ADAPTATION FOR THE SPECIES 137 
ously mentioned, fluffs himself up and spreads his 
wings and prances around in front of his presumably 
adoring ladylove. But the weirdest performance of 
this sort I have ever seen is that shown by the male 
ostrich. When he becomes excited, swaying his body 
from side to side, he sinks slowly upon his knees, until 
his body touches the ground, his wings spread on 
either side and the feathers fluffed up so as to show 
every exquisite plume in all its splendid beauty. The 
long neck is laid back until the head, which is doubled 
sharply forward, is pressed almost against the back, 
and in this strange position he sways from side to 
side, apparently utterly oblivious, for a time, of every- 
thing. After about a minute of this performance, he 
seems slowly to come to himself and rise again to his 
feet. Now he is particularly likely to make vicious 
attack upon anything within reach. 
It is not only necessary that the animal should be 
able to attract a mate. There may be more than one 
claimant for the damsel’s affection. In many animals 
we see provisions whereby the male may effectively 
deal with his rivals. This is especially likely to be 
the case if the animal be a polygamist. In every spe- 
cies there are produced about as many males as fe- 
males. If the polygamous habit leads one male to 
gather about him a group of females, with whom he 
mates, it is evident that he is displacing an equal num- 
