THE OSPREY. 



83 



ill his chestnut tree, and that she must have 

 raised sad havoc with the Sparrows, for they 

 have all left his place. I heard a great commo- 

 tion in one of our cedars the other night; it is a 

 favorite roosting' of our Sparrows, and earlier in 

 the season also for Juncos. I looked closely — it 

 was a hrig-ht moonlig-ht nig'ht — and beheld the 

 shadow-like form of J/^t\<;'asiops as/o g-lide softly 

 away. He had evidently exhausted our neigh- 

 lior's supply, and found a new full larder. 



Another never-failing" bird supply for study at 

 this season are the Crows, long- streams of which 

 can be seen every evening- flyingf to their roost- 

 ing- station in Virginia. It ivS interesting: to note 

 with what accuracy thej' follow the instructions 

 of their leader, turning'- here or there, just as the 

 bunch ahead of them has done. Most interest- 

 ing^ are the antics in which they indulge, when 

 they visit the feeding- grounds in the morning-. 



A bunch will come to a certain place in the river, 

 mount hig-h in the air, perform, it would seem, 

 every possible feat of wing, before they all set 

 to, to g-ain their breakfast. These are hard 

 times, for just think, to be forced to wade out into 

 ice cold water in quest of almost anj'thing- alive 

 or dead, that will furnish a bit of food. I have 

 watched them flyings over the water, ever^^ now 

 and then dipping- down for some morsel, wetting- 

 the tips of their wings, bill and the feet as they 

 pick it up, almost sitting- down upon the waves. 

 These are feats of the Fish Crow. The larger 

 member is content to stalk about the mud laid 

 bare by the retreating tide. But the river is 

 frozen now, and they have to resort to other 

 food supplies. A strange one is furnished by 

 J^oloiita iiiipcrialis whose fruit capsules I have 

 noticed them rifleing for several daj's. 



ESTHETIC BIRDS: 



THK HUT AND THE GARDEN OF THE GARDENER BIRD OF NEW GUINEA. 



AFTER ODOARDO BFX'CARI. 



EiMTORiAL Note. 



The hut and the garden of the Gardiner Bird 

 of New Guinea. After Odoardo Beccari. 



The esthetic sense more or less developed in 

 all the Bower Birds, is manifest to the greatest 

 extent, among- those known, in the . Iiii/j/yor/ns 

 iiioniata of New Guinea. This bird has received 

 from the Natives of the reg'^ion in which it is 

 found, among others, the designation of Tukan 

 Robon which is translated as the Gardener. 

 The attention of the Italian traveller and natu- 

 ralist, Sig-nor ( )doardo Beccari, was attracted to 

 this bird by the repeated accounts of the Natives 

 when in New (guinea, and in 1877 he communi- 

 cated an interesting record of his observations 

 to the Annals of the Civic Museum of (^enoa 

 (Le capanne et i giardini dell" Amblyornis inor- 

 nata in Aiinali Mus. Civ. Genova, 1877, p. 382- 

 400). The part specifically relating to the bird 

 was translated for the Gardeners" Chronicle of 

 London (n. s., vol. 9, p. 332-333) and we have 

 availed ourselves of this tran.slation -^-ith a few 

 trifling- rectifications. 



The Bird. 



"The Amblyornis inornata— or. as I propose 

 to name it, the Bird-gardener — is a Bird of Para- 

 dise of the dimensions of a turtle-dove. The 

 specific name 'inornata" well suggests its ver^' 

 simple dress. It has none of the ornaments 

 common to the members of its family, its 

 feathers being of several shades of brown, and 

 showing no sexual difterences. 



*' It was shot some years ago by the hunters 

 of Mynheer von Rosen. The first descriptions 

 of its powers of building- (the constructions were 

 called 'nests") were given by the hunters of 

 Mynheer Bruijn. They endeavoured to bring 

 one of the nests to Ternate, but it was found 

 impossible to do this, both by reason of its great 

 size and the difficulty of transporting it. 



"I have fortunately been able to examine these 

 constructions at remote places where thej' are 



erected. On June 20, 1-875, I left Andai for 

 Hatam, on Mount Arfak. I had been forced to 

 stay a day at Warmendi to give rest to m^- 

 porters. At this time only five men were with 

 me; some were suffering from fever, and the 

 remaining porters declined to proceed. We had 

 been on our way since early morning-, and at 1 

 o'clock we intended to proceed to the village of 

 Hatam, the end of our journey. 



"We were on a projecting- spur of Mount 

 Arfak. The virgin forest was very beautiful. 

 Scarcely a ray of sunshine penetrated the 

 branches. The gf-round was almost destitute of 

 vegetation. A little trackway proved that the 

 inhabitants were at no great distance. A limpid 

 fountain had evidently been frequented. I 

 found here a new Balanophora, like a small 

 Orange or a small fungus. I was distracted by 

 the songs and the screams of new birds, and 

 every turn in the path showed me something 

 new and surprising. I had just killed a small 

 new marsupial (Phascalog-ale dorsalis. Pet. and 

 Doria). that balanced itself on the stem of a 

 great tree like a squirrel, and turning round, I 

 suddenly stood before the most remarkable 

 specimen of the industry of an animal. It was 

 a hut or bower close to a small meadow enam- 

 elled with flowers. The whole was on a diminu- 

 tive scale. I immediately recogiiized the fam- 

 ous nests described by the hunters of Bruijn. 

 I did not suspect, however, then, that they had 

 anything to do with the constructions of the 

 Chlamydodea;. After well observing the whole, 

 I gave strict orders to my hunters not to destroj' 

 the little building. That, however, was an un- 

 necessary caution, since the Papuans take great 

 care never to disturb these nests or bowers, even 

 if they are in their way. The birds had evident- 

 ly enjoyed the greatest quiet until we happened, 

 unfortunatelv for them, to come near them. We 

 had reached the height of about 4800 feet, and 

 after half an hour'sWalk we were at our jour- 

 ney's end. 



