The Descent of Man

ious other birds, they are generally attended
by the females (20. Richardson on Tetrao umbellus,
'Fauna Bor. Amer.: Birds,' 1831, p. 343. L.
Lloyd, 'Game Birds of Sweden,' 1867, pp. 22, 79,
on the capercailzie and black-cock. Brehm,
however, asserts ('Thierleben,' B. iv. s. 352) that
in Germany the grey-hens do not generally
attend the Balzen of the black-cocks, but this is
an exception to the common rule; possibly the
hens may lie hidden in the surrounding bushes,
as is known to be the case with the gray-hens in
Scandinavia, and with other species in N. America.),
which afterwards pair with the victorious
combatants. But in some cases the pairing precedes
instead of succeeding the combat: thus
according to Audubon (21. 'Ornithological Biography,'
vol. ii. p. 275.), several males of the
Virginian goat-sucker (Caprimulgus virgianus)
"court, in a highly entertaining manner the female,
and no sooner has she made her choice,
than her approved gives chase to all intruders,
and drives them beyond his dominions." Gene-