BUll»S. 



'625 



We have devoted this article to nests ; but there are 

 some examples of architectural skill among birds, which 

 require a passing notice, though they are constructed for 

 a very different purpose. We allude to the playing galle- 

 ries of the Bower-birds of Australia, specimens of which 

 may be seen in the British Museum and in the Zoological 

 Gardens at the Regent's Park. The Spotted Bower-bird 

 (Chlamydera maculata), for instance, collects twigs and 

 sticks, and builds them so as to form a long tunnel or 

 gallery, cylindrical interiorly, where it is lined with long 

 grass. The birds then bring together large quantities of 

 stones, shells, and fragments ot bone, with which the floor 

 is paved; this pavement, which expands beyond the open- 

 ing at each end, serves to strengthen the structure and 

 keep it steady. Besides this, they carefully search for the 

 gaily- coloured feathers of parrots and other birds, which 

 they interweave into the sides of their bower, and also 

 arrange the whitest stones and shells in the most conspi- 

 cuous places, with a keen eye to ornament. The gallery 

 being complete, the birds use it for play, chasing each 

 other through it; and that not only by pairs, but nume- 

 rous individuals associating to use (and, therefore, probably 

 to build) the same gallery. One of these bowers, now in 

 the British Museum, was, when found, four feet long and 

 eighteen inches high. 



