160 IN BIRD LAND. 
XV. 
VARTOUS “PHASES (OP (BIRD Cini] 
iE. 
BIRD COURTSHIP. 
O one who has studied the birds can deny that 
there is. genuine sexual love among them. 
Many species act on the principle that “‘a pure life 
for two”’ is the only kind of life to live, and there- 
fore a match once made is a match that lasts until 
death does them part. There may be fickleness, 
divorce, and downright unfaithfulness among birds 
sometimes, and there certainly is polygamy among 
some species ; but such examples of irregularity are 
rather the exception than the rule. Monogamy 
largely prevails, and I have no doubt that any 
departure from the regular connubial relation creates 
a scandal in bird circles. 
As in the human world, so in the bird world a 
period of courtship precedes the celebration of the 
nuptials. But the mode differs in different kingdoms 
of creation. Many lovers in feathers conduct their 
1 This series of papers, as well as some others in this vol- 
ume, was written at the suggestion of Mr. Amos R. Wells, 
of “The Golden Rule,” Boston, and was first published in 
that journal. 
