24 8 AUSTRALIAN AND TASMANIAN ANIMALS 



down amongst the scrub, quite close to the play-ground, whilst towards sundown 

 they were invariably perched high up amongst the topmost branches of the trees, 

 but still in the immediate neighbourhood. This species, which is restricted to 

 northern Queensland, is stated to excel all other bower-birds as mimics, and may 

 be fitly termed the master mocking-bird of Australia. Not onty will it imitate the 

 note of every bird in its neighbourhood, but so closely does it do so, that other 

 species are drawn to it as if to one of their own kind ; this being especially the 

 case during the breeding-season in May. The dancing-ground is unique, a small 

 portion of the ground of the scrub being rendered perfectly bare for the space of a 

 square yard or so, except for the presence of seven to nine large leaves, placed 

 there by the bird, and with which it plays. These leaves, which are those of a 

 particular kind of tree, are renewed every morning. As a general rule, during the 

 height of the breeding-season these birds do not visit their play-grounds or indulge 

 in mimic vocalisation in the daytime, but reserve the latter performance for the 

 periods before sunrise and after sunset, when they are in the tree-tops. During 

 the nesting-season the play-grounds are silent, unoccupied, and, most significant of 

 all, untidy. 



Cat-birds, on the other hand, neither clear a space nor construct a bower. 

 Writing of the green cat-bird, Mr. A. J. Campbell, of Melbourne, states that "this 

 most extraordinary bird is a denizen of the thick jungle-like scrub which clothes 

 portions of the coastal regions of New South Wales and southern Queensland. 

 During my visit to the Big Scrub of the Richmond River district, the peculiar 

 voice of this bird was heard everywhere throughout the locality. The cry is a 

 real cat-like ' mew-mew,' with a strong accent on the second ' mew,' as if some one 

 had trodden on a cat's tail. I happened to observe a pair of birds ' caterwauling ' 

 about a nest, which was situated about 15 feet from the ground, in a small tree on 

 the bank of Pearce's Creek. I climbed to the nest, only to be disappointed in 

 finding a pair of young, clothed in down as black as ink, instead of a set of the 

 rare, cream-coloured eggs." The other representative of the genus is the spotted 

 cat-bird (JE. maculosus) of northern Queensland. Another generic type is repre- 

 sented by the regent-bird (Sericulus melinus), which is mainly confined to the 

 sub-tropical coast scrubs of the northern portion of New South Wales and southern 

 Queensland, but its extreme southern limit appears to be Port Jackson in the south, 

 where the bird has been occasionally observed, and the Fitzroy River in the north. 

 The regent-bird, especially the adult male with its glorious black and golden 

 orange plumage, is one of the handsomest of Australian birds. The young male 

 resembles the more sombre female ; in the second year the beak turns yellowish, 

 and in the third year the plumage is complete. 



Apparently the largest bowers of all are those constructed by Newton's bower- 

 bird (Prionodura newtoniana), which may exceed 8 feet in height, and are 

 decorated with flowers, more especially, if not exclusively, orchids. The adult male 

 of this species is one of the most beautiful of the bower-birds, rivalling in its golden 

 splendour the regent-bird. It is a native of the northern scrubs of Queensland. 

 From the observations of local naturalists it appears that the bower is usually built 

 on the ground between two trees, or between a tree and a bush, and is constructed 

 of small sticks and twigs. These are piled up almost horizontally around one of 



