894 
A DECORATIVE ARTIST. 
extraordinarily mistrustful, and taking to flight at the first sign of 
danger, it is but seldom that the Australian traveller catches sight of 
him ; and to do so he must observe the greatest caution. His presence 
is indicated by his hoarse, disagreeable cry, which he raises at the 
moment he rises from the ground. Perched on the topmost branch, 
he afterwards surveys the surrounding country with wary eye, and 
directs his course towards the spot which seems to offer the greatest 
prospect of security. The sportsman has the best chance of " bagging" 
him when he goes down to the water to drink — especially in the dry 
season, when he has little choice of localities. Gould remarks that, 
suspicious as he is, his thirst eventually prevails over his innate prud- 
ence, and he will resort to the stream or pool not only in defiance of 
man, but of the great black serpents which lie in wait in the vicinity. 
The warier birds, however, always assemble in little companies on 
such occasions. 
The pleasure-places of the spotted bower-bird Gould found in very 
different quarters : some in the plains overgrown with the pendent 
acacia, some in the midst of the bushes which clothe the hill-sides. 
They are larger and broader than those of the satin bird, and not 
unfrequently measure fully four feet in length. 
The inventive and reflective faculties of these birds, says Gould, are 
exhibited in every detail of the fabric, and in its decoration ; more 
particularly in the manner in which the stones are placed within the 
enclosure, apparently to keep the grasses with which it is lined fixed 
firmly in their places. These stones diverge from the mouth of the 
run on each side, so as to form little paths, while the immense collec- 
tion of decorative materials, bones, shells, and the like, are accumulated 
in a heap at each end of the avenue. The " bowers " of this species are 
often discovered at a considerable distance from rivers ; from the banks 
of which, however, must the shells and small round pebbly stones 
employed in their decoration have been obtained. A task of no small 
labour and difficulty must have been their collection and transporta- 
tion ; and as the bird feeds almost exclusively on seeds and fruits, they 
can have been collected for no other purpose than that of ornament. 
And, in further illustration of this conclusion, it may be mentioned 
