Jnly, 1920 
The Queensland Naturalist. 
85 
Bearing on this note, Mr. Brenan. writing from 
Toowong (which snhiirb, by the way, was named after 
another call of the male Koel ) sends the following story : — 
“ A few years ago I witnessed a similar performance to that 
chronicled by the Messrs. Harvey, the central figure being 
one of the Wrens. While sitting at my window on a Satur- 
day afternoon I heard the continuous notes of the bird, and, 
looking out, saw three of the orange-backed variety 
approaching along the top of a fence. One was a male in 
full plumage, more brilliant, it struck me, than I had ever 
previously noticed. He was accompanied by two plain 
brown birds, both females. To one of them the handsome 
little fellow was paying most marked attention, dancing 
around her and twittering all the time. They moved along 
opposite the window, when they came abreast of a red canna 
in full bloom, about 6 feet inside the fence. Suddenly, the 
male bird flew from the fence into the centre of one of the 
canna blooms, plucked a petal, and flew back to the fence, 
there continuing his flirtation — dancing around the little 
lady and. so to speak, waving the flower-petal in front of 
her. 
“ The petal was quite as big as his whole body, but he 
carried it in an upright position by the stem. The other 
little brown Wren was not taken the slightest notice of — 
possibly she may have been the prospective mother-in-law 
or an old maiden sister! Just then the house cat appeared 
upon the scene, and so the birds retreated. The little fellow,, 
however, kept up his attentions, and as they disappeared 
from view about a hundred yards away was still dancing 
around with the flower-petal in his beak.” 
Should we ascribe such instances as these to mere 
animal impulse or to conscious aflfection ? — remembering 
that they upset Sir Ray Lankester's theory that ‘'birds- 
which use extraneous decorative objects as lures are them- 
selves of dull plumage," and, moreover, that the gifts 
selected in each case were of a bright colour, and apparently 
chosen deliberately for a conscious purpose. 
