56 



FOREIGN BIRDS FOR CAGE AND AVIARY. 



the width of the sides of the bower about 6 in. At .both 

 ends was the usual collection of land shells, pebbles, 

 small bones, feeds, coloured feathers, etc. At one 

 bower of these birds found on the Victoria River, N.W. 

 Australia, and about 100 miles from the coast, -were 

 several turtle bones. The birds were frequently re- 

 arranging the position of their collections. Three nests 

 -were found ; each had a single egg in it, but the full 

 clutch is probably two. The nests were built about 

 15 ft. from the .ground, on what is locally called an 

 ' ironwood ' tree, in the open forest, and were situated 

 near the end of the branch, one being in a bunch of 

 mistletoe. They are open and lightly built of twigs, 

 without any lining, and measure .external depth 5 in., 

 internal 2 in.; external diameter 8 in., internal 4 in. 

 The eggs are ivery similar in appearance to those of 

 C. oriental-is and 'C. maculata, but not quite so hand- 

 somely marked. The one taken on December 18th, 1898, 

 has the ground colour of a. very light shade of green, 

 and is well marked all over with short, irregular, wavy 

 lines and blotches of a greenish-brown tint in varying 

 shades ; many of these appear as if beneath the surface 

 of the shell, 'being of a lilac colour, and many of them 

 are longer than the surface markings. The shell is 

 slightly glossy and elongated in form, and _ a little 

 smaller at one end. It measures 1.78 x 1.16 in. The 

 three eggs taken vary in size and markings." 



Dr. R.uss says that an example of this Bower-bird was 

 exhibited by Mr. G. Reisz, in 1894, at the show of the 

 JEgintlia Society in Berlin. This would appear to be 

 the only recorded instance of its importation, but. of 

 course, there is nothing to prevent its turning i;p in any 

 consignment of North Australian birds. 



RKGKNT-BIRD (X<-ri<-nltix 

 Head, neck, and front of mantle bright cadmium 

 yellow, more orange on the crown ; lower mantle, back, 

 wing-coverts, first two primaries, and tail black ; re- 

 maining quills cadmium yellow tipped with black, ex- 

 cepting innermost secondaries, the primaries also partly 

 black on inner web; sides of head and under surf ice 

 black ; greater under wing-coverts yellow ; ibill yellow ; 

 feet black ; irides pale yellow. Female, above brown ; 

 the feathers of mantle and back white-centred and 

 black-edged; the innermost sec.mdaries -with a white 

 spot at tip ; forehead pale brown with dark tips to the 

 feathers ; hind-crown and back of head black ; sides of 

 head and nape reddish-brown, with dusky edges to the 

 feathers; hind-neck whitish, with dusky edges to the 

 feather.-;, and succeeded by a, black patch on lower hind- 

 neck; base of forehead and lores huffy-whitish; chin 

 and sides of throat pale reddish ; centre and hind- 

 throat black ; rest of under-surface Avhity -brown ; the 

 feathers of breast and sides of body, ' under wing- 

 coverts. and axillaries with blackish edges; thighs and 

 under tail-coverts reddish-brown ; flights below brown, 

 with rufescent inner webs ; bill and feet black ; irides 

 brown. Hab., New South Wales, along the east coast 

 of Australia as high as the Wide Bay district and Port 

 Denison. (Sharpe.) 



A young bird bred by Mr. Reginald Phillipps was 

 sent to me for description. The following, -which ap- 

 peared in his important article on the species (Tie Avirul- 

 tural Magazine, Second Series, Vol. IV., p. 128), is what 

 I made of it : " Head whity -brown with abroad blackish 

 horse-shoe marking, its opening in front, on the crown ; 

 a. short blackish bar runs from the back of this marking 

 to the back of each eve; nape covered with tiny ashy- 

 whitish feathers; ibill dull pitchy blackish, with flat- 

 tish, oval, ochre-yellow patch at 'base of gape. Uppec 

 l>arts, including wings and tail, deep bronze-brown ; 



the feathers of the mantle white, broadly bordered with 

 brown, those of the lower back and rump broadly barred 

 with ashy-white ; under parts ashy-white, each feather 

 with a narrow sub-terminal grey bar ; feet leaden- 

 greyish, the metatarsi pale, and washed, especially at 

 the back, with sulphur-yellow ; digits flesh-pink at back, 

 .small for size of bird, claws black. Total length about 

 7 in." An illustration of the. top of the head is givea 

 on p. 127. 



Gould (" Handbook," Vol. I., p. 460) quotes the follow- 

 ing description by Mr. C. Coxen of the bower of the 

 Regent-bird : " The bower of the Regent-bird differs 

 from the Satin-bird's in being less dome-shaped, 

 straighter in the sides, platform much less, being only 

 ten in. by ten in., but thicker in proportion to its an i. 

 twigs smaller and not so arched, and the inside of the 

 bower smaller ; indeed, I believe, too small to admit an 

 adult Satin-bird without injury to its architect ure. The- 

 decorations of the bower are uniform, consisting only of 

 a small species of helix, herein forming a marked dis- 

 tinction from the Satin-bird." 



" Its food consists of berries, wild fruits, and insects. 

 In confinement it greedily disposes of house-flies, cock- 

 roaches, and small insects, showing great activity in. 

 their capture ; but its principal food is the banana, of 

 which it eats largely." 



Mr. A. J. Campbell was the first to receive eggs r 

 and later a nest with eggs, of the Regent-bird. They 

 are thus described in his splendid work " Nests and 

 Eggs of Australian Birds," pp. 208, 209 : " Nest. 

 Flat, slightly concave ; loosely constructed of coarse 

 twigs or dead branchlets lined on top with fine brownish 

 twigs a.nd long, yellowish, "wire-like stems of a climb- 

 ing plant, the latter being chiefly placed round the side ; 

 usually situated in dense scrub, at a height of from 

 12 ft." to 25 ft. from the ground. Dimensions over 

 all, 12 in. long by 6 in. broad and 2 in. thick. 



" Eggs. Clutch two, sometimes three. In a clutch 

 of two (1) is a beautiful, well-shaped specimen, with 

 texture of shell fine and surface slightly glossy ; colour 

 light yellowish-stone, with a faint greenish tinge, 

 marketl with blotches and spots of sienna or olive- 

 brown, but chiefly -with remarkable hair-like markings 

 of the same colour, as if a person had painted on the- 

 shell fanciful shape and figures with a fine brush. 

 Intermingled are a few dull greyish streaks. All the 

 markings are fairly distributed, being more abundant 

 round the upper quarter ; (2) is similar to the other 

 specimen, but markings are less pronounced and finer 

 in character, with a greater proportion of dull greyish 

 hair-like streaks. Dimensions in inches : (1) 1.57 ; 

 1.1, (2> I..).! x 1.07." 



An illustration is published of the nest _ and eggs. 

 Mr. Phillipps' excellent paper on the breeding of this 

 species in captivity (The Avicultiiral Magazine, New 

 Series, Vol. IV., pp. 51, 88, and 123) should be studied. 



PARADISE BIRDS (Parw/i^l,,'}. 



The late Professor Newton, in his valuable work " A 

 Dictionary of Birds," observes that " the Paradiscidce 

 a-re admittedly true Patseres, but their exact position 

 cannot be said to have been absolutely determined, 

 though there can be little doubt of their forming part 

 of the group indefinitely known as ' Austrocoraces.' ' 

 Gould, as already stated, considered the Bower-birds to 

 be very nearly allied to them, in which he Avas probably 

 right. In the " Museum Catalogue of Birds," although 

 widely sundered from the Bower-birds, they are placed' 

 next to the Crows. If, then, <we place them between 

 the two groups I do not think we can go far -wrong. 



