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PRIONODURA NEWTONIANA, De Vis.
N e w t o n ' s Bovver-bircl.
Prionodura newtoniana. De Vis, Proc. Limi. Soc. N. S. Wales, vii. p. 5fi2 (1883).—Ramsay, Tabular List of Auslr.
B. p. 11 (1888).—De Vis, Proc. Roy. Soc. Quecnsl. 1889, p. 215.—id. Rep. Exped. Bellendm-Ker
Range, p. 87 (1889).—Meston, t. c. p. 120.—Sclater, Ibis, 1890, p. 2(M.
ConjinUcola mestoni. De Vis, MSS. : fide Mesto a, 1. e.
THIS remarkable Bower-bird was described by Mr. De Vis from a siiiijle S))eciinen procured in QiiecnsUiiid
by Mr. Kendal Broadbeiit, and was at once recognized by its describer as belonging to a new ^eniis. As
with my Amhhjornh mbalarls^ it lias since transpired that the type specimen of Pnonmlnra was a fenuile or
young male, the bird in neitlier case givitig- promise of having a brilliantly decora led adult male. The genus
is closely allied to Amhlijorms, but dilTcrs in the style of ornamentation in the male.
In a " Further Account of Pnonodara ncwtomana" Mr. De Vis lias given the subsecpient history of the
species, and I cannot do better than reproduce his own words:—
" T h e bird was first discovered by Mr. K. Broadbeiit in the scrubs clothing the banks of tlie Tully llivcr,
a small river issuing from an angle formed by spurs of the Coast llange on its eastern aspect and entering
the sea some little distance to the north of Cardwell. In the vale of the Herbert, on the western side of the
jirincipal spur and more immediately in the vicinity of Cardwell, the bird does not seem to occur, Mr . Broadbent
having there searched for it more than once without success—lat. 18° is, therefore, probably its southern limit
of range. Its true liabitat is now ascertained to be the highlands north of the township of Herberton, where
it was first observed by Mr. A. Meston in the course of a Hying visit to the top of Bellenden-Kcr. From near
t h e summit of this mountain Mr. Meston brought down the skin of a male bird ; and soon after, Mr . Broadbent,
visiting Herberton in pursuit of the Tree-Kangaroo of that district, encountered the bird frequently about
seven miles from town (fifty miles from the Bellenden-Ker), and collected a rich series of examples. How
far northward the bird extends its range is as yet unknown.
" Pnonodura is ein])liatically a Bower-bird. Both its observers in nature met with its bowers repeatedly
and agree in representing them to be of unusual size and structure. From their notes and sketches it would
appear that tlic bower is usually built on the ground between two trees, or between a tree and a busli. It is
constructed of small sticks and twigs. These are piled uj) almost horizontally around one of the trees in the
form of a pyramid, whicli rises to a height varying from four to six feet; a siniihir pile of inferior height,
about eighteen inches, is tlien built round the foot of the other tree ; the intervening space is arched over
with stems of climbing plants, the piles a r e decorated with white moss, and the arch with similar moss mingled
witli clusters of green fruit resembling wild grapes. Through and over the covered run play the birds, young
and old, of both sexes. A still more intcrestiug and characteristic feature in the play-ground of this bird
remains. The comj)letion of the massive bower so laboriously attained is not sufficient to arrest the architectural
impulse. Scattered immediately around are a number of dwarf hut-like structures—' guuyalis,' they
are called by Broadbent, who says lie found five of them in a space of ten feet diameter and observes that
they give the sj)ot exactly the appearance of a miniature blacks' camp. These seem to be built by bending
towards each other strong stems of standing grass and capping them with a horizontal thatch of light twigs.
In and cut and around the ' gunyahs, ' and from one to another, the birds in their play pursue each other to
their liearts' content."
Mr. De Vis gives further notes in the Report of the Bcllenden-Ker expedition :—" Found at all heights (o
t h e summit of Bellenden-Ker and in the scrubs around Herberton at a high elevation. In connection with
the bower of this handsome bird we are indebted for an interesting fact to Broad bent's observation, that
whereas towards the base of the mountain the bowers have the elaborate formation noticed lately in the
Proceedings of the Royal Society of Queensland, at higher levels they gradually lose their distinctive
character, and at the top are reduced to the simple trough-like form of the bower of the Regent- and Satinbirds,
for which they might be mistaken were those birds inhabitants of the district. There is reason to
believe that Mr. Meston has acquainted us with tlie nest and egg of this bird. AVIiile hearkening to the call
of a male he noticed a rustling in a bush by his side, and looking in saw a bird which he says, without
hesitation, was the female just disturbed from a nest built in a fork of the bush. The nest in question is cupshaped
and loosely constructed of fibrous roots, lined with finer material of the same kind, and decorated
with a little green moss on the outer side. The egg is 27 mm. long, 9 mm. broad, pale yellowish-grey,
profusely freckled and blotched with pale brown."