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Show 48 SEXUAL SELECTION : BIRDS. PART II. . hese are such formidable wea-spurs on each wmg; ancl t d .< dog howlino- away. pons that a sm· g1 e blo w 1 as nven a " lc urs in this case, or in But it does not appear that. theds~ '1 are laro-er in the that of some of the spur-wui1ge rtal·ns, plovers ohowover, . l 1! l lG n cer ai . ' male than m t 1e 1ema e. . al character. t b stdered as a sexu the wing-spurs mus 0 con ·'t (Vanellus cris-l f . common peewl Thus in the rna e 0 om f the wino- becomes tatus) the tubcrele on. the ;~ou~~e:(~no--season~ anr1 the more prominent dunng o rel bi some species t fi ht to ~Yet 1er. n males arc known ~ .gl • t bb ·cle becomes developed ,>f L ob 1. vane llu s a. sunl ar u" .e l to a short horny spur. " . th b ·eedmO'-sea.son m b durmg e r. n atus both sexes have spurs, ut In the Austrtthan L. Zo? 1 les than in the females. h laro·er m t te rna L these are muc b R l t us armatus the spurs In an allied bil:d, ~he ~~~:ptl:: breeding-s~ason; but clo not increase m size du ~ E vpt to fio·ht too·ether, b. 1 1 e beAn seen m g, o 0 these u·c s lav ' 1·ts by turning suddenly . er as our peew ' m the same mann .. d strl1 n .n g S.lC JL eW· ays "n' t each other, some-in the ~n· an l . lt Thus a.lso they chive away times with a fata resu . • 17 {)ther enennes. . th t f battle . but the males The season of love IS a o ' d b. d s of the game-fowl and ruff, an oven f some n· s a d 1s ·e o ' f the wild turkey au grouse, ar the young malesbo they meet The presence of d t fight w enever · · rtheae yfe moa le is the tetern.m a be l li causa . The BengalL ·u· . 'British Birds,' vol. iv. Ja For the Egyptirtn goose, s:~ l\Iutcgt 'IVTII1r·~'vcls' I) 254. For Pnla· t 8 'L1vmO's ones ... ' · 1)· G39. For Plectro~ cru ' ' . o 740 See also on this bird Aznra, mcden, Brchm's,'Thle~·lcbon, -~·\vt~:n i~.1809, p. 179,253. • Voya"'os dans l Amcnquc meudC. : 'Land and Water, Atlg. Slh, o 't Mr R nrr m ' · • 11 Sec ' on our pecw·dt ' to L,o bt:v nnc 11 us sec Jct·don's 'Birds of Indtn.,. 1 G8, p. 46. In rcgar ' ' H dbook of Birds of Austrnlin,' vol. u. vol. iii. P· 6-1:7' and Goulds an l\Ir Allen in the 'Ibis,' vol. v. 18G3, p. 220. For the Holoptorus, sec . p . 1u5 GA. udubon,' Ornith. Biography, ' vo1. u.. . p. 492 ·' vol .i. P· '1-13. CnAr. :xur. LAW OF BATTLE. 49 babooR make the pretty little males of the amadavat ( Estrelda amandava) fight together by placing three small cages in a row, with a female in the middle ; after a little time tho two males are turned loose, and immediately a desperate battle ensues.19 When many males congregate at the same appointed spot aucl fight together, as in the case of grouse and various other birds, they are generally attended by the females, 20 which afterwards pair with the victorious combatants. But in some cases the pairing precedes instead of succeeding the combat: thus, according to Audubon,21 several males of the Virginian goat-sucker ( Oap1·imulgus Virginianus) "court, in a highly entertaining "manner, the female, and no sooner has she made her "choice, than her approved gives chase to all intruders, "and drives them beyond his dominions." Generally the males try with all their power to drive away or kill their rivals before they pair. It does not, however, appear that the females invttriably prefer the victorious males. I have indeed been assured by M. W. Kowalevsky that the female capercailzie sometimes steals away with a young male who has not dt'tred to enter the arena with the older cocks ; in the same manner as occasionally happens with the does of the red-deer in Scotland. ·when two males contend in presence of a single female, the victor, no doubt, commonly gains his 10 Mr. Blyth, 'Land and Wntor,' 1867, p. 212. 20 Riclmrdson, on 'retrao umbel! us, 'Faunn Bor. Amcr.: Birds,' 1831, p. 343. L. Lloyd, ' Game Birds of Sweden,' 18G7, p. 22, 79, on the capcrcnilzic and blnck-cock. Brehm, however, asserts(' Thierlcbon,' &c., ll. iv. s. 352) that in Germnny the grey-hens do not generally attend tho Ralzon of the blnck .. cocks, but this is an exception to tho common rulo ; possibly the hens mny lie h(dden in tho surrounding bushes, as is known to bo the case with the grey-hens iu Scandinnvio., and with other specirs inN. America. ~ 1 'Ornithologicnl Biogt·aphy,' vol. ii. p. 275. VOh TI. E |