236 Wilson, The Bell Miner. [,/" April 



which, when uttered in rapid succession, has a most pleasing 

 effect. This note has a marked resemblance to the distant 

 jingling of cow-bells. A fairly good representation may be 

 obtained by striking togethertwo barsofwroughtiron.oneof which 

 is suspended. Another note frequently used is almost an exact 

 copy of the alarm call of the Noisy Miner {MyzantJia garrula). 

 Still another note resembles the squeaking of a door with rusty 

 hinges. Sometimes although in the midst of the birds you will 

 not hear a single tinkle, every bird using the note which 

 resembles that of the Noisy Miner. One fine afternoon in June, 

 at about i o'clock, I was at Beaconsfield and not a note could 

 be heard, although up to this time the Bell Miners had been 

 making an incessant din. The birds were all perched in the 

 small saplings, seemingly asleep. When disturbed they uttered 

 a note or two perhaps, flew a couple of yards away, then again 

 were silent. The breeding season seems to extend almost 

 through the whole year, as I have seen young birds just out of 

 the nest in May, and others about four weeks old in October, 

 also nests containing eggs and others being built through 

 October and November. November, however, is perhaps the 

 principal breeding month. The nest is usually placed from 3 feet 

 to 12 feet from the ground. The tea-tree scrub iyC alii stem oil) 

 is generally the most favoured site, although I have occasionally 

 seen nests in bracken fern {Ptcris aquilina), peppermint gum 

 saplings {Eucalyptus amygdalina), and a species of native 

 aster. 



Notes on the Satin Bower-Bird (Ptilonorhynchus 



violaceus). 

 Bv C. F. Cole, Melbourne. 



{Read be/ore the Bh'd Ot>ser7'ers' Club, 2jf/i J(i/iua7y, 1910.) 

 For )'ears many naturalists were puzzled regarding the blue- 

 black plumage of the male Satin Bower-Bird, many being of 

 opinion that it was due to the feeding of selected nestlings. 

 The adult male has been called the king of the flock, owing, no 

 doubt, to the fact that one of these dark-plumed birds is nearly 

 always accompanied by a flock of the " green " birds. But 

 dissection and the close observations of naturalists have now 

 elucidated the problem. 



The nest is usually placed in a fork and among the finer 

 twigs of a dogwood, pittosporum, blanket, or wild musk tree, 

 but sometimes in a eucalypt. I have seen a nest as low as 4 

 feet and as high as 15 feet from the ground. As far as my 

 experience goes, Satin Bower-Birds nearly always choose the 

 slopes to a creek fairly thickly covered with undergrowth, or a 

 tree growing in the bed of a creek containing permanent water. 



