THE SPOTTED BOWER BIRD . 
315 
sticks and twigs, bnt of a more slender and flexible description, the tips of the twigs being so 
arranged as to cnrve inwards and nearly meet at the top ; in the interior of the bower, the 
materials are so placed that the forks of the twigs are always presented outwards, by which 
arrangement not the slightest obstruction is offered to the passage of the birds. 
“For what purpose these curious bowers are made is not yet, perhaps, fully understood ; 
they are certainly not used as a nest, but as a place of resort for many individuals of both 
sexes, who, when there assembled, run through and round the bower in a sportive and playful 
manner, and that so frequently that it is seldom entirely deserted. 
“The interest of this curious bower is much enhanced by the manner in which it is deco- 
rated, at and near the entrance, with the most gaily-colored articles that can be collected, such 
as the blue-tail feathers of the Rose Hill and Lory Parrots, bleached bones, the shells of snails, 
etc. Some of the feathers are stuck in among the twigs, while others, with the bones and 
shells, are strewed about near the entrance. The propensity of these birds to fly off with any 
attractive object is so well known, that the blacks always search the runs for any missing 
article.” 
So persevering are these birds in carrying off anything that may strike their fancy, that 
they have been known to steal a stone tomahawk, some blue cotton rags, and an old tobacco- 
pipe. At the Zoological Gardens the Bower Bird may be seen hard at work at its surface, 
fastening the twigs or adorning the entrances, and ever and anon running through the edifice 
with a curious loud full cry that always attracts the attention of a passer-by. The Satin 
Bower Bird bears confinement well, and although it will not breed in captivity, it is very 
industrious in building bowers for recreation. 
The food of this bird seems to consist chiefly of fruit and berries, as the stomachs of 
several specimens were found to contain nothing but vegetable remains. Those which are 
caged in Australia are fed upon rice, fruit, moistened bread, and a very little meat at inter- 
vals, a diet on which they thrive well. It is rather a gregarious bird, assembling in flocks 
led by a few adult males in their full plumage, and a great number of young males and 
females. They are said to migrate from the Murrumbidgee in the summer, and to return in 
the autumn. 
The plumage of the adult male is a very glossy satin-like purple, so deep as to appear 
black in a faint light, but the young males and the females are almost entirely of an olive- 
green. 
Haedly less beautiful in form and plumage, and quite as interesting in habits, the 
Spotted Bowee Bied now comes before our notice. 
This specie is an inhabitant of the plains in the interior of Hew South Wales, and is 
thought by Mr. Gould to be sufficiently distinct from the preceding species to warrant its 
introduction into a separate genus. Of this species Mr. Gould makes the following valuable 
remarks : — 
“It is as exclusively an inhabitant of the forests in the interior of the country as the 
Satin Bower Bird is of the bushes between the mountain ranges of the coast. From the 
extreme shyness of its disposition, the bird is seldom seen by ordinary travellers, and it must 
be under very peculiar circumstances that it can be approached so as to observe its colors. It 
has a harsh, grating, scolding note, generally uttered when its haunts are intruded on, by 
which its presence is detected. 
The situation of its runs or bowers varies much. They are considerably larger and more 
avenue-like than those of the Satin Bower Bird, being in many instances three feet in length. 
They aie outwardly built of twigs and lined with tall grasses ; the decorations are very pro- 
fuse, consisting of bivalve shells, crania of small mammalia, and other bones. Evident indica- 
tions of contrivance are manifest throughout the whole of the bower and its decorations, par- 
ticularly in the manner in which the stones are arranged, apparently to keep the grasses 
with which it is lined firmly in their places. A row of stones diverges from the mouth of 
the mn on each side, so as to form little paths, while the heap of decorative materials is 
placed before the entrance; this arrangement is the same at both ends. Some of the larger 
