9$ Life and Love. 





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XI. 



BIRD LIFE. 



S the life ascends, — that is, grows more com- 

 plex, — the creature is less prodigal of the 

 reproductive material. 



The demands made upon the high- 

 er and more complex orders are so 

 varied, so great and costly, that the 

 tremendous fecundity of the lower life 

 cannot be maintained; so in these the germ- 

 cells are less exposed to the possibility of 

 destruction. 



A bird which lays but a dozen eggs in a 

 season cannot exhibit the stupendous indiffer- 

 ence to results that characterizes the fish 

 which lays a million or more. 



The love-life of the bird is very active, 

 however; it is an intermittent condition in- 

 stead of a single cataclysm, and so, cul- 

 minating less exhaustiveh-, continues for a 

 longer period. 



As the breeding season approaches, the 

 male bird gives evidence of the great- 

 . est exuberance of vitality. He often 



