158 BIRDS OF THE PLAINS 



engaged in courtship appear for a moment and then 

 are lost to view among the foliage, but the species is 

 certainly monogamous, and 1 think there can be but 

 little doubt that the hen courts the cock quite as much 

 as he courts her. On 28th April I was out with Mr. 

 G. A. Pinto, and he saw a couple of hens chasing a cock 

 in white plumage. Presently one of the hens drove 

 away the other, then the cock showed off to the triumph- 

 ant hen, expanding his wings and uttering a sweet little 

 song, like the opening bars of that of the white-browed 

 fantail flycatcher {Rhipidnra albifrontatd). I myself 

 was not a witness of that incident, the birds not being 

 visible from where I was standing at the time ; but on 

 3rd June I saw a cock bird in chestnut plumage and a 

 hen fighting ; before long the birds disengaged them- 

 selves and the male flew off; then a cock in white 

 plumage came up to the hen and gave her a bit of his 

 mind. After this they both disappeared among the 

 foliage. Presently I saw two hens chasing a chestnut- 

 coloured cock. I do not understand the full significance 

 of these incidents, but they tend to refute Charles 

 Darwin's contention that there is competition among 

 cocks for hens but none among hens for cocks, and to 

 show that the hen takes an active part in courtship. 

 To this I shall return. 



It does not seem to be generally known that the cock 

 paradise flycatcher is capable of emitting anything 

 approaching a song. Thus Oates writes in The Fauna 

 of British India of these flycatchers, " their notes are 

 very harsh." This is true of the usual call, which is 

 short, sharp, and harsh, something like the twitter of an 



