Page:Bird-lore Vol 01.djvu/363



The Bower-birds of Australia BY A. J. CAMPBELL. Melbourne Author of "Nests and Eggs of Australian Birds" With photographs from nature HE bower-building birds, with their cultivated tastes for architecture, are amongst the most interesting and beau- tiful of Australian birds, while some of their eggs are eleven species, medium-sized birds — about twelve inches (more or less, according to the species) in length — compactly built and shapely. Their food is wild berries and fruits of various kinds. Occasionally they are not averse to the cultivated article, therefore the birds are not altogether in favor with orchardists. The Satin-bird {Ptilonorhynchiis jnolacciis') — - the male especially beautiful for his lustrous, satin-like, blue-black coat and lovely violet eyes — dwells in the forests — more particularly the coastal — of eastern Australia. The females wear a grayish-greenish mottled dress, as do the young males, but differ in having the under surface a more yellow- ish tone. The males do not don their shining blue-black coat until the third or fourth year, some observers say the seventh year. Satin-birds thrive in captivity. They are not excellent whistlers, but readily learn to articulate words and imitate familiar domestic sounds, such as the mewing of a cat, etc. It is somewhat remarkable that notwithstanding these birds are plentiful in parts, their eggs are rare in collections — the eggs of all Bower-birds are rare — in fact, the eggs of two species have not yet been discovered. The eggs (usually two, occasionally three) of the Satin-bird are of a rich cream color blotched irregularly with brown, and measure nearly 1 3/|' inches in length. The nest, which is usually situated
 * j;J^f/^' most remarkable in appearance. There are ten or