CHLAMYDODERA ORIENTALIS, Gould.
Queensland Bower-bird.
Chlamydodera mchalis (part.), Ramsay, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1868, p. 385.—Id. Proc. Linnean Soc, o f New S. Wales,
ii. p. 188.
Chlamydodera orientalis, Gould, Ann. & Mag. o f Nat. Hist. ser. 5, vol. iv. p. 74.
In the ‘ Annals o f Natural History ’ for July 1 8 7 9 I described a new species o f Bower-bird, and made some
remarks on the Chlamydodera, proposing the name o f Chlamydodera orientalis for the new species. I have
now the pleasure o f giving figures which will enable the reader to distinguish the western Bower-bird from
the eastern. Putting aside the very distinct Cat bird (JEluradus), Regent bird (Ser¡cuius), the Satin
Bower-bird (Ptilonorhynchus'), each o f which is easily recognizable by structural characters as well as
a particular style o f plumage, we come to the members o f the genus Chlamydodera, containing the “ spotted”'
Bower-birds, the most characteristic species o f which are C. maculata, C. guttata, and C. occipitalis; these
have each the plumage on the upper surface thickly ocellated, as well as beautiful lilac frills on the back of
the neck. Chlamydodera ceroinwentris has not the beautiful frilled nape o f the above-named species. In
C. orientalis the tendency to a spotted plumage becomes less marked, and still less so in the larger C.
mchalis, in this respect leading off, as it were, towards the uniformly coloured species o f New Guinea (the
Amblyornis inornatus, or Garden Bower-bird, figured in the present work).
Mr. Ramsay has recorded a large Bower-bird from Queensland, but considered it similar to the great
bird from Western Australia, C. nuchalis, which has been for many years called by that name.
In size the present bird is somewhat less than C. nuchalis, and differs from that species in the light
edgings to the feathers o f the head and upper surface, and especially on the wings, all these parts having
somewhat o f a banded appearance, which is not so visible as in the species from Western Australia. This
species was lately brought to England by Mr. Waller, and is now, as well as its bower, in the fine collection
at Liverpool. Both species are represented in the British Museum, as well as in my own collection, where
the specimens can be consulted by any student who wishes to verify the differences between them.
The figure in the accompanying Plate is about the size o f life, and is drawn from a specimen in my
collection.