370 The Descent of Man. Part 1 1. 



argue that the song of the male cannot serve to charm the female, 

 because the females of some few species, such as of the canary, 

 robin, lark, and bullfinch, especially when in a state of widow- 

 hood, as Beohstein remarks, pour forth fairly melodious strains. 

 In some of these cases the habit of singing may be in part 

 attributed to the females having been highly fed and confined,*" 

 for this disturbs all the usual functions connected with the repro- 

 duction of the species. Many instances have already been given 

 of the partial transference of secondary masculine characters to 

 the female, so that it is not at all surprising that the females of 

 some species should possess the power of song. It has also been 

 argued, that the song of the male cannot serve as a charm, be- 

 cause the males of certain species, for instance of the robin, sing 

 during the autumn.^ But nothing is more common than for 

 animals to take pleasure in practising whatever instinct they 

 follow at other times for some real good. How often do we see 

 birds which fly easily, gliding and sailing through the air ob- 

 viously for pleasure ? The cat plays with the captured mouse, 

 and the cormorant with the captured fish. The weaver-bird 

 (Ploceus), when confined in a cage, amuses itself by neatly 

 weaving blades of grass between the wires of its cage. Birds 

 which habitually fight during the breeding-season are generally 

 ready to fight at all times; and the males of the capercailzie 

 sometimes hold their Bahea or leks at the usual place of as- 

 semblage during the autumn."'' Hence it is not at all surprising 

 that male birds should continue singing for their own amuse- 

 ment after the season for courtship is over. 



As shewn in a previous chapter, singing is to a certain extent 

 an art, and is much improved by practice. Birds can be taught 

 various tunes, and even the unmelodious sparrow has learnt to 

 sing like a linnet. They acquire the song of their foster 

 parents,'" and sometimes that of their neighbours.^'' All the 

 common songsters belong to the Order of Insessores, and their 

 vocal organs are much more complex than those of most other 

 birds ; yet it is a singular fact that some of the Insessores, such 

 as ravens, oiows, and magpies, possess the proper apparatus," 



'^ D. Barrington, 'Phil. Transact.' Bechstein, ibid. .>s. .5. 



1773, p. 262. Beclistein, 'Stuben- ^s bureau de la Malle giv*s a 



vogel,' 1840, s. 4. curious instance (' Annales des So. 



^ This is likewise the case with Nat.' 3id series, Zoolog. torn. a. p. 



the water-ouzel, see Mi-. Heponrn 118) of some wild blackbirds in his 



m the 'Zoologist,' 1845-1846, p. garden in Paris, whi:h naturally 



1068. learnt a republican air from a caged 



" L. Lloyd, 'Game Birds of bird. 



Sweden,' 1867, p, 25. :" Bishop, in 'Todd's Cyclop, of 



" Barring ton, ilid. p. 234. Anat. and Phys.' vo'. iv. p. )4Sii 



