CHAPTER XIV 



BIRD ACTORS AND THEIR THEATRES 



He flaps his wings, erects his spotted crest; 

 His flaming eyes dart forth a piercing ray; 

 He swells the lovely plumage of his breast, 

 And glares a wonder of the orient day. 



—From "The Hoopoe." 



PERHAPS the most interesting people of the 

 human world are the actors and the actresses ; 

 and the same is true among birds. They not only- 

 have numerous kinds of acts and plays, but they 

 have their definite theatres and playhouses, where 

 they come together to indulge in the various games 

 they have learned for their own pleasure and the 

 amusement of their audiences. Among certain 

 groups of birds every community has its own play- 

 house, and some have many. 



All birds are artists in the truest sense of the 

 word, and show not only marvellous instinct in their 

 acting, but a reasoning power which seems quite 

 as remarkable as that of a human being ; for the in- 

 tellectual capacities of birds are by no means so in- 

 ferior to those of man as the average person be- 



223 



