674 THE DESCENT OF MAN" 



supremacy; or does the male, wlien not a polygamist, se- 

 lect any particular female ? The general impression among 

 breeders seems to be that the male accepts any female ; and 

 this, owing to his eagerness, is, in most cases, probably the 

 truth. Whether the female as a general rule indifferently 

 accepts any male is much more doubtful. In the fourteenth 

 chapter, on Birds, a considerable body of direct and indirect 

 evidence was advanced, showing that the female selects her 

 partner; and it would be a strange anomaly if female quad- 

 rupeds, which stand higher in the scale and have higher 

 mental powers, did not generally, or at least often, exert 

 some choice. The female could in most cases escape, if 

 wooed by a male that did not please or excite her; and 

 when pursued by several males, as commonly occurs, she 

 would often have the opportunity, while they were fighting 

 together, of escaping with some one male, or at least of tem- 

 porarily pairing with him. This latter contingency has often 

 been observed in Scotland with female red-deer, as I am 

 informed by Sir Philip Egerton and others." 



It is scarcely possible that much should be known about 

 female quadrupeds in a state of nature making any choice 

 in their marriage unions. The following curious details on 

 the courtship of one of the eared seals {Gallorhinus ursinus) 

 are given" on the authority of Oapt. Bryant, who had ample 

 opportunities for observation. He says, "Many of the fe- 

 males on their arrival at the island where they breed appear 

 desirous of returning to some particular male, and frequently 

 climb the outlying rocks to overlook the rookeries, calling 

 out and listening as if for a familiar voice. Then changing 

 to another place they do the same again. ... As soon as 

 a female reaches the shore, the nearest male goes down to 



*• Mr. Boner, in Ma excellent description of the habits of the red-deer in 

 Germany ("Forest Creatures," 1861, p. 81) says, "while the stag is defending 

 his rights against one intruder, another invades the sanctuary of his harem, 

 and carries off trophy after trophy." Exactly the same thing occurs with 

 seals: see Mr. J. A. Allen, ibid., p. 100. 



^ Mr. J. A. Allen, in "Bull. Mus. Oomp. Zoolog. of Cambridge, United 

 States," voL ii., No. 1, p. 99. 



