Bower-birds 755 



THE BOWER-BIRDS 



(Family Ptilonorhynchidce} 



There has been not a little discussion among ornithologists regarding the 

 proper systematic position of these birds, some referring them to the neighbor- 

 hood of the Thrushes or the Babblers; while others, as Professor Sundevall, 

 have associated them with the Shrikes; but, all things considered, it is beyond 

 question that their closest affinity is with the Birds-of- Paradise, with which, 

 indeed, they have often been included. They are small birds, between eight 

 and fourteen inches in length, with a bill not unlike that of a Thrush (Turdus] 

 but stouter, and rather short, rounded, and concave wings. In brilliancy of 

 plumage some of them approach the Birds-of- Paradise, though they are with- 

 out the decorative plumes that are such a feature in the latter, while their marked 

 peculiarity of bower building is imitated to a limited extent only by certain 

 Paradise-birds such as Ptilorhis. The Bower-birds are confined to Australia 

 and the Papuan Islands, and some half a dozen genera have been recognized. 

 "Without exception," says Mr. Alfred J. North, "the bower-building birds are 

 the most extraordinary and interesting group of birds found in the world. It 

 is true that many species form beautiful nests for the reception of their -eggs 

 and rearing their young, but in no instance is bird-architecture perfected so 

 much as is seen in the wonderfully constructed playhouses or courting bowers 

 of the family Ptilonorhynchida. The love of the beautiful is always displayed 

 by these birds in the formation and manner of adornment of their playing places." 

 These remarkable bowers, when first seen by Europeans, were supposed to be 

 the playhouses of native children, but it has long been settled beyond question 

 that they are made by birds, some of them smaller even than our Robin ( Planesti- 

 cus migratorius}. 



Satin Bower-bird. Of the various species perhaps the oldest and best- 

 known is the Satin Bower-bird (Plilonorhynchus molaceus) of eastern Queens- 

 land, eastern New South Wales, and Victoria. The male, which is about twelve 

 and a half inches long, is a lustrous purplish black above and below, the 

 feathers with concealed grayish bases. The wings and tail are black, the feathers 

 purple-edged; the bill is bluish horn-color, tipped with yellow, and the iris a 

 beautiful light blue, the pupil being surrounded by a circle of red. The female 

 is grayish green above and brownish and pale yellow below. These birds feed 

 almost exclusively on berries and fruits, and in summer and autumn congre- 

 gate in large flocks, doing much damage to the softer fruits, such as mulberries, 

 peaches, apricots, bananas, oranges, and evtn lemons. Their notes are de- 

 scribed as resembling the "noise made by small, rapidly running cog-wheels, 

 accompanied by a deep hissing sound, this followed by some very sweet, clear 

 notes, as those of other birds are imitated, for they are excellent mimics." Mr. 

 North, in his "Nests and Eggs of the Birds of Australia and Tasmania," gives 

 the following entertaining description of the bower of this bird: "The bower, 

 or playhouse, is built on the ground, generally in scrub, and placed near a 



