I must also thank those who have contributed towards the illustrations which enliven these pages. The delightful Frontispiece, and many of the plates scattered through this work, I owe to the generosity of Messrs. Rowland Ward, Limited. The excellent rendering of the Birds of Paradise adapted in part from the work of Mr. G. E. Lodge and the late J. G. Keulemans, and partly drawn from specimens in the British Museum, is the work of Mr. Roland Green. The very difficult, and less fascinating, technical figures I owe to the skill of Mr. Philip Whelpley. The wonderful photographs illustrating the “Display” of the Sun-bittern and the Kagu were taken by my friend Mr. D. Seth-Smith.
Finally I have to thank Mr. Roger Ingpen for the immense amount of trouble which he has taken in seeing these pages through the press.
W. P. Pycraft.
October, 1913.
CONTENTS
| CHAPTER | |
| INTRODUCTION | |
The nature of Life and its power of reproduction—The stuff ofwhich Life is made—The Emotions—The simplest livingthings—Where is neither Birth nor Death yet the Populationincreases—The First Marriage—The beginning of sex—Thetwo dominating instincts—The conditions of survival—TheOyster’s narrow world—“Fiddling work”—Amorousness—Thesuperior Male—Where Death begins—“Germ-plasm”and what it means—Sex and “Secondary sexual Characters”—Sometheories—“Hormones” what are they? | [1] |
| CHAPTER II | |
| “MANKIND IN THE MAKING” | |
The use of the term “Courtship”—Primitive Man and the Foundationsof Society—“Amorousness” as a motive force—Polygamy—Ourhalf human ancestors—Standards of Beauty—Disquieting signs | [21] |
| CHAPTER III | |
| MAN’S COUSINS THE APES | |
The Man-like Apes and their mode of Life—Their “Courtships”—MusicalChimpanzees—How the Orang-utan improves hisvoice—His likeness to Caliban—The truculent visage of theGorilla—“Ornament” in the lower Apes—The Concerts of the Howler Monkeys | [40] |
| CHAPTER IV | |
| AT DAGGERS DRAWN | |
The Birth of Weapons—All Flesh is Grass—Utility and Ornament—TheFever of Love—The “Challenge” of the Deer—Whatit means-More about “Hormones”—“Hummel” Stags—TheAge of Deer—The “Courtship” of the Moose—Types ofAntlers—Antlered Females—Fighting Topi—The Lance of theOryx in the Lion’s Flanks—Happiness and Hartebeestes—OdoriferousSuitors—The Bloody Sweat of the Hippopotamus—TheElephant in Love—Concerning Tusks—Polygamy | [49] |
| CHAPTER V | |
| THE LION AND HIS KIN | |
A Surprising Relationship—The Lion’s Mane—The Sabre-toothedTiger—Some Theories about Origins—Sea-lions in Love—SomeStrange Ornaments—Whales and Weapons | [77] |
| CHAPTER VI | |
| COURTSHIP AMONG BIRDS | |
Generalities—Darwin v. Wallace—The Peacock in his Pride—The“Display” of the Peacock Pheasant—The Splendour of theArgus Pheasant and the Marvel of its Eyes—The Frill of theAmherst Pheasant—Birds of Paradise in the Toils of Love—InflatedSuitors-Ruffs and Reeves—Fearsome Weaponsand their Uses—Birds which dance-Musical Birds—TheBird’s Voice-box—The “Lek” of the Capercaillie—Instrumentsof Percussion—The Curious Performance of the Woodpecker | [92] |
| CHAPTER VII | |
| THE SEXUAL SELECTION THEORY AS APPLIED TO BIRDS | |
Where the Rôle of the Sexes is reversed—Polygamy and how it isbrought about—Coloration and Courtship—Instinctive Actions—TheImportance of Landed Possessions—The Meaning of“Display”—The Springs of “Behaviour”—A New Light onthe Wild-duck—The “Display” of the Great-crested Grebe—Some[xiii]Neglected Factors | [134] |
| CHAPTER VIII | |
| SOME “COLD-BLOODED” LOVERS | |
The Courtship of the Crocodile—Amorous Lizards—Horned Chameleons—AFlagellating Terrapin—The Frog that would a-wooinggo—Some Musical Frogs—Some marvellous instincts in Newts | [161] |
| CHAPTER IX | |
| LOVE-MAKING AMONG THE FISHES | |
Germinal variations—Fishes and Mate-hunting—Some RemarkableSexual Differences displayed by the Teeth of “Rays”—TheDouble-eyed Fish—The Coloration of the Dragonet—SomeCurious Facts about Salmon—The Strange Use of the Kidneyin the Stickle-back—The Stickle-back and Parental Duties—SiameseFighting-fish | [175] |
| CHAPTER X | |
| SOME OF THE “LOWER ORDERS” | |
Butterflies and Moths, and the Coloration of their Wings—FemaleChoice and “Fine Feathers”—When Male Butterflies areDominant—Sexual Selection among Butterflies—AbortiveExperiments—Wallace and the Sexual Selection Theory—TheSense of Smell in Butterflies and Moths—Fragrant Butterflies—WinglessMoths and their Lures to Lovers—Methodsof Pairing among Butterflies and Moths—More Experiments | [185] |
| CHAPTER XI | |
| BEETLES THAT “BLUFF” | |
The Coloration, and other Forms of Ornament in Beetles, and theSignificance thereof in regard to the Sexual Selection Theory—TheCourtship of Grasshoppers and their Kin—The RemarkableEars of Locusts and Grasshoppers—The Field-cricketand the Katydid as Troubadours—The Wonderful Performancesof the Cicadas—The Duels of Long-horned Locusts—Dragonflies—The May-flies’ “Dance of Death”—The Jaws of theGiant Alder-fly and their Strange Use—Some Curious Facts[xiv]about Stone-flies | [208] |
| CHAPTER XII | |
| SCORPIONS, SPIDERS AND CRABS | |
Musical Lovers among Spiders and Scorpions—Colour amongSpiders, and its uses—The Spiders’ Dance of Death—Spidersand Conjugal Bliss—How Pairing is accomplished—Scorpionsin Love—Musical Crabs—Quarrelsome Fiddler-crabs—Crabsand Courtship in the Deep Sea-Amazons among Prawns—Brine-shrimpsand Water-fleas—“Natural” v. “Sexual”Selection | [236] |
| CHAPTER XIII | |
| SOME STRANGE MARRIAGE-CUSTOMS: AND VIRGIN BIRTHS | |
The Courtship of the Cuttle-fish—The Sumptuous Cradle of theArgonaut—The Love-darts of the Snail—Hermaphrodites andthe Dangers of Self-fertilization—Oysters and Beauty—Sexreduced to its Lowest Terms—Parthenogenesis and VirginBirth—The Story of the Hive-Bee—The Departure of theQueen—The New Queen and her Marriage-flight—The Celebrationof the Nuptials and its Surprising Sequel—The WidowedQueen turns Executioner—The Queen as Mother—The Queen’sDaughters—Nursemaids’ Duties—Change of Work—The Dronesand their Career—Food and Sex—The Bumble-bee and itsLife-story | [265] |
| CHAPTER XIV | |
| PARTHENOGENESIS AND ITS SEQUEL | |
Courtship among the Ants—The Great Renunciation—Maternitycarried to Extremes—Where Males are Superfluous—DegenerateMales—Keeping Death at Bay—Where Females areUnknown | [296] |
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
| Love-making | [Frontispiece] |
| Facing page | |
| The Gorilla preparing for hostilities | [42] |
| The barometer of maleness—among the Apes | [44] |
| Weapons of offence | [52] |
| Manchurian Wapiti “calling” | [54] |
| Group of Beisa Oryx | [60] |
| Eland Cows | [64] |
| American Bison | [64] |
| Elephants | [70] |
| Head of male Wart-hog | [72] |
| Male and female Babirusa | [72] |
| Somali Zebras | [72] |
| Giraffe | [72] |
| Californian Sea-lions, or Eared Seals | [82] |
| Elephant Seal | [88] |
| Northern Elephant Seal | [88] |
| “The Peacock in his pride” | [96] |
| Peacock Pheasant | [96] |
| Patterns which puzzled Darwin | [98] |
| The “Strutting Turkey” | [100] |
| The display of the Great Bustard | [100] |
| Some of Fortune’s favourites | [104] |
| The love-making of the Prairie Hen | [110] |
Grades of evolution in the syrinx ororgan of voice in the males ofSurface-feeding and Diving-ducks | [126] |
| Fighting for territory | [140] |
| The display of the Grasshopper Warbler | [142] |
| The display of the Sun-bittern | [142] |
| The Kagu in display | [142] |
| A male-Savi’s Warbler | [152] |
| Another aspect of the Kagu’s “display” | [154] |
| Some strange accompaniments of courtship: | |
| The White-headed Bell-bird | [156] |
| The Umbrella-bird | [156] |
| Skull of the American white-beaked Pelican | [156] |
| Head of a Puffin, showing the moulting of the beaksheath | [156] |
| The Satin Bower-bird and its bower | [158] |
| The “bower” of the Bower-bird | [158] |
| The Bearded Lizard | [166] |
| Bright colours which cannot be attributed to “sexualselection” | [200] |
| Stridulating organs, etc. | [218] |
| Crickets and May-flies | [220] |
| Male Astia displaying before the less brilliant female | [242] |
| Male Icius displaying | [242] |
| Scorpions | [252] |
| Death of the male Scorpion | [254] |
| The female Mantis devouring her mate | [254] |
| The “Fiddler-crab” among mangrove roots | [258] |
| The “Fiddler-crab” | [258] |
| Some remarkable devices | [262] |
| Some remarkable methods of “courtship” | [268] |