138 Wild Birds and their Haunts 



and devour her mate, though in a wild state she adheres 

 to the usual traditions of her sex in the monotonous busi- 

 ness of sitting upon her eggs and caring for the young. 



Amongst the flightless birds, the emu and cassowary, 

 the supremacy of the fair sex has gone still further. 



It is well known that the biggest, the brightest coloured, 

 and the more courageous birds of these species, are not 

 the males, but the females. The male birds realise again 

 that the home is their sphere of activities, and they con- 

 sistently look after the eggs and the chicks. The hen 

 cassowary shows an unbecoming contempt for her mate. 



In an experiment of pairing off these mated pairs at 

 the Zoo, some time ago, as related by one of the keepers, 

 the male was discovered some days after with bald patches 

 on the back, doubtless due to frequent and well-directed 

 kicks on the part of the softer sex. This fact brings us 

 to an interesting fact in animal economy ; when the male 

 is, as usual, the stronger sex, he is often found to exhibit 

 a chivalrously forbearing spirit towards his mate, as any 

 one may see in the case of the farmyard rooster. 



Mr. Hill emphasises the theory that all birds have been 

 descended from ancestors which could fly, and he says that 

 although the absence of enemies and abundance of food 

 close at hand may suggest reasons for the loss of flight 

 in such birds as the kiwi and owl parrot of New Zealand, 

 yet it is probable that here, as eleswhere, the law of 

 correlation of structure, about which at present we 

 know so little, has played a part in the transformation, 

 coupled with a change in the habit and circumstances of 

 the ancestors of flightless birds. 



