on the Nesting of the Satin Bower-bird. 65


birds, too, had their orders, and the nest might have been quite

empty for anything that could be seen from the outside.


Later, they grew too large to be hidden, and tufts of soft

grey down could be seen over the edge of the nest, and their

voices could well be heard at some distance. The cock rarely

fed them ; he would come to the plate of mealworms, satisfy his

own wants, and, if there were one or two to spare, carry them up

to the nest—a great contrast to his hard working little wife, who

drove all the birds from the plate (her greedy husband included)

and filled her beak with mealworms, before eating any herself, to

satisfy the two hungry babies. Cockroaches were first in favour,

then mealworms and gentles; snails they would not touch, and

only a very occasional earthworm was disposed of. Soft-food

mixture or fruit was never used for feeding the babies, although

it was the old birds’ staple food.


On July 29th, two young birds (the usual brood when in

a wild state) left the nest, and were first seen squatting on the

rhododendron boughs near the nest, and looking very like young

Thrushes with violet eyes. They were fed all day by their

devoted mother, and occasionally moved from bough to bough,

but they did not look lively or very happy.


And now comes the sad part of the story, for on the

following morning, July 30th, one young bird was found dead,

the mother bird in the greatest distress running wildly up and

down with mealworms in her beak, hunting in every bush, and

taking very little notice of the survivor, who sat stolidly on a

bough, looking, alas! very poorly clothed for our changeable

climate, and not at all lively.


That night the wind changed to N.E., and the following

morning the second little body was discovered ; the keeper fully

realizing something was wrong by the short cries of the poor

mother, who carried the much-loved dainty, some cockroaches,

straight to the body, and then ran wildly up and down in the

greatest distress.


Mr. Phillipps most kindly, after seeing the bodies, told me

the reason of the deaths. Although the bodies were fairly well



