

 male exclusively, during the incubation of the 

 female, who labours, as it has been said, for the 

 sake of doing something, but never fines them with 

 feathers. Are they not rather structures which 

 some circumstances have prevented the pair from 

 finishing? Fig. 1690 is the nest of the Wren. 



Other species besides the present have had the 

 name of wren applied to them ; of these we may 

 notice the Gold-crest (Regulus auricapillus), often 

 termed the Golden-crested Wren. 



1691.— The Gold-Crest 

 (Regulus auricapillus'). The genus Regulus enters 

 into the family Sylviadae, and, according to Mr. 



