The Emu. 
89 
if they had been deserted for months. To-day (8/6/00) I saw 
a male bird pulling a bower to pieces. He took each twig in 
his beak and dragged it out. At the pulling away of the bower 
he worked for nearly an hour. 
On 27th December, 1899, I found a nest and egg. The nest 
was placed about 12 feet from the ground in a bauhinia tree. 
The bird was very shy, and, although I watched the tree, I only 
saw the bird go on to the nest once ; but it was always on the 
nest when I visited the tree. She used to slip off silently and 
hop and fly away on the side that had the tree between us. 
External dimensions of the nest, 10 x 10 x 5^ inches; 
internal dimensions, 6 x 5^ x 2^ inches. The egg could 
be seen through the nest from the ground. The nest was 
loosely constructed of coarse twigs, lined with fine bauhinia 
twigs. The bower within a few yards of my present camp is 
still frequented (31/12/99) by a large number of birds. They 
come about 6.30 a.m. and stay some 30 minutes. In the 
evening they return for one hour, just prior to sunset. They 
have the bower built under a small " freshwater " mangrove, the 
leaves of which are falling at present each morning in great 
numbers. The leaves that have fallen during the night are 
picked up one by one and carried away in their beaks, going 
all the time with a peculiar sidling dance motion. With the 
heads turned on one side they look very knowing. 
In a place known as Fourteen-Mile Gorge they are still very 
plentiful ( 1 3/1/00), and may often be seen in the small caves 
of the sandstone hills. Here I saw a black bird with a yellow 
eye, and it reminded me of a Satin Bower Bird. To-day I shot 
a male bird hardly in moult (i 6/1/00). 
On 9/3/00 I noted that some few birds were on the river 
again, but the majority were still in the hills. On 8/4/00 I saw 
a large number at a bower. One male in full plumage spread 
out the pink ruff on his neck until the feathers resembled a 
widely-extended fan, almost forming a circle. 
What appears to be the male bird (judging by the plumage) 
plays for hours with bones, &c., at one end of the bower, uttering 
strange noises. One resembles a piece of silk while being 
crumpled and shaken. The usual call is a harsh and scolding 
one. The female is much quieter, preferring to hop quietly 
about or sit in a bush.] 
2. Malurus DORSALIS (Lewin), Red-backed Wren. 
Maltirus browni^ Gould, Birds Aust., foL, vol. iii., p. 27 (1848). 
Malurus dorsalis^ Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., vol. iv., p. 296 
(1879). 
Fifteen skins have been received, of which eleven are males 
and four females. 
Of the males seven form a most interesting series, and show 
the order in which the red appears, as illustrated in the skins 
a to^. 
