98 
The Queensland Naturalist 
May, 1938 
tree at a great pace for the first 20 feet or so, and then 
more slowly, and as he did not see me at first, he was in 
full view. The lewins were joined by a pair of rufous fan- 
tails ( Rhipidura rufifrons ), some brown warblers, two 
scrub wrens (Sericorms front alia) and the robins, and 
what a noise they made ! The little rufous f antails were 
the bravest, but even they kept at a very safe distance from 
the ugly creature who turned liis head and darted out his 
tongue, but otherwise clung as tightly to the tree as if 
growing there. 
Then another bird came up, a female rifle bird 
( Ptiloris paradiseus) with dark markings and long curved 
bill, and the excitement gradually died away. Just as 1 
was moving off, on to the sunny log near me lighted a 
beautiful little green backed bird with a barred breast — 
a golden bronze cuckoo ( Lamprococcyx plugosus) shining 
brightly in the sun. 
THE SATIN BOWER BIRD. 
One day I found the bower of a satin bower bird 
(Ptilonorhynchus violaceus) ; it was in an opening among 
thick bushes, and was very neatly made, the sticks meet- 
ing in an arch about nine inches high. It was about seven 
inches through, and it had a carpet of dried grass and 
small twigs spread in front of it, and laid on this were five 
heads of the blue flower of the wild tobacco, and a dozen 
or more of the bright blue feathers from the wing of the 
crimson rosella (. Platy cents elegans). 
At this time there were great numbers of parrots to 
be seen, mainly crimson rosellas and king parrots (Apros- 
mictus scapular is) with a few Blue Mountains among 
them. They look most lovely seen at close quarters feed- 
ing on wild raspberries and the berries of the wild tobacco. 
The bower birds and cat-birds ( Ailuroedus melanotus) 
feed with them, and to see a blue-black satin bower bird 
with a big black raspberry in its bill is a common but beau- 
tiful sight. 
There are a few regent bower birds ( 8 eric-ulus clwyso- 
cephalus) too. I stood at the top of a gentle slope covered 
with wild tobacco bushes which were alive with dozens of 
these parrots and bower birds. The leaves of the bushes 
are of a soft velvety, almost whitish green, and the bril- 
liant reds, blues, and greens of the birds were shown up 
by this neutral background, especially the black velvet 
and gold of the regent birds. I was so near to some of 
them that 1 could see the colour of their eyes. 
