148 Union Bay 



of the peaceful and somewhat indifferent males. Noise and 

 activity would continue day after day, and into the night as 

 well, until the courtship flights and the mating of the birds 

 had taken place, and the bewildered males had found them- 

 selves under the sole domination of a larger and more de- 

 termined bird. 



It is certainly true that the harassed males do not realize 

 the ignominy of this relationship; at least that is what the 

 scientists would say. I am equally certain that most human 

 males hope to the contrary. It may be that the male bird's 

 intelligence considers that one act of appeasement will be 

 sufficient. But it is not. As in all appeasement, the pre- 

 liminary yielding is not accepted gracefully, but merely sets 

 the pattern for further demands. The female may select the 

 nesting site and lay the cornerstone, so to speak, but the male 

 soon finds himself collecting the grasses and other material 

 for the scanty nest which will be no credit to the sex of the 

 builder. The laying of the eggs may give the male false hopes, 

 but they are soon dispelled when he finds himself charged 

 with the duty of brooding the eggs, while the female makes 

 a great show of vigilant patroling of the area and between 

 times foregathers with others of her sex. 



I would like to report that brooding ends the duties of 

 these unfortunate males, but after the eggs are pipped and 

 the young are off the nest one of the pair takes on the greater 

 part of their care. It is not the female. Management is her 

 forte and management is practically all she contributes. The 

 poor sire, the beauty of his plumage marred by the tell-tale 

 brooding patches, probably looks out each morning at the 

 sun, which rises very early on these northern breeding 

 grounds, heaves the equivalent of an avian sigh, and starts 

 to herd the three or four young which are already peeping 

 loudly for food. What a spectacle for the males of other 

 species to watch! What a sermon against the overindulgence 



