PIEZORHYNCHUS NITIDUS, Gould.
Shining’ Flycatcher.
Piezorhynchus nitidus, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part VIII. p. 171.
Ung-bur-ka, Aborigines of Port Essington.
I h e r e give a representation of a Flycatcher, whose habitat, so far as we know, is restricted to the northern
portions o f Australia. It is by no means scarce at Port Essington, but, from the extreme shyness o f its
disposition and the situations it inhabits, it is seldom seen ; specimens in fact are not procured without considerable
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 i t :— “ 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 o f a frog, that it might easily be mistaken for
the voice o f 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 o f the trees it utters a rather pleasing succession
o f 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 o f 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 o f a cup-shaped form, with the rim brought to a
sharp edge, and is outwardly composed o f the stringy bark o f an Eucalyptus bound together on the outside
with vegetable fibres, among which in some instances cobwebs are mixed: all over the outside o f the nest
small pieces o f bark resembling portions o f lichens are attached, some of them hanging by a single thread
and moving about with every breath of a ir ; 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 eggs, which are two in number, are ten lines long and seven lines broad, o f a bluish white, blotched
and spotted all over with olive and greyish brown, the spots o f 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 o f insects o f 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 o f 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.