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Show JIG EXUAL SELECTION: BIRDS. PArt'l' H. to ; but in many of these cases the birds wero allowed to range freely ovei· large ponds, and there is no reason to . uppose that they wore unnaturally stimulated by hi~h feeding. \Vith respect to birds in a state of nature, the first and most obvious supposition which will occur to everyone is that the female at the proper season accepts the first male whom she may encounter; bnt she has at least the opportunity for exerting a choice, as she is aJmost 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 " ~L marked preference is shewn for one." The female of the red-winged starling (Agel83~ts phceniceus) 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 nightjars 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." vV ith one of the vultures ( Cathartes aura) of the United Dtates, parties of eight or 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 J anuury, while the others would be contend- CHAL'. XlV. PREFERENCE BY THE FEMALE. 117 "ing or coquetting for hours every clay, until all seemed "satisfied with the choice they had made, after which, " althouo·h they remained together, any person could "easily perceive that they were careful to keep in pairs. " I have observed also that the older the bird , th0 "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." 19 Many similar statements with respect to other birds could be cited from this same observer. Turning now to domesticated and confined birds, I will commence by giving what little I have learnt r - specting the courtship of fowls. I have received long letters on this subject from Messrs. Hewitt and 'fegetmeier, 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 b~lieve 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 they have long been kept. Mr. Tegetmoier is convinced that a game-cock, though disfigured by being dubbed 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 aicls 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 mal('; hence it is almost usel ss, as he remarks, "to attempt 19 Audubon, •Ornitholog. Biography,' vol. i. p.l91, 349; \'Ol. ii. p. 12, 275; YOl. iii. p. 2. |