LEAF AND TENDRIL 



All kinds of bees seem disconcerted by a sudden 

 onslaught. 



Another human trait that seems almost universal 

 among the lower animals is the coyness and reluc- 

 tance of the female in her relations to the male. Her 

 first impulse is to refuse and to flee. She is nega- 

 tive as the male is positive. Among the birds there 

 is something like regular courtship, there is rivalry 

 and jealousy and hostile collision on the part of 

 both sexes. With the birds, the propagating instinct 

 in the female is evidently not subject to the same 

 law of recurring intervals that it is among mammals. 

 Hence the female must be stimulated and won by 

 the male. He addresses himself to her in a way that 

 is quite exceptional, if it occurs at all, among mam- 

 mals. His aim seems to be to kindle or quicken her 

 sexual and mating impulses. In the case of mam- 

 mals, these impulses recur at certain periods, and 

 no courtship on the part of the male is necessary. 



Just what part the gay plumes and the extra ap- 

 pendages of the males play in bird courtship I have 

 discussed elsewhere. I think it is highly probable 

 that the bright colors and ornamental plumes of the 

 male react upon him, excite him, and increase his 

 pride, his courage, and the impetuosity of his ad- 

 dress. The birds that dance and perform before the 

 females, during the breeding season, seem to show 

 more and more excitement as the dance proceeds, 

 apparently intoxicated by their own ardor. Just 

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