DWELLINGS. l8l 



interior of the room may be smooth and the birds 

 may not catch their plumage in it. This done, the 

 little architects, to embellish their retreat, transport 

 to it a number of conspicuous objects, such as very 

 white stones from a neighbouring stream, shells, the 

 bright feathers of the parroquet, whatever comes to 

 their beak. All these treasures are arranged on the 

 earth, before the two entries to the bovver, so as to 

 form on each side a carpet, which is not smooth, but 

 the varied colours of which rejoice the eye. The 

 prettiest treasures are fixed into the wall of the hut. 

 These houses of pleasure, with all their adornments, 

 form a dwelling very much to the taste of this 

 winged folk, and the birds pass there the greater 

 part of the day, preening their feathers and nar- 

 rating the news of the forest. Bower-birds' clubs 

 are drawing-rooms ra'sed at the common expense by 

 all who frequent them. The Spotted Bower-bird, the 

 Chlamydera tnaculata, which also lives in the interior 

 of Australia, exercises this method of construction 

 with equal success. The bowers built by these birds 

 may be one metre in length ; this is on a very 

 luxurious scale, the animal itself only measuring 

 twenty-five centimetres. In this species, as among 

 other Bower-birds, the bowers are not the labour and 

 the property of a single couple ; they are the result 

 of the collaboration of several households, who come 

 together to shelter themselves there. These birds 

 feed only on grains, so that it is to a very pro- 

 nounced taste for collecting that we must attribute 

 this mania of piling up before the entrance of the 

 bower white stones, shells, and small bones. (Fig. 

 25.) These objects are intended solely for the 

 delight of these feathered artists. They are very 



