242 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



human standpoint, they would be better calculated to inspire a 

 feeling of scorn than of admiration in the minds of their mates ; 

 though in some cases, where brilliant colouring is thereby exposed 

 to the feminine eye, admiration might modify the contemptuous 

 feeling. 



Among the Thrushes, the cock birds usually approach the 

 hens with outstretched neck, drooping wings, and tail jerked 

 upright. After pairing the cock bird stands straight up, with tail 

 depressed, neck stretched, and bill in a line with the neck, and 

 utters a screaming whistle. I have noticed this in the case both 

 of the American Blue-bird (Sialia sialis) and the common Black- 

 bird, the latter being a wild bird, which used to approach its hen 

 upon the roof of my outdoor aviary, which runs parallel to the 

 side of my conservatory. 



The dances and postures of the Satin Bower-bird (Ptilo- 

 rhynchus violaceus) are always accompanied by a continuous song, 

 like water escaping down a sink or gully ; even the checks, 

 occasioned by bits of leaf or stick in the water, are admirably 

 rendered. At intervals, when the bird takes a lateral hop, or 

 changes its position, the gurgling and sizzling notes are inter- 

 rupted by hoarse screaming whistles. The postures are a good 

 deal varied ; a common type is represented by the neck being 

 somewhat retracted, the feathers of the nape and back raised, the 

 tail span-roofed, drooped, the wings lifted alternately, whilst the 

 bird sways from side to side. In another dance the head is 

 stretched forward, the body held high, with all the feathers 

 tightly appressed, but the tail still drooping. A third position 

 is represented by the bird gazing fixedly at its mate, with the bill 

 nearly touching the earth ; the bird often carries a feather, dead 

 leaf, or piece of food in its mouth when going through its per- 

 formance, and its changes of form and posture are quick and 

 startling. 



One thing has astonished me somewhat with regard to this 

 species : I find that both sexes, at different times, indulge in the 

 same performances, both in dancing and singing, and whichever 

 sex happens to be going through its evolutions is a source of 

 terror to the other. As both my birds acquired their very dis- 

 similar adult colouring in September, 1900, there can be no 

 question as to their being genuine male and female. 



