MAMMALS-CHOICE IN PAIRING. 517 



Hope (Cynocephalus porcarius) has a much longe* mane and 

 larger canine teeth than the female; and the mane prohably 

 serves as a protection, for on asking the keepers in the Zoo- 

 logical Gardens, without giving them any clue to my' object, 

 whether any of the monkeys especially attacked each 6ther hy 

 the nape of the neck, I was answered that this was not the case, 

 except with the above baboon. In the Hamadryas baboon, Bhren- 

 berg compares the mane of the adult male to that of a young 

 lion, whilst in the young of both sexes and In tlie female the 

 mane is almost absent. 



It appeared to me probable that the immense woolly mane of 

 the male American bison, which reaches almost to the ground, 

 and is much more developed in the males than in the females, 

 served as a protection to them in their terrible battles; but an 

 experienced hunter told Judge Caton that he had never observed 

 anything which favored this belief. The stallion has a thicker 

 and fuller mane than the mare; and I have made particular 

 inquiries of two great trainers and breeders, who have had charge 

 of many entire horses, and am assured that they "Invariably 

 "endeavor to seize one another by the neck." It does not, how- 

 ever, follow from the foregoing statements, that when the hair 

 on the neck serves as a defense, that it was originally developed 

 for this purpose, though this is probable in some cases, as in that 

 of the lion. I am informed by Mr. McNeill that the long hairs 

 on the throat of the stag (Cervus elaphus) serve as a great pro- 

 tection to him when hunted, for the dogs generally endeavor to 

 seize him by the throat; but it is not probable that these hairs 

 were specially developed for this purpose; otherwise the young 

 and the females would have been equally protected. 



Choice in Pairing by either Sex of QiMdrupeds. — ^Before de- 

 scribing in the next chapter, the differences between the sexes in 

 voice, odors emitted, and ornaments, it will be convenient here 

 to consider whether the sexes exert any choice in their unions. 

 Does the female prefer any particular male, either before or 

 after the males may have fought together for supremacy; or 

 does the male, when not a poiygamist, select any particular fe- 

 male? The general impression amongst breeders seems to be 

 that the male accepts any female; and this owing to his eager- 

 ness, is, in most cases, probably the truth. Whether the female 

 as a general rule indifferently accepts any male is much more 

 doubtful. In the fourteenth chapter, on Birds, a considerable 

 body of direct and indirect evidence was advanced, showing that 



Allen, in the paper above quoted (p. 75), doubts whether the hair, 

 which is longer on the neck in the male than in the female, deserves 

 to he called a mane. 

 34 



