COURTSHIP. 95 



We would not rob our feathered friends of the 

 credit of doing their best to show the world 

 "how to be happy though married." When 

 we find some songster, perched high above his 

 mate, bitting on the eggs below, we can but feel 

 that he is trying to charm the dull hours of wait- 

 ing with his sweet-toned melodies. He is telling 

 how that 



"The blue eggs in the robin's nest 

 Will soon have wings, and beak, and breast, 

 And flutter and fly away." 



Some hold that singing is merely the expres- 

 sion of superabundant energy : that a bird sings 

 from the pure enjoyment of life, and that the song 

 is the measure of his superfluous vitality. They 

 point to the fact that nearly all songsters are dull 

 coloured, and that brilliantly-coloured birds rarely 

 sing well. This may be true, but it need not 

 affect the truth of the first hypothesis. According 

 to this, brilliantly-coloured birds or great song- 

 sters represent those who have been so successful 

 in the struggle for life, that they have something 

 over of their vitality to spend in this way — the 

 luxury of music, or fine feathers — but let it be 

 noted, never both. 



True song, then, is probably to be regarded as 

 Darwin regarded it, primarily as a method of 

 courtship. There is certainly great rivalry 

 amongst the males as to who shall sing best, 

 and it is probable that the female always 

 chooses the finest performer as her mate. Call- 

 notes, musical or otherwise, songs in concert, 

 challenges and so forth, simply represent the 

 language of the bird-world generally, and have- 



