CiiAP. XIV. PREFERENCE BY THE FEMALE. 121 



first advances are always made by the female ; some- 

 ' tiling of the same kind takes place, according to 

 Audubon, with the older females of the wild turkev. 

 With the capercailzie, the females flit round the male, 

 whilst he is parading at one of the places of assemblage, 

 and solicit his attention.^^ We have seen that a tame 

 wild- duck seduced after a long courtship an unwilling 

 Pintail drake. Mr. Bartlett believes that the Lopho- 

 phorus, 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 court- 

 ship, and was at last successful, for she paired \Aith the 

 male ; but after a time she met with a just retribution, 

 for, ceasing to be pugnacious, ]\Ir. ^^^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 see, apparently occur in some few 

 groups. With domesticated birds, I have heard of only 

 one case in which the 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 



2s In regard to peafowl, see Sir R. Heron, ' Proc. Zoolog. Soc' 1835, 

 p. 54, and the Eev. E. S. Dixon, 'Ornamental Poultry,' 1848, p. 8. 

 For the turkey, Audubon, ibid. p. 4. For the capercailzie, Lloyd, 

 ' Game Birds of Swedeu,' 18G7, p. 23. 



