COURTSHIP OF BIRDS 147 



Though Darwin sometimes seems to credit the female 

 with no small degree of aesthetic fastidiousness, he also 

 states that " it is not probable that she consciously deliber- 

 ates ; but she is most excited or attracted by the most 

 beautiful, or melodious, or gallant males." 



Lloyd Morgan puts the modern view tersely when he 

 says : " The most vigorous, defiant, and mettlesome male 

 is preferred, just because he alone affords a contributory 

 stimulation adequate to evoke the pairing impulse, with its 

 attendant emotional tone." 



