AN AUSTRALIAN BIRD BOOK. 185 



Mr. A. J. North, C.M.B.O.U., the ornithologist of the Aus- 

 tralian Museum, Sydney, and one of the greatest of living Aus- 

 tralian ornithologists, has declared that "without exception, the 

 bower-building birds of Australia are the most extraordinary and 

 interesting group of birds found in the world." 



These wonderful birds construct, apart from their nests, play- 

 houses — structures that "are perfectly anomalous in the architec- 

 ture of birds." Gould considered the accounts of the "extra- 

 ordinary habits" of the Bower Birds "as some of the valuable and 

 interesting portions" of his work. Though the bird was known 

 before Gould's time, its "extraordinary habits had never been 

 brought before the scientific world until I (Gould) had the grati- 

 fication of publishing an account of them after my return from 

 Australia." 



This month I had the gratification of seeing the Satin Bower 

 Birds playing about a perfect bower within one chain of a country 

 school, and within one yard of a busy roadside. The birds have 

 quite made friends with the school children. They have helped 

 themselves to the blue flowers from the school garden, pieces of 

 blue paper, and even a blue hair ribbon, besides blue parrot's 

 feathers. These are used to decorate this very interesting play- 

 house. 



Unfortunat:ly, Satin Bower Birds are mainly fruit-eaters, and 

 so will possibly do some damage, but they are amongst the 

 wonders of the world, and it is hoped all will hesitate to shoot 

 them, "for their highly-decorated halls of assembly must be re- 

 garded as the most wonderful instances of bird-architecture yet 

 discovered." The male gets his beautiful blue-black coat after 

 he is seven years old. 



Many of the schools of South Gippsland can show Satin Bower- 

 Birds regularly in attendance at lunch-time to gather the crusts. 

 We have destroyed their native fruits, and should submit to some 

 slight loss to enable young Australians to become familiar with 

 the "most interesting group of birds" in the world. 



The members of the Crow Family — the Corvidae — were con- 

 sidered the most highly-developed of birds — the most highly 

 organized, so far as structure was concerned, and the most intelli- 

 gent. However, Sharpe has erected the seven Australian Bell- 

 Magpies (Streperas) into a family which, in his Hand-List of 

 Birds is placed at the top of the bird tree. 



In the Crow Family many well-known birds are placed. The 

 Jays, Magpie, Daws, Rooks, and Nutcrackers of Europe are not 

 represented in Australia. The Crows and the Raven, however, 

 are represented by closely-related birds. 



It is important to tell the difference between the Australian 

 Crow and the Australian Raven, for, we are told, the Crow is 

 all that is good, while the Raven is the reverse. 



The ornithologists say it is easy to tell the difference. Just 

 examine the down, say, on the neck. It is white in the Crow, 

 but dusky in the Raven. Unfortunately, the birds will not 

 always wait to permit an examination of the down 



