102 THE COURTSHIP OF ANIMALS 



tense the performer will remain in this attitude from 

 ten to twenty seconds, slightly quivering the wings, and 

 from time to time imparting a tremor to the upraised 

 plumes. Then follows a second phase. Each bird, 

 seemingly possessed, commences to dance and hop wildly 

 backwards and forwards along the bough, and with head 

 bent forward, wings spread horizontally, and the side 

 plumes raised to their utmost, he gives vent to a series 

 of loud harsh cries — " ca ! ca ! ca ! ca ! " For some 

 seconds he remains in a sort of ecstasy, rubbing his beak 

 on the bough, and occasionally glancing backwards below 

 his feet, and with the back fully arched. The climax 

 passed, he reverts once more to the earlier, more erect 

 stage of the display, when the paroxysm either gradually 

 subsides or is renewed. 



No less extraordinary is the behaviour of the King- 

 bird of Paradise (Cicinnurus regius), which has been 

 described by Sir William Ingram, who for a time had a 

 captive in his aviaries. As the illustration shows, its 

 posturing is quite remarkable. Before this is described, 

 however, a brief description of its coloration should be 

 given, which, it must be remarked, cannot possibly 

 convey more than a very vague idea of its sumptuous 

 character. Picture a bird no bigger than a thrush, but 

 of a wonderful cinnabar red, with a gloss as of spun 

 glass : the head clothed in short, velvety, orange-hued 

 feathers; and with a white breast, having the softness 

 and sheen of satin, and crossed by a band of deep metallic 

 green, contrasting with the red of the throat. Add a yellow 

 beak, and legs of cobalt blue, and you will have the features 

 which catch the eye at the first glance. But a little closer 

 examination will reveal yet other points for wonderment. 

 Along each side of the body the upper flank-feathers 



