SEXUAL SELECTION IN BIRDS. 211 



— and it is always in motion —would enable her to see the whole 

 person of the male. 



There has now been prolonged and savage fighting amongst 

 the Eedshanks, especially between one pair* which I have 

 watched more particularly. There were several hard grapples 

 and holdings with the bill, and it seemed to me that they always 

 fought more fiercely when, as was often the case, they got near 

 to a certain other bird. (They certainly did, and I do not think 

 it was coincidence.) They got near two birds, widely separated, 

 and the effect, with each, was noticeable, but especially so with 

 this one. Both these birds seemed to me to take some interest 

 in the matter, and one in particular — not, however, the one in 

 whose presence they fought hardest — made, several times, a 

 little run at them. But I do not think it was a very special 

 interest, or amounted to much more than a " get out of my way 

 with this nonsense ! " It would seem as though, whilst the female 

 Redshanks does concern herself with the wing-waving action 

 specially addressed to her, she does not so much care about the 

 fighting of the males. Is it not possible, therefore,- that in the 

 matrimonial affairs of some birds there may be a double process 

 of natural and sexual selection, neither the handsomest nor the 

 most vigorous only being chosen, but the handsomest amongst 

 the most vigorous ? It is these latter who, by conquering and 

 persecuting the others, would have the best opportunities for 

 sexual display ; and, insomuch as motion made a part of this, 

 we should look for the finest displays amongst them. On lines 

 like these we can understand the most vigorous males being 

 chosen, but how can vigour be judged of by the female unless it 

 strike her senses through some definite channel ? Otherwise it 

 is a mere abstraction. And if motion can appeal to her, why 

 should not colour and form ? When, for instance, a strongly 

 marked preference in the females of a certain spider (Astia 

 vittata) for one of two types of males is attributed to the 

 liveliness of his dancing alone, and not, also, to his different 

 appearance and the different figures of his dance, this, as it 

 seems to me, is a quite unjustifiable assumption. The opponents 

 of sexual selection must not dower animals with just what is 

 wanted for their views, and no more. 



:;: Either these or two other males sometimes swam after each other. 



