THE EVOLUTION OF A FATHER 377 



terest finds any real expression. Among the Birds, 

 the parents unite together in most cases to build 

 the nest, the Father doing the rough work of 

 bringing in moss and twigs, while the more trusty- 

 Mother does the actual work. When the eggs are 

 laid, the male parent also takes his turn at incuba- 

 tion ; supplies food and protection ; and lingers 

 round the place of birth to defend the fledglings 

 to the last. When we leave the Birds, however, 

 and pass on to the Mammals, the Fathers are 

 nearly all backsliders. Many are not only indif- 

 ferent to their young, but hostile : and among the 

 Carnivora the Mothers have frequently to hide their 

 little ones in case the father eats them. 



We have another and a more serious count 

 against early Fatherhood. If the Love of Father 

 for child was in this backward state, infinitely 

 more grave was the condition of things between 

 him and the Mother. Probably we have all taken 

 it for granted that husbands and wives have 

 always loved one another. Evolution takes noth- 

 ing for granted. The affection between husband 

 and wife is, of all the immeasurable forms of 

 Love, the most beautiful, the most lasting, and the 

 most divine : yet up to this time we have not 

 been able even to record its existence. The 

 finished results of Evolution appear so natural to 



