Male Attractiveness 



ing a mate, does exert a choice and prefer one 

 particular individual ; and that, for the reasons 

 pointed out by Darwin, it is in most cases the 

 female who is in the position of being able to 

 pick and choose her mate. It is, as Darwin 

 truly said, far more difficult to decide what 

 qualities determine the choice of the female. 

 He believed that it is " to a large extent the 

 external attractions of the male, though no doubt 

 his vigour, courage, and other mental qualities 

 come into play." 



Darwin argued that it is the love of hen birds 

 for "external attractions" in cock birds that 

 has brought into being all the wonderful plumes 

 that characterise such birds as the peacock. 

 " Many female progenitors of the peacock," he 

 writes, on page 66 1 of The Descent of Man 

 (ed. 1901), " during a long line of descent, have 

 appreciated this superiority, for they have un- 

 consciously, by the continued preference of the 

 most beautiful males, rendered the peacock the 

 most splendid of living birds." 



This conclusion has been vigorously attacked. 

 It is argued, with some show of reason, that it 

 is absurd to credit birds with aesthetic tastes 

 equal, if not superior, to those of the most 

 refined and civilised of human beings. 



Is it likely, it is asked, that a bird, which will 

 nest in an old shoe cast off by a tramp, can 

 appreciate beauty of plumage ? 

 u 305 



