FALCUNCULUS LEUCOGASTER, Gould.
White-bellied Shrike-Tit.
Falcunculus leucogaster, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part V. p. 144; and in Syn. Birds of Australia, Part IV.
Goore-beet-goore-beet, Aborigines of the lowland districts of Western Australia.
Jil-le-ë-lee, Aborigines of the mountain districts of ditto.
Djoon-dool-goo-roon, Aborigines of the Murray in ditto.
This species is an inhabitant of the western portions of Australia, where it forms a beautiful representative of the Fal. frontatus of the eastern coast, from which it may be readily distinguished by its white abdomen; it is very generally dispersed over the colony of Swan River, although, like its near ally, it is not to be met with in great abundance. It is usually seen in pairs among the thickly-foliaged trees, particularly such as grow in quiet secluded places, and is a most active little bird, running over the trunks and branches of the trees with the greatest facility, and tearing off the bark in its progress in search of insects: the habits in fact of the present and Frontal Shrike-Tit are so closely similar that a separate description is unnecessary. Its flight is of short duration, and is seldom employed for any other purpose than that of flitting from branch to branch, or from one tree to another. Its note is a series of mournful sounds, the last of which is drawn out to a greater length than the preceding ones.
The stomach is extremely muscular, and its food consists principally of coleoptera.
The male has immediately above the bill a narrow hand of white, from which, down the centre of the head, is a broad stripe of black feathers forming a crest; sides of the face and head white, divided by a line of black, which passes through the eye to the nape; back, rump, shoulders and wing-coverts bright yellowish olive; primaries and secondaries blackish brown, margined with olive-yellow; tail-feathers blackish brown, margined with olive-yellow, except the two outer, which are grey, broadly margined with white; all the tail-feathers tipped with white, the white diminishing on each feather as it approaches the centre of the tail; throat black; chest, upper part of the breast, and under tail-coverts bright yellow; abdomen and thighs white; irides wood-brown; bill dark brown, becoming lighter at the edges of the mandibles; legs and feet greenish blue.
The female differs from her mate in being somewhat smaller in size, and in having the throat green instead of black.
The figures are those of a male and female, of the natural size.