Chap. -XIV. 
PREFERENCE BY THE FEMALE. 
113 
Mr. Eamsay, ornaments its sliort bower with bleached 
iand-shells belonging to five or six species, and with 
berries of various colours, blue, red, and black, which 
give it when fresh a very pretty appearance. Besides 
these there were several newly-picked leaves and 
^ young shoots of a pinkish colour, the whole shewing a 
decided taste for the beautiful.” Well may Mr. Gould 
say tliese highly decorated halls of assembly must be 
regarded as the most wonderful instances of bird-archi- 
tecture yet discovered ; ” and the taste, as we see, of 
the several species certainly differs.^^ 
Preference for particular Males hy the Females , — 
Having made these preliminary remarks on the discrimi- 
nation and taste of birds, I will give all the facts known 
to me, which bear on the preference shewn by the female 
for particular males. It is certain that distinct species of 
birds occasionally pair in a state of nature and produce 
hybrids. Many instances could be given : thus Macgil- 
livray relates how a male blackbird and female thrush 
fell in love with each other,” and produced offspring.^^ 
Several years ago eighteen cases had been recorded of 
the occurrence in Great Britain of hybrids between the 
black grouse and pheasant ; but most of these cases 
may perhaps be accounted for by solitary birds not 
finding one of their own species to pair with. With 
other birds, as Mr. Jenner Weir has reason to believe, 
hybrids are sometimes the result of the casual inter- 
course of birds building in close proximity. But these 
On the ornamented nests of humming-birds, Gould, ‘ Introduc- 
tion to the Trochilidge,’ 1861, p. 19. On the bower-birds, Gould, 
‘ Handbook to the Birds of Australia,' 1865, vol. i. p. 444-461. Mr. 
Ramsay in the ‘ Ibis,' 1867, p. 456. 
‘Hist, of British Birds,' vol. ii. p. 92. 
‘ Zoologist,' 1853-1854, p. 3946. 
VOL. II. 
I 
