102 
ESTHETICS AT THE ZOO 
of silk, which had been sent in order to make a selec- 
tion of a pattern for neckties. The utmost variation 
from black allowed by the severe taste of London 
costume being some slight pattern of white, or grey 
spots, the difference in the cc colouring ” of these little 
bits of silk was so slight, as to be hardly appreciable 
by any but the highly specialized sense of adornment 
in the masculine mind, consisting as it did of more or 
less frequent repetitions of little groups of spots or 
other insignificant pattern. Eight or nine of these 
were thrown on the floor of the aviary, and the cock- 
bird at once flew out from the recess at the back, and 
proceeded to pick them up and scrutinize them one 
by one. Finally, after much consideration, it took to 
the bower, which was just begun, the piece of silk on 
which the pattern was closest and most obvious. Their 
liking for what is bright and shining in texture is 
even stronger than that for colour. Some ingenious 
friend, finding that the mice robbed the birds of 
their papers and silks, presented them with a number 
of small glass phials filled with coloured shreds, 
or with tin and brass filings. These were a source 
of great delight, and when the supply was further 
increased by a dozen pretty glass solitaire balls, they 
spent a week in arranging and re-arranging their 
treasures. 
It is obvious that the bower-birds are highly 
intelligent creatures, but these tastes appear in birds 
which are quite low in the scale of mental develop- 
ment, even among the hawks, which are among the 
