B # OOLOGIST> 



VOL. VII. 



ALBION N. Y., MAY, 1890. 



No. 5 



Do Birds Mate more than Once? 



Mr. Geoi'ge L. Stevens, in the Janu- 

 ary OoLOGiST, in closing his interesting 

 article on the "Capture of a Trumpeter 

 Swan," brings up an important 

 (pu'stion, and one which I think all 

 ornithologists may profitably consider, 

 namely — the mating of birds. 



He states, in concluding his article, 

 that he has read that the Trumpeter 

 Swan never mates but once. 



Now I would like to hear the opin- 

 ions of (uu- more advanced ornitholo- 

 gists on this subject of mating. 



For some time I have been a devout 

 believer in the theory of permanent 

 mating, and I think that there is much 

 and weighty evidence going to show 

 that nearly all birds choose their mates 

 but once, and then for life. 



It shall be the purpose of this article 

 to set forth some of this evidence and 

 then to invite the attention of all inter- 

 ested, to this interesting subject as they 

 find it in their own fields and woods, 

 and I believe that close observation 

 cannot do otherwise than prove the 

 truth of the theory of permanent 

 mating. 



In the tirst place, I believe we are 

 laboring uiider a misconception and are 

 too willing to take for granted things 

 that have not been proven; and so let 

 me ask what is it that has led us to 

 think that birds mate anew each j'ear? 



If we will candidly ask ourselves 

 what it is that has convinced us and 

 what evidence we have as proof of 

 yearly mating, I trust that Ave will find 

 that we have come to believe it without 

 any particular proof or evidence. 

 More than this, proof and evidence 

 support just the opposite idea. 



Some may say that the many mating 

 antics which we notice every spring 

 between male and female birds are 



good proofs of annual mating. But let 

 ns look into the matter. Did we ever 

 actually see old birds up to these 

 mating tricks? 



I venture to say that these mating 

 frolii's are carried on almost entirely by 

 tlie young "unmarried" Ijirds of the 

 previous year, and that the old birds 

 return to their old nesting sites without 

 any such manoeuvres. 

 C. C. Abbott says in his excellent work 

 "Waste-Land Wanderings," a worthy 

 consideration is the remarkably prompt 

 a.p])carance of migratory birds at their 

 former nesting sites. Not merely in 

 the same neighborhood, but near the 

 same tree, bush, or hollow in the 

 ground; and a marked disposition to 

 remain there, and particularly to I'oost 

 there until nesting Ijeguis. 



"This is especially true of the Balti- 

 more Oriole, which I have often found 

 at dawn on the day of his arrival, 

 examining the remains of last year's 

 nest, and ha\'e seen him commence 

 repairs that same day when the strnc- 

 ture permitted it. His mate is usually 

 but a few hours later, contrarj- state- 

 ments notwithstanding; and the arrival 

 of Madam Oriole was not celebrated by 

 any billing and cooing. They were 

 plainly 'old married folks' before they 

 came." "Of course, in the lives of 

 young liirds, there comes a time when 

 the mingled joys and sorrows of court- 

 ship must be undergone, and curious 

 scenes are yearly to be Avitnessed. 

 These frantic efforts to secure the 

 smiles of some fair one have been elab- 

 orately detailed by many ornithologists, 

 and it has been iuferre^l that the same 

 ordeal must yearly be repeated; but in 

 very many more instances than has 

 been supposed, I believe the very op- 

 posite of this to be true." 



With the Ijirds with which Ave arc 

 most familiar, we become acquainted 

 individually. We come to knoAV not 

 only robins as robins, and Avrens as 

 Avrens, but Ave recognize individuals 

 among them— those that have char- 

 acteristics peculiar to themselves. 



For four successive years a pair of 

 robins nested in the lattice Avork of mv 



