21 
ground and grass paroquets, as the lovely king, rosehill, Adelaide 
parrots, lory, and others, living upon the seeds of various grasses 
which abound on the plains. 
When contemplating these gorgeously-arrayed specimens and 
drawings before us, we may consider that, in comparison with 
others of the animal kingdom, birds may unquestionably take 
the first station of interest, that is, if sweetness of voice, elegance 
of form, or beauty and brilliancy of colouring are peculiarities 
which may be allowed to constitute the superiority of one class 
of beings over another. They are both poetically and literally 
the butterflies of the vertebrate animals, flitting from plant to 
plant, from flower to flower, living less on earth than in the 
air, and having their wings ornamented with feathers of bright 
and varied colours. Birds have also been called the flowers of 
the animated creation, with melody instead of perfume; they 
display the same beauties of form, brilliancy of colour and 
charms, which excite our admiration; and how beautifully this 
is exemplified in these lovely humming birds (of which the 
drawings are before you), to which these remarks are applicable. 
Who does not admire birds, their graceful and flitting move¬ 
ments, their harmonious music, as if it were “ the tongues of 
trees,” and their intimate union with all the sweet sympathies of 
external nature —the green fields, the blue sky, the balmy air — 
*■ have ever made them objects of pleasing interest to man. 
In commencing the domestication of our indigenous birds, 
both useful and ornamental, we cannot select one more interest¬ 
ing than the satin bower birds (ptilonorhynchus holosericeus). 
They have succeeded both in England and in this city, in being 
kept in a state of captivity, but have not yet built a nest, laid 
eggs, or reared their young ; indeed, the nest and eggs of this 
bird are at present unknown. They are amusing, playful, and 
delightful mocking birds, imitating the notes of the various 
birds within hearing. 
The adult male satin bird has a glossy blue-black plumage, 
of satiny texture. The young males and females are of a dull 
green colour, which in the males becomes spotted with black, 
and they do not attain their full plumage for three and four, or 
even five years. 
The satin bower birds are found in New South Wales, but 
the pink-necked or spotted bower birds (chlamydera maculata), 
whose habits are precisely similar, are found in Central, North¬ 
west, and Northern Australia. 
The bower constructed by these remarkable birds is, perhaps, 
