THE CONE -BILLED PERCHERS. 239 



if dead, and commences its repast by stripping off the legs and 

 wings. When in confinement, it also eats boiled rice, plantains, 

 etc., but in the wild state it seems to feed mostly on the seeds of 

 the teak-tree, and a kind of fig. 



The Satin Bower-Bird. — It is a singular thing to find a 

 bird building a kind of playground, without reference to its nest, 

 but merely for amusement. The Bower-Bird has this curious 

 habit. It builds a kind of bower of thin twigs, interwoven so as 

 to meet above, forming a kind of tunnel. The entrance of this 

 bower is decorated with any brilliant article that the bird can find, 

 such as shells, bones, and feathers of several parrots ; some feathers 

 being stuck in among the twigs, and others strewn at the entrance. 



Mr. Gould, who first brought this curious bird before the 

 public, says : " The propensity of these birds to pick up and fly 

 off with any attractive object, is so well known to the natives (of 

 Australia), that they always search the runs for any small missing 

 article, as the bowl of a pipe, etc., that may have been accidentally 

 dropped in the brush. I, myself, found at the entrance of one of 

 these a small neatly worked stone tomahawk, of an inch and a 

 half in length, together with some slips of blue cotton rags, which 

 the birds had doubtless picked up at a deserted encampment of 

 the natives. For what purpose these curious bowers are made, is 

 not yet, perhaps, fully understood : they are certainly not used as 

 a nest, but as a place of resort for many individuals of both sexes, 

 which, when there assembled, run through and around the bower 

 in a sportive and playful manner, and that so frequently, that it is 

 seldom entirely deserted." 



The Starlings comprise many genera, among which the 

 Pensile Oriole of America, commonly known as the Baltimore 

 Oriole, is the most interesting. These birds build, or rather 

 weave, a fabric not unlike loose cloth, composed of hemp or flax. 

 This nest is of the singular form represented in the engraving, 

 and the entrance is at the side. In all probability this singular 

 formation is for the purpose of keeping out the black snake, who 

 is constantly on the lookout for young birds. The parent orioleii 

 often attack the snake, and compel him to retreat. 



