168 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



Another evidence of it is this. It was quite apparent that 

 the female derived as much pleasure from the act of coition as 

 did the male, or, at any rate, that she derived a high degree of 

 pleasure from it. When she crouched, or stood,* to the male 

 she drooped and quivered her wings, and her satisfaction during 

 and immediately on completion of the act was abundantly 

 evident. Those also who have seen hen birds soliciting their 

 husbands, often to no purpose, must be aware that this is gener- 

 ally — probably always— the case. If, then, the act is pleasur- 

 able, what is it that makes the female so often and so stubbornly 

 refuse the male ? Satiety, no doubt, may be one reason, but 

 this does not last long, nor can we apply it to such cases as that 

 just mentioned, where the refusal of one male was " followed, 

 hard upon," by the acceptance of another. The more generally 

 probable interpretation seems to me to be that the hen may 

 dislike or be repelled by some males, to an extent sufficient to 

 discount the pleasure which the act itself procures, whilst she 

 is attracted in a proportionate degree, and with opposite effects, 

 by others. We must remember that, with the hen bird, it is 

 seldom a case of Hobson's choice. She may choose, as a rule, 

 where she pleases, and therefore it would not be extraordinary if 

 she became difficult to please. To be more responsive to the 

 charms of some males than of others is to have choice, just as 

 much as we, in such matters, possess it— and such choice must 

 be founded on something. To think that the appearance of the 

 male, even though specially decorated for the nuptial season, 

 has nothing to do with it, is so irrational that some special 

 explanation seems needed for the prevalence of such an opinion. 

 It is to be found, I believe, in deep-seated theological prejudice, 

 and in pure human conceit. 



More strange matter this morning. Not only is there what I 

 have called unisexual coition, on the part of the Buffs —instances 

 of which I have again witnessed — but on the part of the Eeeves, 

 too. There were several examples of this, and on one occasion 

 when the brown Kuff was about to perform his marital office, the 

 bread, as I may say, was taken out of his mouth by another 

 excited hen, who rushed in front of him, and was, apparently, an 



* Both attitudes are adopted, but the latter seems the more charac- 

 teristic. 



