1 lEJMI'llfill,|U )lB 1 « V IMhll ''X - c ‘f
HEMIPODIUS VELOX, Gould.
Swift-flying Hemipode.
Hemipodius i ■ lMlam T jH
Aborigines of l^^mq|uft^m^distrip.^s hf Western Australia.
Little
this new and interesting species of Hemipodius abundant in various parts vof'New South Wales, but
whether it has always,,visited those localities, or has only recently made its appearance there, I cannot say.
Mr. S te p ^m ^ ^ ^ / omwhose esta^M^as"! plentiful, and w h o f i^ ® 7ell known, has for some years paid
^nsid^-ablo attention to the Ornithology of Australia, ^ d d ^ ^ n i e no information respecting it,
would appear t ^ ^ g e*escaped the notice^ ^ ^ E ^ t ors generally, f e YflS ii never» seen a specimen in any
^■©lllijin eitheV/jpjej^^ r private. that it is®fKtly migratory, by finding it abundant
had winter, wpfeipo appearance o^Jne was to be
The season of md^Pnah^ulual luxuriance t h ^ ^ S ^ M ^ e f lo n g and distressing drought of 1838—39,
bringing in its train a number of rare and interesting st^ M .was highly advantageous to the objects of my
expedition. It was^ ^ f f 1‘^s season tofrplenty, when the J^3^^face of the country was covered with the
richest that I am in d lh e t to ; attribute the appearance lof yast numbers of this species over the
district of the whole Upper Hunter, particularly in the flats ofr':i>pgeuho, Jnvermein, and Yarrundi. It
appeared to give preference to the low stony! ridges which border a n d llpS ^e c t these flats, and which are
.thinly covered with grasses: pf various kinds, for it was in such situations I^g£n§rally found it, though in
some occasions I started it-from among the rank herbage clothing the i l g i # s ^ e ith e bottoms. It lies
s© close as to be nearly trodden upon before it will rise, and when flushed it flies if f with such extreme
Mj>i (I i i yl l | | combined with its small size and the intervention of trees, to renderfill^most difficult shot to
the sportsman. On rising it flies to the distance?o|?o^^Mtwo hundred yards three feet of
th^ su^faqc, ^nd then suddenly pitches to the might be expected, it lies ^eQfto a pointer, and
^ |^ i s by this means that I found many whiehj» could not otherwise have started.
One of the most singul^i'e^cn^^Mnces connected; with the history of this' and the foll<|wdn[g species, is
the great difference in the size of the sexes, the malesbeing but little more than half the size of their mates.
Pleased as I was at making acquaintance v u tlg ffi. l i t t l § ^ ^ , I was still more gratified at finding its nest
and eggs. Natty and Jemmy, two natives, of the Yarirundi' tribe, and who always
accompanied me, also caught several of the yo\mg>which had not leftthe nest manyidays.
In addition to the districts above^h^eff&Bobserved it, although rarely, in ^ em l^ r^ r jof the country north
of the Liverpool Plains. Before I left Sydney a single specimen was sent me from South Australia, and in
my recently arrived coUectipn|r£un Swan Riy e rlfo u n d both the bird and its eggs; these circumstances
proving that it possesses a range of longitude extending from one side of the continent to the other, and in
all probability it inhabits a great portiqmpM|he| northern interior. In Western Australia it is stated to
inhabit clear open spots of grass, and may.occasionaQy.be met with in the Ifopk scrub, but its most
favourite retreat is the grassy valleys of ^ ^ ^ ^ io r ^M ja c e n t to water.
It breeds in. September and October. The nest is slightly constructed of grasses placed in a shallow
depression of the ground under the shelter ifi a small tuft of grass: the eggs are J ||||in n um b e r, of a dirty
white, very thickly blotched all over with1 markings of chestnut, eleven lines and a halfdong by nine lines
broad: the eggs from Western Australia are much lighter in colour, and have the chestnut blotchings
much more minute.
The stomach is extremely muscular, and the food, consists of grasshoppers, andother insects, seeds, etc.
Head, ear-coverts, and all the upper surface, chestnut-red; the crown of the- head in some specimens
has a longitudinal mark of buff down the centre ; the feathers of the back, rump, scapularies, and sides
of the chest margined with buff, within which is a narrow line of black running in the same direction; the
feathers of the lower part of the back are also crossed by several narrow irregular bands of black; primaries
light brown, margined with buff on their internal edges; throat, chest, and flanks sandy buff, passing into
white on the abdomen; bill horn-colour; irides straw-white; legs and feet yellowish white.
The above is. the description of a female: the male has the feathers o n . the sides of the chest con-^
spicuously margined witnfmM
The Plate represents a male and female of the natural size.