BIRD COURTSHIP i 



THERE is something about the matchmaking of 

 birds that is not easily penetrated. The jeal- 

 ousies and rivalries of the males and of the females 

 are easily understood, — they are quite human; but 

 those sudden rushes of several males, some of them 

 already mated, after one female, with squeals and 

 screams and a great clatter of wings, — what does it 

 mean ? There is nothing human about that, unless it 

 be illustrative of a trait that has at times cropped out 

 in the earlier races, and which is still seen among 

 the Eskimos, where the male carries off the female 

 by force. But in these sudden sallies among the 

 birds, the female, so far as I have observed, is never 

 carried off. One may see half a dozen English spar- 

 rows engaged in what at first glance appears to be a 

 general melee in the gutter or on the sidewalk; but 

 if you look more closely, you will see a single female 

 in the midst of the mass, beating off the males, who, 

 with plumage puffed out and screaming and chatter- 

 ing, are all making a set at her. She strikes right 

 and left, and seems to be equally displeased with 

 them all. But her anger may be all put on, and she 

 may be giving the wink all the time to her favorite, 



1 From Biverby. 



