S T R U T HIDKA. C EH ER JEA : GwdeL
STRUTHIDEA CINEREA, Gould.
Grey Struthidea.
Struthidea nnerea, GouM :u Proc. of ZooLSbc., Part rP. p. 143; and in Sjn. Birds of Australia, Part I.—G. R. Gray,
List of Gen. of Birds, 2nd Edit., p. 51.
Brachystoma cinerea, Swains. An. in Menag., and Two Cent, and a Quarter of New Birds, No. 51.—Class, of Birds,
vol. ii. p. 266.
So l it t l e information has been obtained respecting this highly curious bird, that my account of it must necessarily
be very meagre. From what I have personally observed, it would seem to be a species peculiar to
the interior, and so far as is yet known, confined to the south-eastern portion of the Australian continent.
I found it inhabiting the pine ridges, as they are termed by the colonists, bordering the extensive plains of
the Upper and Lower Namoi, and giving a decided preference to the Callitrispyramidalis, a fine fir-like tree
peculiar to the district. Those I observed were always in small companies of three or four together, on
the topmost branches of the trees, and were extremely quick and restless, the whole company leaping
from branch to branch in rapid succession, at the same time throwing up and expanding their tails and
wings ; these actions were generally accompanied with a harsh unpleasant note ; their manners, in fact, closely
resembled those of the White-winged Chough and the Poma lor h im : a knowledge of its nidification and the
number and colour of its eggs would'throw considerable light upon the affinities of this curious form. I
would, therefore, particularly impress upon those who may reside in, or visit the localities it inhabits, to pay
especial attention to, and to make known their observations upon, these points.
The food, as ascertained by dissection, was insects ; the stomachs of those examined were tolerably hard
and muscular, and contained the remains of coleóptera.
The sexes assimilate so closely in size and in the colouring of their plumage, that they are to be distinguished
only by dissection.
Head, neck, back, and under surface grey, each feather tipped with lighter grey; wings brown ; tail
black, the middle feathers glossed with deep rich metallic green; irides pearly white; bill and legs black.
The figures are of the natural size.