Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 03.djvu/433

* BOWER-BIRD. 381 BOWFIN. pillar, at a little distance above the interior cone, thin, straw-like stems of an epiphytal orchid, which serve as rafters; these are interwoven and well thatched with others of the same sort, form- ing a 'wigvam' o|)en in front, but coverinfi; a gal- lery running around the pillar. The orchids of which it is composed retain their leaves and remain alive and blooming for a long while; and Dr. lieccari believes that they are chosen by the birds on this account. "But," he says, "the aesthetic tastes of our 'gardener' are not re- stricted to the construction of a cabin. Their fondness for flowers and for gardens is still more remarkable. Directly in front of the entrance to their cabin ... is a miniature meadow of soft moss, transported thither, kept smooth and clean and free from grass, weeds, stones, and other objects not in harmony with its design. Upon this graceful green carpet are scattered flowers and fruit of different colors in such a manner that they really present the appearance of an elegant little garden. . . . Showy fungi and elegantly colored insects are also distributed about the garden and within the galleries of the cabin. When these objects have been exposed so long as to lose their freshness they are taken from the abode, thrown away, and replaced by others." Each of these huts and its garden arc believed to be the work of a single pair, or per- haps of the male alone; and they seem to be utilized year after year. Not less remarkable is the bower of birds of the genus Prionodura, described by Mr. Devis in the Transactions of the Royal Society of Queens- land for 1889 as a collection of huts looking not unlike a dwarfed camp of the aborigines. The purpose of these structures is perhaps best characterized by the term -playhouse,' and they are merely the carrying out architecturally of the same fee'ling which leads many other birds to resort to certain spots, and in some cases to prepare them, by scratching or other simple ef- forts, for the purpose of playing with one an- other, or of going through the dancing and antics that are a part of the method of courtship. This phase of bird life has been treated more or less by all writers upon birds, and especially for those of the Xorth Atlantic shores by Edmund Selous in Bird Watching (London, 1901) ; but the briefest general array of such facts is con- tained in Chapter XIII. of Danvin's Descent of Man. Manv birds show a distinct jireference for bright objects about them, and adorn their nests for no other apparent reason than lesthetic en- joyment : and the fondness shown by the bower- birds for prettv ornaments seems only the highest development of this wide tendency. They replace dying leaves and faded flowers with fresh ones, and move about and arrange their shells and peb- bles preciselv as if it were an amusement and mental gratification to 'play' with them and with each other in ;i nicely prepared place. BOWER OF BLISS, The. A fair garden wherein is contained all that appeals to the sen- sual in man's nature. It is the home of Armida ir. Tasso's Jerusalem Delivered and of Acrasia in Spenser's Faerie Queene. In the latter poem it is situated on a floating island and is described in Book II. BOWERS, bou'erz, Elizabeth Crocker ( 1830- 95). An American actress. She was born at Stam- ford, Conn., and first appeared on the stage in I84C, at the Park Theatre, New York. The next year she was married to David P. Bowers, an actor, with whom she went to Philadelphia and remained tlicre till his deatli in IS.")". |ilaying at the Walnut Street and Arcli Street theatres. In 181)1, after her marriage to Dr. Brown, of Balti- more, she went to London and made a great suc- cess as Julia in The Hunchback, and as Gcraldine D'Arcy in Tl'omoH. Returning to New York in ISCS, "she played for a time at the Winter Gar- den. Among "her favorite parts were .Juliet, Lady Macbeth, JIarie Antoinette, and Lady .udley. .fter the death of Dr. Brown (in 187) she married J. C. McCollom, with whom she repeated many of her popular roles. Her subseiiuent re- tirement at Philadelphia was interrupted by a return to the stage, in 1886, for several years. Lender A. M. Palmer's management she ajipeared in Lady Windermere's Fan (1893), and later she supported Rose Coghlan and Olga Nethersole, Her death occurred in Philadelphia, where she made her home. BOWERS, Theodore S. (1832-66). An -American soldier, bom in Pennsylvania. He en- tered the army in 1801, was appointed aide-de- camp to General Grant, and after the surrender of Vicksburg became assistant adjutant-general of volunteers, serving in the field and at Wash- ington, on General Grant's staff. He was killed by an accident in 1866. For gallant service he was brevetted lieutenant-colonel, colonel, and brigadier-general, U.S.A. BOWERY, The (Dutch houicerij, farming, farm; from houicer, farmer, Ger. Bauer, rustic, peasant, Eng. boor). A broad avenue in New York City, parallel with Broadway, extending from Chatham Square to the junction of Third and Fourth avenues at Cooper LTnion. Its orig- inal name, the Bouiverie, was derived from the estates of the Governor, Peter Stuyvesant, whose farm and orchards, embracing the region lying about the upper part, were called the Great Bou- werie. Once notorious as the rendezvous of the lawless 'Bowery Boy,' the street, at the present time, is characterized by heterogeneity of popu- lation and a nmltitude of questionable resorts and cheap shops. BOWFIN, bo'fin'. A peculiar fish of the Mississippi Valley and Great Lakes, representing an order (Cycloganoidea or Halecomi)ri)hi), and a family (Amiidse), having aflinities with both ganoid and isospondylous fishes. Only a single living species remains — the bowfin or mudfish (Amia calva), of sluggish streams throughout the central I'nited States, from Lake Superior to Florida and Texas, but the group is largely represented by fossil forms; and, according to Jordan, "it is probable that the ancestors of the Isospondyli [shad, salmon, and their relatives] are to lie found among forms allied to the exist- ing llalccomorphi." The bowlin attains a length of about 2 feet and a weight of 12 pounds, and, like its allies, the garfishes, is covered with hard, round scales; the fore part of the body is cylindrical, the head stout and blunt, and the mouth filled with powerful teeth. It is exceed- ingly hardy, enduring absence from the water for a long tinie, as well as grievous injury; hence the young are the favorite live bait of anglers in the Mississippi Valley, and make interesting cap- tives in an a<piarium, where, however, nothing else but snails can remain aliviv These fi«h are