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Show 50 SEXUAL SEJ.ECTION : BIUDS. PART II. desire · but some of these battles arc caused by wander~ ing m~l s trying to distract the peace of an already mated pair.22 • • • Even with the most pugnacious speCies ~t 1s probable that tho pairing does not depend excluslVoly on the mere strenrrth and courage of the male : for such males arc ;enerally decorated with v~rious orname.nts, which often become more brilliant dunug the breedmgseason, and which are sedulously displayed before tho females. The males also endeavour to char~ or exc ·ite their mates by love-notes, songs, and antiCs; a~cl the courtship is, in many instances, a prolon?ed. affau·. Hence it is not probable that the females are md1ffcrent to the charms of the oppo ite sex, or. tha.t they are invariaLly compelled to yield to the viCton.ous m.ales. It is more probable that the females. are exCited, mther before or after the conflict, by cortam males, and thus unconsciously prefer them.· In the case of Te~rao ttmbellus, a good oLservor 23 goes so far as to behove that the battles of the males "are all a sham, 1)erfor~ed ,, to show themsel \'OS to the greatest advantage before "the admiring females who assemble. around; for I "have never been able to find a ma1med hero, and "seldom more than a broken feather." I shall h~ve to recur to this subject, but I may here add that w1th the Tetrao cttpido of the United States, about ~ score of males assemble at a particular spot, and struttmg about make the whole air resound with their extraordinary noises. At the first answer from a female the males begin to fight furiously, and the weaker _give way; but then, according to Audubon, both the viCtors and vanquished search for the female, so that the females must ~2 Brehm, 'Tbierlcbcn,' &c., B. iv. 1867, p. 990. Auclubon, 'Ornith. Bio"'mphy,' vol. ii. p. 4.92. ~f 'Lnnd and Wutcr,' July 25th, 18G8, p. 14. CIIAP. XIII. VOCAL 1\'IUSIC. 51 either then exert a choice, or the battle must be renewed .. So, again, with one of the Field-starlings of the Umted States (Sturnella ludoviciana) the males engage in fierce conflicts, "but at the sio-ht of a female " they all fly after her, as if mad." 24 ° Vocal and instrumental Music.-With birds the voice serves to .express various emotions, such as distress, fear, anger,. trmmph, or me1:e happiness. It is apparently so~etnnes used to exCite terror, as with the hissing noise ma~e by some nestling-birds. Audubon 2s relateR that a mght-heron (Ardea nycticorax, Linn.) which he kept tame, used to hide itself when a cat approached and then "suddenly start up uttering one of the most "frightful cries, apparently enjoying the eat's alarm " and flight." The common domestic cock clucks to the he~, and the hen to her chickens, when a dainty morsel IS found. The hen, when she has laid an eo-g "· tth 0 ,, 1epe~ s e same note very often, and concludes with' the Sixth above, which she holds for a lono-er time." 2G and thus she expresses her joy. Some 0 social birds apparently call to each other for aid; and as they flit from t~ee to .tree, the .flock is kept together by chirp answenng chirp. Durmg the nocturnal mirrrations of' geese and other w~ter~fowl, sonorous clang; from the van may b~ heard m the darkness overhead, answered ~y clangs m the rear. Certain cries serve as dangersignals, which, as the sportsman knows to his cost, are Twhel l du nders.t ood by the same species and by oth . elS. . e . omestw cock crows, an:l the humming-bird chirps, 1ll trmmph over a defeated r1val . TJ1e tr.u e song, 11 ow~ Y 4 Audubon's 'Ornitholo"' BioO'. 1 . • T . I } 499. tl St o:. o11l.P 1Y, on ctrao cuptdo, vol. ii. · "" ,~. o~ 1e • m·nus, vol. 11. p. 219. ~ Ormthologteal Bioo-rapb.' vol v p 601 26 'fh . 0 • • • • • c Ron. Dames Banmgton, 'Philosoph. Transact.' 1773, p. 252. E 2 |