SPECULATIONS ABOUT THE BANYAN 255 



thoroughly enjoyed the meal I made off the flesh of this 

 beast of prey. 



During the day I got much better, and late in the 

 afternoon made another stage on my journey. I soon 

 became convinced that I had lost my way, the result of 

 inability to pay proper attention to the route. I ought by 

 this time to have been nearing my companions, but I 

 could not recognise any of the landmarks for which I was 

 looking. It was not until the I2th October was well 

 advanced that I reached country which I could recognise. 

 Duriug these last days I passed across some very sterile- 

 looking tracts, but I never failed to find water — the neces- 

 sary which is always the first consideration to an Australian 

 traveller. 



There being now no reason to husband the strength of 

 my horse, I made a spurt, and on the afternoon of the 

 13th reached my waiting servants, glad enough to have 

 access to those stores I was now so badly in need of. 



Near our camping-place there were two " playhouses " 

 of the bower-bird {Chlainydoder nuchalis\ and I saw 

 several others during my rides about the country, all of 

 them north of the Gascoyne River. I do not know if 

 these birds are found in other parts of Westralia, but 

 there did not seem to be any in the neighbourhoods of 

 King George's Sound or Swan River. On the east side 

 of the continent I have found nests and playhouses of the 

 satin bower-bird ; but the bird is scarce in my native 

 colony, though more abundant in Queensland. There 

 are nearly a dozen species and varieties, few individuals 

 if any of which are found in the south of the continent. 

 Most of them have spotted plumage, but that of the 

 satin bower-bird is black in the cock, and greyish-green 

 in the hen, inclining to yellow on the belly. The young, 

 however, are speckled, and the cocks are not in full black 

 plumage until their third year. 



The playhouses are quite distinct from the nests 

 which, with most species, are placed in bushes, or in the 

 hollows of decayed trees. The young are four or five in 

 number, and the eggs in some species are greenish, 



