BOWER-BIBDS. 



55 



it must be under very peculiar circumstances that it can 

 be approached suiHciently close to observe its colours. 

 Tlie Spotted Bower-bird has a harsh, grating, scolding 

 note, which is generally uttered when its haunts are in- 

 truded on, and by which means its presence is detected 

 •when it would otlitrwise escape observation. Wlien dis- 

 turbed it takes t-o the topmost branches of the loftiest 

 trees, and frequently flies off to aaiother neighbourhood. 

 " In many of its actions raid in the greater part of its 

 economy much similarity exists betw<>en this species 

 and the Satin Bower-bird, particularly in the curious 

 habit of couistructing an artificia] bower or playing-place. 

 I was .so far fortunate as to discover several of these 

 bowers during my journey in the interior, the finest of 

 wliich I succeeded in bringing to England. It is now in 

 the British Museum. The situations of these runs or 

 bowers are much varie<l. I found them both on tJie 

 plains studded with Myalls {Acacia pendnla] and other 

 small trees, and in the" brushes clothing the low»r hills. 

 They are consitlerably longer and more avenue-like than 

 those of the Satin Bower-bird, being in many instances 

 three feet in length. They are outwardly built of tings, 

 and beautifully lined with tall grasses, so disposed that 

 iheir hea Is nearly meet. The decorations are very pro- 

 fuse, and consist of bivalve shells, crania of small mam- 

 malia, and other bones bleached by exposure to the rays 

 ■of tie sun or from the camp-fires of the natives. Evi- 

 <lent indications of high instinct are manifest throughout 

 the wliole of the b:iwer and decorations formed by this 

 species, particularly in the manner in which the stones 

 are placed within the bower, apparently to kee).) the 

 grasses with which it is lined fixed firmly in their places. 

 These stones diverge from the mouth of the run on each 

 side so as to form little paths, while the immenje collec- 

 tion of decorative materials is placed in a heap before 

 the entrance of the avenue, the arrangement being the 

 same at both ends. In some of the larger bowers, which 

 had evidently been resorted to for many years, I have 

 seen half a bushel of bones, shells, etc., at each of the 

 entrances. I frequently found these structures at a con- 

 siderable distance from the rivers, from the borders of 

 which they could alone have prociu'ed the shells and 

 small, round, pebbly .■^tones. Their collection and trans- 

 ]M>rtation must therefore be a task of great labour. I 

 fnlly ascertaine<l that these runs, like those of the Satin 

 Bower-bird, formed the rendezvous of many individuals, 

 for, after secreting m\'se!f for. a short space of time near 

 one of them, I killed two male.=; which I had previously 

 6©en runninsr through the avenue." 



Accordinc to Gould a nest founj bv iMr. Chaa'ls-s 

 Ooxen. of Brisbane, was built in one of the Myrtareix . 

 overhanging a water-hole, near a scrub, on which a 

 Ijower was built, and was in form very similar to that of 

 the Common Thrush of Europe; but Mr. Campbell, 

 speaking of a nest which he found, says: — "The nest 

 was loosely composed of sticks and twigs, and lined 

 inside with finer twigs and grass, and conta'ned one fre.sh 

 esg, the most remarkable for beauty and the wonderful 

 character of its markings that it has ever been my 

 fortune to find." He thu.o descriljcs the nest and eggs of 

 this spe"ies in detail (" Xests and Eggs of Australian 

 Birds." pp. 198. 199): — 



" Nest. — Flat, somewhat concave ; loosely constructed 

 of dead twigs or fine sticks : lined inside "with finer 

 twigs and grass ; usually situated in a thick bu.'^h or 

 ,tree in open forest country. Sometimes the nest is s-) 

 fjail that the contents may be seen through the stnic- 

 ■ture from underneath. Dimensions over all of a good 

 nest 9 in. to 10 in., by 6 in. in depth ; egg cavity 4 in. 

 across by 2 in. deep. 

 " Eggs. — Clutch two, occasionally three ; shape in- 



clined to oval, or long ovad ; texture of shell fine : surface 

 slightly glossy ; ground colour light greenish-yellow. 

 There are tliree distinct characters of markings : firstly, 

 light greyish blotches appearing on the inner surface of 

 tlie shell ; secondly, small strijies or hair-like linfs of 

 light sienna and umber, as if painted with a camel-hair 

 brush, in every shape and size round the shell, princi- 

 pally zigzagged latitudinally, but often taking longitu- 

 dinal and other directions; and, lastly, over these a 

 few darker and heavier stripes and ,'mudges of uml>er. 

 Both ends of the tggs are compiratively free from mark- 

 ings. Dimensions in inches of a proper clutch : (1) 

 1.64 X 1.04. (2) 1.63 ■ 1.05. (3) 1.55 >. 1.04; a pair 

 with more of the yellowish-white gi'ound, and with both 

 ends much freer from markings, measures (1)1.57 x 1.06, 

 (2) 1.5 X 1.07." 



A coloured figure of the egg is given on Plate IX. of 

 Mr. Campbell's work. It somewhat reminds one of 

 some varieties of the eggs of our Common Bunting in 

 colour and markings, but is,- of course, considerably 

 larger, and jwrhaps the markings are more massed round 

 the middle of the egg than in any variations of the egg 

 of our familiar friend. 



Dr. Russ says that a si;ecimen reached the Amsterdam 

 Zoological Gardens in 1870. In 1880 the late Mr. .Abra- 

 hams received a female, and a month later showed it to 

 Mr. A. D. Bartlett at the London Gardens, and he ex- 

 pressed the opinion that it woidd not live another eight 

 days, but Mr. Abrahams not only succeeded in keeping 

 it alive, but tauaht it to talk, its first word being " Joe," 

 the abbreviation of Mr. Abrahams' name, which the bird 

 often heard ilrs. Abrahams use. Later it learned to say 

 " pretty boy," then it mixed up the two and said 

 " pretty Joe." The next accomplishment -was to mew 

 like a cat and bark like a dog, and when asked " Where 

 is the cat? ' or if the words " Puss, puss ! " were spoken, 

 the bird would immediately begin to' mew. Two years 

 later ilr. Bartlett iiaid a visit to Mr. Abrahams,' an;1 

 expressed his delight at the hardiness of the bird, and 

 asked to purchase it for the Gardens, so ilr. Abrahamj 

 sold it to him at what he cons'dered a reasonable price. 

 In 1882 he received a male, which also found its way to 

 the Gardens. The pair built many nests, but no eggs 

 appear to have been deposited. In 1888 ilr. Abrahams 

 again received a pair of this saecies, but it is un- 

 doubtedly rare in the market. Mr. PhiUipps lias pos- 

 .sessed it. 



GRE.iT BowER-BiRD iC /ilcimi/ih.dcra niic/ialis). 

 Above grey-brown, the edges of the feathers being 

 gre,vish ; the upper tail-coverts also have a sub-terminal 

 whitish spot ; flights darker margined with ashy and 

 tipped with whitish ; tail feathers similar, but" with 

 the tips barred with whitish ; feathers of head lustrous, 

 and with a minute whiti.-h tip : a rosy lilac band on the 

 nape, partly encircled by a. ruif of silvery tippel brown 

 feathers; hindneck unspotted; sides of head and under 

 surface sandy greyish, browner on flanks and thighs, 

 which are obscurely barred ; centre of abtlomen and 

 under tail-coverts pale cream-whitish ; under wing- 

 coverts and axillai-ies grey-brownish indistinctly barred ; 

 bill, feet, and irides brownish. Female smaller and 

 w-ithout lilac band on nape. Hab.. Northern Australia, 

 from Port Darling and Port Essington to the north- 

 western district. (Sharpe.) Like the preceding species 

 this bird also constructs a bower, which it ornaments 

 with shells, etc. 



Mr. D. Le Souef (T/ie /«)>. 1899, pp. 359. 360) says :— 

 " Their bowers are large, being formed of twigs and 

 arched over at the top, and are from two to three feet 

 long, the passage through being about 9 in. wide, and 



