412 THE DESCENT OF MAN. 



beaten into compliance. Ferguson, however, describes how a 

 quarrelsome hen was subdued by the gentle courtship of a Shang- 

 hai cock.^' 



There is reason to believe that pigeons of both sexes prefer pair- 

 ing with birds of the same breed; and dovecot-pigeons dislike all 

 the highly improved breeds.^^ Mr. Harrison Weir has lately heard 

 from a trustworthy observer, who keeps blue pigeons, that these 

 drive away all other colored varieties, such as white, red, and yel- 

 low; and from another observer, that a female dun carrier could 

 not, after repeated trials, be matched with a black male, but im- 

 mediately paired with a dun. Again. Mr. Tegetmeier had a fe- 

 male blue turbit that obstinately refused to pair with two males of 

 the same breed, which were successively shut up with her for 

 weeks; but on being let out she would have immediately accepted 

 the first blue dragon that offered. As she was a valuable bird, she 

 was then shut up for many weeks with a silver (i.e., very pale blue) 

 male, and at last mated with him. Nevertheless, as a general rule, 

 color appears to have little influence on the pairing of pigeons. 

 Mr. Tegetmeier, at my request, stained some of his birds with ma- 

 genta, but they were not much noticed by the others. 



Female pigeons occasionally feel a strong antipathy towards cer- 

 tain males, without any assignable cause. Thus MM. Boitard and 

 Corbie, whose experience extended over forty-five years, state; 

 "Quand une femelle eprouve de I'antipathie pour un male avec 

 "lequel on veut I'accoupler, malgre tous les feux de I'amour, 

 "malgre I'alpiste et le chenevis dont on la nourrit pour augmenter 

 "son ardeur, malgre un emprisonnement de six mois et meme d'un 

 "an, elle refuse constamment ses caresses; les avances empressees, 

 "les agaceries, les tournoiemens, les tendres roucoulemeus, rien ne 

 "pent lui plaire ni I'emouvoir; gonflee, boudeuse, blottie dans un 

 "coin de sa prison, elle n'en sort que pour boire et manger, ou pour 

 "repousser avec une espece de rage des caresses devenues trop 

 "pressantes."^' On the other hand Mr. Harrison Weir has himself 

 observed, and has heard from several breeders, that a female pig- 

 eon will occasionally take a strong fancy for a particular male, and 

 will desert her own mate for him. Some females, according to 

 another experienced observer, Riedel,^* are of a profligate dispo- 

 sition, and prefer almost any stranger to their own mate. Some 

 amorous males, called by our English fanciers "gay birds," are 

 so successful in their gallantries, that, as Mr. H. Weir informs me, 



^ 'Rare and Prize Poultry,' 1854, p. 27. 



^ 'The Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication,' vol. 

 li. p. 103. 



^ Boitard and Corbie, 'Les Pigeons, &c.,' 1824, p. 12. Prosper Lucas 

 (Traite de I'Hered. Nat.' torn. ii. 1850, p. 296) lias himself observed 

 nearly similar facts with pigeons. 



» 'Die Taubenzucht," 1S24, s. 86. 



