Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 03.djvu/430

* BOWEE. 380 BOWER-BIRD. in 1447, he subsequently abridged into the manu- script now contained in the Advocates' Library of Edinburgh, and known as The Book of Cupar. There is an edition of the Scotichi-onicon^ pre- pared by Walter Goodall from the Kdinburgh College Library manuscript, and published at Edinburgh in 1759. Consult Tvtler, Lives of Scottish Worthies, Vol. 11. (London, 1845). BOWERBANK, bou'er-bank, James Scott ( 1797-1877) . An English geologist; born in Bishopsgate, London. In 1836 he associated him- self with several friends in originating "The London Clay Club' for the examination of fossils of the Tertiary fonnation. and the preparation of a list of the species found in it. In 1840 he published a volimie on the Fossil Fruits of the London Vla>i, which is still regarded as a stand- ard work. In 1847 he was an associate founder of the Palffontographical Society. On his retire- ment from active life he devoted himself to the completion of his great work on sponges, to whidi subject he had for many years devoted considerable study. He was an indefatigable col- lector, and in 1864 his collection was bought by the British iluseum, of which it now forms a well-known and important division. In addition to numerous scientific papers published by him in the Journal of the Microscopic Society, the Journal of the Geological Society, etc., he is the author of the interesting contributions entitled "The Pterodactyles of the Chalk," in Proceedings of the Zoolor/icdl iSociety, and of contributions to a General History of the Spongidw. BOWER-BIRD. One of certain Australa-sian birds remarkable for making ornamented bower- like structures, locallj' 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 Ptilonorhynchiufe. . 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 Zoological Gar- dens in London and elsewhere, and s]>ecimens of their curious structures are displayed by several large museums in Europe and America. The most familiar species is the satin-bird (Ptilonorhynchus holosericeus). 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 liaving a plumage of satiny black, while the females and young are grayish green. In manners they exhibit great alertness and an almost irrepressible activity. "In their native wilds," writes an observer to 7'/if Field, of London, "the site chosen for the playground is some open spot in the most retired parts of the New South 'ales forests. There, in the neighborhood of berry-bearing plants, and scrubs studded with enormous fig-trees (to the fruit of which they are especially partial), having 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 entrance 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 tile Eighth Commandnient:' and MK 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 freijuently re- cover missing articles in this way. When this summer-house is complete, little 'at liomes' 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 {Sericulus melinus), which has a rather limited range in the region north of Sydney, and breeds along Brisbane Kiver, 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 .'^cenopa>us and Ailurtedus are not known to build bowers, but clear wide spaces of ground on which to disjilay themselves, and ornament them with leaves, renewed as fast as they decay. To the latter genus belong the 'catbirds' of south- ern Australia. The spotted Ixnver-birds of the genus Chlamy- dera form still more elaborate runs. There are several species, all characterized by the pink, collar-like marking on the necks of the males, which inhabit bushy districts in southern Aus- tralia and northern Xew (Juinea. Their struc- tures take the form of avenues about 3 feet long and 8 inches broad inside; the walls of upright twigs, rising from a dense platform, bend in at the to]), but do not meet. This avenue and the ground near it are always strewn with hundreds of white pebbles, shells, bleached bones, and other bright objects, which the birds delight to gather, arrange, and rearrange. Of a different and even more remarkable char- acter are the structures of the related gardener- bird {Amhlyornis inornatus) of Xew (iuinea, first described by the Italian naturali.st Dr. O. Beecari. in the Annals of the Museum of Genoa (Vol. IX.. p. 382. PI. 8). Choosing a level spot in the forest, this bird clears a space around a .■-a|)ling the size of a walking-stick, and heaps up around its base a cone of mosses about 18 inches in height, .round this is built a conical hut, made by leaning from the ground to the centra)