INSESS0IIE8. 449 



wliich it is a native, nor any particulars relative to its habits 

 were known to those gentleiiK^n : it is now elearly ascertained 

 that it is an inhabitant of the north-west coast, a portion of 

 the Australian continent that has, as yet, been but little 

 visited. I am indebted for individuals of both sexes to two 

 of the officers of the ' Beagle,' Messrs. fiynoe and Dring ; but 

 neither of these gentlemen furnished me with any account of 

 its economy. 



The following passage from Captain Stokes's ' Discoveries 

 in Australia,' vol. ii, p. 97, comprises all that has, as yet, 

 been recorded respecting the curious bower constructed by 

 this bird. 



" 1 found matter for conjecture in noticing a number of 

 twigs with their ends stuck in the ground, which was strewed 

 over with shells, and their tops brought together so as to form 

 a small bower; this was 2^ feet long, 1^ foot wide at either 

 end. It was not until my next visit to Port Essington that I 

 thought this anything but some Australian mother's toy to 

 amuse her child ; upon being asked, one day, to go and see 

 the 'birds' playhouse,' I immediately recognized the same 

 kind of construction I had seen at the Victoria River, and 

 found the bird amusing itself by flying backwards and for- 

 wards, taking a shell alternately from each side, and carrying 

 it through the archway in its mouth." 



Head and all the upper surface greyish brown, the feathers 

 of the former with a shining or satiny lustre; the feathers of 

 the back, wing-coverts, scapulars, quills, and tail tipped with 

 greyish white ; on the nape of the neck a beautiful rose-pink 

 fascia, consisting of narrow feathers, partly encircled by a ruff 

 of satin-like plumes, the tips distinct, rounded, and turning 

 inwards; under surface yellowish grey, the flanks tinged with 

 brown ; irides, bill, and legs brownish black. 



In one of the specimens I possess no trace of the nuchal 

 ornament is observable, a circumstance I conceive to be indica- 

 tive of the female. 



2 G 



