120 THE LIVING ANIMALS OF THE WORLD 



Phtte by StMaitit Pk-tf. C), 



CORNISH CHOUGH 

 Vtry nearly extinct as a British bird 



Let it suffice to mention only the last dis- 

 covered species the KING OK SAXO.M'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 

 ' 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 H<>\VER-IRD) 

 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 

 feathersofthel'arrotTribe. ThcSPOTTED HI >\\ I:R- 

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

 a quantity of si i >ncs, shells, bleached bones, etc. ; 

 they are also 'strewed down the centre within." 



More wonderful still are the structures 

 reared by the GARDENEK-WKD 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. ( >ne side of this 

 hut is lelt 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 



KING BIRD OF PARADISE 



A natfvf of Nrw Guinea ; remarkable far the curl 

 tail' feat her t 



