THE NATURAL 



lieve that in this case monogamy is necessitated by the 

 nature of the work; not at all: the male in other quite 

 closely related species, sacred scarab, for example, leaves 

 the female alone to build the excremental ball in which 

 she encloses her eggs. 



Coming up to vertebrata one finds also certain examples 

 of a sort of monogamy: when the male fish serves as 

 hatcher for his own eggs, either carrying them in a 

 special pouch, or heroicly sheltering them in his mouth. 

 This is rare, since, usually, the two sexes of fish do not 

 approach each other, do not even know each other. 

 Batrachians, on the contrary, are monogamous; the fe- 

 male does not lay save under male pressure, and it is so 

 slow an operation, preceded by such long manoeuvres that 

 the whole season is filled with it. The male of the com- 

 mon land toad rolls the long chaplet of eggs about his feet 

 as soon as it is divided, and goes in the evening to 

 place it in the neighbouring pool. Nearly all saurians 

 seem also to be monogamous. The he and she lizard 

 form a couple said to last several years. Their amours 

 are ardent, they clasp each other closely belly to belly. 



Birds are generally considered monogamous, save 

 gallinaceae and web- footed birds; but exceptions appear 

 so numerous that one would have to name the species 

 one by one. The fidelity of pigeons is legendary, and is 

 perhaps only a legend. The male pigeon certainly has 

 tendencies to infidelity and even to polygamy. He de- 

 ceives his companion ; he goes so far as to inflict upon her 

 the shame of having a concubine under the conjugal 

 roof! And these two spouses, he tyrannizes over them, 

 he enslaves them by beating. The female, it is true, 

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