SERICULTTS MELINUS. 



occupation as not to heed the approach of an intruder; I have occasionally stood beneath a low tree, not more than 

 fifteen feet high, with at least ten feeding voraciously above me. 



" I did not succeed in discovering the nest ; but the late F. Strange, writing from Moreton Bay, informed, me that 

 it 'is rudely constructed of sticks, no other material being employed, not even a few roots as a lining. On the 

 4th of November I observed one building, and, as I was leaving for the Richmond the next day, I gave instructions 

 that it should be taken fifteen days after ; when the time arrived, however, no native could be got to secure it ; and 

 it remained till my return on the 4th December. I then sent a native up ; and he brought me the nest, with two 

 young ones, covered with down, except the wings, which were feathered. As the two birds quite filled the nest, 

 and I have heard of other nests being taken with the same number of birds in them, I am inclined to believe 

 that two is the normal number of eggs laid. After taking the young, I wounded and succeeded in capturing the 

 old bird, which, after being two days in confinement, became reconciled to captivity, attended to her progeny, fed 



them, and removed the dirt that accumulated in the nest The eggs are still a desideratum ; and their acquisition 



would be a source of much gratification to me.' C. Coxen, Esq., of Brisbane, gave the following account of this 

 species at a meeting of the Queensland Philosophical Society in 1864, making us acquainted with a habit of this 

 bird never previously suspected. 'Although the Regent bird has been known to ornithologists for many years, 

 very little of its habits has become known, and it has been left for me to bring under your notice the very 

 peculiar and curious habit it has in common with the Satin bird (Ptilonorhynchus holosericeus) and the Spotted 

 Bower-bird (Chlamydodera maculata). My attention was called to this peculiarity in August last by Mr. Waller, 

 taxidermist, of Edward-street, in this city, to whose untiring energy and ability as a collector I must always bear 

 testimony. Mr. Waller informed me that, while shooting in a scrub on the banks of the Brisbane river, he saw a 

 male Regent bird playing on the ground, jumping up and down, puffing out its feathers, and rolling about in a 

 very odd manner, which occasioned much surprise, he never having seen the bird on the ground before. The spot 

 where it was playing was thickly covered with small shrubs. Not wishing to lose the opportunity of procuring a 

 specimen, he fired, but only succeeded in wounding it ; and on searching the spot, he found a bower formed 

 between, and supported by, two small brush plants, and surrounded by small shrubs, so much so that he had to 

 creep on his hands and knees to get to it. While doing so, the female bird came down from a lofty tree, uttered 

 her peculiar note, and lit on a branch immediately over the bower, apparently with the intention of alighting in 

 front of it, but was scared away on seeing Mr. Waller so close to her. She continued flitting over the place and 

 calling for her mate so long as he was in the neighbourhood. Mr. Waller believes that the male bird, after being 

 wounded, fluttered to some distance from the bower and died, as a male Regent bird was found dead two days after- 

 wards in a more open part of the brush. On visiting the scrub on the following and several successive days, the 

 female bird was seen in the locality of the bower, and, by her constant calling, was apparently lamenting the loss, or 

 what might seem to be the inconstancy, of her mate. The ground around the bower was clear of leaves for some twelve 

 or eighteen inches, and had the appearance of having been swept, the only, objects in its immediate vicinity being 

 a small specimen of helix. The structure was alike at both ends ; but the part designated as the front was more 

 easy of approach, and had the principal decorations, the approach to the back being more closed by scrub. Mr. 

 Waller being desirous that this curious habit of the Regent bird should be verified, determined to leave the bower 

 untouched until he had acquainted me with his discovery. Circumstances occurred to prevent me from accompanying 

 him to its whereabouts until the following November, when we found the bower in good preservation. Previous to 

 my seeing and examining the structure, I must confess to having had considerable doubts as to whether it would not 

 prove to be a bower of the Satin bird; but these doubts were dissipated at the first glance, the formation of the 

 structure differing considerably, and the decoration more so. With Mr. Waller's assistance I removed the building 

 without injuring or in any way defacing its architectural style. It may not be inopportune for me to state that I 

 was the first to discover the bower and habits of the Satin bird, and also among the first discoverers of the bower 

 of the Spotted Bower-bird, that I have had frequent opportunities of seeing them in the New-South-Wales brushes 

 and the myall scrubs to the westwards, and am consequently conversant with their peculiarities. The bower of 

 the Regent bird differs from the Satin bird's in being less domed-shaped, straighter in the sides, platform much less 

 (being only ten inches by ten), but thicker in proportion to its area, twigs smaller and not so arched, and the 

 inside of the bower smaller — indeed, I believe, too small to admit an adult Satin bird without injury to its 

 architecture. The decorations of the bower are uniform, consisting only of a small species of helix, herein forming 



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