24-S CURIOUS HOMES AND THEIR TENANTS. 



master of the field, he alone remains on the ground, 

 and every one of his companions is dinging in mor- 

 tal terror to the topmost wires of the great cage. 



His satisfaction at this achievement is evident; 

 his enjoyment is unbounded. He runs, prances, and 

 skips about in the most undignified fashion, and 

 finally, taking the tip end of a wing or tail feather in 

 the end of his beak, he indulges in a high -stepping, 

 light, fantastic waltz that is absurd and preposter- 

 ous beyond description. His performance generally 

 winds up with picking up a stray feather — there are 

 sure to be plenty lost in the hurly-burly he has been 

 causing — tossing it up in the air, chasing, catching 

 it and tossing it up in the air again, until he is tired 

 or has worked off his flow of spirits. Occasionally, 

 however, he varies this performance by sticking his 

 bill deep in the ground, standing on his head, flap- 

 ping his wings, and flourishing his long red legs wild- 

 ly in the faces of the spectators, who never fail to 

 greet the performance with shrieks of laughter. 



Certainly such another amusing bird does not 

 exist, unless it is a sort of second cousin of the kagu, 

 the shadow bird, or Scopus mnhreVa, of Africa, that 

 plays in pretty much the same way. 



As the homes of these two birds probably resem- 

 ble each other, at least as nearly as do their habits and 

 external appearance, an account of those of the shad- 

 ow bird, which are much better known, are given. 



