Vol. XII 



1912 



] Jackson, Haunts of the Spotted Bower-Bird. 69 



various birds often built and concealed their nests from the hungry eyes of 

 the Hawks, countless Crows, and goannas (yHydrosauriis vmiks). 



22,rd September. — Ovii walking all to-day, and covered much ground, but 

 saw no signs of Bower-Birds, except the pair which have the bower at my 

 camp. Found nests getting built of the Short-billed Tit {Sfnicrornis hrevi- 

 rostris) in the tops of small budda trees {Eronophila jnih/ielli, Benth.), also 

 those of Yellow-rumped Tit [Acatithiza clirysorrJioa). Found Acantliiza 

 nlhiventris (North), plentiful, and feeding in the remarkable undergrowth of 

 the young leopard-woods, and later secured specimens for identification. 

 Saw fine pair of Bronze-wing Pigeon {Phaps chalcoptcrci) feeding on the 

 parched ground under some dead belah trees. The Crested Pigeons 

 \Ocyphaps lopJiotcs) were very plentiful. They are a most graceful bird. 

 When flying they make a strange metallic sound with the wings, not 

 unlike the sound produced by a small tin windmill revolving. Found a pair 

 of Black-and-White Fantails {Rhipidura tricolor) building in a \\\\g?\.{Geijera 

 parviflora^ Lindl.) close to No. i bower. Again noticed a pair of Magpie- 

 Larks [Gra/lina picata) fighting with a flock of nine Grey Struthideas. The 

 disturbance was over the nest, the Struthideas trying to take unlawful 

 possession of that which was built by and belonged to the Grallinas. Have 

 several times witnessed this kind of thing. Found the nest of a Crow 

 {Corvus coronoides) placed high up in a coolibah {Eucalyptus btcolo?; 

 F. V. M.), and the bird sitting. Greatly enjoyed watching with field-glasses 

 the pair of Bower-Birds at No. i bower near camp. They usually leave the 

 play-ground for a few hours before noon, and then again later on in the 

 afternoon. They danced and hopped in their side-step fashion round and 

 through the passage-way of the bower, and kept up a great noise most of 

 the time ; then they would fly away and shortly afterwards return with some 

 seed-pod or berry, piece of glass, or other object for the decorations. They 

 do not appear to walk, but always hop, and mostly with the rather sidelong 

 step that I have mentioned. One bird had a beautful lilac band at the nape 

 of the neck, which it often erected fanlike for a few seconds at a time. 

 It was probably a male (up to this time I could not afford to shoot any of 

 these birds for examination), and it visited the wilga leaning over my tent 

 early this morning, and flew down and hopped about at the tent door, only 

 a few feet away, and turned its large, dark eyes towards me as it picked 

 up crumbs on the tent floor. Up to this time the birds showed no signs of 

 mating, as far as I was able to detect. 



It was a pretty sight at the time of the golden sunset to see the numerous 

 pairs of Rose-breasted Cockatoos {Cacatua roseicapilla) and other birds, 

 both large and small, flocking in from miles round and drinking at the edge 

 of the clay tank close to my camp ; the hundreds of red breasts of these 

 Cockatoos and their white caps reflecting in the mirror-like water beneath 

 them was a picture worth going a long way to see. Some walked into the 

 water and cooled their legs while drinking, and others sat on lumps of 

 clay on the sloping bank and kept dry outside. Saw several Native Com- 

 panions {Antigone australasiana) and White-necked Herons {Notophoyx 

 pacijica) to-day, some picking about on dried and baked-up warrambools 

 (bog-holes). 



Z4th September. — Was awakened this morning before 6 o'clock by a 

 Bower-Bird making its curious, harsh call in the tree leaning over my camp, 

 then it flew down and examined some empty jam-tins near, and finally flew 

 across the sheep or clay tank to the bower. On going over to the tins I 

 found that three greengage plum seeds that had been thrown into one of 

 them had gone ; probably the bird had removed them for the purpose of the 

 bower decorations. Some silver or tinfoil paper was then secured, folded 

 into four small squares, and thrown in front of the tent, and in an hour they 

 had disappeared. It was my impression that this pair of birds at No. i 

 bower may possibly breed about this part ; if a supply of material for the 



