116 
SEXUAL SELECTION: BIRDS. 
Pab 1 * 
J 
to ; but in many of these cases the birds were all 0 "^ 
to range free ly over large ponds, and there is no i' efis ^ 
to suppose that they were unnaturally stimulated 
high feeding. 
r 
With respect to birds in a state of nature, the 
and most obvious supposition which will occur to eve ’y 
one is that the female at the proper season accept® 
first male whom she may encounter; but she ha® ■■ 
least the opportunity for exerting a choice, as sl>® 
almost invariably pursued by many males. Aud u ^ 
— and we must remember that he spent a long ld e j 
prowling about the forests of the United States ^ 
observing the birds — -does not doubt that the f eD,£1 JI 
deliberately chooses her mate ; thus, speaking of a 
pecker, he says the hen is followed by half-a-dozen 
suitors, who continue performing strange antics, “ 1111 •' 
: a marked preference is shewn for one.” The fem 
a-l® 
the red-winged starling (Ageheus phceniceus) is lik e ^ 
pursued by several males, “ until, becoming fat'd 
“ she alights, receives their addresses, and soon " ,;l 
& 
“ a choice.” He describes also how several male Ob' 
A 
jars repeatedly plunge through the air with asto" IS ;l 
rapidity, suddenly turning, and thus making, , 
singular noise ; “ but no sooner has the female b* ■' 
1 her choice, than the other males are driven a 
With one of the vultures ( Cathartes aura ) of the L Jil . 
States, parties of eight or ten or more males and 
assemble on fallen logs, “ exhibiting the strongest 
“ to please mutually,” and after many caresses, each 1 * 
leads off his partner on the wing. Audubon lik^W/ 
carefully observed the wild flocks of Canada geese (/ j ^ 
tltf 1 
Canadensis), and gives a graphic description ot ^ 
o i i 
love-antics ; lie says that the birds which had been f ^ 
viously mated “ renewed their courtship as early aS ^ 
“ month of January, while the others would be co" lt 
