HUMMING BIRDS' COURTSHIP.
"When catching the ephemerid® that play above the water, the tail of the humming bird," says the author of The Naturalut in Nicaragua, "is not expanded y it is reserved for timee of courtship. I have seen the female •itting quietly 6q • branch, *n4 two
males displaying their charms in front of her. One would shoot up like a rocket, then, suddenly expanding the snow-white tail like an inverted parachute, slowly descend in front of her, turning round gradually to show both back and front. The effect was heightened by the wings being invisible from the distance of a few yards, both from their great velocity of movement and from not having the metallic lustre of the rest of the body. The expanded white tail covered more than all the rest of the bird, and was evidently the grand feature in the performance. Whilst one was descending, the other would shoot up and come slowly down expanded. The entertainment would end in a fight between the two performers ; but whether the most beautiful or the most pugnaciaus was the accepted suitor I know not."
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Bibliographic details
Lake Wakatip Mail, Issue 1521, 5 March 1886, Page 3
Word Count
187HUMMING BIRDS' COURTSHIP. Lake Wakatip Mail, Issue 1521, 5 March 1886, Page 3
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