SOME BIRDS OF THE SCRUB-LANDS 
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Usually the bower built by this bird is a compact structure of closely inter- 
woven sticks and twigs, in fact so compact are the walls of the bower that 
they can be moved en masse . The decorations used about the bowers are 
mostly bunches of green berries. This species is an excellent mimic. 
Food : seeds, and native fruits and berries. 
Nest. — An open, cup-shaped structure, composed of sticks, twigs, and 
bark ; lined with finer materials. Usually placed in a tree, at heights up 
to 30 feet or more from the ground. 
Eggs — Usually one, pale creamy-white, covered with a tangled net- 
work of lines and hair-like markings of olive-brown, umber, purplish- 
grey, and blackish-brown. Breeding-season : September to December. 
12. Great Bower-bird Chlamydera nuchalis Jardine and Selby — 12A. 
Female 
nu-cha -lis — L., nuchalis , naped. 
Distribution. — Tropical northern Australia. 
Notes . — Usually in pairs or small flocks, frequenting the scrub, open 
forest, and mangroves. It is said to be less noisy and not such a good 
mimic as the Spotted Bower-bird. Its bowers are usually built in isolated 
patches of scrub; they average about 2 feet in length by 18 inches in 
width and 15 inches in height; often they are roofed oven The decora- 
tions usually consist of bleached shells of land-snails or pieces of bleached 
coral. Food : seeds, and native fruits and berries. 
Nest. — Like that of the Spotted Bower-bird, but often not so well 
built. It is generally composed of a few sticks and twigs, and placed 
in a thick bunch of twigs in a tree at heights up to 20 feet or more from 
the ground. 
Eggs. — One or two, pale greyish-green, marked, like those of the 
Spotted Bower-bird, with a tangled tracery of lines and hair-like markings 
of olive-brown, umber, blackish-brown, and purplish-grey. Breeding- 
season: September to February. 
