Chap. XIII. DISPLAY BY THE MALE. 95 



his rosy breast, slightly expands his brown vviugs and 

 tail, so as to make the best of them by exhibiting their 

 white edgings. We must, however, be cautious in con- 

 cluding that the wings are spread out solely for display, 

 as some birds act thus whose wings are not beautiful. 

 This is the case witli the domestic cock, but it is always 

 the wing on the side opposite to the female which is 

 expanded, and at the same time scraped on the ground. 

 The male goldfinch behaves differently from all other 

 finches : his wings are beautiful, the shoulders being 

 black, with the dark-tipped wing-feathers spotted with 

 white and edged with golden yellow. When he courts 

 the female, he sways his body from side to side, and 

 quickly turns his slightly expanded wings first to 

 one side then to the other, with a golden flashing effect. 

 No other British finch, as Mr. Weir informs me, turns 

 during his courtship from side to side in this manner; 

 not even the closelv-allied male siskin, for he would not 

 thus add to his beaut v. 



Most of the British Buntings are plain-coloured birds; 

 but in the spring the feathers on the head of the male 

 reed-bunting {Emheriza schoenicuhis) acquire a fine black 

 colour by the abrasion of the dusky tips ; and these are 

 erected during the act of courtship. Mr. Weir has kept 

 two species of Amadina from Australia : the A. casta- 

 notis is a very small and chastely-coloured finch, with 

 a dark tail, white rump, and jet-black upper tail-coverts, 

 each of the latter being marked with three large 

 conspicuous oval spots of white.^^ . This species, when 

 courting the female, slightly spreads out and vibrates 

 these parti- coloured tail-coverts in a very peculiar 

 manner. The male Amadina Lathami behaves very 



^^' For the description of these birds, see Gould's 'Handbook to the 

 Birds of Australia,' vol. i. 1865, p. 417. 



