THE PLAY OF ANIMALS. 271 



Even if one fully agrees with Mr. Wallace that sex- 

 ual selection does not actually create the beauty of 

 bird plumage, it is hardly possible in the face of facts 

 like these to deny that at least those developments of 

 colour and other ornamentation which transcend the 

 uses of concealment and warning must have some con- 

 nection with the sexual life. The substitution of uncon- 

 scious for conscious choice makes this connection clearer, 

 but the acceptance of the theory herein previously devel- 

 oped — namely, that of the importance to race life of 

 feminine coyness and the necessity on the part of males 

 to overcome it by such means — does away with all choice, 

 and relegates the whole subject to the sphere of natural 

 selection. 



4. Courtship by means of Noises and Tones. 



Here, too, the view set forth in the last section is 

 applicable. The ordinary sounds emitted by the excited 

 male probably have the same effect as the husky voice and 

 laboured breathing of civilized man.* They furnish ma- 

 terial for the working of selection in the production of 

 courtship arts which are later used also for other pur- 

 poses. Among the higher animals imitation often plays 

 a part as important as that of selection — indeed, it some- 

 times supplants the latter in cases where hereditary 

 courtship arts are rudimentary only, each individual ac- 

 quiring the finer points by imitation. We may suppose, 

 for example, that many young birds learn from their eld- 

 ers that they must fight for a mate, and in turn teach it 

 to the next generation. By this method an art would 

 be acquired founded on an instinctive basis, but not in- 



* The writers of a certain class of modern novels excel in the 

 portrayal of such phenomena. 



