MYCTERTA AUS TR A L IS Lath.
Australian Mycteria.
Mycteria Australis, Lathrlnd. Om.» Supp^ p t|[p,y^^Shaw in Linn. Trans., yol. y. p.fpi^-yieill. 2nde edit, du
Nouv; tom. x y i.j^^ ^ ^H ^B p .cy . M^th., tom. iii.p, 1035.—List of Birds in Brit.
ii. p. 249.—Swains.
Class, of Birds, vol. ii. p. 355.
N e w Holland JaMn/,, M a / i f e Misc., pb 501-—Lath. 6m. Hist.,
s Gen. Zool., vol. xi. p. 627.
Giconia leucoptera, 'W^^Syst. 'Xv. Cicoiiid, sp. fk :
■——r— Australis, Temm.
Barri-enna, Aborigines of New S o n th |^ |^ § ;} ^
I regret much jfchat this fine bird is f^ j|a t all known, t& me ; I did not meet with it in
a state o f nature, but I learnt that it possesses a wi.de range over the continent o f A u stralia; and that it is
^ o rp abundanC& tE ^ ^ r i^ È h and^^fern shores than elsewhere4 when the country was first colonized it
was found as near tb |pey as;Botany, B a y ,,a p d j^ J^ ^ ^ is soim^mies seen on tfie,small islands in the
mouth o f the rivenHunter; a l S e proceed eastward tq J fo e to n Bay-it becomes more common, and in the
neighbourhood of the Clarence and MacLeay it may be almost daplyseen: both Mr. Gilbert and Mr. McGil-
-livrayanLet with it at P o t Ik Ès§ing|Qn, bat did^np^promVe/specimens j the former also encountered it in
the lagoblS of th e ^ | |^ ^ ^ | |b ^ in company with D r f Leichai-dfe ï lÈ i lÈ É is |||||| shy in disposition or
mor^^^^RoTapproach, its feeding-ground and resting-place being always .in the most exposed situation,
s u c h ^ morasses> &c*> who^^t cpn survey all around.
Its food;islsaiato be very varied, consisting o f e | | p kind o f a n jn p p p ^ a b i j^ g marshy situations, but
more particularly fish and reptiles*,
Head and neck Twdf deep glassy green, b^^|ing;Wto purple and violet at the occiput; greater wing-
coyerts both above and beneath, scapularies, lower part o f the back a n | | p g ^ g lossy gi;een, tinged with a
golden lu f ii | | the remainder o f the plumage pure white; bill black ; ^ ^ s dark hazel; legs fine red.
T h e figure of this noble bird', $yhich stands nearly four feet high, is necessarily very much reduced, and
is scarcely one-fourth of the natural size.