"PLEASED WITH A FEATHER." 375 



tion of such otherwise useless, inconvenient, arid vitally expensive ex- 

 crescences. 



Sometimes the crest is produced by some other means than that of 

 a mass of plumes. Besides the well-known fleshy comb of our friend 

 chanticleer, there is the horny helmet of our old acquaintance the casso- 

 wary, and the quaint protuberances on the beak of the jacana. Most 

 eccentric of all is the device adopted by the hornbills, whose name 

 sufficiently indicates their peculiarity in this respect. The beak in 

 these birds is prolonged above into a single unicorn-like process, ex- 

 travagantly disproportioned to the general size of its wearer. 



On the other hand, it may be noted that most small singing-birds, 

 or other species which live on seeds, grains, insects, and mixed small 

 food, are destitute of tufted ornaments, as well as of brilliant coloring. 



The lappets, frills, or other neck-pieces of so many decorated species 

 must not pass entirely unnoticed in this review of resthetic devices 

 among birds. Beginning with the mere burnished breast-plumage of 

 the pigeon, or the crimson stomacher of the robin, they become at last, 

 in the humming-birds, sun-birds, and other tropical species, the most 

 exquisite drapery of amethyst, topaz, emerald, or golden bronze. 

 The so-called beard of the turkey is a special example of a very aber- 

 rant type. The ruff derives his English name from a similar peculi- 

 arity. 



The birds-of -paradise unite all these modes of ornamentation in the 

 highest degree, and with the most harmonious results. They join the 

 graceful plumes of the ostrich to the dainty coloring of the sun-bird. 

 Crests almost as largely developed as that of the umbrella-bird over- 

 shadow their beautiful heads ; frills as full as those of the humming- 

 birds fall down in metallic splendor before their gorgeous necks. And, 

 if any proof be wanting of the connection between the nature- of the 

 food and the general beauty of the plumage, it may be found in the 

 fact that these royally-attired creatures are first cousins of our own 

 dingy crows and jackdaws ; but, while the crow seeks his livelihood 

 among the insects and carrion of an English plowed field, the bird-of- 

 paradise regales his lordly palate on the crimson and purple fruits 

 which gleam out amid the embowering foliage of Malayan forests. 



Equally magnificent are the members of the genus Epimachus, in- 

 habitants of the same brilliant archipelago. Their long, silky plumes 

 float behind them in the same graceful curves ; their burnished necks 

 are adorned with the same glancing hues of ruby and emerald. Yet 

 they are surpassed in one respect by their distant relatives, the lyre- 

 birds, first cousins of our diminutive English wrens. Though destitute 

 of brilliant coloring and metallic sheen, these curious birds exhibit in 

 their long and beautiful tails the only undoubted example among the 

 lower animals of a love for symmetrical patterns. 



I have only bethought me now of a few among the countless modi- 

 fications which feathers undergo, for the aesthetic gratification of their 



