116 BIRD NOTES 



appear together ; but the hen always waits till 

 her mate has fed. She sits on the rose-tree till 

 lie flies away, and then comes and takes her share. 

 He, nevertheless, begins to feed without first 

 calling her if he happens to come alone. On the 

 other hand, if she comes first and begins to eat, 

 and he arrives just after, he conies fussing and 

 grumbling and angry. She gives place to him in 

 a moment, but does not fly away. No ; the 

 curious part of it is that she stands aside, with 

 her head carefully turned so as to look away from 

 him, fidgeting all the time with unsatisfied 

 appetite ; but not till he has finished, and flies 

 away, will she look in that direction ! I remember 

 observing the very same thing with a pair of nut- 

 hatches that used to frequent the window at one 

 time, and have watched these proceedings often 

 enough to feel sure that they would occur again 

 under the same circumstances. In both cases the 

 female was a good deal smaller than the male, yet 

 it did not appear that they were in the least afraid 

 of their husbands. No; it is not fear. What 

 then is it ? It seems to me that it is an incipient 

 feeling of etiquette or decency. That is a feeling 

 that must have a very ancient origin in animal 

 history. It is probably the consequence of a 

 feeling of unprotectedness of exposure to danger 

 during certain actions which is the original cause 



