Their Love Of Finery And Gaudy
Colours Is Also Most Remarkable.
Interwoven amongst the twigs of which the
bower is composed, and scattered about the ground in its vicinity, are
Found bleached bones, broken oyster, snail, and cowrie shells, and not
unfrequently, in the more civilised districts, pieces of coloured rag, and
fragments of ribbon pilfered from some neighbouring station, for, in search
of attractive objects to decorate his playground, the bower-bird entirely
ignores the eighth commandment, and, I fear, justifies the somewhat strong
expression of "d - d thief" which Ferdinand bestowed on him. Indeed, so
well are his filching propensities known to the natives, that they make a
practice of searching the runs whenever any small article of value is
missing, and often succeed in recovering the lost object.
I find that I have been using the pronoun 'he' hitherto, whilst describing
this insatiable love of finery, but on reflection I cannot but think that I
am utterly wrong, and that when more is known of the domestic arrangements
of the bower-bird, it will be found that the lady alone is responsible for
this meretricious taste, and that the poor 'he', whom I have so
unblushingly accused, is in reality gathering berries and fruit for the
little ones, guiltless of the slightest inclination towards picking and
stealing.
These birds live and thrive in confinement, and busy themselves immensely
in the construction of runs, but they never multiply whilst captive.
Indeed, the place and manner of their breeding is as yet a mystery, for, so
skilful are they in concealment, that even the lynx-eyed blacks have failed
to discover their next.
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