9



being tipped with whity-brown; the quills are dull brown,

reddish externally; the secondaries are tipped with whity-

brown ; the tail is golden brown with the central feathers some¬

what ashy ; the ear-coverts and cheeks are grey-brownish streaked

with yellowish ; the throat ashy brown mottled with greenish :

under parts otherwise yellowish, varied on the breast with deep

brown bars which become indistinct on the front of the abdomen

and gradually disappear; under wing-coverts yellow, with dusky

bars, axillaries greener.


According to Gould the irides of the female are of a

deeper blue than in the male : but I am unable to endorse this

statement, for I can discover no difference in the eyes of the two

sexes.


Of the wild life of this bird Gould writes: “ It is a

stationary species, but appears to roam from one part of a

district to another, either for the purpose of varying the nature,

or of obtaining a more abundant supply ot food. Judging from

the contents of the stomachs of the many specimens I dissected,

it would seem that it is altogether frugivorous, or if not

exclusively so, that insects form but a small portion of its diet.

Independently of numerous berry-bearing plants and shrubs,

the brushes it inhabits are studded with enormous fig-trees, to

the fruit of which it is especially partial. It appears to have

particular times in the day for feeding, and when thus engaged

among the low shrub-like trees, I have approached within a few

feet without creating alarm ; but at other times the bird

was extremely shy and watchful, especially the old males, which

not unfrequently perch on the topmost branch or dead limb of

the loftiest tree in the forest, whence they can survey all around,

and watch the movements of their females and young in the

brush below.


“ In the autumn they associate in small flocks, and may

often be seen on the ground near the sides of rivers, particularly

where the brush descends in a steep bank to the water’s edge.


“ The extraordinary bower-like structure . . first came


under my notice in the Sydney Museum. . . This so much


interested me that I determined to leave no means untried for

ascertaining every particular 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 over¬

hanging trees, in the most retired part of the forest: they differed

considerably in size, some being a third larger than others.



