SERICULUS MELINUS. 



REGENT BIRD. 



YELLOW-BELLIED THRUSH, Lath. Gen. Syn. Supp. (1801) vol. ii. p. 187. sp. 31. 

 TURDUS MELINUS, Lath. Gen. Syn. Supp. (1801) p. xliv. 

 GOLDEN-CROWNED HONEY-EATER, Lath. Gen. Hist. vol. iv.' p. 184 (1822). 



SERICULUS REGENS, Less. Zool. de la Coquil. (1826), Atlas, pi. 20, 5.— Id. Man. d'Orn. torn. i. p. 256.— Id. Ois. Parad. (1835), Syn. p. 21 ; 



Hist. Nat. p. 204, pis. 26 & 27.— Id. Trait. Ornith. (1831) t. ii. p. 340. 

 MELIPHAGA CHRYSOCEPH ALA, Lewin, Birds New Holl. (1828) pi. 1. 

 SERICULUS MAGNIROSTRIS, Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc. (1837) p. 145. 



ARIOLUS REGENS, Temm. Plan. Color. (1828) vol. ii. pi. 320 — Quoy et Gaim. Voy. de l'Uranie (1824), Atlas, pi. 22— Cuv. Regn. Anim. 

 (18 ) t. i. p. 380. 



SERICULUS CHRYSOCEPHALUS, Swains. Zool. Journ. (1825) vol. i. p. 478.— Vig. & Horsf. Trans. Linn. Soc. vol. xv. p. 326.— Jard. & Selby, 

 Illus. Ornith. vol. i. pis. 18, 19, 20.— Swains. Class. Birds (1837), vol. ii. p. 238— Less. Trait. Ornith. (1831) p. 340.— Shaw, Gen. Zool. 

 vol. xiv. p. 266— Gould, Birds of Austr. vol. iv. pi.— Gray, Gen. Birds, vol. i. p. 233.— Id. List Gen. Birds, 2nd ed. p. 38.— Gould. Hand-b. 

 Birds Austr. vol. i. p. 456 (1865). 



SERICULUS MELINUS, Schleg. Mus. Pays-Bas (1867), p. 99.— Gray, Hand-1. Birds (1869), pt. i. p. 293. sp. 4333.— Ramsay, Ibis (1866), 

 pp. 325 & 330, (1867) pp. 415 & 456.— Newton, Ibis (1870), p. 119. 



Hab. Eastern Australia (Gould et atjct.). 



Among all the species constituting the Australian avifauna there is none more conspicuously attired than the 

 one whose portrait is here given. Nothing could present a stronger contrast than the deep velvety black and 

 rich golden yellow which comprise all the colours of its plumage ; and when upon the wing, it is a most 

 attractive object. Eastern Australia is its home ; and, unlike many members of the Paradiseidse, able observers 

 have watched it in its haunts and made us acquainted with its curious habits and economy. Like the .true 

 Birds of Paradise, the Regent bird has the head thickly covered with short stiff upright feathers, which feel 

 on pressure like soft rich velvet. These feathers do not lie down, as is usually the case ; and this is one of the most 

 peculiar characters of the true Birds of Paradise (P. apoda, P. minor, and P. rubra). In its habits the Regent 

 bird is also closely related to the various species of Chlamydodera, and like them builds a bower, in which it 

 amuses itself with all kinds of strange antics. But it will be best for me to let those who have witnessed its 

 habits relate their observations in their own way. In his great work on the birds of Australia, Mr. Gould says : — 

 " This beautiful species, one of the finest birds of the Australian fauna, is, I believe, exclusively confined to the 

 eastern portion of the country ; it is occasionally seen in the neighbourhood of Sydney, which appears to be the 

 extent of its range to the southward and westward. I met with it in the brushes at Maitland, in company, 

 and feeding on the same trees, with . the Satin and Cat Birds and the Mimeta viridis ; it is still more abundant 

 on the Manning at Port Macquarie, and at Moreton Bay. I sought for and made every inquiry respecting it 

 at Illawarra, but did not meet with it, and was informed that it is never seen there ; yet the district is precisely 

 similar in character to those in which it is abundant, about two degrees to the eastward. While encamped on 

 Mosquito Island, near the mouth of the river Hunter, I shot several, and observed it to be numerous on the 

 neighbouring islands, and particularly Bakers' Island, where there is a fine garden, and where it commits serious 

 injury to the fruit crops. 



" Although I have spoken of this bird as abundant in the various localities referred to, I must mention that at least 

 fifty out of colour may be observed to one fully plumaged male, which, when adorned in its gorgeous livery of 

 golden yellow and deep velvety black, exhibits an extreme shyness of disposition, as if conscious that its beauty, 

 rendering it a conspicuous object, might lead to its destruction. It is usually, therefore, very quiet in its actions, and 

 mostly resorts to the topmost branches of the trees ; but when two gaily coloured males meet, conflicts frequently 

 take place. To obtain specimens in their full dress, considerable caution is necessary ; on the other hand, females 

 and immature males are very tame, and, when feedmg among the foliage, appear to be so intent upon their 



