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77/ A' SATIS BOWER BIRD. 



THE STARLINGS. 



The large and important family < > t' the Starlings now claim our attention. These birds 

 are seldom of great size, the common Starling being about an average example of their dimen- 

 sions. The bill of the Starling tribe is straight, until near its extremity, when it suddenly 

 curves downward, and is generally armed with a slight notch. The first sub-family of these 

 birds is that which is known by the name of Ptilonorhynchinse, or Glossy Starlings, so called 

 on account of the silken sheen of their plumage. 



The best representative of this little group is the celebrated Satin Bower Bird of 

 Australia. 





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SATIN IKP1VKH BIU)).- Pttionm-hynchus holosenceus. 



This beautiful and remarkable bird is found in many parts of New South Wales, and 

 although it is by no means uncommon, is so cautious in the concealment of its home, that even 

 the hawk-eyed natives seem never to have discovered its nest. Perhaps they may be actuated 

 by soiiK' superstitious reverence for the bird, and have therefore feigned ignorance of its resi- 

 dence, for it is well known that the voracious native, who will eat almost anything which is 

 not poisonous and will yield to his sharp and powerful teeth, has in many portions of the 

 country so great an awe for this bird that he w ill never kill it. 



The chief peculiarity for which this bird is famous is a kind of bower or arbor, which it 

 constructs from twigs in a manner almost unique among the feathered tribes. The form of 

 this bower may be seen in the illustration, and the mode of construction, together with the 

 use to which the bird puts the building, maybe learned from Mr. Gould's account:— 



"On visiting the Cedar Brushes of the Liverpool range, 1 discovered several of these 

 bowel's or playing places ; they are usually placed under the shelter of the branches of some 

 overhanging tree in the most retired part of the forest ; they differ considerably in size, some 

 being larger, while others are much smaller. The base consists of an exterior and rather con- 

 vex platform of sticks, firmly interwoven, on the centre of which the bower itself is built. 

 This, like the platform on which it is placed and with which it is interwoven, is formed of 



