BLACKCAP 



intensity of this excitement and the length of time that the 

 male has been previously absent from the female ; for I have 

 noticed that, amongst the majority of the migratory species, the 

 excitement, as evinced by their actions, is much greater than 

 the average excitement displayed at the corresponding period 

 amongst resident species. In this respect it is almost possible 

 to trace a distinct gradation, commencing with those species 

 that pair for life — in which case the excitement is limited to 

 the time immediately preceding coition — up to the migrants, 

 which represent the highest type of such excitement. That 

 there should be such gradations can be readily understood if 

 it is accepted that all the special activities of this period are 

 directly caused by the development and stimulation of the 

 sexual organs ; for resident species probably pair before such 

 development has taken place, consequently the natural passion 

 can be immediately relieved ; this is also the case with species 

 that pair for life, but amongst the migrants the conditions 

 are very different, for the males, as a rule, arrive before the 

 females, and being sexually developed, are excitable and 

 possessed of great energy, which reaches its height only on 

 the appearance of the female. A study of the males from this 

 point of view is interesting and, to myself, very convincing. 

 I am, therefore, inclined to doubt whether the term " court- 

 ship " is really admissible, whether, in fact, an altogether 

 erroneous impression is not thereby conveyed. And, as 

 bearing on this question, it is a fact of no small importance 

 that the males generally pair with the females that first settle 

 in their territory, before whom they have behaved in the 

 manner referred to, and ultimately rear with them offspring 

 in that territory. 



It is difficult to describe the excitement of the male when 

 a female is present ; the variations in the sounds he produces 

 and the antics he performs are so numerous. The intensity 

 of his emotions soon discloses the fact that a female has 

 arrived, and it is then no difficult matter to approach him 

 closely, the more so as he is never very far distant from 



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