PSOPHODES NIGROGULARIS, Gould.
Black-throated Psophodes.
Psophodes nigrogularis, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., January 23, 1844.
T he addition o f a second species to the genus Psophodes will be hailed with pleasure by every one
who makes the science of ornithology a matter of study; nor will its discovery be a subject o f surprise
to us, as it is only another illustration o f that beautiful law o f representation which is conspicuously
carried out in Australia. The habitat o f the present bird will doubtless be hereafter found to be as
strictly confined to the western part o f the continent as that o f the P . crepitans is to the eastern. As yet
only a single example has reached me, and in all probability no other specimen has ever fallen by the gun
of any individual. It is to Mr. Gilbert’s perseverance that science is indebted for the knowledge o f this
new bird, and his notes which accompanied the specimen (a male) I here transcribe :— “ Inhabits thickets of
a small species o f Leptospermum growing among the sand-hills which run parallel with and adjacent to the
beach. It utters a peculiar harsh and grating song which it is quite impossible to describe, and which is so
different from that o f every other bird I ever heard or am acquainted with, that I shall have no difficulty in
recognizing it again wherever I may hear it. I heard it for the first time, together with the notes o f many
other birds equally strange to me, in the vicinity o f the Wongan Hills a few weeks back, but could not
then obtain a sight o f the bird, although I knew from its singular and never to be mistaken note that it
was only a few yards from me.”
Plumage o f the upper surface olive; under surface ashy, passing into brown on the flanks and white on
the centre o f the abdomen; primaries brown; tail light olive-brown, the four lateral feathers crossed near
the extremity with a band of black, and tipped with white; throat deep black, with a stripe of white from
the angle o f the lower mandible, just within the black; bill dark horn-colour; irides dark brown; feet
dark horn-colour.
The figures are o f the natural size.