758 The Sparrow-like Birds 



mostly a golden olive above, "a broad crest on the crown of the head, the hind 

 neck, and upper mantle rich golden yellow; upper wing-coverts like the back; 

 primaries and secondaries brown, washed with golden olive; two central tail- 

 feathers brown, the next on either side golden yellow with the apical half of the 

 inner web and broad tip brown, the next golden yellow-brown at tip, the re- 

 mainder golden yellow; throat and under surface bright golden yellow; bill 

 dark brown, iris pale yellow." - NORTH. The male is about nine and a half 

 inches long, while the female is only about eight inches and is olive-brown 

 above and ashy gray below, the iris brown. 



Newton's Bower-bird is found mainly in or near the thick scrub, especially 

 in the Bellenden Ker Range, and, although a resident where found, moves about 

 from place to place as its food supply of fruits and berries changes. The fol- 

 lowing account of the remarkable bower of this species is quoted by North 

 from the notes of a Mr. Day, who has had exceptional opportunity of seeing the 

 bird in its native haunts: "I have found a great number of these bowers. Those 

 of the first season are simply a lot of sticks and twigs placed around two small 

 trees growing about a yard or slightly more apart. The following season it is 

 added to, and gradually assumes a V-shape at the bottom of the inner portion, 

 being now about two feet in height. As a rule, there is a stick placed trans- 

 versely across the bower, within five or six inches of the bottom. The walls 

 are added to each season, but one is always built higher than the other after the 

 first year. The largest I have ever found was nine feet high on one side and 

 six feet six inches on the other, and resembles two pyramids of different heights 

 with their bases touching each other. Some bowers are rounded at the bottom, 

 and nearly all I have ever seen are more or less ornamented with floral decora- 

 tions according to the season of the year. These consist of pieces of green moss, 

 bits of fern, white rock lily, orchids, and flowers of other plants, and are placed 

 inside on the high wall and at the bottom of the bowers. Seldqm have I found 

 a bower with the lower wall decorated. The flowers are quite fresh, the birds 

 picking out the dead ones every day and replacing them with freshly gathered 

 ones. Sprigs of pure white orchids and wax-like rock lilies are the flowers 

 most favored for decorating purposes. Although these bowers are used by 

 both sexes as a playground where they can chase and gambol with one an- 

 other, they are frequently the scene of a pitched battle between a couple of 

 adult males. This is caused by one male removing the flower placed in position 

 by another, and a fight ensues, the remainder of the birds looking on and mak- 

 ing a great noise, but not interfering with the combatants. I have never seen 

 the females or young males fight; it is always the finest-plumaged old males. 

 These birds are very tame, and I have sat for several hours at a time watching 

 their curious antics at the bowers. Flowers are all placed upright, inside their 

 playhouses, but to see what the birds would do I once turned one of their orchids 

 upside down. On the birds reassembling they made a great fuss and noise; 

 and one of the old males replaced the flower in its proper position. I repeated 

 the operation, and the flower was again placed upright by the old male. The 

 large bowers are resorted to by a number of birds, and I have obtained over 



