THE PERCHING-BIRDS 



5*7 



Pfttto b) Schalaitii Pti^tt. Co. 



CORNISH CHOUGH 



Very nearly extinct as a British bird 



Let it suffice to mention only the last dis- 

 covered species the KING OF SAXONY'S 

 BIRD OF PARADISE. "Velvety black 

 above," writes Dr. Sharpe, " and yellow- 

 ish below, there is nothing very striking 

 in the aspect of the bird itself, which is 

 smaller than our song-thrush. But the 

 4 streamers ' which it carries ! Poised . . . 

 on either side of the head is a long, 

 shaft-like plume, from which depends, on 

 the lower side only, a series of little flags 

 of blue enamel, each quite separate from 

 the one which precedes it, and not of a 

 feathery structure in the least." 



Close allies of the Birds of Paradise 

 are the remarkable BOWER-BIRDS of 

 Australia. Conspicuously beautiful in 

 coloration as are some members of this 

 tribe, they are celebrated not so much 

 on this account as for an extraordinary 

 habit of constructing " bowers " or " playing-grounds " a trait which appears absolutely unique 

 among birds. "These constructions," observes Mr. Gould, "consist in a collection of pieces of 

 stick or grass, formed into a bower; or one of them (that- of the SPOTTED BOWER-BIRD) 

 might be called an avenue, being about 3 feet in length, and 7 or 8 inches broad inside ; a 

 transverse section giving the figure of a horse-shoe, the round part downwards. They are 



used by the birds as a playing-house, or ' run,' 

 as it is termed, and are used by the males to at- 

 tract the females. The ' run ' of the SATIN-BIRD 

 is much smaller, being less than I foot in length, 

 and, moreover, differs from that just described 

 in being decorated with the highly coloured 

 feathersoftheParrotTribe. The SPOTTED BOWER- 

 BIRD, on the other hand, collects around its ' run ' 

 a quantity of stones, shells, bleached bones, etc. ; 

 they are also strewed down the centre within." 



More wonderful still are the structures 

 reared by the GARDENER-BIRD of New Guinea, 

 presenting, as Professor Newton remarks, " not 

 only a modification of bower-building, but an 

 appreciation of beauty perhaps unparralleled in 

 the animal world. . . . This species . . . builds 

 at the foot of a small tree a kind of hut or 

 cabin . . . some 2 feet in height, roofed with 

 orchid-stems that slope to the ground, regularly 

 radiating from the central support, which is 

 covered with a conical mass of moss, and 

 sheltering a gallery around it. One side of this 

 hut is left open, and in front of it is arranged 

 a bed of verdant moss, bedecked with blossoms 

 and berries of the brightest colours. As these 

 ornaments wither they are removed to a heap 

 behind the hut, and replaced by others that are 



Phctt bj W. Savillf-Ktnt, F.Z.S. 



KING BIRD OF PARADISE 



native of New Guinea ; remarkable for the curltd 

 tail-leathers 



