Chap. XIV. 
PREFERENCE BY THE FEMALE. 
121 
first advances are always made by the female ; some- 
thing of the same kind takes place, according to 
Audubon, with the older females of the wild turkey. 
With the capercailzie, the females flit round the male, 
whilst he is parading at one of the places of assemblage,- 
and solicit his attention.^^ We have seen that a tame 
wild-duck seduced after a long courtship an unwilling 
Pintail drake. Mr. Bartlett believes that the Lopho- 
phorus, like many other gallinaceous birds, is naturally 
polygamous, but two females cannot be placed in the 
same cage with a male, as they fight so much together. 
The following instance of rivalry is more surprising as 
it relates to bullfinches, which usually pair for life. 
Mr. Jenner Weir introduced a dull-coloured and ugly 
female into his aviary, and she immediately attacked 
another mated female so unmercifully that the latter 
had to be separated. The new female did all the court- 
ship, and was at last successful, for she paired with the 
male ; but after a time she met with a just retribution, 
for, ceasing to be pugnacious, Mr. Weir replaced the 
old female, and the male then deserted his new and 
returned to his old love. 
In all ordinary cases the male is so eager that he will 
accept any female, and does not, as far as we can judge,, 
prefer one to the other ; but ^exceptions to this rule, as 
we shall hereafter see, apparently occur in some few 
groups. With domesticated birds, I have heard of only 
one case in which the males shew any preference for 
particular females, namely, that of the domestic cock, 
who, according to the high authority of Mr. Hewitt, 
prefers the younger to the older hens. On the other 
28 In regard to peafowl, see Sir R. Heron, ‘ Proc. Zoolog. Soc.’ 1835,. 
p. 54, and the Rev. E. S. Dixon, ‘ Ornamental Poultry,’ 1848, p. 8. 
For the turkey, Audubon, ibid. p. 4. For the capercailzie, Lloyd, 
‘ Game Birds of Sweden,’ 1867, p. 23, 
