8o BIRD WATCHING 



instance, in his very interesting work, " The Naturalist 

 in La Plata," after bringing forward a number of 

 cases of curious dance-movements (or of song), per- 

 formed by birds, and which are, in his opinion, not 

 to be explained on the theory of sexual selection, 

 says, in regard to other cases brought forward by 

 Darwin in support of that theory : 



" How unfair the argument is, based on these care- 

 fully selected cases gathered from all regions of the 

 globe, and often not properly reported, is seen when 

 we turn from the book* to nature, and closely consider 

 the habits and actions of all the species inhabiting 

 any one district ! " 



Now, had Darwin been of opinion that antics per- 

 formed by a bird which could not, or could not 

 easily, be explained by his theory, were fatal to it 

 in other cases — if he had thought that the one was 

 inconsistent with the other — then, no doubt, it would 

 have been unfair on his part to have marshalled the 

 affirmative evidence without concerning himself with 

 the negative. But why should he have held that 

 view, or on what good grounds can such a view be 

 maintained ? As well might it be argued — so it 

 appears to me — that woollen or other goods could 

 only have been produced through the action of the 

 loom, or some such special machinery. But let the 

 wool be there, and it can be worked up in various 

 ways. Mr Hudson would account for all such displays 

 or exhibitions by " a universal joyous instinct" present 

 throughout nature, but to which birds are more 

 subject than mammals. I do not dispute the instinct 

 — or rather, perhaps, the emotion — or that some of 



* But from which "book"? Not, I suppose, from Darwin's alone. 



