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BE # OOLOGIS 



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VOL. VII. 



ALBION N. Y., MAY, 1890. 



No. 5 



Do Birds Mate more than Once? 



Mr. George L. Stevens, in the Janu- 

 ary OoLOGiST, in closing his interesting 

 artiele on the "Capture of a Trumi^eter 

 Swan," brings up an important 

 question, and one whicli I think all 

 ornithologists may profitably consider, 

 nanxtily — the mating of birds. 



He states, in concluding liis article, 

 that he has read that the Trumpeter 

 Swan never mates but once. 



Now I would like to hear the opin- 

 ions of our more advanced ornitholo- 

 gists on this subject of mating. 



For some time I have been a devout 

 Ijeliever in the theory of permanent 

 mating, and I think that there is much 

 and weighty evidence going to show 

 that nearly all birds choose their mates 

 but once, and then for life. 



It shall be the purpose of this article 

 to set forth some of this evidence and 

 then to invite the attention of all inter- 

 ested, to this interesting subject as they 

 hnd it in their own tields and Avoods, 

 and I believe that close observation 

 cannot do otherwise than prove the 

 truth of the theory of permanent 

 mating. 



In the tirst place, I believe we are 

 laboring under a misconception and are 

 too willing to take for granted things 

 that have not been j)roven; and so let 

 me ask what is it that has led us to 

 think that birds mate anew each year? 



If Ave Avill candidly ask ourselves 

 Avhat it is that has convinced us and 

 what evidence Ave have as proof of 

 yearly mating, I trust that Ave Avill find 

 that Ave have come to believe it Avithout 

 any particular proof or evidence. 

 More than this, proof and evidence 

 support just the opposite idea. 



Some may say that the many mating 

 antics Avhich we notice every spring 

 between male and female birds are 



good proofs of annual mating. But let 

 us look into the matter. Did Ave ever 

 actually see old birds up to these 

 mating tricks? 



I venture to say that these mating 

 frolics are carried on almost entirely by- 

 the young "unmarried" Ijirds of the 

 previous year, and that the old birds 

 return to their old nesting sites without 

 any such manoeuvres. 

 C. C. Abbott says in his excellent work 

 "Waste-Land Wanderings," a Avorthy 

 consideration is the remarkably prompt 

 appearance of migratory birds at their 

 former nesting sites. Not merely in^ 

 the same neighborhood, but near the 

 same tree, bush, or holloAV in the 

 ground; and a marked disposition to 

 remain there, and particularly to roost 

 there until nesting begins. 



"This is especially true of the Balti- 

 more Oriole, Avhich I have often found 

 at dawn on the day of his arrival, 

 examining the remains of last year's 

 nest, and have seen him commence 

 repairs that same day Avhen the struc- 

 ture permitted it. His mate is usually 

 but a few hours later, contrary state- 

 ments notwithstanding; and the arrival 

 of Madam Oriole Avas not celebrated by 

 any billing and cooing. They Avere 

 plainly 'old married folks' before they 

 came." "Of course, in the Ma'cs of 

 young birds, there comes a time Avhen 

 the mingled joys and soitoaa^s of court- 

 ship must be undergone, and curious 

 scenes are yearly to be Avitnessed. 

 These frantic efforts to secure the 

 smiles of some fair one have been elab- 

 orately detailed by many ornithologists, 

 and it has been inferred that the same 

 ordeal must yearly be repeated; but in 

 very many more instances than has 

 been supposed, I believe the A'ery op- 

 posite of this to be true." 



With the birds Avith Avhich Ave are 

 most familiar, we become acquainted 

 individually. We come to knoAv not 

 only robins as robins, and Avrens as 

 Avrens, but we recognize individuals 

 among them— those that have char- 

 actei-istics peculiar to themseh-es. 



For four successiA^e years a pair of 

 robins nested in the lattice Avoi-k of ray 



