The Descent of Man

me more brilliant during the breeding-season,
and which are sedulously displayed before the
females. The males also endeavour to charm or
excite their mates by love-notes, songs, and
antics; and the courtship is, in many instances,
a prolonged affair. Hence it is not probable that
the females are indifferent to the charms of the
opposite sex, or that they are invariably compelled
to yield to the victorious males. It is more
probable that the females are excited, either
before or after the conflict, by certain males,
and thus unconsciously prefer them. In the case
of Tetrao umbellus, a good observer (23. 'Land
and Water,' July 25, 1868, p. 14.) goes so far as
to believe that the battles of the male "are all a
sham, performed to show themselves to the
greatest advantage before the admiring females
who assemble around; for I have never been
able to find a maimed hero, and seldom more
than a broken feather." I shall have to recur to
this subject, but I may here add that with the
Tetrao cupido of the United States, about a sco-