68 Journal of Comparative Neurology and Psychology. 



If left beside the stranger's cage for some hours, the male must 

 sometimes rest and be silent ; but even the intervals of rest and silence 

 are broken frequently by series of perch-coos. This behavior on 

 the part of the male is useful in that it stimulates the strange bird to 

 respond, and, in responding, to reveal its sex. 



If the strange bird be a male, it shows similar excitement and 

 aggressiveness. And the two males are sure to fight if they can 

 reach one another. 



But if the strange bird be a female, she acts far otherwise. She 

 is at first very indifferent, unles she is particularly anxious to mate. 

 And after some days, when she begins to show an interest in the male, 

 she does not give the bowing-coo, nor charge up and dowm the cage, 

 nor show other signs of pugnacity and aggressiveness. So far from 

 tending to aggress upon the male, her conduct is rather an expression 

 of submission to him. She shows a certain excitement; for instance 

 when she utters the kah it is a kah expressive of gentle excitement. 

 But she spends the greater part of her time in alluring the male by 

 means of the nest-calling performance — the nest-calling attitude, 

 seductive cooing, and gentle flip of the wings. She often tries to get 

 through the bars of her cage to the male ; and, failing to do so, she 

 sometimes lies down with one side pressed against the bars. She 

 shows eros by the usual method of preening inside the wing; she 

 may even take the copulation position while the male is cooing and 

 bowing to her. 



When the male sees the strange bird behaving in this submissive 

 and seductive manner, he loses the intensity of his pugnacity ; though 

 he always continues to be masterful. He spends less time now in the 

 bowing-coo and more time in nest-calling and in trying to get to the 

 female. If the doors are now opened and the bird? allowed to come 

 together, they become mated. The time it takes the doves to become 

 mated varies greatly. In case of some old, experienced birds that 

 are ready and anxious to mate, two or three days in contiguous cages 

 may make them acquainted, and then as soon as the doors are opened 

 and they come together, they are ready to copulate. In other cases, 

 especially in cases of inexperienced birds, the male is so cruel to the 

 female at first that it is not safe to leave her with him until after a 



