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Show 1:20 SEXUAL SELECTION: BIRDS. l'Al:'l' II'. "tho hens have frequently great preference to a par" ticular peacock. They were all so fond of an old pieJ "cock, that one year, when he was confined though "!:)till in view, they ·were constantly assembled close " to the trellice-walls of his prison, and would not suffer H 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 be was shut up in a stable, and then " the hens all courted his rival." 25 This rival was a japanned or black-winged peacock, which to our eyes is a more beautiful bird than the common kind. Lichtenstein, who was a good observer and had excellent opportunities of observation at tho Cape of Good Hope, assured Rudolphi that the female widowbird (Chera progne) disowns the male, when robbed of the long tail-feathers with which be is ornamented during the breeding-season. I presume that this observation must have been made on birds under confinement. 26 II01·e is another striking case; Dr. Jaeger,2r director of the Zoological Gardens of Vienna, states that a male silver-pheasant, who had been triumphant over the other males and was the accepted lover of the females, had his ornamental plumage spoiled. He was then immediately superseded by a rival, who got the upper hand and afterwards led the flock. Not only does the female exert a choice, but in some few cases she courts the male, or even fights for hi.· possession. Sir R Heron states that with peafowl, the 2;; 'Proc. Zool. Sor,.' 1833, p. 54. Tho japanned peacock is crlllsidered by 1\fr. Sclater as a distinct species, nncl has been namL·tL Pavo nigripennis. ~G Rudolphi. 'Beytrti.go zur Anthropologie,' 1812, s. 184-. 2i' 'Die Dnrwin'sclto Thoori e, und ihro Rtcllung zu Moral uncli Religion,' l8G!), s. 5!), CilAP. XlV. PREFERENCE BY Tlm FEMALE. 121 first advances are always made by the female ; something of the same kind takes place, according to Audubon, with the older females of the wild turkeY. With the capercailzic, the females fiit round the mal~, whilst he is parading at one of the places of assemblage, and solicit his attention.28 vVe have seen that a tame wild-Juck seduced after a long courtship an unwilling Pintail drah:e. Mr. Bartlett believes that the Lophophorus, like many other gallinaceous birds, is naturally polygamous, but two females cannot be placed in the same cage with a male, as they fight so much together. The following instance of rivalry is more surprising as it relates to bullfinches, which usually pair for life. Mr. Jenner Weir introduced a dull-coloured and ugly female into his aviary, and she immediately attacked another mated female so unmercifully that the latter had to be separated. The new female did all the courtship, and was at last successful, for she paired with the male ; but after a time she met with a just retribution, for, ceasing to be pugnacious, l\ir. "'\V eir replaced the old female, and the male then deserted his new and returned to his old love. In all ordinary cases the male is so eager that he will accept any female, and does not, as far as we can judge~. prefer one to the other; but 'exceptions to this rule, as we shall hereafter sec, apparently occur in some few groups. With domesticated birds, I have heard of only one case in which tho males shew any preference for particular females, namely, that of the domestic cock, who, according to the high authority of Mr. Hewitt, prefers the younger to the older hens. On the other ~s In regard to peafowl, sec Sir R. Heron, 'Proc. Zoolog. Soc.' 1835,. p. 54, and tho Rev. E. S. Dixon, 'Omamcntal Poultry,' 18-!8, p. 8. .l!'or tho turkey, Audubon, ibid. p. 'l. For the caperenilzic, Lloyd, 'Game Birds of Sweden,' 18G7, p. :.!3. |