Courtship (animal)

“ The various phenomena of primitive animal courtship may be illustrated further by the love-parades of butterflies and moths, the love-gambols of certain newts, the amatory serenading of frogs, the fragrant incense of reptiles, the love-lights of glow-worms, the duels of many male beetles and other insects, many of whom have special weapons for fighting with their rivals. Among insects the sexes commonly associate in pairs, and it seems certain there is some psychic attraction added to the primitive tactile courtship. ”

“ In most animal species courtship takes place in nearly the same way. During the season of love, the males even of the most timid animals engage in desperate combats with each other for the possession of the female, and she, although comparatively passive, nevertheless often exercises a choice, selecting one of the rivals. This fighting for a female occurs even among insects,930 and is of universal prevalence in the order of the Vertebrata. ”

“ Other such symbolic acts are the preening that sometimes takes place between a pair of mating birds, and the passing or the manipulation of nesting material long before there is a nest to be built.
Some species during courtship go through actions that resemble courtship feeding except that no food is passed; the bill touching of the mourning dove and of the waxwing falls in this category. Perhaps it is incipient courtship feeding on its way in the long course of evolution, either upward, to include food, or downward, away from courtship feeding. ”

“ As might be expected from such active and lively little creatures, the courtship is an exceedingly interesting and also a very beautiful one, and in order to see it at its best it must, as in the case of every bird, be watched during the first few hours of daylight ”

“ In looking for significance and correlations in courtship feeding we find that some species practice courtship feeding and some do not. And the birds that do practice it are usually those in which both sexes care for the young. It might be considered an early, useless appearance of a habit that later becomes useful when the male feeds the incubating female and helps feed the young.
This type of behavior, in which an act used elsewhere is introduced into courtship, is sometimes called "symbolic." ”

“ Certainly, among some animals courtship, as we understand it, is practised—Wolves, for instance, are an extraordinarily acute people who make good husbands and fathers, and in these relations they display a tenderness and courtesy which one only acquainted with their out-of-door manners would scarcely credit them with. Their courtship is conducted under circumstances of extraordinary rigour. ”

“ The exercise of this, it is contended, has gone on for countless generations, and the tendency has ever been to heighten the intensity of the ornament by the rejection of the less favoured suitors in favour of their more resplendent rivals. Birds and Butterflies alike are supposed to be swayed by the same irresistible desire to mate, and mate only with what we may call the smartest and best—groomed of their many suitors; and these, of course, being the most vigorous, most virile, sustain the stamina of the race and so attain Nature’s end. ”

“ We see, for instance, one stock-dove manifestly court another, and at once assume that the courting bird is the male. The courtship, as is often the case, ends in a pretty severe battle, where blows with the wing are given and received on either side. We may be surprised to see the female so belligerent, but we do not yet doubt the fact of her being the female. ”

“ After these early days of courting, one seldom sees more than a slight skirmish between a couple of hares or rabbits, though the does breed again and again through the summer.- 59 - Fights at courting times among wild creatures are usually due either to a local or temporary preponderance of males, or to some special attraction of particular females. At this time of year, it might appear that fighting and courtship went naturally together; but we doubt if wild creatures who pair are given very much to fighting and quarrelling. ”

“ Throughout Nature, wherever we meet with animals of a high type, often indeed when they are of a lowly type—provided they have not been rendered unnatural by domestication—every act of sexual union is preceded by a process of courtship. ”

“ This is a fact of some importance, for if birds that are mated for life indulge every year in what we call courtship, it is obvious that the commonly accepted explanation of the meanings of the antics of birds at the breeding season is a mistaken one. ”

“ As in the human world, so in the bird world a period of courtship precedes the celebration of the nuptials. But the mode differs in different kingdoms of creation. Many lovers in feathers conduct their 161 wooing in a somewhat rudely persistent and obtrusive fashion. Society would soon ostracize the human suitor having such manners, and might even consider him amenable to the civil courts, and put him in jail as a character unfit to be abroad. ”

“ Early courtship activities are characteristically violent affairs. Absence of sexual dimorphism suggests that behavioral criteria are used by the birds in sex-recognition; the male is dominant and the female is subordinate.
6. The principal displays associated with courtship include: greeting ceremonies, "pouncing," "leap-flutter," pre- and post-copulatory displays, and the posture, copulation. The marked similarity between elements of courtship display and aggressive display suggests common origin or the derivation of one from the other.
7. The nest-site probably is selected by the female. ”

“ Even with the most pugnacious species it is probable that the pairing does not depend exclusively on the mere strength and courage of the male; for such males are generally decorated with various ornaments, which often become more brilliant during the breeding-season, and which are sedulously displayed before the females. The males also endeavour to charm or excite their mates by love-notes, songs, and antics; and the courtship is, in many instances, a prolonged affair. ”

“ Unpaired Birds.—From the facts now given, we may conclude that the courtship of birds, belonging to widely different groups, is often a prolonged, delicate, and troublesome affair. There is even reason to suspect, improbable as this will at first appear, that some males and females of the same species, inhabiting the same district, do not always please each other, and consequently do not pair. Many accounts have been published of either the male or female of a pair having been shot, and quickly replaced by another. ”

“ This time he may be more active in his courtship, and, following her closely with quivering wings, utters a curious buzzing sound; another time he will float towards her through the air, like a very big moth, with his wings outstretched and slowly flapping. This is one of the prettiest aspects of the courtship, especially when, instead of floating straight towards her, he approaches her in semicircles: the great beauty of it lies in the way in which he beats the air with his wings; this he does so very slowly as to give one the impression that he ought not to be moving at all. ”

“ Courtship.—The courtship of the flicker is a lively and spectacular performance, noisy, full of action, and often ludicrous, as three or more birds of both sexes indulge in their comical dancing, nodding, bowing, and swaying motions, or chase each other around the trunk or through the branches of a tree. ”

“ Among birds, now, courtship and marriage are conducted without any apparent aid from olfaction, and in no group of beings, not even in mankind, is the poetic side of courtship, both before and after marriage, so highly developed and so beautifully displayed. In their love-making the birds appeal to each other through the ear in their songs, and through the eye in the nuptial splendours of the male, splendours which he parades with glorious pomp before what often seems to be, indeed, but a lackadaisical and indifferent spouse. ”

“ So long as attention was focused alone, or mainly, on birds conspicuous for the highly ornamental character of their plumage, this theory seemed reasonable and probable enough, for one may admit in their courtships an element, at least, of intelligence and keenness of perception. ”

“ Courtship.—On the wings of the south wind comes the first wisp of snipe, the will-o-the-wisp of the marshes, here to-day and gone to-morrow, coming and going under the cover of darkness. All through the spring migration and all through the nesting season we may hear the weird winnowing sound of the snipe's courtship flight, a tremulous humming sound, loud and penetrating, audible at a long distance. ”

“ Among the higher animals apart from Man, both polygamy and polyandry are met with, and this with no apparent detriment to the race. It is significant, however, that polyandry is never met with among the mammals, and but rarely among the birds, when, as will be shown, this form of sexual relationship has been accompanied by a profound modification of the behaviour of the sexes in regard, not only to courtship, but to the offspring. The male has lost his masculinity, and the female her femininity. ”

“ During the period of courtship the males are apparently very quarrelsome, but the possession of the female does not appear to be the direct cause of their battles; perhaps they are not battles but only games ”

“ We cannot hope to understand the springs of courtship in the human race from what we observe in present-day society, or even from what we have gleaned thereon from the records of remote ages. We must get back, so far as is possible, to the very dawn of the human race: to that period of man’s evolution when his conduct was controlled by purely savage instincts. ”

“ These struggles are generally decided by the law of battle; {93} but in the case of birds, apparently, by the charms of their song{235}, by their beauty or their power of courtship, as in the dancing rock-thrush of Guiana. Even in the animals which pair there seems to be an excess of males which would aid in causing a struggle: in the polygamous animals{236}, however, as in deer, oxen, poultry, we might expect there would be severest struggle: is it not in the polygamous animals that the males are best formed for mutual war? ”

“ In these animals monogamy is the rule, the male and female with their young roaming at large in a family party. Occasionally, however, a male is seen accompanied by two females, and this is only what we should expect. The Apes are not very prolific animals nor are they numerous in individuals, hence, should any male be killed either in combat with a rival or by any other means, his mate probably wanders in search of another male, by whom, when found, she is probably readily adopted even if he should be already mated. ”

“ After they have paired once the preliminary courtship is not so long. On one occasion a female was the more eager of the two, but this is evidently very exceptional. The female always watches the antics of the male intently, but often refuses him in the end, even after dancing before her for a long time.”
Of another species—Epiblemum scenicum—they write: “The females seemed to have some difficulty in choosing from among the males, but after a decision has been reached and a male accepted, there appeared to be complete agreement.” ”

“ Courtship.—The courtship of the myrtle warbler must be a very pretty performance. Two brief accounts of it have been published: "As summer approaches the males begin their courtship of the females, following them about and displaying their beauties by fluffing out the feathers of their sides, raising their wings and erecting the feathers [242] of the crown, so as to exhibit to the full their beautiful black and yellow markings. ”

“ High-intensity cheeing is obviously a function of excitement, whether in conjunction with hostility or sexual behavior. According to Andrew (1956:179) , flicking of wing and tail in passerines are intention movements of flight. These actions have been emancipated from incomplete take-offs and incorporated in ritualized courtship and agonistic behavior. In incipient courtship behavior the male is governed by three conflicting tendencies ”

“ There can be little doubt but that this was broken off in an endeavour to repel the advances of a too amorous male, for, as with all animals, pairing is impossible without the consent of the female, and this is never accorded until she is desirous that it should take place. ”

“ Questions of domicile are almost the sole ground of discord in the animal world, with the exception of the fierce dissensions raised at pairing-time, and even in the last case combat is only general in the case of polygamous animals. ”

“ While excessive eagerness in courtship is the one all-absorbing character of male fishes, birds, and mammals, we are assured that with the females, pairing is not only a matter of indifference, but that courtship is actually distasteful to them, and, therefore, that the former must resort to the various means referred to in order to induce the latter to submit to their advances. ”

“ Now if this is shown to be the case with breeds the purest of which have been adapted to their habitats and modes of life during some few hundred years only, what shall we say when the question is of a breed which has had a constant mode of life in the same locality for ten thousand years or more, like the quagga? In this the stability of constitution must be such as no domestic animal can approach. ”