Head, upper surface and wings brown, slightly tinged with olive; the
feather on the forehead tipped with a lighter colour; rump and upper
tail-coverts rich reddish chestnut; tail-feathers brownish black,
largely tipped with white, which on the two centre feathers is tinged
with brown; throat, chest, and centre of the abdomen greyish white;
flanks and under tail-coverts buffy white; bill and feet black.
The Plate represents the bird, which I believe to be a male, in two
different positions.
[Illustration:
ACANTHIZA APICALIS: _Gould_.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]
ACANTHIZA APICALIS, _Gould_.
Western Acanthiza.
_Acanthiza apicalis_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., March, 1847.
_Djool-be-djoȍl-bung_, Aborigines of the lowland districts of Western
Australia.
_Wren_, Colonists of Swan River.
This species, which is a native of Western Australia, is distinguished
from those immediately allied to it—_A. Diemenensis_, _pusilla_ and
_Ewingii_—by its large size, by its larger and rounder tail, by the
broad and distinct band of black which crosses the tail-feathers near
their extremities, and by their being largely tipped with white.
It occurs in great abundance in the colony of Western Australia, both at
Swan River and King George’s Sound, and is to be met with in all wooded
situations. Like the other members of the genus, it is active and
sprightly in its actions, leaping about from branch to branch with its
tail erect, and often repeating a note which very much resembles the
syllables _Gee-wo-wut_. Its stomach is somewhat muscular, and the food
consists of small insects of various kinds.
It breeds in September and October. The nest, which is usually placed in
a thickly-foliaged bush, or in a clump of the Tea-tree, is of a domed
form, with the entrance in the side, and is composed of dried grasses
and strips of Tea-tree bark, and lined with feathers. The eggs are from
three to five in number, of a flesh-white, thickly freckled with reddish
chestnut, the freckles becoming so numerous at the larger end as to form
a complete zone; their medium length is eight lines, and breadth six
lines.
The sexes are alike in plumage, but the female is somewhat smaller than
her mate.
Feathers of the forehead deep buff, edged with dark brown; all the upper
surface, wings and tail light olive-brown; tail crossed with a broad and
distinct band of brownish black near the extremity, and largely tipped
with white; upper tail-coverts tinged with rufous; throat and chest
greyish tail-coverts pale buff; white, each feather margined with black,
giving that part a mottled appearance; flanks, abdomen and under irides
light red; bill, legs and feet dark brown.
The figures are of the natural size.
[Illustration:
ACANTHIZA PYRRHOPYGIA: _Gould_.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]
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