196 ANIMAL BIOLOGY 



familiar with the much more beautiful display of the 

 male peacock as he spreads out his magnificent, wonderfully 

 marked tail feathers before the gaze of the presumably 

 admiring pea hens. Darwin relates that during courtship 

 " the bull-finch makes his advances in front of the female, 

 and then puffs out his breast, so that many more of the 

 crimson feathers are seen at once then otherwise would 

 be the case. At the same time he twists and bows his 

 black tail from side to side in a ludicrous manner. The 

 male chaffinch also stands in front of the female, thus 

 showing its red breast and 'blue bell' as the fanciers call 



his head The common linnet distends his rosy 



breast, slightly expands his brown wings and tail, so as to 

 make the best of them by exhibiting their white edgings." 



As Darwin remarks " there is an intense degree of rivalry 

 between males in their singing. Bird fanciers match their 

 birds to see which will sing longest." Singing is most 

 common during the breeding season. Many male birds 

 which are not at all musical give utterances to cries and 

 other noises during this season, which possibly serves 

 rather to advertize their presence than to charm their 

 hearers. The gabbling of the strutting male turkey, 

 the harsh screaming of male parrots, and the hoarse cawing 

 of male crows and rooks are certainly not musical to us, 

 however they may appeal to the female bird. 



It is well established that female birds often manifest a 

 decided preference for certain males. Audubon states 

 that female turkeys prefer the males of wild turkeys to 

 those of their own domestic breed. There are several 

 cases in which females have rejected their mates after 

 they had lost their brilliant tail feathers or become other- 

 wise mutilated, and female pigeons sometimes desert their 

 own mates and take up with other males. How far an 

 appreciation of beauty occurs in birds it is difficult to say. 



