SEXUAL SELECTION IN BIRDS. 371 



perhaps to a lesser extent in the one sex than in the other. Yet 

 this, to go by what I have seen, would hardly complicate the 

 question of sexual selection. For instance, though all the 

 Eeeves were to pair with all the Buffs, yet those to whom they 

 first united themselves would be more likely to become the 

 parents of the first brood of young than any of the others would 

 be, and so would have the best chance of transmitting their 

 qualities, unless, indeed, the intervals between the first and sub- 

 sequent unions were of very short duration, and this, according 

 to my observations, was far from being the case. After the 

 hatching-out of the first brood it is reasonable to suppose that 

 the Euffs by whom any Eeeve had been first attracted would 

 prove attractive to her in the same degree again, or, at any rate, 

 would have a better chance of being first chosen. 



The reasons which make me think that all or most of the 

 Eeeves have paired with all the Euffs that have been chosen 

 amongst them are the following : — First, there is the definite in- 

 stance which I have already mentioned. Secondly, I have seen 

 the wish and intent expressed by other Eeeves, either through 

 direct solicitation or general deportment. Thirdly, this morning 

 — and I have noted it several times before — the pairing took 

 place, first, on one part of the ground, with the black-ruffed bird 

 especially, and then, considerably later, on another part, with 

 the brown bird especially. As the Eeeves did not stay on the 

 ground during the whole interval, I cannot be sure that they 

 were the same in each case, but they came back in a way which 

 makes me think they were, and their numbers were the same or 

 about the same. I cannot help thinking, therefore, that they 

 were the same individual Eeeves. Again, if it were a different 

 batch of Eeeves that went to the brown Euff, say, and to the 

 black and other new ones, in a different part of the ground, why 

 should the time for these visits have changed ? Why should the 

 same batch, to put it another way, go to a certain bird — an old 

 favourite — at a later time than they used to, if they went to him 

 only ? Would they not be likely, after the recuperation of their 

 sexual energies during the night, to feel, as they did before, an 

 early inclination, and gratify it accordingly ? But if, as I 

 suspect, the same birds go in batches from one Euff to another, 

 then the rotation of their visits would be according to the strength 



