Courtship and marriage among birds and mammals—Every form of association similar to human marriage—A high standard of love-morality among birds—Monogamy, polygamy, and polyandry—Cases of absolute profligate promiscuity—Suggestions of all the sexual sins of humanity—The phenomena of courtship—The law of battle—Battles of mammals and male gallinaceæ—The frenzy of love—Where supremacy in love is gained by force the males become stronger and better armed than the females—Importance of this—Gentler ways of wooing—Æsthetic seductions—Courteous duels—The note of joy in love among birds—Affectionate partnerships lasting for life—Frequency of monogamy among birds—Co-operation of both sexes in forming the home and caring for the young—The amatory dances of birds—Significance of dancing—Numerous illustrations—The use of song and decorative plumage—Musical seduction—Æsthetic constructions—The extraordinary power of sex-hunger—General propositions.
II.—Further Examples of Courtship, Marriage and the Family among Birds
Darwin's theory of sexual-selection—Objections to this by Wallace and others—An explanation—The true object of courtship—The sexual passion the origin of social growth—A rough outline of society already established in the animal kingdom—The maternal and the paternal family—The former the most frequent—The importance of the female—Difference between the secondary sexual characters of the male and the female—Doubt of the accepted view—Need for a further examination—Cases among birds in which the female equals or even exceeds the male in size and strength—Beauty tests of brilliant plumage—Numerous examples of almost identical likeness between the sexes—This similarity in plumage occurs in some of the most brilliant of our birds—The interesting case of the phalaropes where the rôle of the sexes is reversed—These facts point to an error in the accepted opinion as to the secondary sexual characters—Sexual adornments cannot be regarded as a necessary and exclusive adjunct of the male—Prof. Lester Ward's Gynæocratic theory—Male efflorescence—Among the species in which male differentiation has gone farthest the males are bad fathers—Examples to prove this—The fathers devoid of affection belong to the less intelligent species—The conclusion—An extravagant growth of the secondary sexual characters not favourable to the highest development of the species—The most oppressed females the most faithful wives—The highest development in the beautiful cases in which the sexes are more alike, equal in capacity and co-operate together in the race-work—Individual fancies of females—The case of a female wild duck—Desire for sexual variety—Conjugal fidelity modified by the conditions of life—Civilisation depraves birds—General observations—Love the great creative force.
CHAPTER V[ToC]
COURTSHIP, MARRIAGE AND THE FAMILY
I.—Among the Birds and Mammals
"The principle of 'divergence of character' pervades all nature, from the lowest groups to the highest, as may be well seen in the class of birds."—Wallace.