456 Letters, Announcements, ^c. 



XXVII. — Letters, Announcements, ^c. 



The fel'.j-ing letters, addressed "To the Editor of ' The Ibis/ " 

 have been received : — 



Sir, — Allow me to confirm the statement respecting the bower- 

 building habits of the Regent-bird {Sericulus melinus). Several 

 years ago (September 23, 1861) I found what I thought was 

 the bower of the Satin-bird [Ptilonorhynchus holosericeus) ; but 

 it was a very small one, and in my diary I mentioned that " the 

 only birds seen near it were two or three Regent-birds." I 

 thought no more of the matter until I saw some remarks on 

 the subject by Mr. Coxen, of Brisbane [Cf. Gould, Handb. B. 

 Austral, i. pp. 458-461]. During my visit to the Richmond 

 River I determined to pay close attention to the fact, and was 

 not long before I had an opportunity of making some observa- 

 tions. On the 2nd October, 1866, when returning to our camp, 

 some twenty miles from the township, I stopped to look for an 

 Atrichia, which, three days before, I had heard calling at a certain 

 log ; and while standing, gun in hand, ready to fire as soon as the 

 bird, which was at that moment in a remarkably mocking hu- 

 mour, should show itself, I was somewhat surprised at seeing a 

 male Regent-bird fly down and sit within a yard of me. Be- 

 tween the two I hardly knew which choice to take — the Atrichia, 

 which was singing close in front of me, or the chance of finding 

 the long-wished-for bower. I decided on the former, and remained 

 motionless for full five minutes, while the Regent-bird hopped 

 round me, and finally on to the ground at my feet, when, 

 looking down, I saw the bower scarcely a yard from where I was 

 standing : had I stepped down off the log I must have crushed it. 

 The bird, after hopping about it, and rearranging some of the 

 shells (Helices) and berries, with which its centre was filled, took 

 its departure, much to my relief, for I was beginning to feel 

 uncomfortable with standing so long in the same position. 

 Further research was not very successful ; we met with only one 

 other bower. Wishing to obtain a living specimen of so beau- 

 tiful a bird as the old male of this species, I determined to leave 

 the structure until the last thing on my final return to Lismore, 

 which was on the 3rd of November following. We then stopped 



