Courtship 



well-known call note may be heard in the land by all who 

 deign to lend an ear. His purpose accomplished, his 

 voice becomes harsh, a mere croak in fact, and at times he 

 literally stammers. It is utterly impossible to give voice 

 to his cry in his pre-mating manner. 



Weird dances, a swaggering gait, even extraordinary 

 contortions are all part and parcel of the allurements 

 spread to catch a mate. Man has seized upon this 

 peculiarity and developed it to his own ends. The 

 common pigeon, on love-making intent, puffs out his crop, 

 the better to exhibit the fine feathers of his neck and 

 breast to the admiring gaze of his lady-love. By careful 

 selection a race of pigeons, known as pouters, has been 

 evolved. These pigeons are able to make their crops swell 

 to enormous proportions; they are simply deformities; 

 though, of course, pigeon fanciers will not be with us on 

 this point. The males of other birds are often particularly 

 attractive in their colouring ; the peacock is one of these, 

 and they are many. Most interesting of all, perhaps, are 

 those birds which build houses and bring presents for 

 their future wives, and this, indeed, is the fashion amongst 

 the bower-birds. 



Having viewed the matter thus far, can we deny that, 

 consciously or unconsciously, male birds exhibit a high 

 degree of ingenuity in their attempts to attract the 

 opposite sex? With the females the case is often different, 

 for many of them are coy and blase in turns when in the 

 presence of their mates, whose annoyance at their seeming 

 indifference is frequently ill concealed. 



Courtship among birds is interesting to the outsider, 

 who is said to see most of the game ; moreover, it has 

 been more closely studied and is therefore better known 

 than is the same phase in the lives of any other members 

 of the animal kingdom. Certain fishes also assume 

 brilliant hues at courting time. A few insects, some 

 spiders, scorpions and crabs are eccentric in their love- 

 making, but it is to the birds that we must turn for gorgeous 



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