4C0 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 



accompanying him to its whereabouts until the following 

 November, when we found the bower in good preservation. 

 Previous to my seeing and examining the structure, I must 

 confess to having had considerable doubts as to whether it 

 would not prove to be a bower of the Satin-bird, but these 

 doubts were dissipated at the first glance, the formation of the 

 structure differing considerably, and the decoration more so. 

 With Mr. Waller's assistance I removed the building without 

 injuring or in any way defacing its architectural style. It 

 may not be inopportune for me to state that I was the first 

 to discover the bower and habits of the Satin -bird, and, also, 

 among the first discoverers of the bower of the Spotted 

 Bower-bird, that I have had frequent opportunities of seeing 

 them in the New South Wales brushes and the myall scrubs 

 to the westward, and am consequently conversant with 

 their peculiarities. The bower of the Regent-bird differs 

 from the Satin-bird's in being less dome-shaped, straighter in 

 the sides, platform much less, being only ten inches by ten, 

 but thicker in proportion to its area, twigs smaller and not 

 so arched, and the inside of the bower smaller; indeed, 

 I believe, too small to admit an adult Satin-bird without 

 injury to its architecture. The decorations of the bower are 

 uniform, consisting only of a small species of helix, herein 

 forming a marked distinction from the Satin-bird. Mr. Gould 

 had shown his usual power of observation and knowledge of 

 generic distinctions, in having placed the Regent-bird next in 

 order to the Satin Bower-bird, without having any know- 

 ledge of its pecidiar building-instincts. The Regent-bird 

 frequents our river scrubs during the winter months, from 

 the beginning of May to the end of September, coming from 

 the south, whither he repairs during the summer. Its food 

 consists of berries, wild fruits, and insects. In confinement 

 it greedily disposes of house-flies, cockroaches, and small 

 insects, showing great activity in their capture ; but its prin- 

 cipal food is the banana, of which it eats largely. It is very 



