118 
SEXUAL SELECTION : BIRDS. 
PAR* 1 
good health and c0iJ 
“ true breeding if a game-cock in ^ 
“ dition runs the locality, for almost every hen on leavi 1 ’^ 
“ the roosting-place will resort to the game-cock, eV 
“ though that bird may not actually drive a way the s ® 1 
“ of her own variety.” Under ordinary circumstances , 
males and females of the fowl seem to come to a W'd 11 j 
understanding by means of certain gestures, descri^f 
to me by Mr. Brent. But hens will often avoid , 
officious attentions of young males. Old hens : 
si * 1 
hens of a pugnacious disposition, as the same "'*' 
informs me, dislike strange males, and will not 
until well beaten into compliance. Ferguson, howe' 
describes how a quarrelsome hen was subdued by * 
gentle courtship of a Shanghai cock . 20 , 
There is reason to believe that pigeons of both se * g , 
prefer pairing with birds of the same breed ; and do' 
, 21 Jm 
cot-pigeons dislike all the highly improved breeds. 
Harrison Weir has lately heard from a trustwod ■ 
observer, who keeps blue pigeons, that these dr* 
away all other coloured varieties, such as white, *’ ^ 
and yellow ; and from another observer, that a 
dun carrier could not be matched, after repeated t*' i!l 
with a black male, but immediately paired with a d**^ 
Generally colour alone appears to have little infli* eU 
on the pairing of pigeons. Mr. Tegetmeier, at my 1 
quest, stained some of his birds with magenta, but u :t 
were not much noticed by the others. f 
Female pigeons occasionally feel a strong antip ftt 
towards certain males, without any assignable call \. 
Thus MM. Boitard and Corbid, whose experience 
tended over forty-five years, state : “ Quand une fe*** e 
a 
■it* 
20 ‘ Rare and Prize Poultry,’ 1854, p. 27. , ^ 
21 ‘Tiro Variation of Animals and Plants under Domesticatin' 1 ’ 
