THE OSPREY. 



69 



Two of these g^enera — Xatithojiicliis emd A>h- 

 blyornis — are confined to New Guinea; all the 

 others are represented in Australia, althouj^-h 

 AiiuroeduS and Chlamydcra have representative 

 species in New Guinea. 



BOWEKS AKD PI^AVIXC.-GKOUNDS. 



It appears that there is considerable difference 

 between the various species as to the prepara- 

 tion of their play grounds and the character of 

 their bowers or analog'ous structures. 



The most common type is that exemplified by 

 the bower of the Great Bower-bird ( C/ilaniydcra 

 nucfialis). The one here represented was "about 

 30 inches througfh the avenue, which was about 

 18 inches wide at either end, and with walls 

 aboi:t the same dimensions in heig'ht. The 

 bower was built of fine twigs, and heaped 

 about, principally at the entrance, with bleach- 

 ed shells. The centre of the avenue also con- 

 tained a few shells and stones." This kind of 



Bower uf (.real 13owcr-liiid. 

 Reduced from Proceedings of the Koyiil Physical Society. 



bower, in all essentials, is made bj' the repre- 

 sentatives of the genera Ptilonorhynchus, 

 Chlantydera and Scriciiliis. 



Another tvpe of esthetic development is man- 

 ifested by the Tooth-billed Cat-bird of North 

 Queensland, Scoiopoetcs doifirosfris. Accoi-d- 

 ing- to Mr. Kendall Broadbent, "its bower, or 

 dancing- ground is of a unique description; a 



small portion of the g^round of the scrub being- 

 rendered perfectly bare for the space of a square 

 yard or so, save the presence of seven to 

 nine larg-e leaves, which the bird has placed 

 therein, aud with which it plays. These leaves, 

 which are those of a particular kind of tree, it 

 renews every morning". 



Mr. Le Souef informed Mr. Campbell that 

 "during- his peregrinations in the Bloomfield 

 River district he came across about a dozen 

 plaA'-grounds of the Tooth-billed Cat-bird. 

 They were found in the dense scrub of the high 

 country. He was tisually attracted to the par- 

 ticular spot by the birds whistling near. 



"Upon the play-ground is placed about nine 

 oval-shaped moderately-sized (about 3 inches 

 long) leaves, a few inches apart. Mr. Le Souef 

 agrees with Mr. Broadbent that the leaves are 

 from one kind of tree, with the additional in- 

 formation that the leaves are always placed face 

 downwards — perhaps the soft, lighter-coloured 

 appearance of the underside of the leaf is more 

 pleasing to the birds". 



From this comparatively simple plan of or- 

 namenting- the play-ground, the transition is 

 easy to the Cat-birds of the g-entis Ailurwdus. In 

 the words of Campbell, "Although these two 

 species of Cat-Birds are included in the Bower- 

 Bird famiU', so far as observations have gone, 

 they do not build bowers, nor have any particu- 

 lar ])laying-places been noticed by observers. 

 Perhaps the^' possess some insignificant play- 

 ing--place — merely a bare spot of earth, with a 

 few leaves placed thereon, like the play-grotmd 

 of the Tooth-billed Cat-Bird {Sroio/xrns) — or 

 perchance the birds select a stump or log, which 

 they frequent to play, like the Rifle-Bird [Ptilo- 

 r/iis). 



In striking- contrast with the Cat-birds is the 

 Gardener bird — Avihlyoruis inoniatiis — of New 

 Guinea. This species builds a wonderful struct- 

 ure and merits a special article which will be 

 published in the next tiumber of the Osprev. 



The bowers of the Satin Bower-bird — Ptilo- 

 norhynchus viclaceus — were the first made known 

 and they were described by John Gould in his 

 Handbook to the Birds of Australia (Vol. I, pp. 

 443-444) in the following- terms. 



"The extraordinai'A' bower-like structure, al- 

 luded to in my remarks on the genus, first came 

 under my notice in the Sydney Museum, to 

 which an example had been presented by Charles 

 Coxen, Esq.. of Brisba^ne, as the work of the 

 Satin Bower-bird. This so much interested me 

 that I determined to leave no means untried for 

 ascertaining- every partictilar relating to this 

 peculiar feature in the bird's economy; and on 

 visiting the cedar-brushes of the Liverpool 

 range, I discovered several of these bowers or 

 playing-places on the ground, under the shelter 

 of the branches of overhanging trees, in the 

 most retired part of the forest: they differed 

 considerably in size, some being a third larger 

 than others. The base consists of an extensive 

 and rather convex platforin of sticks firmly in- 

 terwoven, on the centre of which the bower it- 

 self is built: this, like the platform on which it 

 is placed, and with which it is interwoven, is 

 formed of sticks and twigs, but of a more slen- 

 der and flexible description, the tips of^the 



