CHAPTER VI 



THE LOVE DISPLAYS OF BIRDS 



Bird music Vocal music of birds Variety in song Capri- 

 ciousness of song The origin and purpose of avine 

 song Individual variation in the song of birds Imita- 

 tion Do birds sing by instinct or imitation? Vocal 

 sounds of birds The instrumental music of birds 

 Made by ordinary appliances Made by special modi- 

 fications of the plumage The drumming of the Snipe 

 Modifications in the wings of the Humming-Birds 

 In other species Wing modification in the Manakins 

 Sounds made by air sacs or pouches The love dis- 

 plays of birds Aerial displays of Humming-Birds Of 

 Tyrant Birds Love displays of the Birds of Paradise 

 Of Bustards The love-posturing of the Argus Pheasant 

 The Bower Birds Their curious "bowers" The 

 dances of certain Rails Of the South American Jacana 

 Of the Spur-winged Plover Of certain Ducks 

 Parades of plumage The meaning and purpose of 

 this display Sexual selection The vitality, excitability, 

 and pugnacity of birds. 



WE will now proceed to the consideration of 

 another class of phenomena peculiar to birds, 

 and absolutely unique so far as all the rest of 

 the animal kingdom is concerned. This more 

 especially relates to the music or song of birds, 



