XIV. 
PREFERENCE BY THE FEMALE. 
115 
u >' one other case ; Mr. Hewitt states that a wild 
“ Sfi J rea, 'ed in captivity, “after breeding a couple of 
“ ori 0118 ' v ’^ 1 ^ er °wn mallard, at once shook him off 
“ ev . !°y placing a male Pintail on the water. It was 
“abn-—?^ a case ot ' l° ve at ^' 1-st sight* lor she swam 
“J knt] J alarmed and 
the new-comer caressingly, though ho appeared 
to her overtures of 
averse 
“ From that hour she forgot her old partner. 
“se f . llter P asse d by, and the next spring the Pintail 
11 jq le< t to have become a convert to her blandish- 
“ vrJ 8 ’ ^ or they nested and produced seven or eight 
% 
Vs. 
a t the charm may have been in these several 
Wond 
mere novelty, we cannot even conjecture. 
i0 Ur l 
° r <ler / l0we ver, sometimes comes into play ; for in 
Uii(j .. 0 ra ise hybrids from the siskin ( Fringilla spinus) 
•K b|]A ... 1 ,1 1 i _ ' i.. 
hybrids from the siskin ( Fringilla spinus) 
. y, it is much the best plan, according to 
3l|. j , |IJ > to place birds of the same tint together. 
iv heve ei -»er Weir turned a female canary into his aviary, 
grep,* , tllere were male linnets, goldfinches, siskins, 
. C a-Iln„l , „ . , . , . 
loiiU c 1 s be would choose ; but there never was any 
a nd ’ Un< l the greenfinch carried the day. They paired 
Wi,if uced tylmd offspring. 
* te 'oombers of the same species the fact of the 
Preferring to pair with one male rather than 
H et[ l lut ber is not so likely to excite attention, as 
l ‘aa jj Us occurs between distinct species. Such cases 
'Hr], ' Jc observed with domesticated or confined 
a tt<l B ’ Jll \ these are often pampered by high feeding, 
tf ria e ^ ^mes have their instincts vitiated to an ex- 
r °of s 
>ot v' . 
^Cniw. e here related. Vitiated instincts may also 
^° ree ’ Of this latter fact I could give sufficient 
'vith 
pigeons, and especially with fowls, but they 
; ° U *t f 0r 
some of the hybrid unions above referred 
