SIDE IvIGHTS ON BIRDS 



every appearance of being carefully selected with 

 the single purpose of adornment. The satin bower- 

 bird is cathoUc in its taste, and uses bones, feathers, 

 shells, and pebbles without much discrimination ; 

 the spotted on the other hand is said to specialise 

 largely in bones, but also has a distinct liking for 

 bits of bright meta^ and has been known to invade 

 houses in search of them. 



Newton's bower-bird of Queensland, has a pretty 

 taste in flowers for decorations, which are replaced 

 as they become faded, and the gardener-bird, of 

 New Guinea, that builds a curious conical hut round 

 the stem of a sapling, varies its colour scheme of 

 buds and blossoms by the introduction of gaudy 

 insects. The disposition of another of the allied 

 species tends in a sombre direction : its ornaments 

 consisting entirely of dark objects, mainly black 

 beetles. 



It will be remembered that our crow family — 

 related to the bower-birds — have the habit of col- 

 lectmg odd trifles, especially of bright metal, but 

 these they merely stow out of sight in miserly fashion. 

 Mr. F. Finn suggests that this seemingly senseless 

 habit may be the starved remainder of an instinct 

 for collecting and displaying bric-a-brac, once 

 possessed by their primitive ancestors. 



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