CHLAMYDOUERA. 



49 



^ 3^11 IS very distinct species was described by Gould in 1.S62, from a specimen received 

 from Mr. F. T. Gregory, the well-known Northern and Western Australian explorer. 

 Gould does not give the locality or district where it was obtained, but states that it was collected 

 in Xorth-western Australia. I have searched through the journals of the various expeditions 

 undertaken by the Gregory Brothers in Xorthern and Western Australia, but can find no 

 reference to the specimen or the locality in which it was procured. During the journey of the 

 Elder Exploring Expedition, in 1891-92, Mr. R. Helms obtained three males in the Barrow 

 Range." Since the discovery of the type, this is the only occasion I ha\e known the species to 

 have been obtained in any part of Western Australia. Gould stated it was doubtless this 

 species which constructed the bowers met with by the late Sir George Grey in the sandstone 

 ranges forming the watershed of the streams flowing into the Glenelg and Prince Regent's 

 Rivers. I am certain, howe\er, that Gould's first conjecture that the bowers frequently 

 observed by Grey in this district were fornied by Chlamydodera muinilis, is the correct one. I The 

 latter species is common in the coastal districts of North-western Australia, and from collections 

 formed inland, from King Sound and Cambridge Gulf, is, I know, abundantly distributed in 

 that neighbourhood. The original specimen of C. f^iitUihi was doubtless collected during Mr. 

 F. T. Gregory's expedition to the North-west coast in 1861. He did not proceed further north 

 than the Oakover River, a district rich in its avifauna, and in which several Central 

 Australian forms are found. The liarrow Range, where Mr. Helms obtained his specimens, 

 is not a great distance from the South Australian border; and in similar arid country, a little 

 further north and east in South Australia, this species was again met with, and specimens 

 procured at Glen Edith, bv the members of the Horn Scientific Expedition in Central 

 Australia in 1894. Since the return of the Expedition, 1 have seen several specimens from 

 different parts of Central Australia : and from the subjoined notes of Mr. G. A. Keartland and 

 Mr. C. E. Cowle, it will be seen that the central portion of the continent is the great stronghold 

 of this species. 



Mr. G. A. Keartland writes to me:— '-During the journey of the Horn Scientific Expedition 

 in Central Australia, we met with the Guttated Bower-bird wherever the native fig-trees 

 xisted. from Alice Springs in the north to Stevenson's Creek in the south. They are very 

 shy, and although their notes were frequently heard amongst the foliage of the fig-trees, they 

 kept well out of sight, only two specimens being obtained at Glen Edith. These birds make 

 the peculiar single note familiar in other members of the genus, especially in C. nmhalis. It is 

 exactly like a noise I have heard opossums make,— half cry, half hiss. Their food consists 

 principally of the fruits of the different species of Ficus, and other trees, alternated occasionally 

 with the viscid berries of the Loranthus. They are also very troublesome in the gardens of the 

 settlers, owing to their love of tomatoes and young vegetables, which they devour as soon as 

 they appear above the ground. .Vlthough usually these birds are very shy, at Owen Springs we 

 were informed that during periods of drought they would come to the water-buckets under the 

 verandah to drink, and become quite fearless of the presence of persons sitting close by. The 

 bowers of this species are usually built near, or under the shelter of a low spreading bush so as 

 to escape the rays of a tropical sun. Several I saw were about three feet from end to end of the 

 run, eight or nine inches wide between the walls, and the latter ten inches high and formed of 

 bits of twigs and grass placed so that the tops of the sides met overhead. All over the floor of 

 the bower, and for a space about two feet at either end were strewn bleached bones, bits of glass, 

 and feathers." 



Mr. C. E. Cowle, who, in the prosecution of his official duties in different parts of Central 

 Australia, has had unusual facilities for studying the habits of these birds, has also kindly 



e 



* Trans. Roy. Soc. South Austr., Vol. xvi., p. 157 (1893). 



f Grey— Travels in North-west and Western Australia, Vol. i., p. 245 (1841). 



