SELECTION OF MATES 191 



itself in its offspring, and many of them thereby have 

 never lost an ancestor by death. All their lifetime, 

 until this unique response is made, the immortal 

 animalcule has safeguarded its balance. It has 

 never worked up to its breaking-strain. Like all 

 living things, where their own maintenance and 

 growth are concerned, it has practised reserve. But 

 now, when they are to be reincarnated in their off- 

 spring, every consideration is abandoned that should 

 prevent the full inheritance falling to their children. 



This bountiful provision for the future is rendered 

 still stronger and healthier by the difficulties that 

 are placed in the way of a suitor gaining the hand of 

 his desired mate. 



The difference between mates is apparent, and 

 even striking, in nearly all animals. Agility, beauty, 

 and strength are usually the prerogative of the 

 male. Intent on these possessions, he is the type of 

 the egoist, of the luxurious drone ; and it would 

 seem as though, for thousands of such spoilt children, 

 these gifts were sheer vanities, satisfying only the 

 insatiable hunger of their possessor. The splendour 

 of the birds of Paradise are the love-locks of the cock 

 bird. The finest plumes of birds are invariably the 

 ornaments of the male sex, and in most winged and 

 active animals the male appears rather an ornamental 

 than a useful member of society. In many cases 

 his life is one of the airiest and shortest. Though 

 exquisitely formed and sensitive, and with powers of 

 flight that his mate cannot equal, he rarely takes 



