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The Descent of Man

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Stanleyi, is known to fight desperately "in defence<br />

<strong>of</strong> his seraglio," so that one <strong>of</strong> the combatants<br />

is frequently found dead. (12. Layard,<br />

'Annals and Magazine <strong>of</strong> Natural History,' vol.<br />

xiv. 1854, p. 63.) An Indian partridge (Ortygornis<br />

gularis), the male <strong>of</strong> which is furnished with<br />

strong and sharp spurs, is so quarrelsome "that<br />

the scars <strong>of</strong> former fights disfigure the breast <strong>of</strong><br />

almost every bird you kill." (13. Jerdon, 'Birds<br />

<strong>of</strong> India,' vol. iii. p. 574.)<br />

<strong>The</strong> males <strong>of</strong> almost all gallinaceous birds, even<br />

those which are not furnished with spurs, engage<br />

during the breeding-season in fierce conflicts.<br />

<strong>The</strong> Capercailzie and Black-cock (Tetrao<br />

urogallus and T. tetrix), which are both polygamists,<br />

have regular appointed places, where<br />

during many weeks they congregate in numbers<br />

to fight together and to display their<br />

charms before the females. Dr. W. Kovalevsky<br />

informs me that in Russia he has seen the snow<br />

all bloody on the arenas where the capercailzie

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