The Bower -birds of Australia 



139 



After much difficulty a photograph was taken of the interesting struc- 

 ture (see illustration). 



The last discovered species and one of the most beautiful of 

 Bower-birds, is the Golden Bower-bird {Prionodiira iir-a'/o/i/anci), which 

 vies in its golden splendor with the Regent-bird. Its home is the 

 rich palm scrubs of Northern Queensland. The rare and handsome 

 bird was discovered by the collector, Mr. K. Broadbent, and was 

 described and dedicated by Mr. DeVis (Queensland Museumj to the 

 venerable ornithological savant, Prof. Alfred Newton. 



BOWER OF THE REGENT-BIRD 

 Photographed from nature by A. J. Campbell 



An authenticated nest and eggs of the Golden Bower-birds has 

 not yet been discovered. But regarding its wonderful bowers — prob- 

 ably the most astonishing instances of bird-architecture known — Mr. 

 DeVis writes: "From their [collector's] notes and sketches it would 

 appear that the bower is usually built on the ground between two 

 trees or between a tree and a bush. It is constructed of small sticks 

 and twigs. These are piled up almost horizontally around one tree 

 in the form of a pyramid, which rises to a height varying from 4 to 

 6 feet. A similar pile of inferior height — about 18 inches — is then 

 built around the foot of the other tree. The intervening space is 

 arched over with stems of climbing plants, the piles are decorated 



