PETROICA GOODENOVII, _Jard. and Selb._
Red-capped Robin.
_Muscicapa Goodenovii_, Vig. & Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p.
245.—Jard. and Selb. Ill. Orn., vol. i. pl. 8, fig. 2.
_Petroica Goodenovii_, Jard. and Selb. Ill. Orn., Add., vol.
ii.—Gould, Syn. Birds of Australia, Part I.
_Mȅ-ne-gȅ-dang_, Aborigines of the mountain districts of Western
Australia.
_Red-capped Robin_ of the Colonists.
The red crown and much smaller size of this beautiful Robin at once
distinguishes it from every other species of the genus yet discovered.
Although not plentiful in any part I have visited, it is very generally
distributed over the whole of the southern portion of Australia. I have
observed it myself in South Australia and in New South Wales, and Mr.
Gilbert killed it in Western Australia, where, however, it is very
local, for he only met with it in two spots, one in the York district
and the other at Kojonup, about one hundred miles towards the interior
from King George’s Sound. I have not yet heard of its being an
inhabitant of the northern portion of the country.
I generally observed it either singly or in pairs, and it appeared to
give a decided preference to the beds of dry rivulets, and to thinly
timbered plains, the dense brushes near the coast never being visited by
it; it would seem therefore to be a species peculiar to the interior of
the country.
The whole of the actions and economy of this bird so closely assimilate
to those of the _Petroica multicolor_, that it is unnecessary to repeat
a description of them here; of its nidification no information has yet
been obtained; but in this respect also it doubtless closely resembles
the same species.
It possesses a peculiarly sweet and plaintive song, very much like that
of the European Robin, but more weak and not so continuous.
Its food consists of insects of various kinds.
The male has the upper surface, neck, upper part of the breast and wings
brownish black; wing-coverts and secondaries edged with white, forming a
broad stripe along the wings; middle of the outer web of the quills with
a narrow white margin; forehead, crown, and lower part of the breast
bright scarlet, passing into white on the vent; irides, bill and feet
blackish brown; soles of the feet yellow.
The female, as is the case with the females of the other species,
differs much from her mate in the colouring of the plumage, which
difference will be more clearly perceived in the accompanying
illustration than by the most minute description.
The Plate represents the two sexes of the natural size.
[Illustration:
PETROICA PHŒNICEA: _Gould_.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del^t._ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]
PETROICA PHŒNICEA, _Gould_.
Flame-breasted Robin.
_Petroica phœnicea_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part IV. p. 105;
and in Syn. Birds of Australia, Part I.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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