Animal Life:

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, Issue 440, 1 September 1904, Page 7

Animal Life:

FEELING OF BE/LUTy IN ATOAU? OBSERVING what dandies, the lowest savages frequently are, and considering, morever, the evidence from mounds? barrows, caves, and places* of intorment of tho passion exhibited by prehistoric races of man for decoration, it" is not a little strange that those who 9 are said to come nearest us in the scale of being— namely, apes and monkeys—figure so poorly either as artists' or amateurs. More than fifty' years ago, Carlyle, in 'Sartor Resartus,' struck with the love of ornament in savages, and the torture to which they subjected themselves in order to keep in the fashion, and also with the love of personal decoration in the earliest race, boldly asserted that the first spiritual need of man was the gratification of his thirst for beauty, and that the love of ornament, rather than the desire of comfort, was at the origin of clothes. Neither intelligence nor civilisation- is required for the existence of tho dandy. Indeed, the descriptions of the dress of such half-witted individuals as Barnaby Rudge or as Madge Wildfire in the pages of the great masters of fiction ready pretty much like the description of the costumes worn at an African court or at a gathering of Red Indians. It is somewhat curious that, in order to give instances of a taste for ornament in lower creatures than man, we have to take a step very far away from him in the scale of creation, and choose our instances from the natural history of birds and insects. In* a state of captivity, chimpanzees have been gratified by glittering toys, and have seemed to take a pride in clothing. Mirrors have been found to be objects of great curiosity to them; and they have been known to break .them in rage, because they could not, by putting their hands behind, catch the reflected image. Persons who have kept smaller monkoys have observed that, when let loose in a garden, they eagerly plucked the flowers, and those always the gayest and best; and a few instances are given of sick monkeys being gratified with bright flowers, and retaining them for some time without destroying them. Although some have never been known to wash themselves, others take a pride in keeping their fur scrupulously clean. Personal cleanliness, even with ourselves, is not always a concomitant of gaiety in dress, in loud- pigments in the painting of the skin. Monkeys are not all devoid of natural ornament. Tho mandril of Africa has a deeply furrowed, gaudily coloured face, not unlike the artificially sculptured *and painted faces of the lower races of mankind. An orang-outan caught in Borneo, and lately sold in Singapore, an animal of immense size, had hair four inches long, of a bright red colour, and a distinct short pointed beard.

The writer of this article witnessed a curious taste displayed by a pet prairie-dog in the arrangement of the varicoloured rags with which it made its bed. It disposed of them in such a manner as to have the gayest colours uppermost; and of all colours which it thus exposed, it seemed fondest of scarlet. One could not but recollect how this colour affects our domestic bull; and, taking a step higher up in the scale, recruiting sergeants know what a fascinating uniform it is. Indeed, one of them remarked that 'men aud salmon were somewhat alike—you angled most successfully for either with a bright bait. It is, however, when we come to birds that we are able to adduce proofs of a feeling for beauty exterior to themselves. Mr Gould's description of the Bower Birds of Australia has been verified by other observers. *At the courting season, beautifu and curious objects are collected together in these bowers, which are often elaborate structures, and built upon the ground, the nests being in trees. The whole account reads somewhat like a description of the crockery, bead, and tinsel houses which rustic children spread out for themselves on a dry grassy knoll on a pleasant summer day. One of these Bower Birds takes most readily to the arranging and re-arranging of brightly coloured feathers, bleached bones, and shells. Another likes to carry round stones, even from a great distance, and assort them with shells. A third species makes use of blackberries, fresh leaves, and pink buds. At the courting season the males dance through their glittering halls, exhibiting the most grotesque antics. In an aviary in New South Wales the male would sometimes chase the female, picking up a gay feather or large leaf, and uttering a low whistling note. The Great Bower Bird has been seen amusing itself flying backwards and forwards, taking.a shell alternately from each side, and carrying it through the archway in its bill. The bower of the fawn-breasted species is raised on a platform of sticks, and is nearly four feet in length. The quantity of gay objects in all cases surprises the observer. .

Since the habits of the Australian Bower Birds.have been narrated, Dr Beccari, an Italian traveller, has described a new one, which he found in New Guinea, called the Gardener Bower Bird. This bird chooses a flat surface beside a small tree, around the trunk of which it builds a conical hut nearly three feet in diameter at the base. The hut is formed of the twigs of a parasitical hanging orchid, whose leaves, keepingfresh for a long time, add to the beauty of the bower. Within the hut, a quantity of moss is arranged around the trunk of the tree. There is a meadow of moss, weeded of grass and stones, and kept scrupulously clean, before the cottage door. Gay flowers, glossy fruit, fungi, as well as bright insects, captured and killed, are placed on this green turf so as to form a pretty garden. Hence the bird's name of ' gardener,' which is also its native name. When the objects fade, they are removed out of sight, and fresh "ones supplied. .- ~ . f . , Mr Layard's description of the Hummerkop, literally Hammerhead, also named the Umbrette, is equally interesting. Specimens, of late, have been occasionally secured for Zoological Gardens. It is somewhat like a heron or stork, has a melancholy gait, lives on fish and frogs, and is considered in Africa a bird of evil omen. It is found in Gape Colony, some other parts of Africa, and in Madagascar. Under its quiet appearance, it nourishes aasthetic tastes. When it casts off its sober ■jlerneanour, it indulges in a fantastic dance. In a state of nature, two or three join in the dance, skipping round each other, opening and closing their wings. They breed on trees or on rocky ledges, forming a huge structure of sticks. These nests are so solid that they will bear the weight of a heavy man on the domed roof without collapsing. The entrance is a small hole, placed in thg least accessible side. In a lonely rocky glen, Mr Layard once eounted half-a-dozen of their nests, some almost inaccessibly placed on ledges of rock. One nest contained at least a large cart-load of sticks. They occupy the same nest year after year, repairing it as required. The female is credited with the joihor-work, and the male is the decorator. On the platform outside the inner .portion he spreads out all kinds of objects of verta, brass and bono buttons, bits of crockery, and bleached bones. If a knife, pin, or tinder-box were lost within some miles, the loser made a point of examining the Hammerkops' nest. Indeed, were it not that hyenas, leopards, and jackals ranged in their vicinity, it is highly probable man's curiosity or resentment would have often extirpated these interesting artists, or at least destroyed habits founded on leisure j and immunity from persecution.