THE BIRDS. 207 



from the shell, walk or swim nearly as well,as the old birds 

 and pick up their own food. ^ 



As a rule, male birds are larger and have brighter colors, 

 with larger and more showy combs and wattles, than the 

 females, as seen in the domestic cock and hen ; and the or- 

 namentation is largely confined to the head and the tail, as 

 seen especially in male humming-birds. Sometimes, how- 

 ever, both sexes are equally ornamented, and in rare cases 

 the female is more highly colored than the male ; she is 

 sometimes also larger, as in most birds of prey. There is 

 little doubt that the bright colors of male birds render 

 them more conspicuous and to be more readily chosen by 

 the females as mates ; for in birds, as in higher animals, 

 the female may show a preference for or antipathy against 

 certain males. Indeed, as Darwin remarks, whenever the 

 sexes of birds differ in beauty, in the power of sing- 

 ing, or in producing what he calls "instrumental music," 

 it is almost invariably the male which excels the fe- 

 male. 



The songs of birds are doubtless in part love-notes, 

 though birds also sing for pleasure. The notes of birds 

 express their emotions of joy or alarm, and in some cases at 

 least the calls of birds seem to convey intelligence of the 

 discovery of food to their young or their mates.* They 

 have an ear for music ; some species, as the mocking-bird, 

 will imitate the notes of other birds. The songs of birds 



* " It is necessary in a philosophical spirit to regard every sound 

 made by a bird under the aJl-powerful influence of love or lust as a 

 ' song.' It seems impossible to draw any but an arbitrary line between 

 the deep booming of the emeu, the harsh cry of the guillemot (which 

 when proceeding from a hundred or a thousand throats strikes the 

 distant ear in a confused murmur like the roar of a tumultuous crowd), 

 the plaintive waU of the plover, the melodious whistle of the widgeon, 

 the ' cock's shrill clarion,' the scream of the eagle, the hoot of the 

 owl, the solemn chime of the bell-bird, the whip-cracking of the man- 

 akin, the chaffinch's joyous burst, or the hoarse croak of the raven, 

 on the one hand, and the bleating of the snipe or the drumming of the 

 ruffed grouse on the other." — A. Newton. 



