July i, 1891] 



THE HUMMING BIRD. 



53 



are coppery green, and not reddish bronze, as in 

 H. sapphirina. 



We are again indebted to Mr. Henry Whitely for 

 the discovery of this beautiful species. The speci- 

 mens from which I took the above description were 

 collected at River Carimang, Camacusa, and Merume 

 Mounts, British Guiana. 



Description of a supposed New Species of 

 Tanager in Boucard's Museum. 



By A. Boucard. 



Ramphocelus Chrysopterus, n.sp. 



Male. — Upper and underside velvety black ; tail 

 and wing, brownish black underside, rump and upper 

 tail coverts magnificent topaz orange ; bill, bluish. 



Total length, 6\ inches ; wing, 3^ ; tail, 3 ; bill, f ; 

 Habitat, State of Panama, Columbia. 



I have received two males of this magnificent new 

 species. They are exactly alike. 



The McKinley Bill and Art. 



My attention has just been called to the following 

 paragraph in the New York Herald. 



AN ART CONGRESS FOR AMERICA. 

 "New York. May 16. — The proposal to hold a 

 National Art Congress and Loan Exibition at Washing- 

 ton in December, which was exclusively published in 

 the Herald, has aroused great public interest, especial- 

 ly as it is believed that as a result of the Congress 

 Government Departments of Art and Architecture 

 will be established, national saloons be formed, and the 

 art duty abolished. The project has been warmly 

 endorsed by the Corcoran Art Gallery of Washington 

 and various Art Associations throughout the country." 

 I am rather happy to learn that there is some prob- 

 ability that the Art duty will be abolished before long 

 in the United States. In this Journal pages 3 and 20, 

 my readers are aware that I have strongly advocated 

 this measure as one of the best which could be 'taken 

 by the United States Government, and I make again 

 a strong appeal to that Government for the abolish- 

 ment of all duties not only on Objects of Art, but 

 also on all Scientific Collections sent to the United 

 States for scientific purposes, either for sale or other- 

 wise. No mistake can be made with Objects of Natural 

 History for scientific purposes, and Consignments of 

 Bird Skins, Feathers etc. and for industrial purposes. 

 I will say more. In a country like America, the 

 example ought to be given to all the world at large 

 how Custom House duties could be abolished 

 altogether ; as I hope to be able to prove in a sub- 

 sequent notice. 



The Editor. 



Poor Rate and General Rate Taxes in the 

 Parishes of St. Giles in the Fields and 

 St. George, Bloomsbury. 



Continued from page 44. 



♦ 



In consequence of the raising of my assessment 

 from ^109 to ^134, and id. more in the pound for 



both rates as compared with 1890, I have to pay for 

 the half year, commencing Lady Day to Michaelmas 

 J %9 X > £4 IIS - I( i. in excess of last year, which 

 represents a lump sum of ,£4,559 3s. 4d. for the half 

 year, taking as an average that 1000 householders 

 have had their assessments increased in the same 

 proportion as mine ; but it is very likely that the 

 number of these greatly exceed 1000, as I can see that 

 1,889 of them voted recently on the Free Library 

 Question, and surely there were many abstentions. 



It will be rather interesting for the tax-payers to 

 know how the Vestry of the Parishes of St. Giles in 

 the Fields and St. George will spend the extra respect- 

 able sum received by them this year, in consequence 

 of the increase of Assessments. 



To be continued. 



Notes on the Great Bower-Bird. 



— » 



Chlamydodera Nuchalis. Jard. 



Our Editor thinking my notes on the above spe- 

 cies, which are sprinkled through my diary on the 

 different occasions I had the pleasure of meeting with 

 this bird in N.W. Australia, would be of interest to 

 our readers, I take the opportunity of writing all that 

 has come under my observation, regretting that it 

 cannot be so exhaustive as I could wish, but every 

 opportunity I had I made the best I could of, for 

 finding out as much of its habits as possible, the 

 birds generally being very shy and in most instances 

 extremely difficult to approach. 



The first notice I took of the bird was on hearing 

 its call which is something like our Jay [Garrulus 

 glandarius), very harsh and strident, eventually 

 catching a glimpse of the bird itself flying from some 

 low scrubby bushes into a high gum tree. I followed 

 the bird some distance, it flying from tree to bush and 

 bush to tree, but I failed to procure it ; I retraced 

 my steps to where I had first put it up and hunted 

 through the undergrowth in hopes of finding the 

 bower, but without success. By chance some time 

 later, and within 200 yards of our tent, I found a 

 beautifully built bower or playground of this bird ; 

 we had repeatedly heard its call, but had not seen 

 the bird, this particular day I was left in camp 

 alone at a place called Yabba-Goody, the others 

 having gone away to find another water hole, as the 

 one we were camped by was rapidly drying up by 

 evaporation under the powerful rays of the sun ; it 

 was placed in the centre of a very thick bush or 

 clump of overhanging bushes, the twigs of which 

 the bower was built were most tightly interwoven, or 

 rather packed, at the bottom, the sides overarching 

 but not meeting at the top ; the length of the bower 

 itself from end to end of the twigs was three feet, 

 and eighteen inches high. I was very much aston- 

 ished at the singular way in which it was planned, 

 for eighteen inches from one of the openings and 

 about the width of the bower were strewed pieces of 

 broken white shell, bleached white bones, small white 

 stones and white sticks, all white, at the other opening 

 all was black, pieces of black charcoal and curiously 

 enough a black handled pen-knife not rusted at all 

 in the male, and in the color of the rectrices which 



