64 BIRD LIFE GLIMPSES 



They come, in fact, as it seems to me, in an 

 emotional state a good deal resembling that of 

 the bower-birds of Australia, when they play at 

 their " runs " or " bowers "; nor do the nests now — 

 though in the spring they were true ones — differ 

 essentially, as far as the purpose to which they are 

 put is concerned, from these curious structures, 

 of which Gould says : '' They are used by the birds 

 as a playing-house, and are used by the males to 

 attract the females." This latter statement is cer- 

 tainly true, in the case, at least, of the satin bower- 

 bird {P tilorhynchus violaceus), which I have watched 

 at the Zoological Gardens. That the mainspring, 

 so to speak, of this bird's actions is sexual, no 

 naturalist, seeing them, could doubt. But was the 

 " bower " originally made for the purpose which it 

 now serves } Did the idea of putting it to such a 

 use precede its existence in some shape or form, or 

 did it not rather grow out of something else, because 

 about it, as it then was, certain emotions were more 

 and more indulged in, till at last it became the 

 indispensable theatre for their display } Then, as 

 the theatre grew, no doubt the play did also, and 

 vice versd^ the two keeping pace with each other. I 

 believe that this original something was the nest, and 

 that when we see a bird toy, court, or pair upon the 

 latter — thus putting it to a use totally different 

 from that of incubation, but similar to that which is 

 served by the bower — we get a hint as to the process 

 by which the one structure has given rise to the 

 other. 



Wonderful as is the architecture and ornamenta- 

 tion of some of the bowers, as we now know them. 



