120 THE LIVING ANIMALS OF THE WORLD 
Let it suffice to mention only the last dis- [7702 
covered species-— the KING OF SAXONY’S 
BIRD OF PARADISE. ‘Velvety black 
above,” writes Dr. Sharpe, ‘“ and yellow- 
ish below, there is nothing very striking 
in the aspect of the bird itself, which is 
smaller than our song-thrush. But the 
‘streamers’ which it carries! Poised... 
on either side of the head is a long, 
shaft-like plume, from which depends, on 
the lower side only, a series of little flags 
of blue enamel, each quite separate from 
the one which precedes it, and not of a 
feathery structure in the least.” 
Close allies of the Birds of Paradise 
are the remarkable BOWER-BIRDS of 
Australia. Conspicuously beautiful in Photo by Scholastic Photo. Co. 
coloration as are some members of this CORNISH CHOUGH 
tribe, they are celebrated not so much Very nearly extinct as a British bird 
on this account as for an extraordinary 
habit of constructing “ bowers” or “ playing-grounds ”’ —a trait which appears absolutely unique 
among birds. ‘ These constructions,” observes Mr. Gould, “consist in a collection of pieces of 
stick or grass, formed into a bower; or one of them (that of the SPOTTED BOWER-BIRD) 
might be called an avenue, being about 3 feet in length, and 7 or 8 inches broad inside; a 
transverse section giving the figure of a horse-shoe, the round part downwards. They are 
used by the birds as a playing-house, or ‘run,’ 
as it is termed, and are used by the males to at- 
© y tract the females. The ‘run’ of the SATIN-BIRD 
i 99 is much smaller, being less than 1 foot in length, 
é and, moreover, differs from that just described 
Ugg in being decorated with the highly coloured 
feathersofthe ParrotTribe. TheSpOTTED BOWER- 
BIRD, on the other hand, collects around its ‘ run’ 
a quantity of stones, shells, bleached bones, etc. ; 
they are also strewed down the centre within.” 
More wonderful still are the structures 
reared by the GARDENER-BIRD of New Guinea, 
presenting, as Professor Newton remarks, “not 
only a modification of bower-building, but an 
appreciation of beauty perhaps unparralleled in 
the animal world. . . . This species . . . builds 
at the foot of a small tree a kind of hut or 
cabin . . . some 2 feet in height, roofed with 
orchid-stems that slope to the ground, regularly 
radiating from the central support, which is 
covered with a conical mass of moss, and 
| sheltering a gallery around it. One side of this 
I 5 j hut is left open, and in front of it is arranged 
Photo by W. Saville-Kent, F.Z.S. 7 a bed of verdant moss, bedecked with blossoms 
KING BIRD OF PARADISE and berries of the brightest colours. As these 
A niin New Chey enna pieced ornaments wither they are removed to a heap 
tail-feathers behind the hut, and replaced by others that are 
