54 NATURAL HISTORY. 



her progeny, fed them, and removed the dirt that accumulated in the nest. The eggs are still a 

 desideratum, and their acquisition would be a source of much gratification to me. The following 

 extract from a paper on the habits of this fine bird, by C. Coxen, Esq., of Brisbane, read at a meeting 

 of the Queensland Philosophical Society on the 23rd of May, 1864, I consider to be of high interest, 

 as affording a clue to the position the bird should occupy in our system : ' Although the Regent-bird 

 has been known to ornithologists for many years, very little of its habits has become known, and it has 

 been left for me to bring under notice the very peculiar and curious habit it enjoys in common with the 

 Satin-bird (Ptitonorhynchus* holosericeus) and the spotted Bower-bird (Chlamydodercrt maculata). My 

 attention was called to this peculiarity in August last, by Mr. Waller, taxidermist, of Edward Street, 

 in this city, to whose untiring energy and ability as a collector I must always bear testimony. Mr. 

 Waller informed me that while shooting in a scrub 011 the banks of the Brisbane River, he saw a male 

 Regent-bird playing on the ground, jumping up and down, puffing out its feathers, and rolling about in 

 a very odd manner, which occasioned much surprise, never having seen the bird on the ground before. 

 The spot where it was playing was thickly covered with small shrubs. Not wishing to lose the oppor- 

 tunity of procuring a specimen, he fired, but only succeeded in wounding it; and on searching the spot 

 he found a bower formed between, and supported by two small brush plants, and surrounded by small 

 shrubs so much so, that he had to creep on his hands and knees to get to it. While doing so, the 

 female bird came down from a lofty tree, uttered her peculiar note, and lit on a branch immediately 

 over the bower, apparently with the intention of alighting in front of it, but was scared away on seeing 

 Mr. Waller so close to her. She continued flitting over the place, and calling for her mate so long as 

 he was in the neighbourhood. Mr. Waller believes that the male bird, after being wounded, fluttered to 

 some distance from the bower, and died, as a male Regent-bird was found dead two days afterwards in 

 a more open part of the brush. On visiting the scrub on the following and several successive days, the 

 female bird was seen in the locality of the bower, and by her constant calling was apparently lamenting 

 the loss or what might seem to her the inconstancy of her mate. The ground around the bower 

 was clear of leaves for some twelve or eighteen inches, and had the appearance of having been 

 swept, the only objects in its immediate vicinity being a small specimen of Helix. The structure 

 was alike at both ends, but the part designated as the front was more easy of approach, and had 

 the principal decorations; the approach to the back being more closed by scrub. Mr. Waller 

 being desirous that this curious habit of the Regent-bird should be verified, determined to leave 

 the bower untouched until he had acquainted me with his discovery. Circumstances occurred to 

 prevent me from accompanying him to its whereabouts until the following November, when we 

 found the bower in good preservation. Previous to my seeing and examining the structure, I must 

 confess to having had considerable doubts as to whether it would not prove to be a bower of the 

 Satin-bird, but these doubts were dissipated at the first glance, the formation of the structure 

 differing considerably, and the decoration more so. With Mr. Waller's assistance I removed the 

 building without injuring or in any way defacing its architectural style. It may not be inoppor- 

 tune for me to state that I was the first to discover the bower and habits of the Satin-bird, and 

 also among the first discoverers of the bower of the spotted Bower-bird, that I have had frequent 

 opportunities of seeing them in the New South Wales brushes and the myall scrubs to the westward, 

 and am consequently conversant with their peculiarities. The bower of the Regent-bird differs from 

 the Satin-bird's in being less dome-shaped, straighter in the sides, platform much less, being only 

 ten inches by ten, but thicker in proportion to its area, twigs smaller and not so arched, and the 

 inside, of the bower smaller ; indeed, I believe, too small to admit an adult Satin-bird without 

 injury to its architecture. The decorations of the bower are uniform, consisting only of a small 

 species of Helix, herein forming a marked contrast from the Satin-bird. Mr. Gould has shown 

 his usual power of observation and knowledge of generic distinctions in having placed the Regent- 

 bird next in order to the Satin Bower-bird, without having any knowledge of its peculiar building 

 instincts. The Regent-bird frequents our river scrubs during the winter months, from the begin- 

 ning of May to the end of September, coming from the south, whither he repairs during the 

 summer. Its food consists of berries, wild fruits, and insects. In confinement it greedily disposes 

 of house-flies, cockroaches, and small insects, showing great activity in their capture ; but its 

 * Tfri\ov, a feather ; pv'yx, a bill, t x^V's. a mantle ; St'prj, a neck. 



