AXE LURGEDUS VIRIDIS

Cat-bird.

(Latham)

Green Grakle, Lath. Gen. Syn. Suppl. ii. p. 129 (1801).
Gracula viridis, Lath. Ind. Orn. Suppl. ii. P- XXvill (1801).—Shaw. Gen. Zool. yi; Ti

Lanius crassirostris, Paykull, Nova Acta Akad. Upsal. vii. py 282) Taf 10 ao Bee
Kitta virescens, Temm. PI. Col. ii. pl. 396 (1826).—Wagler, Syst. Ay., ee ~ ch ‘

Ptilonorhynchus smithii, Vig. & Horsf. Trans. Linn. Soc. xy. p. 264 (1827 ae ee Ce.
ee Goa 3B Ane Mega. > €x Latham MSS.).—Gray, Gen, Beat
Ptilorhynchus smithii, Bp. Consp. i. p. 370 (1850).—Schl. Mus, P
Ailuredus smithiit, Cab. Mus. Hein. Th. i. P- 213 (1850).—Goul

ae

ays-Bas, Coraces. j. pel (1867)

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& Ailuredus crassirostris, Sclater, Ibis, 1868, p. 601.—Elliot, a eae 2 bs ae
4 mmnmeoc. N.S. W. ii. p. 187 (1878). : oe
= Ptilonorhynchus erassirostris, Gray, Hand-l. B. i. p- 294, no. 4336 (1869).

Aluredus viridis, Sharpe, Cat. Birds in Brit. Mus. vi. P- 385 (1881).—Ramsay, Tab. L \ 3

North, Nests & Eggs Austr. B. p. 176 (1889).—ITd. Rec. Austr. ie + ae an a

—Ramsay, Proe.

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Jy nearly every country in the world there seems to be some bird which has the name of “ Cat-bird ”
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bestowed upon it. In North America it is a Mocking-bird, Galeoscoptes carolinensis, which hears the
( ENSIS, ars > Hame,

and in Australia the present species is known to the colonists by the same title on account of the t
' : > strange
: | general appearance the bird is allied to the
Bower-birds, but it has never been known to build a “ bower.” Mr. Gould says:—“ While in

resemblance of its note to that of a cat. Structurally and in
: : i... : ie district
in which this bird is found, my attention was directed t isitl : inf i
as 0 the acquis : informatic obtai

a : y a. : acquisition of all the information I could obtain
especting its habits, as I considered it very probable that it might construct a bower similar to that of the
Satin-bird ; but I could not satisfy myself that j s . i
a Eo: po not satisfy myself that it does, nor could I discover its nest or the situation in
which it breeds ; it is doubtless, however, among the branches of the trees of the forest in which it lives.”
As will be seen below, the nest and eggs are now known, but Mr. North also stated in 1891 that he had

a ee : ioe 39 aS : . . . s
never heard of any “ bower being built by the Australian Cat-birds.

lhe range of the Cat-bird is given by Mr. North as the coastal ranges of New South Wales and Southern
Queensland. He writes :—<« It is particularly plentiful at Cambewarra and the Kangaroo valley, in the

Ilawarra district, and is found in favourable localities all through the southern portions of the coast ranges,

 

becoming scarcer, however, as the boundary of the colony is approached. The rich bushes in the neighbour-

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hood of the Clarence, Richmond, and Tweed rivers are also strongholds of this species, and it is also found,

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ft not & freely dispersed, in the extreme south of Queensland.” Mr. Gould observes :—‘ So far as our
knowledge extends, this species is only found in New South Wales, where it inhabits the luxuriant forests
that extend along the eastern coast between the mountain ranges and the sea ; those of Illawarra, the Hunter,
the Macleay, and the Clarence, and the cedar-brushes of the Liverpool Range, being, among many others,
localities in which it may be found : situations suitable to the Regent- and Satin-birds are equally adapted
to the habits of the Cat-bird, and I have not unfrequently seen them all three feeding together on the same
tree.”

It should be meted that Dr. Ramsay included Victoria and South Australia among the habitats of the
present species; but I presume that these countries were inserted by mistake in the ‘Table’ of Australian
birds, as Mr. North does not include them in his more recently-given range of the species.

Mr. Gould gives the following account of the habits of the Cat-bird :—* The wild fig and the native
cherry, when in season, afford an abundant supply. So rarely does it take insects that I do not recollect ever
iis MT air the stomachs of those inca I dissected. In its disposition it is neither a shy nor
a wary bird, little caution being required to approach it, either when feeding or while quietly perched Ce
the lofty branches of the trees. It is at such times that its loud, harsh, and extraordinary note is heard; a
note which differs so much from that of all other birds that, having been once heard, it can never be
mistaken, In comparing it to the nightly concerts of the domestic cat, I conceive that I am one
my readers a more perfect idea of the note of this species than could be given by pages of description. | a
concert is performed either by a pair or by several individuals, and nothing more 1s required than for the

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