SEXUAL SELECTION IN BIRDS. 215 



appears to me, many hours during several days, or even for the 

 greater part of each day. Now, the facts go to show two things 

 — (1) that the female, if indifferent during part of the time, is not 

 so all the time ; and (2) that neither of the male birds is able to 

 force her to his will. From this it appears to me far from unlikely 

 that she may ultimately choose between them. But how is she 

 to make her choice valid ? We have seen that, in the case of 

 the Kentish Plover, the female drove away a third male. Now, 

 if she were to pursue the same course in regard to one of two 

 males, and were the other to join with her, there would then be 

 two to one. It is even possible that the attack of the female 

 might sometimes be accepted by the discredited male as a verdict 

 against which there could be no appeal. In any case, however, 

 it seems probable that he could not long bear up against such dis- 

 couraging circumstances. The fact that a pair of Oystercatchers 

 will join together against another bird, or pair of birds — that it 

 is, in fact, their ordinary habit — is in support of this supposition. 

 With the Eedshanks, however, as well as with other birds, 

 the fighting is one thing and the courtship another. What are 

 the relations, if any, which the two bear to one another, whether 

 there are many single combats, and if the victor in each, or in 

 several, makes his display before the female — what, in fact, is the 

 whole process of the thing, from first to last, I do not know, nor, 

 I suppose, does anybody. I have some idea, however, of the 

 difficulties which lie in the way of following it, which, indeed, 

 are almost unsurmountable, being made up, for the most part, of 

 the following elements, viz. (1) (in this part of the world, at any 

 rate), cold, rain, and the general inclemencies of the weather; 

 (2) the prolongation of the courtship, &c, from day to day, with 

 the consequent impossibility of being sure that you are watching 

 the same birds on any two days ; (3) its prolongation on any one 

 day, and the difficulty, greater or less, of keeping the birds con- 

 cerned, at any one time, distinct from others, and of knowing 

 whether they are the same at different times ; (4) the frequent 

 difficulty or impossibility of distinguishing the sexes, and of 

 keeping the individuals of either sex for long distinct from one 

 another ; (5) the very different spirit shown by the same bird at 

 different periods of one drama or scene in the drama, or earlier 

 and later in its development — such differences pointing to opposite 



