MAESH WAEBLEE 



singing may occur when the male settles beside his mate and 

 sways his body from side to side, or when with ruffled feathers 

 he flies towards an intruding male. Now it is manifest that the 

 stimulus which evokes these feelings is very different in these 

 two cases. In the former it is the presence of a female, in 

 the latter the presence of a male. May we not therefore infer 

 that the feelings themselves are different in origin ? In the 

 former case it is not altogether clear what the emotion is 

 which is set free. That the presence of the mate is desired is 

 evident, and this could not well be associated with feelings 

 otherwise than of pleasure ; consequently we cannot be far 

 wrong in assuming that the emotion is sexual in origin. In 

 the latter case we see our way more plainly; for correlated 

 with the vocal effort is a certain ruffling of feathers and 

 spreading of the tail which we know to be often the prelude 

 to a skirmish, and, arguing from our own standpoint, the 

 emotion must be akin to anger and probably corresponds to 

 the instinct of pugnacity. In the former case the feelings 

 are evoked by a desire for the presence of a mate, in the latter 

 by a desire for the absence of a male. A contrast is thus 

 presented; yet the reactions are similar. The relation of 

 attitude to emotion runs on parallel lines, but here the 

 emotion is not quite so easy to diagnose. The peculiar jerking 

 of the wings which is correlated with excited singing first 

 deserves attention. It occurs when two males are in proximity 

 to one another. The stimulus to the emotional behaviour is 

 clearly the presence of the other male, but what the specific 

 emotion is which is thus aroused we can never know by direct 

 observation, and consequently must rely upon induction. The 

 presence of an intruding male is generally a cause of suspicion 

 to the owner of a territory ; such presence is not desired, 

 causes irritation, and must therefore call forth an emotion 

 of a corresponding type. But the jerking of the wings may 

 also occur when the male is seized with a sudden passion 

 after conjugation has taken place. No intruding male is then 

 at hand to cause irritation, but the female is only a few yards 



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