BOWER-BIRD. One of certain Australasian birds remarkable for making ornamented bower like structures, locally known as 'runs,' as places of resort, especially in the breeding season. They are members of the family of the birds of para dise. the numerous genera and species forming the sub-family Ptilonorhynehim. All are of mod erate size and plain plumage, subsist mainly upon fruits, and breed in trees, constructing rather rude nests for their eggs, for their terres trial bowers are not nesting-places, but `play houses.' 'these birds were first described in 1840 by Dr. John Gould, the ornithological ex plorer of Australia. but much new information has since been gained. Several species are usu ally living and working in the Zoiilogical Gar dens in London and elsewhere, and specimens of their curious structures are displayed by several large museums in Europe and America.
The most familiar species is the satin-bird (Ptilonorhynehus holoscriceus). of the southern part of Australia. It is about the size and some what the shape of a jackdaw, but the sexes are dissimilar, the males having a plumage of satiny black, while the females and young are grayish green. In manners they exhibit great alertness and an almost irrepressible activity. "ln their native wilds." writes an observer to The Field, of London, "the site chosen for the playground is sonic open spot in the most retired parts of the New South Wales forests. There, in the neighborhood of berry-bearing plants, and scrubs studded with enormous fig-trees (to the fruit of which they are (-specially partial), Ilaving cleared the turf of all inharmonious objects and dead leaves, the male constructs a dome-shaped gal lery, open at either end, and about a foot long, with the floor and sides formed of sticks and twigs. Those used for the latter are longer and more slender, and so arranged that they lean inwards, nearly meeting overhead. The floor, or platform, in which the sides are firmly planted, is sometimes ornamented with a few feathers, but around the entranee are scattered every variety of decorative material, such as bright colored feathers, bones, and shells, which are often brought from long distances in the bush for this purpose; and scarcely a day passes with out the birds making some fresh arrangement or adding to their store of curios. Like too many
of their crow-like relatives, they pay little re gard to the Eighth Commandment; and Sir. Gould says that the natives are in the habit of searching their arbors for anything that has been lost or dropped in the bush, and frequently re cover missing articles in this way. When this summer-house is complete, little at homes' are given daily, at which the males meet and pay their court to the females, and, with ruffled feathers and many bows and scrapes, go through the most absurd, not to say stately, dance, for the edification of their lady-loves, or at other times pursue them through the gallery with the utmost glee in a wild game of 'hide and seek.' The captives in zoological gardens seem never at rest, and when not feeding or flirting are con stantly engaged in flying backward and forward through their aviary. The male never appears content with his architecture, and amuses him self by constantly pulling down his summer pal ace and rebuilding it in improved style." The regent-bird (Scriculus melinus), which has a rather limited range in the region north of Sydney, and breeds along Brisbane River, is a near relative, but the fully plumaged males have rich yellow markings on the head, neck, and wings: and it builds a bower resembling that of the satin-bird. but decorated exclusively with snail-shells. It is so pugnacious that the males often kill one another in their fights at the nup tial season. Allied Queensland species of the genera Scenoptens and Ailurmdus are not known to build bowers, lint clear wide spaces of ground on which to display themselves, and ornament them with leaves, renewed as fast as they decay. To the latter genus belong the 'catbirds' of south ern Australia.