The Courtship of AnimalsPycraft, W. P. (William Plane)
Science
The Courtship of Animals
Pycraft, W. P. (William Plane)
Animal behavior; Natural selection
At the same time he sets all his feathers on end and every now and then
drops first one wing, then the other, accompanying these actions with
curious whistling notes and pretences of picking up food.
The Regent-bird (_Sericulus melinus_) differs conspicuously from the
Satin Bower-bird, for while this is of a uniform, deep, metallic
steel-blue, the Regent-bird is jet black, with a golden yellow crown
and hind-neck and a great blaze of golden yellow on the wing. Yet
the bowers of the two species—which belong to different genera—are
practically identical, save that brightly coloured berries are used
more frequently by the Regent-bird.
[Illustration: Plate 29.
Photo by W. P. Dando.
THE SATIN BOWER-BIRD AND ITS BOWER.
The “Bowers” of the “Bower-builders” are the most remarkable variants
on “Secondary Sexual Characters” yet brought to light.]
[Illustration:
Photo by L. Medland.
THE “BOWER” OF THE BOWER-BIRD.
The “Bower” must not be confused with the nest, which is placed in a
tree and bears no sort of likeness to the bower.
Face page 156.]
The Spotted Bower-birds (_Chlamydodera maculata_ and _C. nuchalis_)
are quite dull-coloured species save for a vivid semicircular crest of
pink and mauve feathers which arise from the nape of the neck. Their
bowers differ from those just described in having a longer run and for
the immense quantities of shells which are deposited at each end of the
run. Some of them are brought from long distances, as is shown by the
large number of sea shells which are to be found in the collections
made by birds living far from the sea.
By far the most remarkable of all are the bowers of Newton’s Bower-bird
(_Prionodura newtoni_) and the Gardener Bower-bird (_Amblyornis
inornata_). The first of these, a native of the Mountains of
Queensland, is somewhat strikingly coloured, at any rate so far as the
male is concerned, for he is of an oil green above and has a small
yellow crest, while his breast is of a bright yellow; the female, on
the other hand, is brown above and grey below.
The Gardener Bower-bird, on the other hand, is of a sombre olive-brown,
but the male boasts an enormous crest of a flaming orange yellow. Yet,
widely dissimilar as are these two species, in the matter of their
bowers they display much in common.
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