628 THE DESCENT OF MAN 



loud. I will give only one other fact, on the authority of 

 this same observer: one of a pair of starlings {Sturnus 

 vulgaris) was shot in the morning; by noon a new mate 

 was found; this was again shot, but before night the pair 

 was complete; so that the disconsolate widow or widower was 

 thrice consoled during the same day. Mr. Engleheart also 

 informs me that he used during several years to shoot one 

 of a pair of starlings which built in a hole in a house at 

 Blackheath; but the loss was always immediately repaired. 

 During one season he kept an account, and found that he 

 had shot thirty-five birds from the same nest; these con- 

 sisted of both males and females, but in what proportion 

 he could not say; nevertheless, after all this destruction, 

 a brood was reared.' 



These facts well deserve attention. How is it that there 

 are birds enough ready to replace immediately a lost mate 

 of either sex? Magpies, jays, carrion-crows, partridges, 

 and some other birds, are always seen during the spring 

 in pairs, and never by themselves; and these ofier at first 

 sight the most perplexing cases. But birds of the same 

 sex, although of course not truly paired, sometimes live 

 in pairs or in small parties, as is known to be the case 

 with pigeons and partridges. Birds also sometimes live in 

 triplets, as has been observed with starlings, carrion-crows, 

 parrots, and partridges. ' With partridges two females have 

 been known to live with one male, and two males with one 

 female. In all such cases it is probable that the union 

 would be easily broken; and one of the three would readily 

 pair with a widow or widower. The males of certain birds 

 may occasionally be heard pouring forth their love-song 

 long after the proper time, showing that they have either 

 lost or never gained a mate. Death from accident or dis- 



' On the peregrine-falcon, see Thompson, "Nat. Hist, of Ireland: Birds,'" 

 vol. i., 1849, p. 39. On owls, sparrows, and partridges, see White, "Nat. 

 Hist, of Selbome," edit, of 1825, vol. i. p. 139. On the Phoenicura, see 

 Loudon's "Mag. of Nat. Hist.," vol vii., 1834, p. 245. Brehm ("Thierleben," 

 B. iv. S.-991) also alludes to cases of birds "thrice mated during the same day. 



