Superiority of the Femaee in Natural History 137 



Among the feathered tribe one has abundant instances 

 of the assertion of superiority by the female, and one 

 simple observation lesson will reveal the correctness of 

 this statement, whilst traversing an ordinary country 

 hedgerow. 



The ordinary thrush or blackbird female has an ex- 

 tremely dowdy appearance, with a sombre sooty-brown 

 attire, suggesting another bird's leave-offs ; but closer 

 acquaintance will reveal the fact that she is bigger, and 

 endowed with more strength than her mate, and that when 

 the commissariat runs short, it is the male that has to go 

 without dinner, should the provision be scanty. 



The sparrow is very amusing in his love-making, for his 

 gestures go a certain way to indicate that he is a much 

 superior bird. This notion, however, the female sternly 

 rebukes by administering a decisive dig in the breast, or 

 grabbing him by the scruff of the neck and shaking him 

 heartily. The male again has to haul the materials for 

 the nest, whilst the female surveys the scene, leaving the 

 he-male to negotiate the obstreperous straws, and feathers, 

 and moss hangings, which at length comprise the home- 

 stead. 



To use a more familiar illustration still, look at the 

 cock-pigeon, parading round his mate, with swelling throat 

 and sweeping tail, the very personification of dominant 

 masculinity ; but the sequel comes later, for he sits on the 

 eggs for the best hours of the day, whilst his wife has 

 enjoyment galore, and so it is easy to realise that the 

 female has the best side of the bargain, at any rate, from 

 a pigeon's point of view. 



The male of this species, is, in fact, every inch a family 

 man, and throughout the bringing up of the nestlings he 

 does the homing duties to a nicety. The hen is known 

 to rest in a state of indifference, and considers herself free. 

 If they are unattached their thought is to form other ties, 

 for the erstwhile family tie counts for little. 



In the case of birds of prey, it has over and over again 

 been determined that the female is the better of the two. 

 So great is the difference, indeed, in the case of the hawk, 

 in capitivity, that the lady hawk has been known to kill 



