50 



LEAVES FROM THE NOTE-BOOK OF A NATURALIST. 



and decoration of their edifices for assembly and 

 halls of amusement, an ingenuity and taste that 

 place them far beyond any others of their race 

 with which we are acquainted. 



Their constructions and collections for they 

 are most ardent, assiduous, and indefatigable col- 

 lectors had attracted the attention of travellers, 

 who were puzzled as to what cause they could at- 

 tribute the phenomena presented to them occa- 

 sionally in their journeys. To Mr. Gould, who 

 has dissipated the clouds which obscured so many 

 of the Australian animals, we are indebted for an 

 elucidation of this most curious mystery. He 

 watched the builders, obtained two of the bowers 

 complete, and, with his usual liberality, and not 

 without considerable difficulty, placed one in our 

 national museum and the other in that of Leyden. 



The bower-like structures from which the birds 

 take their name first came under the notice of Mr. 

 Gould at Sydney. Mr. Charles Coxen had pre- 

 sented an example to the museum there as the 

 work of the satin bower-bird. With his usual 

 energy, Mr. Gould at once determined to leave no 

 means untried for ascertaining every particular re- 

 lating to this particular feature in the economy of 

 the bird ; and on visiting the cedar brushes of the 

 Liverpool range he discovered several of these 

 bowers or playing-places. He found them usually 

 under the shelter of an overhanging tree in the 

 most retired part of the forest, differing considera- 

 bly in size, some being a third larger than that 

 represented in Mr. Gould's admirable picture, (for 

 the illustrations in this, as well as in many of his 

 other works, are not mere figures they are pic- 

 tures,) whilst others were much smaller. He 

 shall now speak for himself: 



The base consists of an extensive and rather con- 

 vex platform of sticks firmly interwoven, on the 

 centre of which the bower itself is built ; this, like 

 the platform on which it is placed and with which 

 it is interwoven, is formed of sticks and twigs, but 

 of a more slender and flexible description, the tips 

 of the twigs being so arranged as to curve inwards 

 and nearly meet at the top. In the interior of the 

 bower the materials are so placed that the forks of 

 the twigs are always presented outwards, by which 

 arrangement not the slightest obstruction is offered 

 to the passage of the birds. The interest of this 

 curious bovver is much enhanced by the manner in 

 which it is decorated at and near the entrance with 

 the most gayly-colored articles that can be collected, 

 such as the blue tail-feathers of the Rosehill and 

 Pennantian parrots, bleached bones, the shells of 

 snails, &c. ; some of the feathers are stuck in among 

 the twigs, while others, with the bones and shells, 

 are strewed about near the entrances. The pro- 

 pensity of these birds to pick up and fly off with 

 any attractive object is so well known to the natives, 

 that they always search the runs for any small miss- 

 ing article, as the bowl of a pipe, &c., that may 

 'have been accidentally dropped in the brush. I 

 myself found at the entrance of one of them a small 

 neatly-worked stone tomahawk, of an inch and a 

 half in length, together with some slips of blue 

 cotton rags, which the birds had doubtless picked 

 up at a deserted encampment of the natives. 



Mr. Gould goes on to observe that the purpose 



for which these curious bowers are made is not 

 yet, perhaps, fully understood. He is certain that 

 they are not used as a nest, but as a place of re- 

 sort for many individuals of both sexes, which, 

 when there assembled, run through and around the 

 bower in a sportive and playful manner, and that 

 so frequently that it is seldom entirely deserted. 



The proceedings of these birds (adds Mr. Gould) 

 have not been sufficiently watched to render it cer- 

 tain whether the runs are frequented throughout 

 the whole year or not ; but it is highly probable 

 that they are resorted to as a rendezvous or playing- 

 ground at the pairing-time, and during the period 

 of incubation. It was at this season, as I judged 

 from the state of the plumage and from the internal 

 indications of those I dissected, that I visited these 

 localities ; the bowers I found had been recently 

 renewed ; it was, however, evident, from the ap- 

 pearance 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. Mr. Charles Coxen 

 informed me, that, after having destroyed one of 

 these bowers and secreted himself, he had the sat- 

 isfaction of seeing it partially reconstructed ; the 

 birds engaged in this task, he added, were females.* 



Such are the bovvers constructed by the satin 

 bower-bird, (Ptilonorhynchus holosericeus, Khul,) 

 the cowry of the aborigines of the coast of New 

 South Wales. The plumage of the adult male is 

 deep, shining, blue-black, well justifying that part 

 of its name which likens it u> satin, except the 

 primary wing-feathers, whose deep black more re- 

 sembles velvet, and the wing coverts, secondaries, 

 and tail-feathers, which are also of a velvety black, 

 tipped with lustrous blue-black. The eyes are of 

 a light caerulean blue, with a circle of red round 

 the pupil. The bill is of a bluish horn-color, 

 graduating into yellow at the tip, and the legs and 

 feet are yellowish white. 



The head and all the upper surface of the fe- 

 male are grayish green, the wings and tail sulphur 

 brown. The same tints prevail on the under sur- 

 face as on the upper, but are much lighter, with a 

 tinge of yellow, and each feather of these under 

 parts has a scale-like appearance produced by a 

 crescent-shaped, dark-brown border at its extremity. 

 The irides are of a deeper blue than those of the 

 male, and there is only an indication of the red 

 ring. The bill is of a dark horn-color ; and the 

 feet are of a yellowish-white hue, tinged with 

 horn-color. 



The young males closely resemble the females, 

 with this difference, that the hue of the under sur- 

 face is of a more greenish yellow, and the crescent- 

 shaped markings more numerous. The irides are 

 dark blue, the feet olive brown, and the bill black- 

 ish olive. 



These birds, the male being in its transition 

 suit, may be seen at the garden of the Zoological 

 Society, where they have a bower, and where I 

 have had the pleasure of watching them. But I 

 must break off for the present, though much more 

 remains to be noticed with regard to this most in- 



* Birds of Australia. By J. Gould, F. R. S., &c. 

 Published by the Author, 20 Broad Street, Golden Square. 



