15)0 



VERT E B II ATA. 



on the center of which the bower itself is built; this, like the platform on which it is placed and 

 with whi<-h it is interwoven, is formed of sticks and twiijs, but of a more slender and Hexible dc- 

 si-ription, the tips of the twigs being so arranged as to curve inward and nearly meet at the top; 

 in the interior of the bower the materials are so placed that the forks of the twigs are always pre- 

 sented outward, bv whicli arrangement not the slightest obstruction is offered to the passage of 

 the binls. For what purpose these curious bowers are made is not yet, perhaps, fully understood ; 

 thcv arc ccrtainlv not used as a nest, but as a place of resort for many individuals of both sexes, 

 which, wlion there assembled, run through and around the bower in a sportive and playful man- 

 ner, and that so freqjiently that it is seldom entirely deserted." 



A still more extraordinary structure of the same description is formed by the Spotted Bowek- 

 BiRD, Chhimijdera inaculata, an inhabitant of the interior of Australia; it is tlms described by 

 Mr. Gould. The bowers "are considerably longer and more avenue-like than those of the satin 

 bower-bird, being in many instances three feet in length. They are outwardly built of twigs, 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 bones. Evident 

 and beautiful instances of design are manifest throughout the bower and decorations formed by 

 this species, particularly in the manner in which the stones are placed within the bower, appar- 

 ently 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 little paths, while the immense collection 

 of decorative materials, bones, shells, (fcc., are placed in a heap before the entrance of the avenue, 

 this arranofement beinjT the same at both ends." Mr. Gould adds, in evidence of the labor that 

 must be bestowed by the birds upon the construction of these apparently useless assembly rooms, 

 that he frequently found them at a distance from any river, so that the shells and small stones 

 employed in their fabrication must have been transported from a considerable distance. It ap- 

 pears also that the birds collect no other bones than those which have been bleached in the sun ; 

 and as it is certain that as they feed almost entirely upon fruits and seeds, these remains of other 

 animals cannot be regarded as relics of their victims. 





THK MINO-BIED. 



THE GRACKLES* 



The birds of this group are found in India and the Indian Isles, where they inhabit the jungles. 



Genus GRACULA : Gracula.—To this belongs the Mixo-Bird, G. religiosa — Uulabcs Java- 

 nus of Yiellot; Malnatus Sumatranus of Lesson, and ^T//?io;- Grackle of Bechstein; this is twelve 

 inches long ; the color is a deep velvety-black ; a white space in the middle of the wing ; bill and 

 feet yellow ; behind the eye spring fleshy caruncles of a brisxht orange-color, and extend beyond 



* The genus G-rackle, as now restricted by most naturalists, includes only the present group, 

 this name included many others. 



Cuvier's genus of 



