The Descent of Man

y summons," and when they approach he
trails his wings and spreads his tail like a turkey-cock.
(59. For Tetrao phasianellus, see Richardson,
'Fauna, Bor. America,' p. 361, and for
further particulars Capt. Blakiston, 'Ibis,' 1863,
p. 125. For the Cathartes and Ardea, Audubon,
'Ornithological Biography,' vol. ii. p. 51, and
vol. iii. p. 89. On the White-throat, Macgillivray,
'History of British Birds,' vol. ii. p. 354. On
the Indian Bustard, Jerdon, 'Birds of India,' vol.
iii. p. 618.)
[Fig. 46. Bower-bird, Chlamydera maculata,
with bower (from Brehm).]
But the most curious case is afforded by three
allied genera of Australian birds, 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 decorated
with feathers, shells, bones, and leaves, are