2 
as a male regent bird was found dead two days 
afterwards 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 her the inconstancy 
of her mate, i he ground around the bower 
was clear of leaves some 12 or 18 inches, and 
had the appearance of having been swept, the . 
only objects in its immediaie vicinity being the 
small specim n of helix to which I call your 
particular attention. The structure- as you 
will perceive, is alike at both ends, but the part 
designated as the fro; it was more easy of 
approach, an l had the principal decora- 
tions ; 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, he de- 
termined on leaving 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, and as had been de- 
scribed previously to me. Previous to my 
seeing and examining the structure, I must 
confess to having had considerable doubts as to 
whether it would not prove a bower of the 
satin bird, but these doubts were at once dissi- 
pated at the first glance, as the formation of 
I the structure differs considerably, and the de- 
coration (wnicli I consider typical) more so. 
With Mr. W.’s assi-tance I removed the bui d- 
iug without injuring or in any way defacing 
its architectural style. It may not be inoppor- 
tune for me to state that I was the first to dis« 
cover the bower and habits of the satin bird, 
and, also, among the first discoverers of the 
bower of the pink-headed bower bird, and that 
I have had frequent opportunities of seeing 
them in the New South Wal s bushes and the 
myall scrubs to the westward, and am conse- 
quently conveisant with their peculiarities. 
The bower before you differs frtmi the satin 
bird’s in being less dome-shaped, straighter in 
the sides, platform much smaller, 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 decora- 
tions of the bower, as you will perceive, are 
uniform, consisting only of a small species of 
helix, herein forming a marked distinction from 
the satin bird. The decorations of his recreation 
ground are of the most varied character, and 
consist of bright feathers, colored rags, and any 
other gaily colored articles, to be found 
in its locality ; he also shows a 
marked appreciation for broken crockery. 
The bower of the chlamydera maculata differs 
from the last, both in structure and material j 
but what I wish more particularly to call your 
attention to is its peculiar style of ornamenta- 
tion. The bower is formed of grass stems bent, 
and interwoven, as shown in the drawing now 
on the table; and, instead of selecting the 
gay-coloured objects chosen by the satin bird, 
its choice is confined to the whitest objects 
attainable, such as white pebbles, single valves 
of the unto so common in our rivers, and 
small bones, either bleached by exposure to the 
sun, or collected from the camp-fires of the 
aborigines. I have had very many opportuni- 
ties of seeing the bowers of the last two named 
birds, and have ever found the decorations to 
be of as distinct a character as herein 
stated ; and I am consequently led to 
believe that the choice and taste dis- 
played by each species in the selec- 
tion of decorative objects may be taken as 
a type of the domestic economy of each bird, 
and I am further borne out in this belief by 
referring to Captain Stokes’ work on the north- 
west coast of Australia. In that vsork he states 
that, he found a bower of the chlamydera 
muchalis , or large pink crested bower bird (a 
bird hitherto only found in the north-west), and 
that the bower was built of sticks stuck in the 
ground, and occupying an area of 2\ feet by 18 
inches, and nearly 2 feet high. The decoration 
consisted of shells, bones, and seeds, herein 
differing from its smaller congener. The nest 
of the satin bird never having been lound, 
it may, and indeed has been a ? ked, is 
it not possible or probable that these 
bowers are u*ed as places of incubation? 
To this I confidently answer no ; for although 
the nest of the satin bird has not been dis- 
covered by any collector, the natives un- 
hesitatingly state that the bird makes its nest 
in the high gum trees found in the scrub, and 
I myself, found a nest of the chlamydera 
maculata with young birds in it some years 
ago on Oaky Creek near the present Jondaryan 
head station, on the Darling Downs ; the nest 
was built in one of the myrtaett overhanging a 
waterhole, near a scrub, on which a bower was 
built ; and I am further borne out in this 
opinion by the absence of all debris and other 
matter so consequent in all spots chosen for the 
purpose of nidification. I am, therefore, dis- 
posed to believe with Gould that the bowers 
aie only used at the advent of the breeding 
season, and then as a rendezvous or courting 
ground during that interesting period. The 
regent bird frequents our river scrubs during 
the winter months, from the beginning of May 
to the end of September, coming from the 
south whither he repairs during the summer. 
Its food consists of berries, wild fruits, and 
insects. In confinement it greedily disposes of 
house-flies, cockroaches, and small' insects, 
showing great activity in their capture, but its 
principal food is the banana, of which it eats 
largely. It is very bold and pugnacious— -the 
young males most particularly so, In con- 
finement several cases have occurred of Que 
