. Animate creation : popular edition of "Our living world" : a natural history. Zoology; Zoology. 314 THE SATIN BOWER BIRD. THE STARLINGS. The large and important family of the Starlings now claim our attention. These birda are seldom of great size, the common Starling being about an average example of their dimen- sions. The bill of the Starling trilie is straight until near its extremity, when it suddenly curves downward, and is generally armed with a sligiit notch. The lirst sub-family of these birds is that which is known by the name of Ptilonorhynchinse, or Glossy Starlings, so
. Animate creation : popular edition of "Our living world" : a natural history. Zoology; Zoology. 314 THE SATIN BOWER BIRD. THE STARLINGS. The large and important family of the Starlings now claim our attention. These birda are seldom of great size, the common Starling being about an average example of their dimen- sions. The bill of the Starling trilie is straight until near its extremity, when it suddenly curves downward, and is generally armed with a sligiit notch. The lirst sub-family of these birds is that which is known by the name of Ptilonorhynchinse, or Glossy Starlings, so called on account of the silken sheen of their plumage. The best representative of this little group is the celebrated Satin Bowek Bird of SATIN BOWER BlKD.—PiUonm-hynchus /loloncnceus. This beautiful and remarkable bird is found in many parts of New South Wales, and although it is by no means uncommon, is so cautious in the concealment of its home, that even the hawk-eyed natives seem never to have discovered its nest. Perhaps they may be actuated by some superstitious reverence for the bird, and have therefore feigned ignorance of its resi- dence, for it is well known that the voracious native, who will eat almost anything which ia not poisonous and will yield to liis sharp and powerful teeth, lias in many portions of the country so great an awe for this bird that he vnll never Idll it. The chief peculiarity for which this bird is famous is a kind of l)owHr or arbor, which it constructs from twigs in a manner almost unique among the feathered tribes. The form of this bower may be seen in the illustration, and the mode of construction, together with the use to which the bird puts the building, may he learned from Mr. Gould's account:— "On visiting the Cedar Brushes of the Liveipool range, I discovered several of these bowers or playing places ; they are usually placed under the shelter of the branches of some overhanging tree in the most retired part of th
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Keywords: ., bookauthorbr, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectzoology
