BOWER-BIRDS. 517 



constvuctccl with such woiulerful skill and taste, that wc are forced to recognize the 

 intellect manifested by tlieiu as only inferior to that of man in degree, but not in 

 kind. Dr. Sclater, in speaking of tiic birds of this species in the Zoological Gardens 

 in London, says as follows : " Long before the construction of their nest, and inde- 

 pendently of it, these birds form with twigs, skilfully put together and firmly planted 

 in a j)latform of various materials, an arbor-like gallery of uncertain length in which 

 they amuse themselves with the most active glee. They pursue each otiier through 

 it; they make attitudes to each other, the males setting their feathers in the most 

 grotesque manner, and making as many bows as a cavalier in a minuet. The archi- 

 tecture of the bower is excessively tasteful, and the ornamentation of the platform 

 on which it stands is an object of constant solicitude to the birds. Scarcely a day 

 passes without some fresh arrangement of the shells, feathers, bones, and other decora- 

 tive materials, which they bring from long distances in the bush ff>r this ]iurpose. 

 With the same object tliey immediately aitj)ropriate every suitable fragment placed 

 within their reach when in confinement." 



Still larger and more elabor.ate are the avenue-like >- ]ilay-houses " of the Chlamy- 

 dodera. Accomi)anying a liower of C. rmchalix now in the ^luseum of Comj)aralive 

 Zoology, in Cambridge, we learn, "were more than half a peck of the decorations 

 with which the builders had adorned their place of assembly. These consisted prin- 

 ci])ally of a large white univalve; the shell of a large land-snail, of which there were 

 in all about four hun<lred; shining stones, principally tlint-stones and agates; bright- 

 colored seed vessels and pods ; bleached bones of small (juadrupeds, and other objects 

 of interest." 



But all these .structures arc comjiletcly overshadowed by the .achievements of 

 Anihh/oriiis iiKirniUa, a plain rufous-colored bird, not larger than our American robin, 

 an<l only recently discovered in New Guinea by the Dutch traveler and naturalist, 

 Count Ivoscnln rg. From an abstract of Dr. O. Beccari's account of the gardener-bird 

 in the Art'.ik -Mountains, on the western peninsula of Xew Guinea, in 187."), we make 

 the following selection : "He had just shot a small marsn]iial as it was running up 

 the trunk of a large tree, when, turning round in close proximity to the path, he 

 found himself in front of a jiiece of workmanship more lovely than the ingenuity of 

 any animal had ever before been known to construct. It was a cabin in miniature in 

 the midst of a miniature meadow studded with flowers. Contenting himself for the 

 moment with a brief examination of this marvel, he enjoined his hunters not to dis- 

 turb it. 



"After several days spent .at Hatam in the preservation of specimens, at last, one 

 morning, his crayon and bo.v of colors in hand, he set out towards the habitation of 

 the Ambhjornis, ami immediately a])plied himself to the task of making a sketch. At 

 the time of his visit the pro]irietors were not at home, nor was he afterward able to 

 ascertain with any certainty whether any cabin was frequented by a single pair, or by 

 more ; whether by more males than females, or the reverse ; whether the males alone 

 construct the huts, or whether the females aid in the work, or how far they may be 

 the work of several individuals. That these cabins arc used season after season is 

 made probable from tlie fact that they are constantly being renewcil and embellished. 



"This bird selects for its hut and garden a s]iot on a level with the jilain, having 

 in its centre a small siirub, with a trunk about the height and size of a small walking- 

 stick. Around the base of tliis central sup])ort, it constructs, of different mosses, a 

 sort of cone about a si^an in diameter. This cone of moss seems to strengthen the 



