.",72 THE. TROPICAL WORLD." 



' The structures of the spotted bower bird,' says Mr. Gould, 

 ' are in many instances three feet in length. They are out- 

 wardly built of t\^igs, and beautifully lined with tall grasses, so 

 disposed that their heads nearly meet ; the decorations are very 

 profuse, and consist of bivalve shells, crania of small mammalia, 

 and other birds. Evident and beautiful indications of design 

 are manifest throughout the whole of the bower and decorations 

 formed by this species, particularly in the manner in which the 

 stones are placed within the bower, apparently to keep the 

 grasses with which it is lined fixed firmly in their places. 

 These stones diverge from the mouth of the run on each side, 

 so as to form a little path, while the immense collection of 

 decorative materials, bones, shells, &c., are placed in a heap 

 before the entrance of the avenue, this arrangement being the 

 same at both ends. I frequently found these structures at a 

 considerable distance from the rivers, from the borders of which 

 they alone could have procured the shells and small round 

 pebbly stones ; their collection and transportation must, there- 

 fore, be a task of great labour and difficulty. As these birds 

 feed almost entirely upon seeds and fruits, the shells and bones 

 cannot have been collected for any other purpose than orna- 

 ment ; besides, it is only those that have been bleached 

 perfectly white in the sun, or such as have been roasted by the 

 natives, and by this means whitened, that attract their atten- 

 tion.' For what purpose these curious bowers are made is not 

 yet, perhaps, fully understood ; they are certainly not used as 

 a nest, but as a place of resort, where the assembled birds run 

 through and about the bower in a playful manner, and that so 

 frequently that it is seldom entirely deserted. 



The Talegalla or Brush-turkey is a no less interesting 

 Australian bird. In appearance it is very like the common 



black turkey, but is not quite so 

 large : the extraordinary manner in 

 which its eggs are hatched consti- 

 tutes its singularity. It collects 

 together a great heap of decaying 

 vegetables as the place of deposit of 

 its eggs, thus making a hot-bed, 



LATHAMI TAMOAI LA. ' • r j_l 1 • i • r 



arising from the decomposition of 

 the collected matter, by tlie heat of which the young are 



