108 
SEXUAL SELECTION : BIRDS. 
PA**" 
strong antipathies and preferences female birds ° cc9 
sionally evince towards particular males. . 
Mental Qualities of Birds, and their taste Jot f 
beautiful . — Before we discuss any further the quest' 1 ', 
whether the females select the more attractive a ,, 
or accept the first whom they may encounter, it wi^ 
advisable briefly to consider the mental powers of b> r j 
Their reason is generally, and perhaps justly, 
as low ; yet some facts could be given 9 leading to f 
opposite conclusion. Low powers of reasoning? I'^V 
ever, are compatible, as we see with mankind, ^ 
strong affections, acute perception, and a taste for ^ 
beautiful; and it is with these latter qualities tlitd 
arc here concerned. It has often been said that pa rr L 
become so deeply attached to each other that ^ 
one dies the other for a long time pines : but 
Jenner Weir thinks that with most birds the streO? 
of them affection has been much exaggerated. N e ' e . 
theless when one of a pair in a state of nature ly 
been shot, the survivor has been heard for days . 
wards uttering a plaintive call; and Mr. St. j 
gives 10 various facts proving the attachment of 
birds. Starlings, however, as we have seen, may 
consoled thrice in the same day for the loss of 
mates. In the Zoological Gardens parrots have cle ftI 
“ individuals on the same errand of mercy. One of these he k^d 
the olher he also shot, but could not find. No more came on tb® 
“ fruitless errand." 
9 -For instance, Mr. Yarrell states (‘Hist. British Birds,’ vol. ii‘- 
p. 585) that a gull was not able to swallow a small bird which ka d jy 
given 1o it. The gull “ paused for a moment, and then, as if 
“ recollecting himself, ran off at full speed to a pun of water, sh«f ,,, 
“ bird about m it until well soaked, and immediately gulped it d °. J 
“ Since that time he invariably has had recourse to the same esp cdl 
“ in similar cases." 
19 ‘A Tour in Sutherlaudshirc,’ vol. i. 1S49, p. 185. 
