PREFERENCE BY THE FEMALE. 
113 
Cn. 
,Ap - XlV. 
Ra 
itr. ^ 
lajjj \ ams ay, ornaments its short bower with bleached 
“ p, s . e ^ s belonging 
0 . ...... B to five or sis species, and with 
“ -• l6s °f various colours, blue, red, and black, which 
“ ([j e ^ "hen fresh a very pretty appearance. Besides 
“ y 0 ^ e there were several newly-picked leaves and 
“ m » shoots of a pinkish colour, the whole shewing a 
Say taste for the beautiful.” Well may Mr. Gould 
“ j e lese highly decorated halls of assembly must be 
“ t e *. ai as the most wonderful instances of bird-archi- 
tL, t ,. Ule y°t discovered;” and the taste, as we see, of 
! Se "eral 
species certainly differs . 15 
^\'if ermee f or P ar ti eu t ar Males by the Females . — 
)iatj 0l ? these preliminary remarks on the discrimi- 
t° ^ ail( t taste of birds, I will give all the facts known 
for * "Rich bear on the preference shewn by the female 
bir c j 8 "'"lar males. It is certain that distinct species of 
^Wid°f a i 0IlaI1 y pair in a state of liature and produce 
liv tav A,an y instances could be given : thus Maegil- 
“ f' e ii how a male blackbird and female thrush 
(j 11 in ' 
Sral 
^ 6v °ral ^° Ve VV1 '^ 1 eac ^ °fhcr,” and produced offspring . 16 
the o , ' ears ago eighteen cases had been recorded of 
^ a ok CUrience in Great Britain of hybrids between the 
n», ly a '° Use and pheasant ; 17 but most of these cases 
^fiiiitr ' 1 la P 8 he accounted for by solitary birds not 
°tk er ^. 0ne of their own species to pair with. With 
i'Jbri^ 11 ^’ aS ^ r ‘ J° uiier Weir has reason to believe, 
fc ° a rs e 0 j. dr ® sometimes the result of the casual inter- 
0 birds building in close proximity. But these 
On 
the 
<j' r ‘ to tynamented nests of humming-birds, Gould, ‘ Introdue- 
l{r l Mho 0 ] i: , roe tilida3,’ 1861, p. 19. On the bower-birds, Gould 
n* Sa y in ,^ e ®irds of Australia,’ 1865, vol. i. p. 441-461. 
‘ hist, lb ! s >’ 18(i h p. 456. 
‘2or>i_ . “Utisb Birds,’ vol. ii. p. 92. 
