PIEZORHYNCHUS NITIDUS, Gould. 
Shining" Flycatcher. 
Piezorhynchus nitidus, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, Part VIII. p. 171. 
Ung-hur-ka, Aborigines of Port Essington. 
I here give a representation of a Flycatcher, whose habitat, so far as we know, is restricted to the northern 
portions of Australia. It is by no means scarce at Port Essington, but, from the extreme shyness of its 
disposition and the situations it inhabits, it is seldom seen ; specimens in fact are not procured without con- 
siderable trouble and difficulty. As I have not myself seen the bird in its native haunts, I shall transcribe, 
with as little alteration as possible, Mr. Gilbert's notes respecting it: — "Inhabits the densest mangroves 
and thickets, and is usually seen creeping about close to the ground among the fallen trees in the swamps, 
at which time it utters a note so closely resembling the croak of a frog, that it might easily be mistaken for 
the voice of that animal ; this peculiar note would seem to be only emitted while the bird is feeding on the 
ground ; for when it occasionally mounts to the higher branches of the trees it utters a rather pleasing succes- 
sion of sounds resembling twit-te-twite ; on the slightest disturbance it immediately descends again to the 
underwood and recommences its frog-like note. The nest is either built among the mangroves, or on the 
verge of a thicket near an open spot. One that I found among the mangroves was built on a seedling-tree 
not more than three feet from the ground ; another was on a branch overhanging a small running stream 
within reach of the hand ; while a third, constructed on the branches of the trees bordering a clear space in 
the centre of a dense thicket, was at least twenty feet high. The nest at all times so closely resembles the 
surrounding branches, that it is very difficult to detect unless the birds are very closely watched ; in some 
instances it looks so like an excrescence of the tree, and in others is so deeply seated in the fork whereon it 
is placed, that it can only be discovered when the bird is sitting upon it. The nest is about two inches and 
a half in height and three and a quarter in diameter, is of a cup-shaped form, with the rim brought to a 
sharp edge, and is outwardly composed of the stringy bark of an Eucalyptus bound together on the outside 
with vegetable fibres, among which in some instances cobwebs are mixed : all over the outside of the nest 
small pieces of bark resembling portions of lichens are attached, some of them hanging by a single thread 
and moving about with every breath of air ; the internal surface is lined with a strong wiry thread-like 
fibrous root, whereby the whole structure is rendered nearly as firm as if it were bound with wire." 
The effffs, which are two in number, are ten lines long and seven lines broad, of a bluish white, blotched 
and spotted all over with olive and greyish brown, the spots of the latter hue being less numerous and 
more obscure ; the spots inclining towards the form of a zone at the larger end. 
The food consists of insects of various kinds. 
The male has the whole of the plumage rich deep glossy greenish black ; irides dark brown ; bill greyish 
blue at the base, black at the tip ; tarsi greenish grey. 
The female has the top and sides of the head and the back of the neck rich deep glossy greenish black ; 
the remainder of the upper surface, wings and tail rusty brown ; and the whole of the under surface white. 
The figures are those of a male and a female of the natural size. 
