102 
SEXUAL SELECTION: BIRDS. 
PakT ll ' 
and the M. Alberti scratches for itself shallow holes, 0,1 
as they are called by the natives, corroborying pla ceS ' 
where it is believed both sexes assemble. The m ee , 
ings of the M. superla are sometimes very large ; al1 
an account has lately been published 3 by a travell etj 
who heard in a valley beneath him, thickly cove *' 60 
with scrub, “a din which completely astonished ” l |1!l ’ ' 
on crawling onwards he beheld to his amazement abo 1 ’ 
one hundred and fifty of the magnificent lyre-coc^ 
“ranged in order of battle, and fighting with 
“ scribable fury.” The bowers of the Bower-birds il1 
the resort of both sexes during the breeding-seasO' 1 ’ 
and “here the males meet and contend with each otl |t>f 
“for the favours of the female, and here the lathj, 
“ assemble and coquet with the males.” With t " ° 
the genera, the same bower is resorted to during mid- 
years . 4 
The common magpie (Corvus pica, Linn.), as I h a ' 
been informed by the Kev. W. Darwin Fox, used * 
assemble from all parts of Delamere Forest, in ord 
to celebrate the “ great magpie marriage.” So 01 ^ 
years ago these birds abounded in extraordinary B'j 1 ® 
bers, so that a gamekeeper killed in one inornfi^ 
nineteen males, and another killed by a single 
seven birds at roost together. Whilst they were s ° 
numerous, they had the habit very early in the sp^ 
of assembling at. particular spots, where they could 
seen in flocks, chattering, sometimes fighting, busth 1 '- 
and flying about the trees. The whole affair 
evidently considered by the birds as of the hig^ y 
importance. Shortly after the meeting they all se P . 
rated, and were then observed by Mr. Fox and otl* f>r ' 
3 Quoted by Mr. T. W. Wood in tho ‘ Student,’ April, 1870, p- Wg, 
1 Gould, ‘ Handbook of Birds of Australia,’ vol. i. p. 300, 30S, 
451. On the ptarmigan, above alluded to, see Lloyd, ibid. p. 129- 
