176 BIRDS' NESTS 



Bower-birds (Ptilonorhynchinse) are associated by 

 most systematists with the Birds of Paradise. As is 

 generally known, these birds construct more or less 

 elaborate and decorated " bowers " in which to 

 conduct their courtship; but these structures are 

 in no sense " nests," and only indirectly associated 

 with the function of reproduction. The Bower-birds 

 appear to have exhausted most of their architectural 

 skill in the construction of their bowers, for their 

 nests are comparatively crudely fashioned. The love 

 arbours of these birds, so far as is known, are always 

 made upon the ground, but in the matter of nesting 

 they appear to be strictly arboreal species. Three 

 nests of the Great Bower-bird (Cklamydodera nuchalis), 

 described by the same authority above quoted, from 

 North- Western Australia, were built on an "iron- 

 wood " tree in the open forest, about fifteen feet from 

 the ground. They were placed near the ejrtremity of 

 a branch, one of them being built in a cluster of 

 mistletoe. They are of the usual open type, slight, 

 and made entirely of twigs, the entire depth of the 

 structures being five inches, the cup two inches, the out- 

 side diameter eight inches, and the inside four inches. 

 Our next family of open nest builders is composed 

 of the Drongos (Dicruridse). These birds generally 

 place their nests in forking branches, either upright 

 or horizontal, near the summit or outermost parts 

 of trees, attaching them strongly to the supporting 

 twigs either by interlacing the materials with them. 



