An Australian Bird Book Part 38

Forehead, face, under, tip tail white; back gray; band on chest, wings, tail black; f.,* duller, faint band on chest.

=282* Crimson-breasted Chat= (Tricolored), Saltbush Canary (e), _E. tricolor_, A. exc. N. Ter.

Mig. r. _timber_ 4.3

Crown, base tail, breast, abdomen scarlet; face, back of head, back dark-brown; tip-tail spotted white; throat, under base tail white; f., duller. Insects.

=283 Orange-fronted Chat=, Saltbush Canary, _E. aurifrons_, A.

exc. N. Ter.

Nom. r. _open plains_ 4.3

Head, upper base tail, under golden-orange; back brown; tip tail spotted white; chin black; f., duller. Gra.s.shoppers, other insects.

Order XXI. (continued)

The Warbler family, _Sylviidae_, is a large one, found all through the Eastern Hemisphere. One migratory species crosses Behring Strait each year to summer in Alaska.

As no less than 79 Australian small birds have been grouped in this family, it is of considerable importance to our bird lovers. At the head of the family, we have an exact representative of the Reed-Warbler of Europe in the delightful plain-brown songster which charms all who frequent river sides. Its song is "louder and more melodious than that of any of its European relations except" the Reed-Warbler. It is a welcome spring visitor, and can be heard on any spring or summer day in the Botanic Gardens, or in any reed bed by stream or lake.

The next bird is the Australian representative of the Fantail-Warblers (_Cisticola_). These birds are related to the Tailor-Bird.

Much has been written of the Tailor-Bird of India which so cleverly sews leaves together to enclose its nest, but few know we have a bird that does similar work when building its nest. Dr. Sharpe has decided that our bird is identical with an Indian species, so we must take the Indian name--Golden-headed Fantail-Warbler. This bird moults twice a year. At the autumn moult, it obtains a long tail and a streaked crown. The four Australian species described by Gould are now known to be but different forms of the one species which undergoes seasonal change.

Speckled Jack, the Speckled Warbler (Little Field-Wren), is a tame little bird with a pleasing song. Its chocolate-colored egg used to be much valued in the days when schoolboys collected eggs. It walks instead of hopping.

The Yellow-tailed t.i.t-Warbler (_Acanthiza_) is a member of an Australian genus, which has been split up into 27 species, all of which, except a New Guinea form, are restricted to Australia. Some are pleasing songsters. The two-storied nest of the Yellow-tail is well known and is peculiar. What is the use of the upper nest--for the male to rest in, to delude the cuckoo, or what?

These birds are not t.i.ts (_Paridae_). They have been called Thornbills by Mr. A. J. North. The name t.i.t-Warbler has been adopted by the "names" sub-committee of the Royal Australasian Ornithologists'

Union, pending the completion of the Australian Check-List. The common White-browed Scrub-Wren is not a Wren, but is a Warbler. He is the best known of the genus, though even he is seldom seen. His dark-brown color leads one to suspect a dark scrub as his dwelling place. Though common in places, he is seldom noticed, but if you sit down in a quiet scrubby corner, his inquisitiveness will often impel him to run almost over your feet. Some light spots on the shoulder and the white eyebrow will a.s.sist you in identifying him. His mouse-like run further a.s.sists in identification.

Amongst the glories of the bird world, the Superb-Warbler stands high.

His beautiful enamel-blue and black costume, and his cheery, fussy song justify his name. He is generally accompanied by four or five plain-colored mates, and is said to lose his beautiful coat of blue each autumn, but the balance of evidence now seems to be with Mr. Keartland and Dr. Horne, who claim that he gets the permanent beautiful coat late in life (that is, when three or four years old), and does not lose it afterwards, except for a few days at moulting time. But, being so conspicuous, he soon falls a prey to one of his numerous enemies, of whom the small boy with a pea-rifle is probably the worst. I, too frequently, hear of these enemies of their country being caught with three or four of these lovely little birds in their possession. However, Bird Day in the schools did much good, and the next generation of boy will probably have less of the savage in him.

The Emu-Wren, which has tail feathers like Emu feathers, is easily recognized if seen. It is difficult to cause it to fly out of the rushes round a swamp. The Bristle-Birds are Australian, and are fairly common in some dense scrubs.

Gra.s.s-Wrens are not Wrens, but are placed in the Warbler family. They are Central Australian birds. They seldom fly, but "progress like a rubber ball" with great swiftness. They are of the light tawny color that so well matches desert sands. It is very difficult to get a second look at one, as it hides in the gra.s.s and scrub, and almost refuses to be flushed. Sometimes it nearly allows itself to be walked upon.

Fourteen of the 17 members of the Wood-Swallow family are confined to the Australian region. The White-rumped Wood-Swallow extends from Australia through the islands to the Andaman Islands; another kind is found in India, Ceylon, and Burma. Some kinds are migratory. They appear suddenly in great companies, build a flimsy, careless nest in any spot high or low, and soon have the young on the wing. They are the "Blue-Birds," "Summer-Birds," or "Martins" of our youth. Some of these birds have the remarkable habit of hanging in a cl.u.s.ter similar to a great swarm of bees. Like Honey-eaters, they take honey from the flowering eucalypts. The street trees of Bendigo were alive with these birds in May, 1909. The Sordid Wood-Swallow is partly migratory, and lives in small companies. Most towns in Southern Australia have a company of these birds in the neighborhood. One such company lives in the Domain, near the entrance to the Botanic Gardens, Melbourne.

These tame woodland birds, admirable in their graceful wheeling and floating flight, destroy numbers of destructive insects. Occasionally, a company has discovered that a good food supply can easily be obtained close to a beehive. Thus rarely they do a slight amount of harm, but the balance is overwhelmingly in their favor.

(continued below)

F. 127. SYLVIIDAE (79), WARBLERS (Whitethroat, Blackcap (Br.), Chiffchaff), 525 sp.--107(102)A., 137(84)O., 108(22)P., 267(228)E., 1(0)Nc.

[Page 135]

[Ill.u.s.tration: [284] [285] [286] [287] [288] [289] [291] [293] [297]]

=284= Australian Reed-Warbler =285= Australian Fantail-Warbler =286= Gra.s.s-Bird =287= Speckled Warbler =288= Little t.i.t-Warbler =289= Brown t.i.t-Warbler =291= Striated t.i.t-Warbler =293= Yellow-tailed t.i.t-Warbler =297= White-browed Scrub-Wren

[Page 137]

[Ill.u.s.tration: [300] [300^A] [302] [304] [306] [311] [312] [313] [315]]

=300= Superb-Warbler =300^A= Superb-Warbler (Female) =302= White-winged Superb-Warbler =304= Emu Wren =306= Bristle Bird =311= White-browed Wood-Swallow =312= Masked Wood-Swallow =313= Wood-Swallow =315= Gray Shrike-Thrush

[Page 139]

[Ill.u.s.tration: [319] [320] [321] [322] [322^A] [323] [323^A] [326] [327]]

=319= Australian Butcher-Bird =320= Yellow-breasted Shrike-t.i.t =321= Crested Bell-Bird =322= Golden-breasted Whistler =322^A= Golden-breasted Whistler (Female) =323= Rufous-breasted Whistler =323^A= Rufous-breasted Whistler (F.) =326= Shrike-Robin =327= Whiteface

[Page 142]

[Ill.u.s.tration: [284] [285] [286] [287] [288] [289]]

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=284* Australian Reed-Warbler=, Reed-Bird, (Nightingale), Water-Sparrow (e), _Acrocephalus australis_, Lombok, E.A., S.A., T. =vt. Eur. Reed-Warbler.

Mig. c. _reeds_ 6.2

Brown; head darker; under lighter; throat whitish; bill long, pointed; f., sim. Insects. Rich melodious song.

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=285* Golden-headed Fantail-Warbler=, Gra.s.s-Warbler (Exiled), Corn (Barley) Bird, _Cisticola exilis_, Ind., Formosa to A.

(exc. C.A.), King Is.

Stat. r. _gra.s.s_, _crops_ 3.6

Golden-buff; upper streaked blackish; tail 1.2in., blackish, edged buff; f., crown streaked black. Winter* crown streaked black; throat whitish; tail 1.9in.; f., sim.

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=286* Gra.s.s-Bird= (Little Reed), Marsh-Warbler, _Megalurus gramineus_, N.S.W., V., S.A., T.

Stat. v.r. _tussocks_ 5.2

Upper brown streaked, lined blackish; throat, chest gray faintly streaked black; tail reddish-brown; f., sim. Insects.

"Four or five plaintive notes."

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