178 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



forward and upward, became much slighter- and thinner-looking. 

 I was lucky in, more than once, seeing the occasion and meaning 

 of such pursuits and nights. Thus, with wing lowered upon the 

 side towards her, and with his whole body tilted in the same 

 direction, with tail turned so as to show its full outline, 

 the white of it being splendidly conspicuous, and with lowered 

 bull-like head, a fine cock bird — though they were all fine — was 

 making little swelling runs, in curves, backwards and forwards, 

 about the object of his desire, who, on her part, would make a 

 funny little run, and then stop, then run and stop, again, and so 

 on, showing most plainly, as any actual observer, I think, must 

 have recognized, that she understood the significance of this 

 courtship well enough. At any moment she could, had she 

 pleased, have flown or run right away from it, but, thus moving, 

 and keeping, first, in one direction and then in another, within a 

 certain limited area, which was very conspicuous to me, she pre- 

 ferred to let it continue. All at once, another hen came into this 

 same area, and within a few yards of her, upon which, with 

 every sign of jealous rage, she precipitated herself upon this 

 conscious or unconscious rival, who, surrendering forthwith, fled 

 for life, and was chased right away, each bird exhibiting, as I 

 say, very great speed. Here then the very essence of the drama 

 was clearly unfolded before me. No hen bird could act, under 

 such circumstances, in so furiously aggressive a manner, and yet 

 be indifferent to the male's advances, and this, if that strange 

 myth of the hen's indifference* still survives, makes the observa- 

 tion here recorded a valuable one, nor, as I say, did it stand 

 alone. On the one or two occasions on which hen birds posi- 

 tively fought, I imagine that the cause was the same, without 

 similar yielding on the part of one of them, but I did not see 

 this with my own eyes. Nothing could show more plainly what 

 these meetings represent, for both sexes, than this combative 

 mood of the hens. 



It was when one cock was courting a hen, and the movements 

 of the latter brought him near to another, that a combat was 



* I do not, of course, mean that any hen bird may not, upon any occasion, 

 and for various good reasons — such as hunger, satiety, or a preference else- 

 where — be indifferent to this or that male — even the favoured one ; but only 

 that the indifference of the female to masculine courtship, as such, is a myth. 



