408 THE DESCENT OF MAN. 



to move and glitter in the sun. Is it admiration or curiosity which 

 leads the magpie, raven, and some other birds to steal and secrete 

 bright objects, such as silver articles or jewels? 



Mr. Gould states that certain hvmming-birds decorate the out- 

 sides of their nests "with the utmost taste; they instinctively fas- 

 "ten thereon beautiful pieces of fiat lichen, the larger pieces in the 

 "middle, and the smaller on the part attached to the branch. 

 "Now and then a pretty feather is intertwined or fastened to the 

 "outer sides, the stem being always so placed that the feather 

 "stands out beyond the surface." The best evidence, however, of a 

 taste for the beautiful is afforded by the three genera of Australian 

 bower-birds already mentioned. Their bowers (see fig. 46, p. 378), 

 where the sexes congregate and play strange antics, are variously 

 constructed, but what most concerns us is, that they are decorated 

 by the several species in a different manner. The Satin bower- 

 bird collects gaily-colored articles, such as the blue tail-feathers of 

 parrakeets, bleached bones and shells, which it sticks between the 

 twigs, or arranges at the entrance. Mr. Gould found in one bower 

 a neatly-worked stone tomahawk and a slip of blue cotton, evi- 

 dently procured from a native encampment. These objects are 

 continually re-arranged, and carried about by the birds whilst at 

 play. The bower of the Spotted bower-bird "is beautifully lined 

 "with tall grasses, so disposed that the heads nearly meet, and 

 "the decorations are very profuse." Round stones are used to 

 keep the grass-stems in their proper places, and to make diver- 

 gent paths leading to the bower. The stones and shells are often 

 brought from a great distance. The Regent bird, as described by 

 Mr. Ramsay, ornaments its short bower with bleached land-shells 

 belonging to five or six species, and with "berries of various col- 

 "ors, blue, red, and black, which give it when tresh, a very pretty 

 "appearance. Besides these there were several newly-picked leaves 

 "and young shoots of a pinkish color, the whole showing a decided 

 "taste for the beautiful." Well may Mr. Gould say, that these 

 "highly decorated halls of assembly must be regarded as the most 

 "wonderful instances of bird-architecture yet discovered;" and the 

 taste, as we see, of the several species certainly differs." 



Preference for 'particular Males by the Females. — Having made 

 these preliminary remarks on the discrimination and taste of 

 birds, I will give all the facts known to me, which bear on the pref- 

 erence shown by the female for particular males. It is certain 

 that distinct species of birds occasionally pair in a state of nature 



" On the ornamented nests of humming-birds, Gould, 'Introduction 

 to the Trochilidae,' 1861, p. 19. On the bower-birds, Gould, 'Handbook 

 to the Birds of Australia,' 1865, vol. i. pp. 444-461. Ramsay, in the 'Ibis.' 

 1867, p. 456. 



