MARRIAGE 



Mr. Ernest Thompson Seton, in a lecture on 

 " The Natural History of the Ten Command- 

 ments " held that whenever the species that was 

 monogamist confronted the species that adopted 

 polygamy, in defence of its kind it won every 

 time. One reason for this is that the mono- 

 gamist young have two strong and wise parents 

 to protect them whereas the polygamist young 

 have only one protector and she, the weaker of the 

 two. The reason, he added, why there is no 

 more successful group of birds than the pigeons 

 on the face of the earth, is because they maintain 

 the highest monogamous standard. 



Of the birds that pair for life, many instances 

 are given of the strong bond of affection between 

 certain elderly couples which had survived long 

 years of domesticity. 



A pair of pigeons of our own mated in their 

 first year, reared a numerous family, and grew 

 old side by side. The hen, at this time, became 

 affected with a trouble which fanciers in those 

 days described as " dead-wing" — i.e., the bird 

 appeared to remain strong and healthy, but the 

 wings became lax and feeble, and the victim was 

 condemned to a life on the ground. 



In these circumstances, she was placed in a 

 little wire enclosure, open at the top, in a corner 

 of the stable-yard, and here also the cock at once 

 took up his abode. As a high-flying tumbler, 

 he would occasionally take a few turns with the 



kit " in the blue sky far above, but almost the 

 whole of his time was spent in the dingy little 

 nook in the angle of the stable wall, where, with 

 many little caresses, he solaced the declining days 

 of his life-long partner. 



It is stated of an American wild goose that if 

 its mate is killed it never seeks another. Mr. W. 

 H. Hudson gives an example of a wild goose in 



III 



