110 SEXUAL SELECTION: BIllDS. Part H. 



are instantly recognised, and always attacked, by their 

 Southern brethren. Birds under confinement distin- 

 guish different persons, as is proved, by the strong and 

 permanent antipathy or affection which they shew, 

 without any apparent cause, towards certain indivi- 

 duals. 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 recognised everybody ; and its likes 

 and dislikes were very strong. This bird seemed " fond 

 " of gay colours, and no new gown or cap could be put 

 " on without catching his attention." ^^ Mr. Hewitt 

 has carefully described the habits of some ducks (re- 

 cently descended from wild birds), which, at the ap- 

 proach of a strange dog or cat, would rush headlong into 

 the water, and exhaust themselves in their attempts 

 to escape; but they knew so well Mr. Hewitt's own 

 dogs and cats 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 

 afterwards 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 recog- 

 nised each other as old friend s.-^^ 



Mr. Jenner Weir is convinced that birds pay parti- 

 cular attention to the colours of other birds, sometimes 



12 « The Zoologist/ 1847-1848, p. 1602. 



1^ He^Nitt 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 thrus^h, ibid. vol. i. p. 110. 



