COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE. 
295 
the conjugal tie seems to be contracted for life, for as 
soon as the young have no further need of a mother’s 
care the latter returns to her male companion; at all 
events, when the time for migration comes round, we see 
the pairs united again. I cannot say the same of the 
Cuckoo, who, as is well known, is one of those birds who, 
amid much noise and numerous passionate outbursts, 
begets, not simultaneously, but by degrees, a numerous 
progeny, which he leaves to the charity of strangers. 
The male bird treats his wife much as she does her eggs, 
and after pairing-time troubles himself as much about 
her as she does herself about her offspring. It is not 
improbable, either, that he does not confine his attentions 
to one wife, but pays court to one and all alike. 
The Cuckoo may be classed as the connecting-link 
between those birds which pair and those which live in a 
state of polygamy, if he does not indeed, as before 
remarked, belong rather to the latter. Of these we have 
but few in Europe; as far as naturalists know only the 
following: the Capercallie, Black Cock, Pheasant, Quail, 
and Buff. To them must be added several domestic 
birds, some of which, however, have only become poly¬ 
gamists through confinement; thus the domestic Fowl, 
Guinea Fowl, Pea Fowl, the Turkey, and the Duck. The 
much-abused Goose still preserves its reputation intact, 
even in confinement. 
Any definite reason which may be advanced in explana¬ 
tion of polygamy among birds is, as yet, unknown to us. 
If we assume that Nature intended by this means to 
provide a more numerous stock of certain birds, especially 
among the Gallinaceous class, we cannot yet see why 
this could not have been equally well brought about by 
birds living in pairs, as the Gray Partridge, Bedlegged 
