a particular spot, and begins to bow. More and more quickly the courtesies follow each other, the horns meantime swelling and tossing, the wattles dilating and collapsing again, till all are literally flying about the head of the love-crazed bird. Now he unfolds and spreads his wings, rounds and droops his tail, sinks down with bent feet, and, spitting and hissing, lets his wings. sweep along the ground. Suddenly every movement ceases. Bent low, his plumage ruffled, his wings and tail pressed against the ground, his eyes closed, his breathing audible, he remains for a while in motionless ecstasy. His fully unfolded decorations gleam with dazzling brightness. Abruptly he rises again, spits and hisses, trembles, smooths his feathers, scratches, throws up his tail, flaps his wings, jerks himself up to his full height, rushes upon the female, and, suddenly checking his wild career, appears before her in olympic majesty, stands still for a moment, trembles, twitches, hisses, and all at once lets all his glory vanish, smooths his feathers, draws in his horns and wattles, and goes about his business as if nothing had happened."

The combination of "spitting and hissing" with "olympic majesty" in the tragopan strikes one as somewhat lacking in dramatic fitness, from the human stand-point, but it serves as a reminder that the most gorgeously decorated male birds are not remarkable for beautiful voices. The unpleasant scream of the Peacock is no doubt familiar to all. On the other hand, the most gifted songsters are often modestly attired, and it is further to be noted that birds of small size are particularly notable in the matter of vocal attainments. In some cases, at any rate, love-songs would appear to prove more attractive to the female than elaborate colour-displays or amorous antics. On this point Darwin makes the following remarks (in The Descent of Man):-"Naturalists are much divided with respect to the object of the singing of birds. Few more careful observers ever lived than Montagu, and he maintained that the 'males of song-birds and of many others do not in general search for the female, but, on the contrary, their business in the spring is to perch on some conspicuous spot, breathing out their full and amorous notes, which, by instinct, the female knows, and repairs to the spot to choose her mate'. Mr. Jenner Weir informs me that this is certainly the case with the nightingale. Bechstein, who kept. birds during his whole life, asserts that the female canary

always chooses the best singer, and that in a state of nature the female finch selects that male out of a hundred whose notes please her most'. There can be no doubt that birds closely attend to each other's song." It seems, however, to be certain that birds take a delight in their musical powers quite apart from the question of courtship, often singing from emulation or from sheer "joy of life".

It is almost superfluous to remark that in appraising the attractions of male birds we must remember that what to us is merely comical, may nevertheless be well adapted to its purpose. In the Common Bustard (Otis tarda), for instance, the male indulges in strange antics and displays of plumage, and often possesses a large pouch that can be dilated to serve as a resonator, no doubt making the love-call more sonorous, though this is no more than the syllable "oak" often repeated. The Australian Bustard (Otis australis, fig. 1110) also has such a pouch, which in this case is simply a greatly dilatable part of the gullet.

Odorous attractions are sometimes possessed by the male, as in the Musk-Duck (Cairina moschata), a species which ranges from Mexico to the Argentine Republic, and is known in captivity by the erroneous name of "Muscovy "-Duck.

It must not be imagined that the courtship of any particular species necessarily exemplifies the Law of Battle or the Law of Beauty only, for in many cases strength and æsthetic qualities are both called into play.

COURTSHIP AND MATING OF REPTILES (REPTILIA).

THE LAW OF BATTLE.-Some male Reptiles engage in combats with one another during the mating season, a habit which has been observed in Alligators, some Tortoises, and certain

Fig. 1111.-Owen's Chameleon (Chamaleo Oweni). Female on left; male on right

Lizards. Among the latter the males may be provided with strong spines or horns on the head, especially so in some of the Chameleons (fig. 1111), and these weapons are no doubt used in their fights with one another. The jealous ferocity of the American Alligator (Alligator Mississippiensis) is thus graphically touched off by Cyrus W. Butler (in Big Game of North America): -"On the whole, he is a sluggish, very sluggish, animal, not even being an active hunter; but loafs around in hope that something may turn up that probably a fish may unwittingly swim near enough to be snapped up by a quick motion of his long jaws. But lazy and sluggish as he is, and cold as is his blood, there are times when it must course swiftly through his veins; for on a little island of muck, in the centre of a pond, a female