ADAPTATION FOR THE SPECIES 137 



ously mentioned, fluffs himself up and spreads his 

 wings and prances around in front of his presumably 

 adoring ladylove. But the weirdest performance of 

 this sort I have ever seen is that shown by the male 

 ostrich. When he becomes excited, swaying his body 

 from side to side, he sinks slowly upon his knees, until 

 his body touches the ground, his wings spread on 

 either side and the feathers fluffed up so as to show 

 every exquisite plume in all its splendid beauty. The 

 long neck is laid back until the head, which is doubled 

 sharply forward, is pressed almost against the back, 

 and in this strange position he sways from side to 

 side, apparently utterly oblivious, for a time, of every- 

 thing. After about a minute of this performance, he 

 seems slowly to come to himself and rise again to his 

 feet. Now he is particularly likely to make vicious 

 attack upon anything within reach. 



It is not only necessary that the animal should be 

 able to attract a mate. There may be more than one 

 claimant for the damsel's affection. In many animals 

 we see provisions whereby the male may effectively 

 deal with his rivals. This is especially likely to be 

 the case if the animal be a polygamist. In every spe- 

 cies there are produced about as many males as fe- 

 males. If the polygamous habit leads one male to 

 gather about him a group of females, with whom he 

 mates, it is evident that he is displacing an equal num- 



