Item MM 70208 Photograph - 'Playhouse of Spotted Bower Bird', by A.J. Campbell, Australia, circa 1895

Summary

Image taken by A.J. Campbell in preparation for his definitive work, 'Nests and Eggs of Australian Birds including the Geographical Distribution of the Species and Popular Observations Thereon', published by Pawson & Brailsford, Sheffield, England in 1900. The image was used to illustrate the nest of the species, and Campbell noted: 'Nest - Large, bowl shaped, composed of coarse cemented mud scantily lined inside with matted stringy-bark, grass, and sometimes with fur and feathers, and conspicuously placed on any convenient horizontal limb of a tree in open forest or belt of timber. (See illustrations.) Dimensions over all of an average nest, 8 ¢ inches by 6 ¢ inches in depth; egg cavity 7 inches across by 3 inches deep.'

Description of Content

A bower-bird's nest with what appears to be a pile of small bones. This is similar to MM 70207 but taken from a different angle.