THE



157



Avicultural Magazine,


BEING THE JOURNAL OF THE


AVICULTURAL SOCIETY.



Third Series .— Vol. IV.—No 6. —All rights reserved. APRIL, 1913.



THE GARDENER BOWER BIRD.


Amblyornis inornata.


By Hubert D. Astley, M.A., etc.


“ Inornata ” !! What a title ! Imagine a thick-set bird,

rather larger than a fine Song Thrush, of a rich golden brown,

which lightens to a more delicate shade on the underparts, and the

male with his resplendent and shining crown of pure gold, i.e. of

brilliant orange. He should have been called ‘ coronata ’ or some¬

thing which told of his wondrous skill and love of a garden, but

‘inornata’!! He is no more that than a peacock.


Of course there was a mistake, and this most interesting bird

must have been described and named from the female, and thus this

utterly misguiding title sticks to him. Give a bird a bad name, and

it seems to do so. Of making these names there is no end, and

very often no end to their inappropriateness !


Baron von Rosenberg first discovered this wonderful creature,

and Dr. Beccari published a description ; apparently of the female

only, or of an immature male, which description was afterwards

published in the Gardener’s Chronicle [that was appropriate at any

rate] of March the 6th, 1878.


Amongst other things, he wrote, We were on the projecting

“ spur of Mount Arfac (New Guinea). The virgin forest was very

“ beautiful. Scarcely a ray of sunshine penetrated the branches.

“ The ground was almost destitute of vegetation. I found here a

“ new Balanophora, like a small orange or a small fungus. I was

“ distracted by the songs and screams of new birds ; and every turn



