i io BIRD BEHAVIOUR 



hours and rivals, the House-Crows (Corvussplendens), 

 was one of the commonest actions to be observed ; 

 but O. St. John saw one Kestrel feed another in 

 Morayshire, and Mr. E. Selous has fully observed 

 in Iceland the victualling of the hen Merlin by her 

 mate when rearing young. 



I cannot recall any case among waders and water- 

 fowl, except among Terns, which feed the sitting 

 hen and also make love-gifts when courting ; pro- 

 bably the habit is pretty widely spread among such 

 fishing- birds which seek food away from home, but 

 it cannot be taken for granted. Among the Duck 

 tribe, affectionate mates as these are, the action is 

 almost entirely confined to the Carolina or Wood 

 Duck of North America (JEx sponsa), which makes 

 a show of his love-gift, holding his head and tail 

 high up when offering it, this attitude being his 

 display position. Neither Geese nor Swans, though 

 life-pairers and very devoted, ever seem to feed 

 their mates at any time. 



It is a curious fact that in at any rate some cases, 

 when the roles of the sexes are reversed, and the 

 male incubates and cares for the young, the female 

 is so masculinized that she not only fights for the 

 male but feeds him ; at all events, this was observed 

 by Mr. D. Seth-Smith, the Bird Curator at the 

 Zoo, when as a private aviculturist he bred two 

 species of Hemipodes or Button-Quails (Turnix), 

 Quail-like birds in which the hen is the superior 

 sex. 



As this is not usually the case in birds which 



