66 



PriLOXOKHVNCHlD.E. 



lapse of seven years, a gorgeously liveried male was shot by Mr. A. Meston, in February, i88g, 

 on Bellenden Ker Range, at an elevation of 4,800 feet. This was sent to the (Queensland 

 Museum, where shortly afterwards a series of the skins of this species was received from Mr. 

 Broadbent, who was at that time engaged in collecting near Herberton, enabling Mr. De Vis 

 to also describe the male.* 



A scientific expedition, equipped by the Queensland Government in June, i88g, to collect 

 the flora and fauna of the Bellenden Ker Range, succeeded in obtaining several specimens. So 

 likewise did Messrs. E. J. Cairn and R. Grant, who were simultaneously engaged in collecting 

 natural history specimens, in the same part of North-eastern Queensland on behalf of the 

 Trustees of the Australian Museum. The results of the former expedition were published,! 

 and the habits and bower of this species described. A brief description of the latter was also 

 furnished by Messrs. Cairn and Grant in their Report to the Curator, t 



Mr. E. A. C. Olive forwarded me one of these 

 birds for identification. It was a fine old male, 

 and was obtained near the summit of Mount Cook, 

 on the 2Sth May, 1899. Mount Cook, near Cook- 

 town, on the Endeavour River, is 1,470 feet high, 

 and is the farthest north this species has yet been 

 recorded. 



The wing measurement of adult males varies 

 from 4'6 to 5 inches. 



Apart from the brilliant and attractix'e 

 plumage of the male, the singular form of 

 the bower of this species, and liie agsthetic 

 taste e.xhibited by these birds in its decoration, 

 renders Newton's Bower-bird the most remark- 

 able of the family 1'tilonorhvnchid.-e. It is the 

 smallest species of Bower-bird inhabiting Aus- 

 tralia, yet it forms the largest bower, when the 

 structure is resorted to for sexeral years. The 

 sticks with which the bower is formed are piled 

 up horizontally, or nearly so ; the walls inside at the top are wider apart than at the bottom, 

 and the whole of the decorations are floral. 



The late Mr. W. S. Day, who collected several hundred of these birds, during a nine 

 years' residence in the vicinity of their haunts, and who had unparalleled opportunities for 

 closely studying their habits, kindly favoured me with the following notes: — "Newton's 

 Bower-bird frequents Mount Bartle Frere and the Bellenden Ker Range. Near Cairns I 

 met with it, principally at Boar Pocket, Scrubby Creek, and the Upper Russell River. It is 

 always found in or near thick scrub and never in the open forest country below the range. 

 Although a permanent resident in these scrubs, it moves about from place to place according 

 to the abundance of its food supply, for it lives entirely on wild fruits and berries. The note 

 of the male is very difficult to imitate, but when playing in the bower he frequently utters a 

 sound like the croaking of a bull-frog. He also possesses the power of mimicry, and I have 

 often heard him imitate the notes of the Tooth-billed Bower-bird, the Spotted Cat-bird, and 

 Queen Victoria's Rifle-bird. The note of the female is like that of the Grey Shrike-Thrush 



NEWTON S BOWKll HIIUJ. 



• Proc. Roy. Soc. Queensld., Vol. vi., p. 247 (1890). 



t Rept. Queensld. Govt. Sci. Exped. to Bellenden Ker Range, (1889). 



; Rec. Aust. Mus., Vol. i., p. 27, (1890). 



