P rt22 b * f ] Whthpui, 3wcr-bu<i VinU Mrtbmmfe 123 



maintain either position, as if in a trance, for a minute or more at 

 a lime, giving its "starier-motor" song and its mimicry. Then sud- 

 denly it would erect its wings and tfance bark and forth an<J up and 

 clown, uttering harsh cries, and, when at a window , vigorously pec k- 

 ing Hie glass. All this was done quit* kiudlv ;'md with the beak 

 t lamped on whatever plaything it had in its grasp, only B slight 

 pulsating of its throat feathers indicating its vocal efforts When 

 such performance's- were given without anything in the 1j*»W, this 

 was still held closed, except for occasional gaping tit Ihf mandible*, 

 this not being connected in any way however with the rhuhm of 

 the "song", 



Sometimes the hird perched on a branch in ihe dense shrubbery 

 and sang there. On these occasions some different calls were given, 

 and several times a perfect imitation was heard of the cry of a fco;ifa 

 In time, it became apparent that the bower-bird had a definite re- 

 pertoire of calls and mimicry, and that there were at least several 

 definrte sequences in which they were usually given One learned 

 to recognize its three different kookaburra calls, and it was noted 

 that these, rind the hnneveater and treecrecper calls, always followed 

 the "starter-motor" Furthermore, the half-minute imitation of the 

 White-plumed Honeyeuter did not vary, it always had exactly the 

 ■same pauses and runs in its sequence of notes. 



The accomplished mimicry of this Victorian bird is particularly 

 interesting in view of the comment made bv A. H. Chisholm in 

 1946 (Vut. ftfef, 63: 39) that "A. I Marshall has written that 

 whereas in the Sydney region he rarely knew ibe Satin-bird u> be 

 imitative, he found in the Macpherson Range, Queensland, that 

 mimicry was quite characteristic" vocal mimicry, by "green" 

 bower-birds, was noted too by Charles Bekher in 7 ft* !hrds oj the 

 District of Geelotuf, Victoria; these built a playground on the limbs 

 of a pine-tree, in October 1893. 



Furthermore, the Malvern bower-bird was not only a master 

 mimic but also a master architect and decorator, even though it had 

 not assumed its full adult plumage — the uniform blue-black of the 

 old male. There were about a dozen feathers of this colour here 

 and there amongst its greenish and brown plmnage, so it was 

 evidently approaching its final adult stage, This indicates that it 

 was probably about liye <ir six years old- 

 Investigation ha* not brought to light anv reason to believe that 

 this bird was, an escapee from captivity, for instance, there has 

 been none at the £ir Colin Mackenzie Sanctuary for at least a 

 year. Its obvious pa*t acquaintance with koala, treecreeper and 

 gang-gang suggests that it came from South Gippshmd. 



In 1934, A". H. Chisholm wrote (Vut. h'at, 51 . 128) that the 

 bowers "usually face north and south, with the platform (and iis 

 decorations) at the northern end". At East Malvern, the platform 

 and decorations were at The xnnherty end of the l>ower. It is inter- 

 esting that the 1927 report from Moulnilk told oc the bowci-bird 



