Music and Dancing in Nature. 279 



male able to administer the most vigorous and 

 artistic slaps ? 



The believer in the theory would put all these 

 cases lightly aside, to cite that of the male cow-bird 

 practising antics before the female and drawing a 

 wide circle of melody round her ; or that of the jet- 

 black, automaton-like, dancing tyrant-bird ; and 

 concerning this species he would probably say that 

 the plain-plumaged female went about unseen, 

 critically watching the dancing of different males, 

 to discover the most excellent performer according 

 to the traditional standard. And this was, in sub- 

 stance, what Darwin did. There are many species 

 in which the male, singly or with others, practises 

 antics or sings during the love-season before the 

 female ; and when all such cases, or rather those 

 that are most striking and bizarre, are brought 

 together, and when it is gratuitously asserted that 

 the females do choose the males that show off in the 

 best manner or that sing best, a case for sexual 

 selection seems to be made out. How unfair the 

 argument is, based on these carefully selected cases 

 gathered from all regions of the globe, and often 

 not properly reported, is seen when we turn from 

 the book to nature and closely consider the habits 

 and actions of all the species inhabiting any one 

 district. We see then that such cases as those 

 described and made so much of in the Descent of 

 Mom, and cases like those mentioned in this chapter, 

 are not essentially different in character, but are 

 manifestations of one instinct, which appears to be 

 almost universal among the animals. The explana- 

 tion I have to offer lies very much on the surface 



