NOTE -BOOK OF A NATURALIST. 151 



dirty yellowish-wliite hue. They differ in size consider- 

 ably ; but all are of the same form, with both ends equal. 

 The average size may be taken at three inches five lines 

 long by two inches three lines broad. 



The geogra}Dhical distribution of this singular group of 

 birds is not confined to Australia, but extends from the 

 Philippine Islands through those of the Indian Archi- 

 pelago to Australia. 



The same Fauna that exhibits the anomalous proceed- 

 ings of the brush turkey, the native pheasant, and the 

 megapode, and the rude congeries of materials in which 

 they plant their eggs, leaving them there to be hatched 

 by vegetable fermentation and solar heat, as the common 

 snake consigns her egg?, to the dunghill, presents the 

 most curious examples of bird architecture hitherto dis- 

 covered. The history of the elegant artificers of these 

 structures has more the semblance of an Arabian tale 

 than a sober statement of fact. The bower-birds* of 

 Australia display, in the erection and decoration of their 

 edifices for assembly and halls of amusement, an in- 

 genuity 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 collectors — had at- 

 tracted the attention of travellers, who were puzzled as 

 to what cause they could attribute the phenomena pre- 

 sented to them occasionally 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 Avithout considerable 

 difficulty, placed one in our national museum and the 

 other in that of Leyden, 



* Genera, Ptilonorhynchus and Chlamydera. 



