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Show 68 SEXUAL SELECTION : DIRDS. l'AP.T ]]. . his ear prefer his equally "hot from the ammal, so (1o~s 11 th . " " coarse and CJ l•l Scorc1 a n t musrc to a o er. The curious love-gestures Love-Antics and Dan.ces.- f tl Gallinacero, havo of various birds, especwlly o. ell: so that little need already been m. er.e l en ta~ lly notlc~e ' .· a larcre numb ers < J I Northern [\.menc<' b . here be adcleCL. n . ll neet every mormng h rn t . 0 Jihctslane ~~s, 1 of a oTouse, t e .1.e 1 a ·elected level 8pot, • 0 Jurmo· t h e b r.e e clino·-season on a ' . f 1. t b 1 cl 1 · 11 a CJrclo o auon b • nd am roun and here they run rou •. t that the gromH1 • .!' t in chame er, so :fifteen or twenty 1ee . f · . .· cr In these Pnr- . b . hko a :.my-rmo. is worn qmte mteh, ey arc ca1 1 ecl by tho hunters, the triclo·e-dancos, as tt't des and run round, some b tl t·ano·est a ru .,< ·t. . binh assume re s I< o . 1 t Audubon clescnuc.· d . e to the ng 1 • · to the loft an som (A. "e~a he1·oclias) as walkmg l f a heron 1 a b r the ma es o . o· with areat dignity elore about on thmr. i~~rg l~o:anco to b their rivals. vVith tho females, brc c mg . c e . 1 ltures ( Oathartes h 1' austmo· CLll'l'lOl1-Vl , • one of t e c rso . b t t tl at "the gesticulatrons jota) the same n~turahst ~ a. est l;he becrinning of th " and parade of the ma els la l' . s, b Certain birds ·tretuO y U<. ICIOU • "love-season are ex . 1 ·ncr as we have scrn Perform their love-an~ws on . t 1e '~r f~stead of on tho h bl l~ Afncan " caver, with t e ac" . . little white-throat D : o· the spnng om . h oTouncl. urmb . f £eet or yards m t e b • ) ften n ses a ew (Sylvia cmerea o 1 d ":flutters with a fitful and air above som~ bus.l, ~n all the while and then drops " fantastic motwn, smgmg < E ·l· h 'bustard throws l " The nTeat ' no IS " to its perc 1 • . n • ? d s whilst courting himself into indoscnba.bly odd a~trbtu eWolf An allied l h been £ o·urect y . . the fema e, as as . ol • ) t such times "n cs . b t ·cl (Ot~s benga ens~s a . Indian ~s ar . l ·r with a hurried flappmg " perpendiCularly ~~to t 1~ ar . uffincr out the " of his wings: raiSI~g lusb ~rest ang t~en d~ops to tllc " feathers of his necl\. and reast, an C' Ir.\P. Xl!I. LOYE-ANTICS. 6D " ground; " ho repeats this manoonvre seYeral times successively, at the same time humming in a peculiar tone. Such females as happen to be near "obey this ·· saltatory summons," ancl when they approach he trails his wings and spreads his tail like a turkeycock. 58 But the most curious case is afforded by three allied genera of Australian Lirds, the famous Bower-birds, -no doubt the co-descendants of some ancient species which first acquired the strange instinct of constructing bowers for performing their love-antics. The bowers (fig. 46), which, as we shall hereafter see, are highly decorated with feathers, shells, bones and loaves, are built on the ground for the sole purpose of courtship, for their nests are formed in trees. Both sexes assist in the erection of the bowers, but the male is the principal workman. So strong is this instinct that it is practised under confinement, and l\fr. Strange has described 59 the habitR of some Satin Bower- birds, which he kept in his aviary in New South \Vales. "At " times the male will chase the female all over the " aviary, then go to the bower, pick up a gay feather ': or a large leaf, utter a curiou.s kind of note, set all :c his feathers erect, run ronud the bo\\'er and become " so excited that his eyes appear ready to start from "his head; he continues opening :first one wing, and '· then the other, uttering a low, whistling note, and, 58 For Tctrao phasionollus, see Richardwn, 'Fauna Bor. America,' p. 3Gl, and for further porticulars Capt. Blakiston, 'Ibis,' 1863, p. 125. l<'or the Cathartes and Arden, Audubon, 'Omith. Biography,' vol. ii. Jl. 51, and vol. iii. p. BU. On the 'White-throat, 1\Iacgillivmy, 'Hist. British Birds,' vel. ii. p. 354. On tho Indian Bustard, Jerdon, 'Birds of India,' vol. iii. p. GIS. 59 Goultl, 'Handbook to the Birds of Au&trnlia,' vol. i. p. 444,449,4:55. Tho bower of the Satin Bower-bird may always be seen in the Zoolological Society's Gardens, llcgont's Park. |