THE FINCHES 109 



earlier stages in any peculiar, or indeed in any, habit. Who would 

 not be glad to find them in the case of the bower-birds ? But when 

 only the advanced stage is known, the origin may be difficult even to 

 conjecture. Therefore the slightest indication should be carefully 

 noted, for it may help to solve problems both of the past and the 

 future. The fact that the twite puts a layer of feathers in its nest, 

 which it then covers with wool, hair, etc., does not appear to me to 

 destroy the value of these Bradford observations. Feathers stuck 

 conspicuously into another part, and suggesting an " odd adornment " 

 to all who see them, are something different. The process would 

 appear to be this feathers are in use, feathers are decorative ; some 

 birds appreciate this, and add decoration to use. It is not the long 

 step, but the little one, in evolutionary reasoning, that we should be on 

 the watch for natura nonfacit saltum. 



The same aesthetic instinct has been observed in the case of the 

 goldfinch. 1 " They were picking," says Colonel Ward, " from my flower- 

 beds sprigs of the blue forget-me-not, which they immediately carried 

 up to the nest, and used for its adornment." 2 It may be noted, 

 incidentally, that both birds were doing this. It was the same with the 

 cormorant, and equally a novelty in either case. But the beautiful, 

 soft, sky-like blue, no less than the green and the gold of their own 

 plumage, was admired by each of the architects and why not ? Has 

 not much of the difficulty in these matters been made by the fine 

 word " aesthetic " ? What, after all, is it to be pleased with some- 

 thing bright ? We do not think much of it in a baby ; why should 

 we in a bird ? 3 Find some short Saxon word for the thing, of the 

 " brute-meaning " type, and all will be well. But admit the rudiment, 

 and I myself can see no reason why a bird should not become more 

 aesthetic, in some special direction, than many a man is, generally. 

 Why should I not think so, seeing that my experience, as a cyclist, 



1 See also Dr. Martin Braess in regard to the decoration of its nest by the starling with 

 violets, hyacinth, narcissus, primrose, etc., Dasheimische Vogelleben, p. 146. 



2 Field, 1891, Ixxviii. 415. 



3 The jackdaw especially he of Rheims may be considered. 



