The Descent of Man

thickest, or most attenuated feathers, situated
on any part of the body, would be the most
successful; and thus by slow degrees the feathers
might be modified to almost any extent.
The females, of course, would not notice each
slight successive alteration in shape, but only
the sounds thus produced. It is a curious fact
that in the same class of animals, sounds so
different as the drumming of the snipe's tail,
the tapping of the woodpecker's beak, the
harsh trumpet-like cry of certain water-fowl,
the cooing of the turtle-dove, and the song of
the nightingale, should all be pleasing to the
females of the several species. But we must not
judge of the tastes of distinct species by a uniform
standard; nor must we judge by the standard
of man's taste. Even with man, we should
remember what discordant noises, the beating
of tom-toms and the shrill notes of reeds, please
the ears of savages. Sir S. Baker remarks (58.
'The Nile Tributaries of Abyssinia,' 1867, p.
203.), that "as the stomach of the Arab prefers