THE BOWER BIRD . 
205 
had attracted me. Soon, it was evident that this was a Bower 
Bird engaged in building the assembly-room, and after a little 
while he became reconciled to my presence, and proceeded 
with his work. He went about it in a leisurely and reflective 
manner, taking plenty of time over his work, and disdaining to 
hurry himself. 
First he would go off to the further end of the compartment, 
and there inspect a quantity of twigs which had been put there 
for his use. After contemplating them for some time, he would 
take up a twig and then drop it as if it were too hot to hold. 
Perhaps he would repeat this process six or seven times with 
the same twig, and then suddenly pounce on another, weigh it 
once or twice in his beak, and carry it off. When he reached 
the bower he still kept up his leisurely character, for he would 
perambulate the floor for some minutes, with the twig still in 
his beak, and then perhaps would lay it down, turn in another 
direction, and look as if he had forgotten about it. Sooner or 
later, however, the twig was fixed, and then he would run 
through the bower several times, utter his loud cry, and start 
off for another twig. 
Ornament is also employed by the Bower Bird, both entrances 
of the bower being decorated with bright and shining objects. 
The bird is not in the least fastidious about the articles with 
which it decorates its bower, provided only that they shine and 
are conspicuous. Scraps of coloured ribbon, shells, bits of 
paper, teeth, bones, broken glass and china, feathers, and similar 
articles, are in great request, and such objects as a lady’s thimble, 
a tobacco-pipe, and a tomahawk have been found near one of 
their bowers. Indeed, whenever the natives lose any small and 
tolerably portable object, they always search the bowers of the 
neighbourhood, and frequently find that the missing article is 
I doing duty as decoration to the edifice. 
This species is more plentiful than another Bower Bird which 
will presently be described. As is the case with many birds, the 
I adult male is very different from the young male and the female 
in his colouring. His plumage is a rich, deep purple, so deep 
indeed as to appear black when the bird is standing in the 
