  Turdus melanophrys, Lath. Ind. Orn. Supp., p. xlii. Black-browed Thrush, Lath. Gen. Syn. Supp., vol. ii. p. 185.—Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. x. p. 206.—Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. v. p. 125. Manorhina viridis, Vieill. Gal. des Ois., pi. 149.—Jard. and Selb. Ill. Orn., vol. ii. pl. 78. Myzantha flavirostris, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p. 319.—Less. Man. d’Orn., tom. ii. p. 67. Manorina viridis, Bonn, et Vieill. Ency. MÉth. Orn., part ii. p. 692.—G. R. Gray, List of Gen. of Birds, 2nd Edit., p. 21. Dilbong and Dilring, Aborigines of New South Wales (Latham). Bell-bird of the Colonists. In its habits, actions and general economy the Bell-bird so closely resembles the Garrulous Honey-eater (Myzantha garrula), as not to justify its separation from the members of the group of which that is the acknowledged type. In strict justice, perhaps, Vieillot’s name of Manorhina, which has the advantage of priority, should have been applied to all the members of this group, in which case the new species named by me as MyzanthÆ must be termed ManorhinÆ, and the former generic appellation sink into a synonym. The MyzanthÆ, as I have before remarked, frequent the trees of the plains and the more open parts of the forest; the present bird, on the other hand, evinces a decided preference for, and appears to be strictly confined to dense and thick brushes, particularly such as are of a humid and swampy nature, and with the foliage of which the peculiar tint of its plumage closely assimilates. I frequently encountered it in companies of from ten to forty, and occasionally still greater numbers were seen disporting among the leafy branches in search of insects and displaying many varied actions, at one time clinging to and hanging down from the branches by one leg, and at another prying beneath the leaves, or flying with outspread wings and tail from tree to tree, and giving utterance to a peculiar garrulous note totally different in sound from the faint monotonous tinkle usually uttered, which has been justly compared to the sound of distant sheep-bells, and which, when poured forth by a hundred throats from various parts of the forest, has a most singular effect. The same appellation of Bell-bird having been given by the colonists of Swan River to a species inhabiting that part of Australia, I must here warn my readers against considering them identical, by informing them that the two birds are not only specifically but generically distinct. The bird forming the subject of the present Plate has not as yet been observed out of New South Wales, where its peculiar province is the brushes; and if it departs from those which stretch along the coast from Port Philip to Moreton Bay, I believe it will only be found in those which clothe the sides of the higher hills, such as the Liverpool range and others of a similar character. Although it is stationary in New South Wales, and very abundant at Illawarra and in the brushes of the Hunter, I did not succeed in obtaining its nest or eggs. The sexes are precisely alike in plumage, and the young soon attain the colouring of the adult. Like the Myzantha garrula it is of a prying and inquisitive disposition, and the whole troop may be easily brought within the range of observation by uttering any kind of harsh squeaking note, when they will descend to ascertain the cause, and look around with the utmost curiosity. Its flight is of the same skimming motionless kind as that of the Garrulous Honey-eater; and upon some given signal the whole flock, or the greater portion of it, fly off simultaneously and descend to some neighbouring branch in a cluster. The whole of the plumage, with the exception of the primaries and secondaries, yellowish olive, but the under surface much paler than the upper; forehead, stripe from the angle of the lower mandible, ring encircling and dilated into a spot above the eye, black; ear-coverts olive-brown; primaries and secondaries dark brown, the former margined with grey and the latter with yellowish olive; bill fine yellow; tarsi and toes fine orange-yellow; eye dark leaden brown; eyelash leaden grey; bare space below and behind the eye orange-red. The Plate represents a male and a female of the natural size on a plant gathered in the brushes of Illawarra. ZOSTEROPS DORSALIS: Vig. & Horsf. |
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