SEXUAL SELECTION 539 



tually drive away the male of her own variety." Under 

 ordinary circumstances the males and females of the fowl 

 seem to come to a mutual understanding by means of cer- 

 tain gestures, described to me by Mr. Brent. But hens 

 will often avoid the officious attentions of young males. 

 Old hens, and hens of a pugnacious disposition, as the 

 same writer informs me, dislike strange males, and will not 

 yield until well beaten into compliance. Ferguson, Jiow- 

 ever, describes how a quarrelsome hen was subdued by 

 the gentle courtship of a Shanghai cock." 



There is reason to believe that pigeons of both sexes 

 prefer pairing with birds of the same breed; and dovecot 

 pigeons dislike all the highly improved breeds." Mr. 

 Harrison Weir has lately heard from a trustworthy ob- 

 server, who keeps blue pigeons, that these drive away all 

 other colored varieties, such as white, red, and yellow; and 

 from another observer that a female dun carrier could not, 

 after repeated trials, be matched with a black male, but im- 

 mediately paired with a dun. Again, Mr. Tegetmeier had a 

 female blue turbit that obstinately refused to pair with two 

 males of the same breed, which were successively shut up 

 with her for weeks; but on being let out she would have 

 immediately accepted the first blue dragon that offered. 

 As she was a valuable bird, she was then shut up for 

 many weeks with a silver (i.e., very pale blue) male, and 

 at last mated with him. Nevertheless, as a general rule, 

 color appears to have little influence on the pairing of pig- 

 eons. Mr. Tegetmeier, at my request, stained some of his 

 birds with magenta, but they were not much noticed by the 

 others. 



Female pigeons occasionally feel a strong antipathy to- 

 ward certain males, without any assignable cause. Thus MM. 

 Boitard and Oorbi^, whose experience extended over forty- 

 five years, state: "Quand une femelle ^prouve de I'antipa- 



" "Rare and Prize Poultry," 1854, p. 27. 



22 "The Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestioation," vol. ii. 

 p. 103. 



