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The Descent of Man

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Mr. Gould states that certain humming-birds<br />

decorate the outsides <strong>of</strong> their nests "with the<br />

utmost taste; they instinctively fasten thereon<br />

beautiful pieces <strong>of</strong> flat lichen, the larger pieces<br />

in the middle, and the smaller on the part attached<br />

to the branch. Now and then a pretty feather<br />

is intertwined or fastened to the outer sides,<br />

the stem being always so placed that the feather<br />

stands out beyond the surface." <strong>The</strong> best evidence,<br />

however, <strong>of</strong> a taste for the beautiful is<br />

afforded by the three genera <strong>of</strong> Australian bower-birds<br />

already mentioned. <strong>The</strong>ir bowers<br />

(Fig. 46), where the sexes congregate and play<br />

strange antics, are variously constructed, but<br />

what most concerns us is, that they are decorated<br />

by the several species in a different manner.<br />

<strong>The</strong> Satin bower-bird collects gaily- coloured<br />

articles, such as the blue tail-feathers <strong>of</strong> parrakeets,<br />

bleached bones and shells, which it sticks<br />

between the twigs or arranges at the entrance.<br />

Mr. Gould found in one bower a neatly-worked<br />

stone tomahawk and a slip <strong>of</strong> blue cotton, evi-

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