WOOING OF MALE BY FEMALE 165 



a fowl lying in her dusting-place luxuriating in the 

 heat. 



But at last despite that air ol repose which is her 

 chief characteristic, she is so wrought upon by that 

 perpetual, shrill, irresistible music that she can no 

 longer endure to sit still, but is drawn to it. She 

 goes to her charmers, one may say, to remind them by 

 her presence that the minstrelsy hi which they are so 

 absorbed is not itself an end but a means. Brisk or 

 lively she cannot be, but it is plain that when she 

 follows up or settles herself down near her forgetful 

 knights, she is greatly excited, and waiting to be 

 taken in marriage. That she distinguishes one singer 

 above others, or exercises " selection " in the Darwinian 

 sense, seems unlikely : it strikes one, on the contrary, 

 that having so long suffered neglect she is only too 

 willing to be claimed by any one of them. And this is 

 just what they decline to do for some time, at any 

 rate. Again and again I have observed when the 

 female had followed and placed herself close to a couple 

 of these rival musicians, that they took not the least 

 notice of her; and that when, in the course of the 

 alarums and excursions, one of them found himself 

 close to her. the sight of her appeared to disconcert 

 him, and he made all haste to get away from her. It 

 looked to human eyes as if her large portly figure had 

 not corresponded to his ideal, and had even moved him 

 to repugnance. But the Ann of Cleves in a green gown 

 is an exceedingly patient person, and very persistent, 



