THE ROBIN'S COURTSHIP 97 



an angle which made its wearer resemble in 

 general outline a wren, and to puff out the red 

 breast and sway the body from side to side. The 

 whole air of the bird in this performance was one 

 of intense satisfaction with himself. " I am un- 

 mistakably beautiful," he seemed to say, " and 

 if this little person would only look at me, she 

 could not possibly help admiring." And from the 

 way in which he puffed it out and threw back 

 his head, he appeared to be very conscious that 

 the colour of his breast, now at its brightest, was 

 his strong decorative point, and a feature of which 

 he was well justified in making the most. 



From time to time the little comedy was 

 interrupted. Cock robin Number One would 

 become aware of the proximity of Number Two, 

 and make a flying dash at him. They fought with 

 great heartiness, tumbling over one another, peck- 

 ing hard, speaking high, and disarranging one 

 another's feathers. But each bout was short, and 

 a moment after it was over, the one who had the 

 best of it was back at his love-making and going 

 through the same attitudinizings again. Up and 

 down the garden they went, now among the berry 

 bushes, now on the bare ground, the lady soberly 

 looking for worms, the others in a fever of fine 

 sentiment. And in the end she went over the 

 wall out of my territory, and they followed a yard 

 in her wake. 



As everybody knows, fine theories have been 



spun around the courting habits of birds. What 



is known as " sexual selection " is then supposed 



to be going on. It is a theory in two parts, and 



7 



