The Descent of Man

irds, whether the male tragopan (one of the
Gallinaceae) was polygamous, and I was struck
by his answering, "I do not know, but should
think so from his splendid colours."
It deserves notice that the instinct of pairing
with a single female is easily lost under domestication.
The wild-duck is strictly monogamous,
the domestic-duck highly polygamous. The
Rev. W.D. Fox informs me that out of some
half-tamed wild-ducks, on a large pond in his
neighbourhood, so many mallards were shot by
the gamekeeper that only one was left for every
seven or eight females; yet unusually large
broods were reared. The guinea-fowl is strictly
monogamous; but Mr. Fox finds that his birds
succeed best when he keeps one cock to two or
three hens. Canary-birds pair in a state of nature,
but the breeders in England successfully put
one male to four or five females. I have noticed
these cases, as rendering it probable that wild
monogamous species might readily become