from British New Guinea. 39 



tigation of the field naturalist ; still more so the development 

 of the instinct considered as a psychical manifestation. 



The bower of A. macgregorice departs widely from the 

 ordinary plan of a more or less completely roofed gallery or 

 tunnel^ through which the birds run to and fro. Around a 

 young tree growing on the slope of a bank or ridge, a circular 

 mass of sticks, intermingled with moss, and 45 inches in 

 diameter, is built with perpendicular sides to a height vary- 

 ing from 9 inches to 2 feet, the moss being used so copiously 

 that externally it alone is visible. On the upper surface a 

 circular channel, 9 inches in depth, is left between the tree 

 and the outer edge of the pile. The outer wall of the channel 

 is 9 inches in breadth ; so also is its inner wall, or the raised 

 boss from the centre of which the tree protrudes. All round 

 the tree itself to a considerable height above the platform are 

 fixed short sticks, interlaced at one end, protruding at the 

 other, as though to form a protection against the approach of 

 an enemy from above. The depressed channel of the upper 

 surface is the playground of the bird ; in it several indi- 

 viduals of both sexes may be seen pursuing each other round 

 and round. Mr. Kowald, who saw one of these bowers 

 being built, states that all the materials are selected and 

 conveyed by the males' to females, who alone are the 

 architects. . Mr. Kowald is strongly of opinion that the 

 increase of the bower in height is almost constantly in pro- 

 gress, and that each is used by the same birds for years in 

 succession. 



CnEMOPHILUS, n. g. (PTILINORHYNCHIDiE) . 



Bill shorter than head, broader than high ; culmen rounded, 

 curved towards the tip ; edge of maxilla notched at the tip ; 

 nostril basal, oval, almost concealed by elongated nasal 

 plumes directed forward ; basal profile of mandible straight. 

 Wing short, rounded, reaching to the tarsus ; primaries 

 longer than secondaries by half the length of the hallux 

 without claw, first primary two thirds of the second in length ; 

 tip of wing formed by the 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th quills. 

 Tarsus moderate in length, stout; scutellation entire fore 



