Recently published Ornithological Works. 619 



journal of his expedition to Mount " Peter Botte ^' (which lies 

 about fifty miles south of the port of Cooktown in Northern 

 Queensland) will be found full of allusions to birds and their 

 habits. Mr. Le Souef went by steamer from Melbourne to 

 Cooktown, and thence by road to Wyalla, a station on the 

 Bloomfield river. Hence the start was made for '' Peter 

 Botte " with a party of natives to carry the baggage over a 

 very rough route. A view is given, taken from a photograph, 

 of the summit of this very singularly. shaped mountain, so 

 named from its supposed resemblance to its prototype in 

 Mauritius. The party mounted the ridge to the height of 

 2400 feet and met with many rare birds — jEluroedas macu- 

 losus, Cracticus quoyi, Prionodura neivtoniana, &c., — in the 

 vicinity, and managed to get to the top of the smaller moun- 

 tain, whence a splendid view was obtained of the " large 

 solid bell-shaped mass of grey granite '' that constituted the 

 larger and inaccessible summit of Mount " Peter Botte.-"^ 



On their return they saw and heard an example of the 

 rare Tooth-billed Bower-bird (Scenopceus dentirostris), and 

 shortly afterwards came on its playground. " It cannot be 

 called a bower, as the bird merely scratches the dead leaves 

 and rubbish off a piece of ground measuring about 3 feet 

 by 2, and places on it a few green leaves, with their upper 

 surfaces on the ground and their backs exposed to view, 

 which, of course, made them more conspicuous, being of a 

 lighter colour. They were not placed in any regular order, 

 any more than being the same distance apart, namely, about 

 4 inches, and the number of leaves varied in the different 

 playgrounds from eight and upwards." Mr. Le Souef 

 examined over a dozen different grounds, and did not find 

 any trace of berries, shells, or other objects, but simply the 

 green leaves, which were always fresh, and seemed as if they 

 were picked daily. 



105. Masefieldon Wild-Bird Protection and Nesting-Boxes. 



[Wild Bird Protection and Nesting-Boxes. By John R. B. Masefield, 

 ,A. Leeds, 1897. 1 vol. 12mo. 1-30 pp.] 



In putting together in this little volume an intcllio-ible 



