CHLAMYDODERA CER YINI YENTRI S, Gould . 
Fawn-breasted Bower-bird. 
Chlamydera cerviniventris, Gould, P. Z. S. 1850, p. 201.— Macgill. Yoy. Rattlesnake, ii. p.357 (1852). — Gray, 
P. Z. S. 1858, p. 194. — Id. Cat. B. New Guinea, p. 59 (1859). — Gould, B. Austr. Suppl. pi. 36 (1859). — 
Gray, Hand-1. B. i. p. 294, no. 4342 (1869).— Biggies, Orn. Austr. i. p. 52, pi. 52 (1877). 
Chlamydodera cerviniventris , Gould, Handb. B. Austr. i. p. 454 (1865). — Elliot, Monogr. Parad. pi. xxxii. 
(1873). — Salvad. & D’Albertis, Ann. Mus. Civic. Genov, vii. p. 828 (1875).— lid. op. cit. viii. p. 39 
(1876).— lid. op. cit. ix. p. 193 (1876).— Sharpe, Journ. Linn. Soc. xiii. p. 82 (1876).— Ramsay, Proc. 
Linn. Soc. N. S. W. i. p. 393 (1876).— Sharpe, Journ. Linn. Soc. xiv. p. 495 (1877).— Id. tom. cit. 
p. 687 (1879). — Ramsay> Proc. Linn. Soc. N. S. W. ii p. 188 (1878). — Id. op. cit. iii. pp. 102, 268 
(1879). — D’Albertis, Nuova Guinea, pp. 237, 584 (1880). — Salvad. Orn. Papuasia, etc. ii. p. 664 
(1881). — Sharpe, Cat, B. Brit. Mus. vi. p. 393 (1881).— Musschenbr. Dagboek, p. 214 (1883).— Finsch, 
Vbg. der Sfidsee, p. 27 (1884).— North, Proc. Linn. Soc. N. S. W. (2) i. p. 1160 (1887). — Ramsay, 
Tab. List Austr. B. p. 11 (1888).— North, Descr. Cat. Nests & Eggs B. Austr. p. ISO, pi. xi. fig. 4 
(1889). — Salvad. Aggiunte Orn. Papuasia, etc. ii. p. 165 (1890). — Id. Ann. Mus. Civic. Genov. (2) ix. 
p. 585 (1890). — De Vis, Ann. Queensland Mus. no. 2, p. 9 (1892). — Crowley, Bull. Brit. Orn. 
Club, i. p. xvi (1892).— Madarasz, Aquila, 1894, p. 92— Sharpe, Bull. Brit. Orn. Club, iv. p. xiv 
(1894). — Salvad. Ann. Mus. Civic. Genov. (2) xvi. p. 113 (1896).— Madarasz, Term. Ffiz. 1897, 
p. 28. — Reichenow, J. f. O. 1897, p. 214. 
Ptilorhynchus cerviniventris, Giebel, Thes. Orn. i. p. 567 (1872). 
Ptilonorhynchus cerviniventris, Rosenb. Mitth. orn. Ver. Wien, 1885, p. 54. 
This species, which is easily recognized by its fawn-coloured under surface and by the absence of any nuchal 
frill or ornament in the male, was discovered in the Cape York Peninsula by the late John Macgillivray, 
during the voyage of the ‘Rattlesnake.’ It also occurs in South-eastern New Guinea and appears not to be 
rare in the Port Moresby district, whence I have seen a number of specimens collected by Goldie, Broadbent, 
and other well-known naturalists. D’Albertis procured it in Hall Bay and at Naiabui, and Dr. Loria has 
sent a large series from Kapa Kapa to the east of Port Moresby. The species likewise occurs in German 
New Guinea on the Finisterre and Bismarck Mountains. It should be noticed that Gray gives the islands of 
Torres Straits as another locality for the species, but, like Count Salvadori, I have not been able to find any 
authority for the statement. Mr. De Vis, however, records a specimen from Sudest Island, in the Louisiade 
Archipelago, obtained by Sir William MacGregor on the 30th of June, 1891. 
Dr. E. P. Ramsay observes that this Bower-bird appears to be one of the most common birds about Port 
Moresby, but it is confined to the coast and is not met with inland. Mr. Masters obtained a bower among 
the mangroves on the margin of a scrub within the influence of the spring-tides. Mr. Goldie also obtained 
bowers during his first expedition ; they were made of fine twigs placed in an upright or slightly slanting- 
position, and gently arched over in the middle ; the inside and sides of the bower, and sometimes the tops 
of the twigs, were ornamented with berries. The Fawn-breasted Bower-bird is usually found in small troops 
of six to ten in number, and feeds on fruits and berries. 
Gould, in describing the bower found by Macgillivray at Cape York, says : — “ It differs from those of the 
other species ; its walls, which are very thick, being nearly upright, or but little inclining towards each other 
at the top, so that the passage through is very narrow ; it is formed of fine twigs, is placed on a very thick 
platform of thicker twigs, is nearly 4 feet in length and almost as much in breadth, and has here and there 
a small snail-shell or berry dropped in as a decoration.” 
The following is Macgillivray’s account of his discovery of the species: — 
“ Two days before we left Cape York, I was told that some Bower-birds had been seen in a thicket or 
patch of low scrub, half a mile from the beach ; and after a long search I found a recently-constructed 
bower, 4 feet long and 18 inches high, with some fresh berries lying upon it. The bower was situated near 
the border of the thicket, the bushes composing which were seldom more than 10 feet high, growing in 
smooth sandy soil without grass. 
“Next morning I was landed before daylight, and proceeded to the place in company with Paida, taking 
with us a large board on which to carry off the bower as a specimen. I had great difficulty in inducing my 
