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firmly in their places: these stones diverge from the
tion of decorative materials are placed in
In some of the larger bowers, which had evidently

mouth of the run on each side so as to form little paths,
hile the immense collec a heap before the entrance of the

while the imme .

at both ends.

avenue, the arrangement being the same
a bushel of bones, shells, &c., at each of the entrances. |

sorted to for many years, I have seen half
s at a considerable distance from the rivers, from the borders of which they
Ils aud small round pebbly stones ; their collection aud transportation

been re
frequently found these structure
could alone have procured the she
must therefore be a task of great labour.
Bower-bird, formed the rendezvous of many individuals ;
them, I killed two males which I had previously seen running through the avenue.”

t « this Bower-bird thrives well in confinement, and its powers of mimicry

I fully ascertained that these runs, like those of the Satin
for, after secreting myself for a short space of time

near one of

Mr. North tells me (¢z epist.) tha
rival those of Menura.”

Dr. Ramsay writes (Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S. W. vii. p. 409) :—

“T have received this species of Bower-bird from almost every part of the interior of Queensland,
New South Wales, and South Australia, and eggs from the Dawson River in Queensland, the Barkoo,
the Clarence River, and from the Cobar district in New South Wales. They differ very little in the
tints of the markings, varying in shades of umber, sienna, and olive-brown. ‘Those at present under
consideration were taken by Mr. James Ramsay in the Cobar district; they are of a pale greenish
white with numerous thick lines of umber wound round the whole surface, irregular, wavy, crossing
and recrossing here and there, forming loops and knots, and occasionally crossed by a line of black or
an obsolete line of olive or slaty brown. ‘The nest is an open structure of sticks and grasses, round,
about five inches inside diameter, by three deep, and four inches high; it is placed between the thick
upright forks of a tree. The eggs are two to three in number for a sitting, length 1°53 inch x 1-07 inch
in diameter.”

Mr. North, in his ‘Catalogue,’ observes :—‘* The nest is an open structure, usually placed in a low
tree, and is saucer- or bowl-shaped, composed of sticks and lined with grass, about five inches inside
diameter by three inches deep, and four inches high. It is very rarely indeed that C. maculata is found
near the coast, although on one occasion Dr. Ramsay procured an egg on Ash Island, near Hexham,
on the Hunter River, about ten miles from the sea-coast. This was in 1861, and probably the first time
that the egg had been found, though this fact appears to have escaped Dr. Ramsay’s memory, since
he described another egg of the same species thirteen years afterwards (P.Z.S. 1874, p. 605), when
Mr. J. B. White was credited with having obtained the first specimen.

“Tn 1875 Mr. James Ramsay procured several specimens of both birds and eggs near Tyndarie ; and
others were received from the Clarence River district. Since then the eggs have become less rare in
collections, and are to be found in most of those formed in the interior. The eggs of C. maculata
vary considerably in the extent of their markings, and sometimes in the tints of colouring. One I have
from the Dawson River district is slightly smaller than usual, and has the ground-colour of a faint
greenish-grey, covered all over with a fine network of light brownish linear markings, closer together
near the thickest end; others have their markings confined altogether to the larger end of the egg.
A set taken by Mr. Johu Macgillivray at Grafton on the Clarence River, on the 7th of September,
1864, measures :—Length 1:47—1°5 inch X 1-09 inch.”

Mr. North has kindly sent me a photograph of two eggs taken by Mr. James Ramsay at Tyndarie,
and describes them as follows:—‘They are of a greenish-grey colour, which is almost obscured by
numerous linear markings, short streaks, and fine hair-lines of umber-brown. One specimen has two black
linear streaks on the larger end and a few indistinct clouded blotches of pale violet-grey appearing
as if beneath the surface of the shell. Length 1-47-1-5 inch X 1:09 inch.”

In a letter recently received from Mr. North he writes:— A correspondent of mine, whose
accuracy in these matters I can vouch for, informed me that he saw a most remarkable bower of
C. maculata near Cobar in N.S. Wales. It was formed of curved twigs as usual, which met near
the top and, recurving again, formed a second bower above, much smaller than the one underneath.
The lower bower measured about two feet, the one on the top (which was in the centre) one foot. It
had the usual complement of bones, also a few of Eley’s cartridge-cases.” Mr. North sent me a rough
oe oe the bower, from which Mr. H. Gronwold has drawn a little picture (see opposite page).

The following descriptions are taken from my sixth volume of the ‘ Catalogue of Birds’ :—

Adult male. General colour above dark brown, spotted all over with tawny buff near the end of each

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