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CHLAMYDODERA GUTTATA, com

Large-spotted Bower-bird.

Chlamydera guttata, Gould, P.Z.S. 1862, p. 162.—Id. B.
" p, 294, no. 4340 (1869).
Chlamydodera guttata, Gould, Handb. B. Austr. i. p-. 452 (1865).—Elliot, Monogr. Parad mtn o
Ramsay, Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S. W. ii. p. 188 (1878).—Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit ae a - 22 (1873).—
North, Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S. W. (2) i. p. 1159 (1887).—Ramsay, Tab. List ae Cs
Stirling & Zietz, Trans. R. Soc. S. Austr. xvi. p. 157 (1893).—Sharpe, Bull. Brit oe ee oe
(1894).—North, Rep. Horn Sci. Exped. Centr. Austr. part ul. Zool. Aves, p- 90 cn a

Austr. Suppl. pl. 35 (1867).—Gray, Hand-l. B. j

Tus species differs from C. maculata in having the crown of the head silvery brown, slicht] tineodl adil

; i ’ » Sightly tinged with

rufous bars, the bases to the feathers being black. Mr. North, describing the two males pene ick b
a jal-

ve 7 ne Reta, cae aa . 5 UY)

the Horn Expedition to Central Australia, says :—*Two examples of this distinct ‘

2 and well-marked species
were obtained at Glen Edith. Both are males and apparently not quite 7

adult, or in the moult, for one
are but slieht ; ;

in the other specimen. This species is readily distineuished fr i ee oe
Mithe otlier spe : S S| adily distinguished from its near ally, C. maculata of Eastern
and Southern Australia, by the feathers of the upper surface being blackish brown instead of dark brown

C)

WIS

IX
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has only a faint indication of the beautiful lilac nuchal plumes, and they

rendering the spots, which are paler, more conspicuous—and by the absence of the earthy-brown band
between the nuchal plumes and the mantle. The head and neck, too, are much darker, nl the tips of
the wing-coverts and secondaries are pale yellowish buff, instead of tawny buff.”

The following is the note on the species made by Mr. Keartland, the naturalist to the Horn Expedition :—
“Wherever the ‘native fig” trees existed, these birds were found. They were generally very shy, and only
two specimens were obtained. Several bowers seen bore a close resemblance to those of Ce neuen At
Owen Springs we were informed that in dry weather these birds come to the water-buckets under the
veranda to drink, and become quite fearless of the presence of persons sitting close Dau

The species was first met with by Mr. Stuart during his journey across the Australian continent from
Adelaide to the Victoria River, and the head of an adult male obtained by him is in the Gould collection in
the British Museum, in which institution is a perfect skin of a female collected somewhere in North-western
Australia.

It is doubtless this species, as Gould has pointed out, which is referred to in his ‘ Travels’ (vol. i.
pp. 196, 245) by Sir George Grey, who met with it at the summit of one of the sandstone-ranges forming
the watershed of the streams flowing into the Glenelg and Prince Regent’s rivers. He writes :—*‘ We fell in
with a very remarkable nest, or what appeared to me to be such. We had previously seen several of them,
and they had always afforded us food for conjecture as to the agent and purpose of such singular structures.
This very curious sort of nest, which was frequently found by myself and other individuals of the party, not
only along the sea-shore, but in some instances at a distance of six or seven miles from it, I once conceived
must have belonged to a kangaroo, until I was informed that it was the run or playing-place of a species of
Chlamydodera. These structures were formed of dead grass and parts of bushes, sunk a slight depth into
two parallel furrows of sandy soil, and then nicely arched above. But the most remarkable fact connected
with them was that they were always full of broken sea-shells, large heaps of which protruded from each
extremity. In one instance, in a bower the most remote from the sea that we discovered, one wl the men
of the party found and brought to me the stone of some fruit which had evidently been rolled in the sea ;
these stones he found lying in a heap in the nest, and they are now in my possession.”

The following is the description of the species given by me in my sixth volume of the ‘ Catalogue of
Birds’ :—

“Very similar to C. maculata, but altogether darker above, anc
as the back, with smaller tawny buff spots; the under surface of the body is also darker.
12 inches, culmen 1-05, wing 5:6, tail 4:25, tarsus 1°6.

“The head of the male, collected by Mr. Stuart during bis tr of 4

3 : 5 ee a
The lilac band is much richer in tint, ar ;
as in C. maculata. The

that the species has no

1 having the neck of the same dark brown
Total length

avels into the interior of Australia, likewise
1 the head
points to the species being distinct from C, maculata.

shows the whole of the feathers with silvery tips, instead of only a few thus marked
feathers of the hind-neck resemble those of the female, and seem to Oe
band of earthy brown between the nape and the mantle as in its near ally.’ | so

The species so closely resembles C. maculata that a separate figure has been considered unnecessary.