WAYS OF NATURE 



There is one particular in which the bird families 

 are much more human than our four-footed kindred. 

 I refer to the practice of courtship. The male of all 

 birds, so far as I know, pays suit to the female and 

 seeks to please and attract her.^ This the quad- 

 rupeds do not do; there is no period of courtship 

 among them, and no mating or pairing as among the 

 birds. The male fights for the female, but he does 

 not seek to win her by delicate attentions. If there 

 are any exceptions to this rule, I do not know them. 

 There seems to be among the birds something that 

 is like what is called romantic love. The choice of 

 mate seems always to rest with the female,^ while 

 among the mammals the female shows no prefer- 

 ence at all. 



Among our own birds, the prettiest thing I know 

 of attending the period of courtship, or prelimi- 

 nary to the match-making, is the spring musical 

 festival and reunion of the goldfinches, which often 

 lasts for days, through rain and shine. In April or 

 May, apparently all the goldfinches from a large area 

 collect in the top of an elm or a maple and unite in 

 a prolonged musical festival. Is it a contest among 

 the males for the favor of the females, or is it the 

 spontaneous expression of the gladness of the whole 

 clan at the return of the season of life and love ? 

 The birds seem to pair soon after, and doubtless the 

 concert of voices has some reference to that event. 



^ Except in the case of certain birds of India and Australia. 



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