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ORTHONYX

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Originally appearing in Volume V20, Page 339 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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ORTHONYX , the scientific name given in 182o, by C. J. Temminck, to a. little See also:

bird, which, from the straightness of its claws—a See also:character somewhat exaggerated by him—its large feet and spiny tail, he judged to be generically distinct from any other See also:form. The typical See also:species, O. spinicauda, is from See also:south-eastern See also:Australia, where it is very See also:local in its See also:distribution, and strictly terrestrial in its habits. It is rather larger than a skylark, coloured above not unlike a hedge-See also:sparrow. The wings are, however, barred with See also:white, and the See also:chin, See also:throat and See also:breast are in the male pure white, but of a See also:bright reddish-See also:orange in the See also:female. The remiges are very See also:short, rounded and much incurved, showing a bird of weak See also:flight. The rectrices are very broad, the shafts stiff, and towards the tip divested of barbs. O. spaldingi from See also:Queensland is of much greater See also:size than the type, and with a See also:jet-See also:black plumage, the throat being white in the male and orange-rufous in the female. Orthonyx is a semi-terrestrial bird of weak flight, See also:building a domed See also:nest on or near the ground. See also:Insects and larvae are its See also:chief See also:food, and the See also:males are described as pe*forming dancing antics like those of the See also:lyre-bird (q.v.). Orthonyx belongs to the Oscines See also:division of the Passeres and is placed in the See also:family Timeliidae.

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End of Article: ORTHONYX

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