The Golden Bower-bird 



39 



brown colour, was known, but the male was shortly after- 

 wards procured by Mr. Meston, and proved to be a very 

 beautiful golden-coloured bird with a broad crest of the 

 same colour on the head. This Bower-Bird inhabits the 

 mountains from 4000 to 5000 feet elevation, and the 

 above-named naturalists state that, like other members of 

 this Family, it has a wonderful imitative faculty, and is as 

 great an adept at mimicry as the Lyre-bird. Commencing 

 by croaking like a Tree-frog, the bird proceeds to give 

 vent to a low, soft, musical, pathetic whistle, to be followed 

 immediately by an astonishing imitation of apparently all 

 the birds in the scrub. But it is in the construction of its 

 bower that the Prionodur.a stands alone among its 

 Australian fellows, for it builds an arbour up to six and 

 eight feet in height, which must be the work of many 

 seasons and probably of many individuals, for it is stated 

 that birds of both sexes and all ages, both old and young, 

 use the playground. The bower is generally built between 

 two small trees, about four or five feet apart, and is con- 

 structed of small twigs and sticks. A pyramid of sticks 

 is piled against each tree, and these are connected by an 

 arch-shaped causeway of stems of climbing plants, both 

 the pyramids and the arch-way being decorated with white 

 moss and clusters of green fruit resembling wild grapes. 

 Not content with raising this great bower, the birds find 

 further scope for their architectural instincts in building a 

 number of subsidiary dwarf hut-like structures, which are 

 made by bending towards each other strong stems of 

 standing grass and capping them with a horizontal thatch 

 of light twigs. These little huts Mr. Broadbent calls 

 ' gunyahs," and he says that he has found five of them in a 

 space ten feet in diameter, so that they give the spot 

 exactly the appearance of a miniature black's camp. In 

 and out of the " gunyahs," and from one to the other, the 

 birds pursue each other to their hearts' content. 



