The Perching'birds 



517 



llo'ul 



• I jl at H ulj I 1 



COKNISIl CHOUGH. 

 Very nearly exticct iia a BritiHli loird. 



-a trait which appears absolutely unique 



Let it suffice to mention only the last 



discovered species — the King of Saxony's 



BiiiD OF Paha pise. " Velvety black above," 



writes Dr. Sharjie, "and yellowish below, 



there is nothing very striking in the 



aspect of the bird itself, which is smaller 



than our song-thrush . Y>\\i 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 remarkaljle Bower-rirds of 



Australia. Conspicuously beautiful in 



coloration as are some members of this 



tribe, they are celebrated not so much 



on this accovmt as for an extraordinary 



habit of constructing " bowers " or " playing-grounds 



among birds. " These constructions," observes ]\Ir. Gould, " consist in a collection of pieces of 



stick or grass, formed into a bower ; or one of them (that of the Spotted Bowek-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, tlie round part downwards. They are 



used by the birds as a playing-house, or ' run,' 

 <^mm^^: as it is termed, and are used by the males to 



^^ attract the females. The ' run ' of the Satix- 



W, m^ BIRD is much smaller, being less tlian 1 foot in 



_y^ length, and, moreover, differs from that just 



described in being decorated with the highly 

 coloured feathers of the Parrot Tribe. The Spotted 

 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 Gtahdener-bird of New Guinea, 

 jiresenting, as Professor Newton remarks, '" not 

 only a modification of bower-building, but an 

 appreciation of beauty perhaps unparalleled 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 

 hut is left open, and in front of it is arranged 

 a bed of verdant moss, bedecked with blossoms 

 and berries of the brightest colours. As these 

 ornaments wither they are remo\'ed to a heap 

 behind the hut, and replaced by others that are 



\ 



\/ 



Photo by W. !Savau-Kciit, F.Z.ii.] [JMilford-o u-;6ca. 



KING BIRD OF PARADISE. 



A Dative of New Guinea ; reinavkable for the curled 

 tail-feathers. 



