THE BIRDS 



IQ7 



Crows and magpies often carry away bright and colored 

 objects. Some birds weave colored feathers into their 

 nests, but the most remarkable exhibition of fondness for 

 colored objects occurs in the bower birds of Australia. 

 These birds erect a bower or tent-like structure, built 

 of sticks and leaves. Around the entrance to the bower, 



FIG. 152. Humming birds, Spathura underwoodi, male and female. 

 (From Darwin, after Brehm.) 



and often woven into its walls also, may be found bright 

 feathers, leaves, colored shells, and various other objects 

 of conspicuous appearance. 



After mating comes the preparation for the young. 

 Here again we meet with great variation; the night hawk 

 builds no nest at all, and the plover brings together but a 



