270 THE PLAY OF ANIMALS. 



are fine; black shoulders with dark pointed quills picked 

 out with white and gold. Weir confirms Darwin's state- 

 ment that no other British finch turns from side to 

 side as he does in courtship, not even the close-related 

 siskin, for it would not enhance his beauty. The com- 

 mon pigeon has iridescent breast feathers, and there 

 fore inflates them, but the Australian pigeon (Ocyphaps 

 lophotes), that has handsome bronze wings, acts quite 

 differently. Standing before the female he sinks his 

 head almost to the ground, raises his widespread tail, 

 and half opens his wings, then he lets his body rise and 

 fall with a slow motion that causes the glittering feath- 

 ers to shine brilliantly in the sunshine.* 



Karl Miiller tells us that the red wagtail prostrates 

 himself at the feet of his bride, flapping his wings and 

 dragging the outspread fan of his tail on the ground. 

 The crossbill perches on the highest limb of the tallest 

 tree, singing lustily and whirling about incessantly the 

 while. The snipe ardently draws near his mate with 

 inflated feathers, lowered wings, and tail raised and 

 spread. When the cuckoo feels the stirrings of love 

 he " inflates his throat feathers, hangs his wings, moves 

 his partly spread tail up and down, turns from side 

 to side and bows to his lady as often as he cries 

 1 Cuckoo.' " f The orange bird pursues his mate in ap- 

 parent wrath and then bows and scrapes before her. 

 Brehm describes the pairing of golden-crested wrens 

 very beautifully: " The male inflates his crest until it 

 forms a splendid crown, in which the black stripes ex- 

 tend far down the side of his head without concealing 

 the white eye marks and displaying the flame-coloured 

 parting most advantageously." \ 



* Descent of Man, loc. cit. \ Naumann, v, p. 216. 



% Chr. L. Brehm, Beitrage zur Vogelkunde, ii, p. 138. 



