Yol i909" VI ] Recent Literature. 325 



"The fact that birds with gorgeous plumage do not as a rule possess any 

 great powers of song, and, on the other hand, that the best singers are as a 

 rule dull-colored, is regarded as an indication of the reality of sexual selec- 

 tion, in so far as it proves that the excitement of the female has been essen- 

 tially affected by only one of the characters of the male. If this were a 

 true interpretation of the facts, which are not disputed, we should, by the 

 same train of reasoning, expect to find that the bodily and vocal antics have 

 been mutually exclusive, that the best singers do not, during their court- 

 ships perform in a manner which could be interpreted as a display of plum- 

 age. But we do not do so. The best singers do perform in the most ex- 

 travagant manner possible, and this seems to me to lessen the importance 

 that is to be attached to the mutual exclusiveness of gorgeous coloring and 

 beautiful song. 



"The view that I hold with regard to these extravagant bodily antics is 

 that they are reflex actions directly resulting from any excessive excitement, 

 that they are not confined solely to courtship, and do not in any way in- 

 fluence the female. This view, I am inclined to believe, gains considerable 

 support from the fact that we find a parallel case in the vocal organs, 

 namely, that whenever the excitement reaches a certain degree of intensity, 

 no matter how different the stimulus may be, the reactions that follow are 

 always similar." 



On a preceding page he states that it is difficult to believe that any species 

 can perform a greater variety of extravagant antics, bordering at times on 

 the ludicrous, than those of the Blackcap under periods of excitement. 

 The antics of the Great Bustard, Birds of Paradise, Argus Pheasants, etc., 

 are very wonderful, and well known on account of the large size or conspicu- 

 ous coloring of the birds; in the case of the Blackcap and other small 

 common species the conditions are reversed, the birds being small and in- 

 conspicuously colored, and close attention to their habits is necessary to 

 realize what is really taking place. 



Mr. Howard, with his analytical temperament and psychological attitude, 

 also ventures to call in question the affection or devotion it is customary to 

 recognize in birds. On this point he says: "I am doubtful whether such 

 an emotion as affection, using the term in the sense applied to human 

 personality, influences their actions to any degree, or, indeed, even exists. 

 There are many birds that pair for life, and there are some apparently pine 

 for a lost mate, and these facts seem to show something more than mere 

 passion, but, on the other hand, the negative evidence — that of the callous 

 behavior of the males, except during the period of sexual passion, of the 

 desertion of the female by the male directly the young are able to take care 

 of themselves, of polygamy, and of the replacement of a lost mate again 

 and again in an incredibly short space of time — is so strong that it pre- 

 cludes the possibility of the existence in at least a large majority of the 

 cases, of any feeling beyond a momentary passion." 



These excerpts show the broad scope of the writer's subtitle, ' A History 

 of their Lives,' while a perusal of his 'Life Histories' of the various species 



