_J. & E. Gould del et lith._ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]
PTILONORHYNCHUS HOLOSERICEUS, _Kuhl_.
Satin Bower-bird.
_Ptilonorhynchus holosericeus_, Kuhl, Beytr. zur Zool. S. 150.—Wagl.
Syst. Av. sp. 1.—G. R. Gray, Gen. of Birds, p. 40.—Swains.
Class. of Birds, vol. ii. p. 271.
_Pyrrhocorax violaceus_, Vieill. Nouv. Diet. d’Hist. Nat., tom. vi. p.
569.—Ib. Ency. Méth. 1823, p. 896.
_Kitta holosericea_, Temm. Pl. Col. 395 and 422.—Less. Traité d’Orn.,
p. 350, pl. 46. fig. 1.
_Satin Grakle_, Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. iii. p. 171.
_Ptilonorhynchus MacLeayii_, Lath. MSS., Vig. and Horsf. in Linn.
Trans., vol. xv. p. 263.
_Corvus squamulosus_, Ill., female or young?
Ptilonorhynchus squamulosus, Wagl. Syst. Av. sp. 2, female or young?
_Satin Bird_, of the Colonists of New South Wales.
_Cowry_, of the Aborigines of the coast of New South Wales.
Although this species has been long known to ornithologists, and is
familiar to the colonists of New South Wales, its habits, which in many
respects are most extraordinary, have hitherto escaped attention; or if
not entirely so, have never been brought before the scientific world. It
is, therefore, a source of high gratification to myself to be the first
to place them on record.
One point to which I more particularly allude,—a point of no ordinary
interest, both to the naturalist and the general admirer of nature,—is
the formation of a bower-like structure by this bird for the purpose of
a playing-ground or hall of assembly, a circumstance in its economy
which adds another to the many anomalies connected with the Fauna of
Australia.
The localities favourable to the habits of the Satin Bower-bird are the
luxuriant and thickly-foliaged brushes stretching along the coast from
Port Philip to Moreton Bay, the cedar brushes of the Liverpool range,
and most of the gullies of the great mountain-chain separating the
colony from the interior. So far as is at present known, it is
restricted to New South Wales; certainly it is not found so far to the
westward as South Australia, and I am not aware of its having been seen
on the north coast; but its range in that direction can only be
determined by future research.
It is a stationary species, but appears to range from one part of a
district to another, either for the purpose of varying the nature, or of
obtaining a more abundant supply of food. Judging from the contents of
the stomachs of the many specimens I dissected, it would seem that it is
altogether granivorous and frugivorous, or if not exclusively so, that
insects form but a small portion of its diet. Independently of numerous
berry-bearing plants and shrubs, the brushes it inhabits are studded
with enormous fig-trees, some of them towering to the height of two
hundred feet; among the lofty branches of these giants of the forest,
the Satin Bower-bird and several species of Pigeons find in the small
wild fig, with which the branches are loaded, an abundant supply of a
favourite food: this species also commits considerable depredation on
any ripening corn near the localities it frequents. It appears to have
particular times in the day for feeding, and when thus engaged among the
low shrub-like trees, I have approached within a few feet without
creating alarm; but at other times I have found this bird extremely shy
and watchful, especially the old males, which not unfrequently perch on
the topmost branch or dead limb of the loftiest tree in the forest,
whence they can survey all round, and watch the movements of the females
and young in the brush below.
In the autumn they associate in small flocks, and may often be seen on
the ground near the sides of rivers, particularly where the brush
descends in a steep bank to the water’s edge.
Besides the loud liquid call peculiar to the male, both sexes frequently
utter a harsh, unpleasant, guttural note indicative of surprise or
displeasure. The old black males are exceedingly few in number, as
compared with the females and young male birds in the green dress, from
which and other circumstances I am led to believe that at least two, if
not three years, elapse before they attain the rich satin-like plumage,
which, when once perfectly assumed, is, I believe, never again thrown
off.
I regret to state, that although I used my utmost endeavours, I could
never discover the nest and eggs of this species, neither could I obtain
any authentic information respecting them, either from the natives or
the colonists, of whom I made frequent inquiries.
The extraordinary bower-like structure, alluded to above, first came
under my notice at Sydney, to the Museum of which place an example had
been presented by Mr. Charles Coxen, as the work of the Satin
Bower-bird. I at once determined to leave no means untried for
ascertaining every particular relating to this peculiar feature in the
bird’s economy, and on visiting the cedar brushes of the Liverpool range
I discovered several of these bowers or playing-places; and a glance at
the accompanying illustration will, I presume, give a more correct idea
of the nature of these erections than the most minute description. They
are usually placed under the shelter of the branches of some overhanging
tree in the most retired part of the forest: they differ considerably in
size, some being a third larger than the one here represented, while
others are much smaller. The base consists of an extensive and rather
convex platform of sticks firmly interwoven, on the centre of which the
bower itself is built: this, like the platform on which it is placed and
with which it is interwoven, is formed of sticks and twigs, but of a
more slender and flexible description, the tips of the twigs being so
arranged as to curve inwards and nearly meet at the top: in the interior
of the bower the materials are so placed that the forks of the twigs are
always presented outwards, by which arrangement not the slightest
obstruction is offered to the passage of the birds. The interest of this
curious bower is much enhanced by the manner in which it is decorated at
and near the entrance with the most gaily-coloured articles that can be
collected, such as the blue tail-feathers of the Rose-hill and
Pennantian Parrots, bleached bones, the shells of snails, &c.; some of
the feathers are stuck in among the twigs, while others with the bones
and shells are strewed about near the entrances. The propensity of these
birds to pick up and fly off with any attractive object, is so well
known to the natives, that they always search the runs for any small
missing article, as the bowl of a pipe, &c., that may have been
accidentally dropped in the brush. I myself found at the entrance of one
of them a small neatly-worked stone tomahawk, of an inch and a half in
length, together with some slips of blue cotton rags, which the birds
had doubtless picked up at a deserted encampment of the natives.
For what purpose these curious bowers are made, is not yet, perhaps,
fully understood; they are certainly not used as a nest, but as a place
of resort for many individuals of both sexes, which, when there
assembled, run through and around the bower in a sportive and playful
manner, and that so frequently that it is seldom entirely deserted.
The proceedings of these birds have not been sufficiently watched, to
render it certain whether the runs are frequented throughout the whole
year or not; but it is highly probable that they are merely resorted to
as a rendezvous, or playing-ground, at the pairing time and during the
period of incubation. It was at this season, as I judged from the state
of the plumage and from the internal indications of those I dissected,
that I visited these localities; the bowers I found had been recently
renewed; it was however evident, from the appearance of a portion of the
accumulated mass of sticks, &c., that the same spot had been used as a
place of resort for many years. Mr. Charles Coxen informed me, that,
after having destroyed one of these bowers and secreted himself, he had
the satisfaction of seeing it partially reconstructed; the birds engaged
in this task, be added, were females. With much care and trouble I
succeeded in bringing to England two fine specimens of these bowers, one
of which I presented to the British Museum, and the other to the
collection at Leyden, where they may be seen by all those who take an
interest in the subject.
It will be observed, that the two following nearly allied species,
_Chlamydera maculata_ and _Chlam. nuchalis_, also build similar
erections, and that in them the decorative propensity is carried to a
much greater extent than in the Satin Bower-bird.
The adult male has the whole of the plumage of a deep shining
blue-black, closely resembling satin, with the exception of the primary
wing-feathers, which are of a deep velvety black, and the wing-coverts,
secondaries and tail-feathers, which are also of a velvety black, tipped
with the shining blue-black lustre; irides beautiful light blue with a
circle of red round the pupil; bill bluish horn, passing into yellow at
the tip; legs and feet yellowish white.
The female has the head and all the upper surface greyish green; wings
and tail dark sulphur-brown, the inner webs of the primaries being the
darkest; under surface containing the same tints as the upper, but very
much lighter, and with a wash of yellow; each feather of the under
surface also has a crescent-shaped mark of dark brown near the
extremity, giving the whole a scaly appearance; irides of a deeper blue
than in the male, and with only an indication of the red ring; bill dark
horn-colour; feet yellowish white tinged with olive.
Young males closely resemble the females, but differ in having the under
surface of a more greenish yellow hue, and the crescent-shaped markings
more numerous; irides dark blue; feet olive-brown; bill blackish olive.
The Plate represents the bower, an old male, female, and two young
males; one in the green dress and the other in a state of change, all
about a fifth less than the natural size.
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