146 SPOTTED BOWER-BIRD. 



play-ground at the pairing time and during the 

 period of incubation. It was at this season Mr. 

 Gould visited these localities, when he found that 

 the bowers had been recently renewed. It was 

 evident^ from the appearance of a portion of the 

 accumulated mass of sticks, &c. that the - same 

 spot had been used as a place of resort for many 

 years. A gentleman informed Mr. Gould, that 

 after having destroyed one of these bowers, and 

 secreted himself, he had the satisfaction of seeing 

 it partially reconstructed. The birds engaged in 

 this task were females. Mr. Gould, with much 

 care and trouble, succeeded in bringing two fine 

 specimens of these bowers to England, one of 

 which he presented to the British Museum, and 

 the other to the collection of Natural History at 

 Leyden. 



The Spotted Bower-bird (Chlamydera maculata) 

 is peculiarly interesting, as being the constructor 

 of a bower, even more extraordinary than the one 

 just noticed, and in which the decorative propen- 

 sity is carried to a far greater extent. It is as 

 exclusively an inhabitant of the interior of the 

 country, as the satin bower-bird is of the brushes 

 between the mountain range and the coast. It has 

 a disposition of extreme shyness, and therefore 

 is seldom seen by ordinary travellers. Mr. Gould 

 found that the readiest way of obtaining specimens 

 was by watching at the water-holes, where they 



