The Descent of Man

'Nat. Hist. Lib.: Birds,' vol. xiv. p. 167. On Birds
of Paradise, Lesson, quoted by Brehm, 'Thierleben,'
B. iii. s. 325. On the widow-bird, Barrow's
'Travels in Africa,' vol. i. p. 243, and 'Ibis,' vol.
iii. 1861 p. 133. Mr. Gould, on the shyness of
male birds, 'Handbook to Birds of Australia,'
vol. i. 1865, pp. 210, 457.)
It is a more curious fact that the males of some
birds which are provided with special weapons
for battle, and which in a state of nature are so
pugnacious that they often kill each other, suffer
from possessing certain ornaments. Cockfighters
trim the hackles and cut off the combs
and gills of their cocks; and the birds are then
said to be dubbed. An undubbed bird, as Mr.
Tegetmeier insists, "is at a fearful disadvantage;
the comb and gills offer an easy hold to his adversary's
beak, and as a cock always strikes
where he holds, when once he has seized his
foe, he has him entirely in his power. Even supposing
that the bird is not killed, the loss of