Hutchinson’s
Nature
Library
THE COURTSHIP OF ANIMALS
Courtship of Animals
BY
W. P. PYCRAFT
OF THE
ZOOLOGICAL DEPARTMENT OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM:
FELLOW OF THE ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON;
ASSOCIATE OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY: MEMBER
OF THE ROYAL ANTHROPOLOGICAL INSTITUTE;
MEMBER OF THE BRITISH
ORNITHOLOGISTS’ UNION; HON.
MEMBER OF THE AMERICAN
ORNITHOLOGISTS’ UNION;
ETC., ETC.
Author of “A History of Birds,” “The Natural History Museum,”
“Pads, Paws and Claws,” “The Infancy of Animals,”
etc., etc., etc.
With 40 Plates on art paper
Containing over 80 Illustrations
THIRD EDITION
LONDON
HUTCHINSON & CO.
PATERNOSTER ROW
I DEDICATE THIS VOLUME
TO
H. ELIOT HOWARD
WHOSE OBSERVATIONS OF
THE COURTSHIP OF BIRDS
RECORDED IN HIS “HISTORY
OF THE BRITISH WARBLERS”
CONSTITUTE A BEACON FOR
ALL ENGAGED IN THE STUDY
OF ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR
ix
PREFACE
That “one touch of Nature which makes the wholeWorld kin” is surely nowhere more obvious than inthe “Courtship” of Animals. For the “Beasts thatPerish,” no less than Man himself, are stirred by the sameemotions; the Fever of Love runs as high in them as inourselves; and its modes of expression are not so different,though they may superficially appear to be so. The natureof these differences and their interpretation, it is thepurpose of this book to set forth.
Charles Darwin laid the foundation for the study ofthis phase of Animal behaviour in his masterly work onthe “Descent of Man,” a work which has been muchcriticized and much misunderstood since Carlyle’s crudeabuse of it as the “Gospel of Dirt.” Darwin was thefirst to show us that the fierce battles, and strange antics,which characterize so many of the “Lower Orders ofCreation” under the exaltation of the Sexual emotionsare manifestations fraught with tremendous consequencesto the race.
The facts which he brought to light, and the discussionsto which they have given rise, have, however, unfortunatelybeen too commonly regarded as merely interesting tothose who have a liking for Natural History.
This is a most unfortunate mistake. For such factshave a vitally important bearing on the very problemsof social well-being which now loom so largely among us.“Reform” is in the air. Its protagonists are busyxamongst us with schemes for our regeneration, amongwhich “Sex-problems” are made to occupy a very conspicuousplace. But no good can come of their cogitationsso long as they fail to realize the springs of behaviourin this regard. The facts herein set down will, it is hoped,help much towards this end.
My labours in the preparation of these pages have beenmaterially lightened by the help and counsel of manyfriends. To them I desire now to record my very gratefulthanks. More especially am I indebted to my friendsMr. H. Eliot Howard, Professor Lloyd Morgan and Mr.John Cooke.
I must also thank those who have contributed towardsthe illustrations which enliven these pages. The delightfulFrontispiece, and many of the plates scattered throughthis work, I owe to the generosity of Messrs. RowlandWard, Limited. The excellent rendering of the Birds ofParadise adapted in part f