THE PLAY OP ANIMALS. 285 



* half in coyness, half in mischief, takes to flight at his 

 eager approach, makes toward an open space, and runs 

 in a circle. The buck naturally follows, and the chase 

 grows hot and as exciting as a race of horses on a track. 

 To the frequent high calls of the fleeing doe are added 

 the deep, short cries of the panting buck; but suddenly 

 the roguish doe disappears like a nymph into the 

 thicket near at hand, and the baffled buck stands with 

 head erect and ears thrown forward; then we see his 

 head lowered as he catches the scent, and he too van- 

 ishes in the wood." * 



It is a familiar fact that female birds must be long 

 courted and pursued before they yield. L. Biichner has 

 collected some examples proving this.f Mantegazza 

 says : " Coquetry is not the exclusive prerogative of the 

 human female. No woman ever born could surpass the 

 abominable ( !) refinement of cruelty displayed by a 

 female canary in her pretended resistance to her mate's 

 advances. All the countless devices of the feminine 

 world to hide a Yes under a No are as nothing compared 

 with the consummate coquetry, the deceptive flights, the 

 bitings, and thousand wiles of female animals." 



However mistaken the conclusions here drawn from 

 this antagonism of sexual impulse and coyness, the fact 

 undoubtedly remains that coquetry is exceedingly wide- 

 spread among birds. Thus the female cuckoo answers 

 the call of her mate with an alluring laugh that ex- 

 cites him to the utmost, but it is long before she gives 

 herself up to him. A mad chase through tree tops en- 

 sues, during which she constantly incites him with that 

 mocking call, till the poor fellow is fairly driven crazy. 



• Thiere der Heimath, vol. i, p. 429. 



f Liebe und Liebesleben in der Thierwelt, pp. 39 f. 



