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$Title{Descent Of Man, The
Chapter 14.1}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{Darwin, Charles}
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$Subject{birds
male
female
males
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pair
species
females
vol
bird}
$Date{1874}
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Title:       Descent Of Man, The
Book:        Part II: Sexual Selection
Author:      Darwin, Charles
Date:        1874

Chapter 14.1

     Choice exerted by the female - Length of courtship - Unpaired birds -
Mental qualities and taste for the beautiful - Preference or antipathy shown
by the female for particular males - Variability of birds - Variations
sometimes abrupt - Laws of variation - Formation of ocelli - Gradations of
character - Case of peacock, Argus pheasant and Urosticte.

     When the sexes differ in beauty or in the power of singing, or in
producing what I have called instrumental music, it is almost invariably the
male who surpasses the female.  These qualities, as we have just seen, are
evidently of high importance to the male.  When they are gained for only a
part of the year it is always before the breeding-season.  It is the male
alone who elaborately displays his varied attractions, and often performs
strange antics on the ground or in the air, in the presence of the female.
Each male drives away, or, if he can, kills his rivals.  Hence we may conclude
that it is the object of the male to induce the female to pair with him, and
for this purpose he tries to excite or charm her in various ways; and this is
the opinion of all those who have carefully studied the habits of living
birds.  But there remains a question which has an all-important bearing on
sexual selection, namely, does every male of the same species excite and
attract the female equally?  Or does she exert a choice and prefer certain
males?  This latter question can be answered in the affirmative by much direct
and indirect evidence.  It is far more difficult to decide what qualities
determine the choice of the females; but here again we have some direct and
indirect evidence that it is to a large extent the external attractions of the
male; though no doubt his vigor, courage, and other mental qualities come into
play.  We will begin with the indirect evidence.

     Length of Courtship. - The lengthened period during which both sexes of
certain birds meet day after day at an appointed place probably depends partly
on the courtship being a prolonged affair, and partly on reiteration in the
act of pairing.  Thus in Germany and Scandinavia the balzing or leks of the
black-cocks last from the middle of March all through April into May.  As many
as forty or fifty or even more birds congregate at the leks; and the same
place is often frequented during successive years.  The lek of the
capercailzie lasts from the end of March to the middle or even end of May.  In
North America "the partridge dances" of the Tetrao phasianellus "last for a
month or more." Other kinds of grouse, both in North America and Eastern
Siberia, ^838 follow nearly the same habits.  The fowlers discover the
hillocks where the ruffs congregate by the grass being trampled bare, and this
shows that the same spot is long frequented.  The Indians of Guiana are well
acquainted with the cleared arenas, where they expect to find the beautiful
cocks of the rock; and the natives of New Guinea know the trees where from ten
to twenty male birds of paradise in full plumage congregate.  In this latter
case it is not expressly stated that the females meet on the same trees, but
the hunters, if not specially asked, would probably not mention their
presence, as their skins are valueless. Small parties of an African weaver
(Ploceus) congregate, during the breeding-season, and perform for hours their
graceful evolutions.  Large numbers of the solitary snipe (Scolopax major)
assemble during dusk in a morass; and the same place is frequented for the
same purpose during successive years; here they may be seen running about
"like so many large rats," puffing out their feathers, flapping their wings,
and uttering the strangest cries. ^839

[Footnote 838: Norman describes ("Bull. Soc. Imp. des Nat. Moscou," 1861, tom.
xxxiv, p. 264) the balzen of Tetrao urogalloides in Amur Land.  He estimated
the number of birds assembled at above a hundred, not counting the females,
which lie hid in the surrounding bushes.  The noises uttered differ from those
of T. urogallus.]

[Footnote 839: With respect to the assemblages of the above-named grouse, see
Brehm, "Thierleben," B. iv, s. 350; also L. Lloyd, "Game Birds of Sweden,"
1867, pp. 19, 78.  Richardson, "Fauna Bor. Americana.: Birds," p. 362.
References in regard to the assemblages of other birds have already been
given.  On Paradisea, see Wallace, in "Annals and Mag. of Nat. Hist.," vol.
xx, 1857, p. 412.  On the snipe, Lloyd, ibid, p. 221.]

     Some of the above birds - the black-cock, capercailzie, pheasant-grouse,
ruff, solitary snipe, and perhaps others - are, as is believed, polygamists.
With such birds it might have been thought that the stronger males would
simply have driven away the weaker, and then at once have taken possession of
as many females as possible; but if it be indispensable for the male to excite
or please the female, we can understand the length of the courtship and the
congregation of so many individuals of both sexes at the same spot.  Certain
strictly monogamous species likewise hold nuptial assemblages; this seems to
be the case in Scandinavia with one of the ptarmigans, and their leks last
from the middle of March to the middle of May.  In Australia the lyre-birds
(Menura superba) forms "small round hillocks," and the M. Alberti scratches
for itself shallow holes, or, as they are called by the natives, corroborying
places, where it is believed both sexes assemble. The meetings of the M.
superba are sometimes very large; and an account has lately been published
^840 by a traveler, who heard in a valley beneath him, thickly covered with
scrub, "a din which completely astonished" him; on crawling onward he beheld,
to his amazement, about one hundred and fifty of the magnificent lyre-cocks
"ranged in order of battle and fighting with indescribable fury." The bowers
of the bower-birds are the resort of both sexes the favors of the female, and
here the latter assemble and coquet with the males." With two of the genera,
the same bower is resorted to during many years. ^841

[Footnote 840: Quoted by Mr. T. W. Wood in the "Student," April, 1870, p.
125.]

[Footnote 841: Gould, "Hand-book to the Birds of Australia," vol. i, pp. 300,
308, 448, 451.  On the ptarmigan, above alluded to, see Lloyd, ibid, p. 129.]

     The common magpie (Corvus pica, Linn.), as I have been informed by the
Rev. W. Darwin Fox, used to assemble from all parts of Delamere forest, in
order to celebrate the "great magpie marriage." Some years ago these birds
abounded in extraordinary numbers, so that a gamekeeper killed in one morning
nineteen males, and another killed by a single shot seven birds at roost
together.  They then had the habit of assembling very early in the spring at
particular spots, where they could be seen in flocks, chattering, sometimes
fighting, bustling and flying about the trees.  The whole affair was evidently
considered by the birds as one of the highest importance.  Shortly after the
meeting they all separated, and were then observed by Mr. Fox and others to be
paired for the season. In any district in which a species does not exist in
large numbers great assemblages cannot, of course, be held, and the same
species may have different habits in different countries.  For example, I have
heard of only one instance, from Mr. Wedderburn, of a regular assemblage of
black game in Scotland, yet these assemblages are so well known in Germany and
Scandinavia that they have received special names.

     Unpaired Birds. - From the facts now given, we may conclude that the
courtship of birds belonging to widely different groups is often a prolonged,
delicate, and troublesome affair.  There is even reason to suspect, improbable
as this will at first appear, that some males and females of the same species,
inhabiting the same district, do not always please each other, and
consequently do not pair.  Many accounts have been published of either the
male or female of a pair having been shot and quickly replaced by another.
This has been observed more frequently with the magpie than with any other
bird, owing, perhaps, to its conspicuous appearance and nest.  The illustrious
Jenner states that in Wiltshire one of a pair was daily shot no less than
seven times successively, "but all to no purpose, for the remaining magpie
soon found another mate;" and the last pair reared their young.  A new partner
is generally found on the succeeding day; but Mr. Thompson gives the case of
one being replaced on the evening of the same day.  Even after the eggs are
hatched, if one of the old birds is destroyed a mate will often be found; this
occurred after an interval of two days in a case recently observed by one of
Sir J. Lubbock's keepers. ^842 The first and most obvious conjecture is that
male magpies must be much more numerous than females; and that in the above
cases, as well as in many others which could be given, the males alone had
been killed.  This apparently holds good in some instances, for the
gamekeepers in Delamere forest assured Mr. Fox that the magpies and
carrion-crows which they formerly killed in succession in large numbers near
their nests were all males; and they accounted for this fact by the males
being easily killed while bringing food to the sitting females. Macgillivray,
however, gives, on the authority of an excellent observer, an instance of
three magpies successively killed on the same nest, which were all females;
and another case of six magpies successively killed while sitting on the same
eggs, which renders it probable that most of them were females; though, as I
hear from Mr. Fox, the male will sit on the eggs when the female is killed.

[Footnote 842: On magpies, Jenner, in "Phil. Transact.," 1824, p. 21.
Macgillivray, "Hist. British Birds," vol. i, p. 570.  Thompson, in "Annals and
Mag. of Nat. Hist.," vol. viii, 1842, p. 494.]

     Sir J. Lubbock's gamekeeper has repeatedly shot, but how often he could
not say, one of a pair of jays (Garrulus glandarius), and has never failed
shortly afterward to find the survivor rematched.  Mr. Fox, Mr. F. Bond and
others have shot one of a pair of carrion-crows (Corvus corone), but the nest
was soon again tenanted by a pair.  These birds are rather common; but the
peregrine-falcon (Falco peregrinus) is rare, yet Mr. Thompson states that in
Ireland "if either an old male or female be killed in the breeding-season (not
an uncommon circumstance) another mate is found within a very few days, so
that the eyries, notwithstanding such casualties, are sure to turn out their
complement of young." Mr. Jenner Weir has known the same thing with the
peregrine-falcons at Beachy Head. The same observer informs me that three
kestrels (Falco tinnunculus), all males, were killed, one after the other,
while attending the same nest; two of these were in mature plumage, but the
third was in the plumage of the previous year.  Even with the rare golden
eagle (Aquila chrysaetos), Mr. Birkbeck was assured by a trustworthy
gamekeeper in Scotland, that if one is killed another is soon found.  So with
the white owl (Strix flammea) "the survivor readily found a mate, and the
mischief went on."

     White of Selborne, who gives the case of the owl, adds that he knew a
man, who, from believing that partridges when paired were disturbed by the
males fighting, used to shoot them; and though he had widowed the same female
several times, she always soon found a fresh partner.  This same naturalist
ordered the sparrows, which deprived the house-martins of their nests, to be
shot; but the one which was left, "be it cock or hen, presently procured a
mate, and so for several times following." I could add analogous cases
relating to the chaffinch, nightingale and redstart. With respect to the
latter bird (Phoenicura ruticilla), a writer expresses much surprise how the
sitting female could so soon have given effectual notice that she was a widow,
for the species was not common in the neighborhood.  Mr. Jenner Weir has
mentioned to me a nearly similar case; at Blackheath he never sees or hears
the note of the wild bullfinch, yet when one of his caged males has died a
wild one in the course of a few days has generally come and perched near the
widowed female, whose call-note is not loud.  I will give only one other fact,
on the authority of this same observer; one of a pair of starlings (Sturnus
vulgaris) was shot in the morning; by noon a new mate was found; this was
again shot, but before night the pair was complete; so that the disconsolate
widow or widower was thrice consoled during the same day. Mr. Engleheart also
informs me that he used during several years to shoot one of a pair of
starlings which built in a hole in a house at Blackheath; but the loss was
always immediately repaired.  During one season he kept an account, and found
that he had shot thirty-five birds from the same nest; these consisted of both
males and females, but in what proportion he could not say; nevertheless,
after all this destruction, a brood was reared. ^843

[Footnote 843: On the peregrine falcon, see Thompson, "Nat. Hist. of Ireland
Birds," vol. i, 1849, p. 39.  On owls, sparrows and partridges, see White,
"Nat. Hist. of Selborne," edit. of 1825, vol. i, p. 139.  On the Phoenicura,
see Loudon's "Mag. of Nat. Hist.," vol. vii, 1834, p. 245.  Brehm
("Thierleben," B. iv, s. 991) also alludes to cases of birds thrice mated
during the same day.]

     These facts well deserve attention.  How is it that there are birds
enough ready to replace immediately a lost mate of either sex?  Magpies, jays,
carrion-crows, partridges, and some other birds are always seen during the
spring in pairs, and never by themselves; and these offer at first sight the
most perplexing cases.  But birds of the same sex, although of course not
truly paired, sometimes live in pairs or in small parties, as is known to be
the case with pigeons and partridges.  Birds also sometimes live in triplets,
as has been observed with starlings, carrion-crows, parrots and partridges.
With partridges two females have been known to live with one male, and two
males with one female.  In all such cases it is probable that the union would
be easily broken; and one of the three would readily pair with a widow or
widower.  The males of certain birds may occasionally be heard pouring forth
their love-song long after the proper time, showing that they have either lost
or never gained a mate.  Death from accident or disease of one of a pair would
leave the other free and single; and there is reason to believe that female
birds during the breeding-season are especially liable to premature death.
Again, birds which have had their nests destroyed, or barren pairs, or
retarded individuals, would easily be induced to desert their mates, and would
probably be glad to take what share they could of the pleasures and duties of
rearing offspring, although not their own. ^844 Such contingencies as these
probably explain most of the foregoing cases. ^845 Nevertheless, it is a
strange fact that within the same district, during the height of the
breeding-season, there should be so many males and females always ready to
repair the loss of a mated bird.  Why do not such spare birds immediately pair
together?  Have we not some reason to suspect, and the suspicion has occurred
to Mr. Jenner Weir, that, as the courtship of birds appears to be in many
cases prolonged and tedious, so it occasionally happens that certain males and
females do not succeed, during the proper season, in exciting each other's
love, and consequently do not pair?  This suspicion will appear somewhat less
improbable after we have seen what strong antipathies and preferences female
birds occasionally evince toward particular males.

[Footnote 844: See White ("Nat. Hist. of Selborne," 1825, vol. i, p. 140) on
the existence, early in the season, of small coveys of male partridges, of
which fact I have heard other instances.  See Jenner, on the retarded state of
the generative organs in certain birds, in "Phil. Transact." 1824.  In regard
to birds living in triplets, I owe to Mr. Jenner Weir the cases of the
starlings and parrots, and to Mr. Fox, of partridges; on carrion-crows, see
the "Field," 1868, p. 415.  On various male birds singing after the proper
period, see Rev. L. Jenyns, "Observations in Natural History," 1846, p. 87.]

[Footnote 845: The following case has been given ("The Times," Aug. 6, 1868)
by the Rev. F. O. Morris, on the authority of the Hon. and Rev. O. W.
Forester.  "The gamekeeper here found a hawk's nest this year with five young
ones in it.  He took four and killed them, but left one with its wings clipped
as a decoy to destroy the old ones by.  They were both shot next day in the
act of feeding the young one, and the keeper thought it was done with.  The
next day he came again and found two other charitable hawks who had come with
an adopted feeling to succor the orphan.  These two he killed and then left
the nest.  On returning afterward he found two more charitable individuals on
the same errand of mercy.  One of these he killed; the other he also shot but
could not find.  No more came on the like fruitless errand."]

     Mental Qualities of Birds and Their Taste for the Beautiful. - Before we
further discuss the question whether the females select the more attractive
males or accept the first whom they may encounter, it will be advisable
briefly to consider the mental powers of birds.  Their reason is generally,
and perhaps justly, ranked as low; yet some facts could be given ^846 leading
to an opposite conclusion.  Low powers of reasoning, however, are compatible,
as we see with mankind, with strong affections, acute perception, and a taste
for the beautiful; and it is with these latter qualities that we are here
concerned.  It has often been said that parrots become so deeply attached to
each other that when one dies the other pines for a long time; but Mr. Jenner
Weir thinks that with most birds the strength of their affection has been much
exaggerated.  Nevertheless, when one of a pair in a state of nature has been
shot, the survivor has been heard for days afterward uttering a plaintive
call; and Mr. St. John gives various facts proving the attachment of mated
birds. ^847 Mr. Bennett relates ^848 that in China after a drake of the
beautiful mandarin teal had been stolen the duck remained disconsolate, though
sedulously courted by another mandarin drake, who displayed before her all his
charms.  After an interval of three weeks the stolen drake was recovered, and
instantly the pair recognized each other with extreme joy.  On the other hand
starlings, as we have seen, may be consoled thrice in the same day for the
loss of their mates.  Pigeons have such excellent local memories that they
have been known to return to their former homes after an interval of nine
months, yet, as I hear from Mr. Harrison Weir, of a pair which naturally would
remain mated for life he separated for a few weeks during the winter, and
afterward matched with other birds, the two, when brought together again,
rarely, if ever, recognize each other.

[Footnote 846: I am indebted to Prof. Newton for the following passage from
Mr. Adam's "Travels of a Naturalist," 1870, p. 278.  Speaking of Japanese
nut-hatches in confinement, he says: "Instead of the more yielding fruit of
the yew, which is the usual food of the nut-hatch of Japan, at one time I
substituted hard hazel-nuts.  As the bird was unable to crack them, he placed
them one by one in his water-glass, evidently with the notion that they would
in time become softer - an interesting proof of intelligence on the part of
these birds."

[Footnote 847: "A Tour in Sutherlandshire," vol. i, 1849, p. 185.  Dr. Buller
says ("Birds of New Zealand," 1872, p. 56) that a male King Lory was killed;
and the female "fretted and moped, refused her food, and died of a broken
heart."]

[Footnote 848: "Wanderings in New South Wales," vol. ii, 1834, p. 62.]

     Birds sometimes exhibit benevolent feelings; they will feed the deserted
young ones even of distinct species, but this perhaps ought to be considered
as a mistaken instinct.  They will feed, as shown in an earlier part of this
work, adult birds of their own species which have become blind.  Mr. Buxton
gives a curious account of a parrot which took care of a frost-bitten and
crippled bird of a distinct species, cleansed her feathers and defended her
from the attacks of the other parrots which roamed freely about his garden.
It is a still more curious fact that these birds apparently evince some
sympathy for the pleasures of their fellows.  When a pair of cockatoos made a
nest in an acacia tree "it was ridiculous to see the extravagant interest
taken in the matter by the others of the same species.  These parrots also
evinced unbounded curiosity and clearly had "the idea of property and
possession." ^849 They have good memories, for in the Zoological Gardens they
have plainly recognized their former masters after an interval of some months.

[Footnote 849: "Acclimatization of Parrots," by C. Buxton, M. P.  "Annals and
Mag. of Nat. Hist.," Nov., 1868, p. 381.]

     Birds possess acute powers of observation.  Every mated bird, of course,
recognizes its fellow.  Audubon states that a certain number of
mocking-thrushes (Mimus polyglottus) remain all the year round in Louisiana,
while others migrate to the Eastern States; these latter on their return are
instantly recognized and always attacked by their southern brethren.  Birds
under confinement distinguish different persons, as is proved by the strong
and permanent antipathy or affection which they show without any apparent
cause toward certain individuals.  I have heard of numerous instances with
jays, partridges, canaries, and especially bullfinches.  Mr. Hussey has
described in how extraordinary a manner a tamed partridge recognized
everybody; and its likes and dislikes were very strong.  This bird seemed
"fond of gay colors, and no new gown or cap could be put on without catching
his attention." ^850 Mr. Hewitt has described the habits of some ducks
(recently descended from wild birds) which at the approach of a strange dog or
cat would rush headlong into the water and exhaust themselves in their
attempts to escape; but they knew Mr. Hewitt's own dogs and cats so well that
they would lie down and bask in the sun close to them.  They always moved away
from a strange man, and so they would from the lady who attended them if she
made any great change in her dress.  Audubon relates that he reared and tamed
a wild turkey which always ran away from any strange dog; this bird escaped
into the woods, and some days afterward Audubon saw, as he thought, a wild
turkey and made his dog chase it; but to his astonishment the bird did not run
away, and the dog when he came up did not attack the bird, for they mutually
recognized each other as old friends. ^851

[Footnote 850: "The Zoologist," 1847-1848, p. 1602.]

[Footnote 851: Hewitt on wild ducks, "Journal of Horticulture," Jan. 13, 1863,
p. 39.  Audubon on the wild turkey, "Ornith. Biography," vol. i, p. 14.  On
the mocking-thrush, ibid, vol. i, p. 110.]

     Mr. Jenner Weir is convinced that birds pay particular attention to the
colors of other birds, sometimes out of jealousy and sometimes as a sign of
kinship.  Thus he turned a reed-bunting (Emberiza schoeniculus), which had
acquired its black head-dress, into his aviary, and the newcomer was not
noticed by any bird except by a bullfinch, which is likewise black-headed.
This bullfinch was a very quiet bird, and had never before quarreled with any
of its comrades, including another reed-bunting, which had not as yet become
black-headed; but the reed-bunting with a black head was so unmercifully
treated that it had to be removed.  Spiza cyanea, during the breeding-season,
is of a bright blue color; and though generally peaceable, it attacked S.
ciris, which has only the head blue, and completely scalped the unfortunate
bird.  Mr. Weir was also obliged to turn out a robin, as it fiercely attacked
all the birds in his aviary with any red in their plumage, but no other kinds;
it actually killed a red-brested crossbill and nearly killed a goldfinch.  On
the other hand, he has observed that some birds, when first introduced, fly
toward the species which resemble them most in color, and settle by their
sides.

     As male birds display their fine plumage and other ornaments with so much
care before the females, it is obviously probable that these appreciate the
beauty of their suitors.  It is, however, difficult to obtain direct evidence
of their capacity to appreciate beauty.  When birds gaze at themselves in a
looking-glass (of which many instances have been recorded) we cannot feel sure
that it is not from jealousy of a supposed rival, though this is not the
conclusion of some observers.  In other cases it is difficult to distinguish
between mere curiosity and admiration.  It is perhaps the former feeling
which, as stated by Lord Lilford, ^852 attracts the ruff toward any bright
object, so that, in the Ionian Islands, "it will dart down to a bright-colored
handkerchief, regardless of repeated shots." The common lark is drawn down
from the sky, and is caught in large numbers, by a small mirror made to move
and glitter in the sun.  Is it admiration or curiosity which leads the magpie,
raven, and some other birds to steal and secrete bright objects, such as
silver articles or jewels?

[Footnote 852: The "Ibis," vol. ii, 1860, p. 344.]

     Mr. Gould states that certain humming-birds decorate the outsides of
their nests "with the utmost taste; they instinctively fasten thereon
beautiful pieces of flat lichen, the larger pieces in the middle, and the
smaller on the part attached to the branch.  Now and then a pretty feather is
intertwined or fastened to the outer sides, the stem being always so placed
that the feather stands out beyond the surface." The best evidence, however,
of a taste for the beautiful is afforded by the three genera of Australian
bower-birds already mentioned.  Their bowers (see fig. 46), where the sexes
congregate and play strange antics, are variously constructed, but what most
concerns us is, that they are decorated by the several species in a different
manner.  The satin bower-bird collects gayly-colored articles, such as the
blue tail-feathers of paroquets, bleached bones and shells, which it sticks
between the twigs or arranges at the entrance.  Mr. Gould found in one bower a
neatly-worked stone tomahawk and a slip of blue cotton, evidently procured
from a native encampment.  These objects are continually rearranged, and
carried about by the birds while at play.  The bower of the spotted bower-bird
"is beautifully lined with tall grasses, so disposed that the heads nearly
meet, and the decorations are very profuse." Round stones are used to keep the
grass-stems in their proper places and to make divergent paths leading to the
bower.  The stones and shells are often brought from a great distance.  The
regent bird, as described by Mr. Ramsay, ornaments its short bower with
bleached landshells beloning to five or six species, and with "berries of
various colors, blue, red, and black, which give it when fresh a very pretty
appearance.  Besides these there were several newly-picked leaves and young
shoots of a pinkish color, the whole showing a decided taste for the
beautiful." Well may Mr. Gould say that "these highly decorated halls of
assembly must be regarded as the most wonderful instances of bird-architecture
yet discovered;" and the taste, as we see, of the several species certainly
differs. ^853

[Footnote 853: On the ornamental nests of humming-birds, Gould, "Introduction
to the Trochilidae, 1861, p. 19.  On the bower-birds, Gould, "Hand-book to the
Birds of Australia," 1865, vol. i, pp. 444-461. Ramsay, in the "Ibis," 1867,
p. 456.]

     Preference for Particular Males by the Females. - Having made these
preliminary remarks on the discrimination and taste of birds, I will give all
the facts known to me which bear on the preference shown by the female for
particular males.  It is certain that distinct species of birds occasionally
pair in a state of nature and produce hybrids.  Many instances could be given;
thus Macgillivray relates how a male blackbird and female thrush "fell in love
with each other," and produced offspring. ^854 Several years ago eighteen
cases had been recorded of the occurrence in Great Britain of hybrids between
the black grouse and pheasant; ^855 but most of these cases may perhaps be
accounted for by solitary birds not finding one of their own species to pair
with.  With other birds, as Mr. Jenner Weir has reason to believe, hybrids are
sometimes the result of the casual intercourse of birds building in close
proximity.  But these remarks do not apply to the many recorded instances of
tamed or domestic birds, belonging to distinct species, which have become
absolutely fascinated with each other, although living with their own species.
Thus Waterton ^856 states that out of a flock of twenty-three Canada geese, a
female paired with a solitary Bernicle gander, although so different in
appearance and size; and they produced hybrid offspring.  A male wigeon
(Mareca penelope) living with females of the same species has been known to
pair with a pintail duck, Querquedula acuta.  Lloyd describes the remarkable
attachment between a shield-drake (Tadorna vulpanser) and a common duck.  Many
additional instances could be given; and the Rev. E. S. Dixon remarks that
"those who have kept many different species of geese together well know what
unaccountable attachments they are frequently forming, and that they are quite
as likely to pair and rear young with individuals of a race (species)
apparently the most alien to themselves as with their own stock."

[Footnote 854: "Hist. of British Birds," vol. ii, p. 92.]

[Footnote 855: "Zoologist," 1853-1854, p. 3940.]

[Footnote 856: Waterton, "Essays on Nat. Hist.," 2d series, pp. 42, 117. For
the following statements see on the wigeon, Loudon's "Mag. of Nat. Hist.,"
vol. ix, p. 616.  L. Lloyd, "Scandinavian Adventures," vol. i, 1854, p. 452.
Dixon, "Ornamental and Domestic Poultry," p. 137; Hewitt, in "Journal of
Horticulture," Jan. 13, 1863, p. 40; Bechstein, "Stubenvogel," 1840, s. 230.
Mr. Jenner Weir has lately given me an analogous case with ducks of two
species.]

     The Rev. W. D. Fox informs me that he possessed at the same time a pair
of Chinese geese (Anser Cygnoides) and a common gander with three geese.  The
two lots kept quite separate, until the Chinese gander seduced one of the
common geese to live with him.  Moreover, of the young birds hatched from the
eggs of the common geese, only four were pure, the other eighteen proving
hybrids; so that the Chinese gander seems to have had prepotent charms over
the common gander.  I will give only one other case: Mr. Hewitt states that a
wild duck, reared in captivity, "after breeding a couple of seasons with her
own mallard, at once shook him off on my placing a male pintail on the water.
It was evidently a case of love at first sight, for she swam about the
new-comer caressingly, though he appeared evidently alarmed and averse to her
overtures of affection. From that hour she forgot her old partner.  Winter
passed by, and the next spring the pintail seemed to have become a convert to
her blandishments, for they nested and produced seven or eight young ones."

     What the charm may have been in these several cases, beyond mere novelty,
we cannot even conjecture.  Color, however, sometimes comes into play; for in
order to raise hybrids from the siskin (Fringilla spinus) and the canary, it
is much the best plan, according to Bechstein, to place birds of the same tint
together.  Mr. Jenner Weir turned a female canary into his aviary, where there
were male linnets, goldfinches, siskins, greenfinches, chaffinches and other
birds, in order to see which she would choose; but there never was any doubt,
and the greenfinch carried the day.  They paired and produced hybrid
offspring.

     The fact of the female preferring to pair with one male rather than with
another of the same species is not so likely to excite attention as when this
occurs, as we have just seen, between distinct species.  The former cases can
best be observed with domesticated or confined birds; but these are often
pampered by high feeding, and sometimes have their instincts vitiated to an
extreme degree.  Of this latter fact I could give sufficient proofs with
pigeons, and especially with fowls, but they cannot be here related.  Vitiated
instincts may also account for some of the hybrid unions above mentioned; but
in many of these cases the birds were allowed to range freely over large
ponds, and there is no reason to suppose that they were unnaturally stimulated
by high feeding.

     With respect to birds in a state of nature, the first and most obvious
supposition which will occur to every one is that the female at the proper
season accepts the first male whom she may encounter; but she has at least the
opportunity for exerting a choice, as she is almost invariably pursued by many
males.  Audubon - and we must remember that he spent a long life in prowling
about the forests of the United States and observing the birds - does not
doubt that the female deliberately chooses her mate; thus, speaking of a
woodpecker, he says the hen is followed by half a dozen gay suitors, who
continue performing strange antics, "until a marked preference is shown for
one." The female of the red-winged starling (Agelaeus phoeniceus) is likewise
pursued by several males; "until, becoming fatigued, she alights, receives
their addresses, and soon makes a choice." He describes also how several male
night-jars repeatedly plunge through the air with astonishing rapidity,
suddenly turning, and thus making a singular noise; "but no sooner has the
female made her choice than the other males are driven away." With one of the
vultures (Cathartes aura) of the United States, parties of eight, ten, or more
males and females assemble on fallen logs, "exhibiting the strongest desire to
please mutually," and after many caresses each male leads off his partner on
the wing.  Audubon likewise carefully observed the wild flocks of Canada geese
(Anser canadensis), and gives a graphic description of their love antics; he
says that the birds which had been previously mated "renewed their courtship
as early as the month of January, while the others would be contending or
coquetting for hours every day, until all seemed satisfied with the choice
they had made, after which, although they remained together, any person could
easily perceive that they were careful to keep in pairs.  I have observed also
that the older the birds the shorter were the preliminaries of their
courtship.  The bachelors and old maids, whether in regret or not caring to be
disturbed by the bustle, quietly moved aside and lay down at some distance
from the rest." ^857 Many similar statements with respect to other birds could
be cited from this same observer.

[Footnote 857: Audubon, "Ornitholog. Biography," vol. i, pp. 191, 349; vol.
ii, pp. 42, 275; vol. iii, p. 2.]

     Turning now to domesticated and confined birds, I will commence by giving
what little I have learned respecting the courtship of fowls.  I have received
long letters on this subject from Messrs. Hewitt and Tegetmeier, and almost an
essay from the late Mr. Brent.  It will be admitted by every one that these
gentlemen, so well known from their published works, are careful and
experienced observers.  They do not believe that the females prefer certain
males on account of the beauty of their plumage; but some allowance must be
made for the artificial state under which these birds have long been kept.
Mr. Tegetmeier is convinced that a gamecock, though disfigured by being dubbed
and with his hackles trimmed, would be accepted as readily as a male retaining
all his natural ornaments.  Mr. Brent, however, admits that the beauty of the
male probably aids in exciting the female; and her acquiescence is necessary.
Mr. Hewitt is convinced that the union is by no means left to mere chance, for
the female almost invariably prefers the most vigorous, defiant and mettlesome
male; hence it is almost useless, as he remarks, "to attempt true breeding if
a gamecock in good health and condition runs the locality, for almost every
hen on leaving the roosting-place will resort to the gamecock, even though
that bird may not actually drive away the male of her own variety." Under
ordinary circumstances the males and females of the fowl seem to come to a
mutual understanding by means of certain gestures, described to me by Mr.
Brent.  But hens will often avoid the officious attentions of young males.
Old hens and hens of a pugnacious disposition, as the same writer informs me,
dislike strange males, and will not yield until well beaten into compliance.
Ferguson, however, describes how a quarrelsome hen was subdued by the gentle
courtship of a shanghai cock. ^858

[Footnote 858: "Rare and Prize Poultry," 1854, p. 27.]

     There is reason to believe that pigeons of both sexes prefer pairing with
birds of the same breed; and dove-cote pigeons dislike all the highly improved
breeds. ^859 Mr. Harrison Weir has lately heard from a trustworthy observer
who keeps blue pigeons that these drive away all other colored varieties, such
as white, red and yellow; and from another observer, that a female dun carrier
could not, after repeated trials, be matched with a black male, but
immediately paired with a dun.  Again, Mr. Tegetmeier had a female blue turbit
that obstinately refused to pair with two males of the same breed, which were
successively shut up with her for weeks; but on being let out she would have
immediately accepted the first blue dragon that offered.  As she was a
valuable bird, she was then shut up for many weeks with a silver (i. e., very
pale blue) male, and at last mated with him.  Nevertheless, as a general rule,
color appears to have little influence on the pairing of pigeons.  Mr.
Tegetmeier, at my request, stained some of his birds with magenta, but they
were not much noticed by the others.

[Footnote 859: "The Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication," vol.
ii, p. 103.]

     Female pigeons occasionally feel a strong antipathy toward certain males,
without any assignable cause.  Thus MM. Boitard and Corbie, whose experience
extended over forty-five years, state: "Quand une femelle eprouve de
l'antipathie pour un male avec lequel on veut l'accoupler, malgre tous les
feux de l'amour, malgre l'alpiste et le chenevis dont on la nourrit pour
augmenter son ardeur, malgre un emprisonnement de six mois et meme d'un an,
elle refuse constamment ses caresses; les avances empressees, les agaceries,
les tournoiemens, les tendres roucoulemens, rien ne peut lui plaire ni
l'emouvoir; gonflee, boundeuse, blottie dans un coin de sa prison, elle n'en
sort que pour boire et manger, ou pour repousser avec une espece de rage des
caresses devenues trop pressantes." ^860 On the other hand, Mr. Harrison Weir
has himself observed and has heard from several breeders, that a female pigeon
will occasionally take a strong fancy for a particular male, and will desert
her own mate for him.  Some females, according to another experienced
observer, Riedel, ^861 are of a profligate disposition, and prefer almost any
stranger to their own mate.  Some amorous males, called by our English
fanciers "gay birds," are so successful in their gallantries that, as Mr. H.
Weir informs me, they must be shut up on account of the mischief which they
cause.

[Footnote 860: Boitard and Crobie, "Les Pigeons, etc.," 1824, p. 12. Prosper
Lucas ("Traite de l'Hered. Nat.," tom. ii, 1850, p. 296) has himself observed
nearly similar facts with pigeons.]

[Footnote 861: "Die Taubenzucht," 1824, s. 86.]

     Wild turkeys in the United States, according to Audubon, "sometimes pay
their addresses to the domesticated females, and are generally received by
them with great pleasure." So that these females apparently prefer the wild to
their own males. ^862

[Footnote 862: "Ornithological Biography," vol. i, p. 13.  See to the same
effect, Dr. Bryant, in "Allen's Mammals and Birds of Florida," p. 344.]

     Here is a more curious case.  Sir. R. Heron during many years kept an
account of the habits of the pea-fowl, which he bred in large numbers. He
states that "the hens have frequently great preference to a particular
peacock.  They were all so fond of an old pied cock that one year, when he was
confined, though still in view, they were constantly assembled close to the
trellised-walls of his prison, and would not suffer a japanned peacock to
touch them.  On his being let out in the autumn, the oldest of the hens
instantly courted him and was successful in her courtship.  The next year he
was shut up in a stable, and then the hens all courted his rival." ^863 This
rival was a japanned or black-winged peacock, to our eyes a more beautiful
bird than the common kind.

[Footnote 863: "Proc. Zool. Soc.," 1835, p. 54.  The japanned peacock is
considered by Mr. Sclater as a distinct species, and has been named Pavo
nigripennis; but the evidence seems to me to show that it is only a variety.]