110 
SEXUAL SELECTION : BIKES. 
PapvT II. 
are instantly recognised, and always attacked, by their 
Southern brethren. Birds under confinement distin- 
guish different persons, as is proved by the strong and 
permanent antipathy or affection which they shew, 
without any apparent cause, towards certain indivi- 
duals. I have heard of numerous instances with jays, 
partridges, canaries, and especially bullfinches. Mr. 
Hussey has described in how extraordinary a manner 
a tamed partridge recognised everybody ; and its likes 
and dislikes were very strong. This bird seemed fond 
of gay colours, and no new gown or cap could be put 
on without catching his attention.” Mr. Hewitt 
has carefully described the habits of some ducks (re- 
cently descended from wild birds), which, at the ap- 
jiroach of a strange dog or cat, would rush headlong into 
the water, and exhaust themselves in their attempts 
to escape; but they knew so well Mr. Hewitt’s own 
dogs and cats that they would lie down and bask in the 
sun close to them. They always moved away from a 
strange man, and so they would from the lady Avho 
attended them, if she made any great change in her 
dress. Audubon relates that he reared and tamed a 
wild turkey which always ran away from any strange 
dog ; this bird escaped into the woods, and some days 
afterwards Audubon saw, as he thought, a wild turkey, 
and made his dog chase it ; but to his astonishment, 
the bird did not run away, and the dog, when he came 
up, did not attack the bird, for they mutually recog- 
nised each other as old friend s.^^ 
Mr. Jenner Weir is convinced that birds pay parti- 
cular attention to the colours of other birds, sometimes 
12 ‘ The Zoologist; 1847-1848, p. 1602. 
1^ Hewitt on wild ducks, ‘ Journal of Horticulture,’ Jan. 13, 1863, p. 
39. Audubon on the wild turkey, ‘ Ornith. Biography,’ yoI. i. p. 14. 
On the mocking thrush, ibid. yoI. i. p. 110. 
