Darwin has discussed the question of polygamous birds in his Descent of Man.
[Note 65] p. 281.—The Widowed Bird.
For one of the finest expressions in literature of the possible emotions of the widowed bird, we may be allowed to refer to Walt Whitman’s “Out of the cradle endlessly rocking” (Leaves of Grass).
APES AND MONKEYS.
[Note 66] p. 285.—Descent from Monkeys.
Hanumân, the sacred Hindoo long-tailed monkey, plays an important part in Hindoo mythology. He was the friend of Vishnu during his incarnation as Rama Chandra, and he aided the god greatly in the search for his wife Sita, who had been carried off by Ravān. A female slave, who had tended Sita kindly during her captivity, was married to Hanumân as a reward, and this pair some Indian noble families proudly claim as ancestors.
[Note 67] p. 286.—Monkeys on the Rock of Gibraltar.
A letter written in 1880 by an officer in Gibraltar to the Field newspaper and quoted in vol. i. of the Royal Natural History gives the number living on the Rock at that time as twenty-five, among whom were only two adult males. There had been several gangs of them at one time, but they had done so much damage in the town gardens that they had been nearly exterminated by means of traps and poison. But in 1856, when their numbers had been reduced to four or five, a garrison order was issued forbidding further destruction of them, and since that time they have been strictly preserved and regularly counted. In 1863, four were imported from Africa, and after a time were admitted as members of the band. Another attempt was made in 1872 to reinforce their numbers, but it was unsuccessful.
[Note 68] p. 290.—Habits of Monkeys.
See Mr. Garner’s observations on monkeys (Speech of Monkeys, 1893); Hartmann’s Apes and Monkeys (Internat. Science Series), Romanes’s Animal Intelligence and Mental Evolution in Animals. H. A. Forbes, A Handbook to the Primates (Allen’s Naturalist’s Library; Lond. 1894). Mr. Havelock Ellis in his Man and Woman (Lond. 1894) has some interesting notes on the relation of young monkeys and young children to the adult forms.