THE WORLD'S BIRDS. qq 



but have been kept in captivity, which they bear 

 remarkably well. The best known and largest is the 

 Great Emerald Bird of Paradise {Paradisea apoda), 

 of the size of a Rook, chocolate with yellow head and 

 green throat, and long orange-yellow flank-plumes. 

 The hen has no decorative colours, being simply a 

 brown bird. Its note is a loud bawling " wawk-wawk." 

 The King Bird of Paradise (Cicinnurus regius) is of 

 the size of a Thrush, velvety-scarlet above and white 

 below, with tail short— short for the most part, but 

 provided with two long wire-like feathers with curled 

 green tips. He has very short drab side-plumes 

 tipped with green. The hen is brown above and 

 dun closely barred with black below. This is the most 

 abundant and widely-spread species, and, as it does not 

 keep so high in the trees, the oftenest seen. Both of 

 these, as well as the Red and Twelve-wired species 

 have been exhibited at the Zoo. 



Bower -birds {PHlonorhynchincB), inhabiting the 

 Austrahan region, are closely aUied to the Birds of 

 Paradise, and much resemble large Thrushes in general 

 form, but usually have a stouter bill, often closely 

 feathered at the base. Their plumage is seldom 

 gorgeous, but they are interesting for the remarkable 

 " bowers " or playing-places which they build and 

 decorate with various objects. The real nest is an 

 ordinary cup-shaped structure. These birds feed 

 chiefly on fruit, and the main interest in their habits 

 lies in the bower-building instinct, whereby in this 

 particular respect they are raised nearer to man than 

 any other animals, since no other creature builds a 

 house and decorates its precincts merely for social 

 amusement. 



The bower varies much in construction according 

 to the species. The best-known, the Satin-Bird 

 {Ptilonorhynchus holosericeus), makes an avenue of 

 twigs about which it strews feathers, bones, shells, 



