LAW OF BATTLE. 
49 
C «AP. 
'• XIII. 
^abi 
, ' Oos make the pretty little males of the amadavat 
Wstretda amandava ) fight together by placing three 
small 
cages in a row, with a female in the middle ; 
a ter a little time the two males are turned loose, and 
‘^mediately a desperate battle ensues . 19 When many 
ln ales congregate at the same appointed spot and fight 
|°gether, as in the case of grouse and various other 
they are generally attended by the females , 20 
p afterwards pair with the victorious combatants. 
mt in some cases the pairing precedes instead of suc- 
c eedi ng the combat: thus, according to Audubon , 21 
8e veral males of the Virginian goat-sucker ( Capri - 
'^gus Virginianus) “ court, in a highly entertaining 
„ ^ aQ ner, the female, and no sooner has she made her 
(l e than her approved gives chase to all intruders, 
•md drives them beyond his dominions.” Generally 
16 males try with all their power to drive away or kill 
u 61r rivals before they pair. It does not, however, 
appear that the females invariably prefer the victorious 
lcl es. I j lavc indeed been assured by M. W. Kowa- 
revsk • - - 
a ^' sk y that the female capercailzie sometimes steals 
th a young male who has not dared to enter 
Q e ai ’ e Qa with the older cocks ; in the same manner as 
^ Cc asio na iiy happens with the does of the red-deer in 
sii 1 (I* ^ hen two males contend in presence of a 
^ e female, the victor, no doubt, commonly gains his 
Mu Blyth, < Land mid Water,’ 1SG7, p. 212. 
n ■ , ■ j leuiu huh vvaier, 10 
p, 340 10 lar dson, on Tetmo umbelluB, ‘ Fauna Bor. Amcr. : Birds,’ 1831, 
Canp. ' ., L - Ll °yd, 1 Game Birds of Sweden,’ 1S07, p. 22, 79, on the 
- rca uzie and black-. 
B 
:-cock. 
_ _ Breluri, however, asserts ‘Thierleben,’ &c., 
th e p, S ,' 352 i that in Germany the 'grey-hens do not generally attend 
a °f the 'black-cocks, but this is an exception to the common 
is W P0SsibI y the hens may lie hidden in the surrounding bushes, _ as 
oth,„. J ' Vn to bo the case with the grey-hens in Scandinavia, and with 
er s Pecier -- ” • 
13 in N. America. 
-i . , , . ■ America. 
’mthological Biography,’ vol. ii. p. 275. 
V °V II. 
E 
