Chap. XIII. Law of Battle. 367 



" them beyond his dominions." Generally the males try to drive 

 away or kill their rivals before they pair. It does not, however, 

 appear that the females invariably prefer the victorious males. 

 I have indeed been assured by Dr. W. Kovalevsky that the 

 female capercailzie sometimes steals away with a young male 

 who has not dared 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 desire : 

 but some of these battles are caused by wandering males trying 

 to distract the peace of an already mated pair. 22 



Even with the most pugnacious species it is probable that the 

 pairing does not depend exclusively on the mere strength and 

 courage of the male ; for such males are generally decorated with 

 various ornaments, which often become more brilliant during the 

 breeding-season, and which are sedulously displayed before thb 

 females. The males also endeavour to charm or excite their 

 mates by love-notes, songs, and antics ; and the courtship is, in 

 many instances, a prolonged affair. Hence it is not probable 

 that the females are indifferent to the charms of the opposite 

 sex, or that they are invariably compelled to yield to the victorious 

 males. It is more probable that the females are excited, either 

 before or after the conflict, by certain males, and thus un- 

 consciously prefer them. In the case of Tetrao nmbe/l»s : a good 

 observer 23 goes so far as to believe that the battles of the males 

 " are all a sham, performed to show themselves to the greatest 

 " advantage before the admiring females who assemble around ; for 

 " I have never been able to find a maimed hero, and seldom more 

 " than a broken feather." I shall have to recur to this subject, 

 but I may here add that with the Tetrad cupido of the United 

 States, about a score of males assemble at a particular spot, and 

 strutting about, make the whole air resound with their extra- 

 ordinary noises. At the first answer from a female the males 

 begin to fight furiously, and the weaker give way ; but then, 

 according to Audubon, both the victors and vanquished search 

 for the female, so that the females must either then exert a 

 choice, or the battle must be renewed. So, again, with one of 

 the field-starlings of the United States \Sturuella ludoviciand) 

 the males engage in fierce conflicts, " but at the sight of a female 

 " they all fly after her, as if mad." 2i 



s * Brehm, 'Thierleben,' &c, B. 24 Audubon's ' Ornitholog. Bio- 



iv. 1867, p. 990. Audubon, ' Ornith. graphy ;' on Tetrao cupido, vol. ii. 



Biography, vol. ii. p. 492. p. 492; on the Sturnus, vol. ii„ p. 



23 'Land and W:.ter,' July 25th, 219. 

 18*8, p. 14. 



