Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1899-05-04
THE LOvE-GIFTs OF BIRDS.

OF course, If adult birds of any species
habitually fed each other on ordinary
occasions the same behavior in the breed
ing season would be no evidence that 1t
had anything to do with love. But the
converse is the case. I have never heard
of a wild bird which habitually shares
its food with a mate. In times of scarcity,
however, a bird has sometimes been OBJ
served to feed a companion. In the severe
winter Of 1S79-S0 there was a good deal
Of snow in the western counties, and the
rocks had a bad time, finding a diet of
| mangold insufficient. Several of them
came to, a garden in which the birds were
fed. Another rock, whose flight betrayed
it's lightness n weakness, perched in a
tree there, and one of the usual two or
three took up a piece of bread directly
to the newcomer, and ave it up to him
| without any show of resistance or anger.
I saw this from a distance of about 25
yards. Quite possibly the birds We're
mates; but the incident is only mentioned
for it's rarity.
In the nesting season the males OF
many species feed their mates on or off
the nest, as is well known. The rock, for
instance, brings food to his mate, who,
when receiving it, flutters her wings Ga
frequent habit at this time), and also
utters a hoarse cry similar to the cries of
the young. The adult rock utters this
note on no other occasion. In several
| species Of finches. also. the male feeds his
sitting mate. I have seen this done by
the chaffinch. greenfinch, linnet n
lesser redpole. The recipients shook
their wings and uttered c~all-notes. The
food thus bestowed could hardly be term
ed a "love-gift'; but when, before birds
have a nest, and apparently before they
have paired, the male gives the female
mOrsels of food, it is fair to assume that
this courtesy is intended as an earnest
of passion-that it is, in fact, a love-gift.
1 do not know of any book to which the
student can refer for information on this
fascinating theme. He should, therefore,
refer to the book of nature; n If he will
use a small telescope, and be silent, he
should easily obtain information from
this source.
Among the raptores it is probable that
the brooding female obtains food chiefly
by the agenc of her mate. Major c.
Hawkins Fisher (the well known fall
coner) informs me hat sthe male PEREZ
grine hunts all day to supply the domes-
tic larder, which is in charge of his mate.
Among domestic birds the common fowl
affords a conspicuous Instance Of gallan-
try when the male calls the females to
some choice morsel. He obviously intends
the tidbit only for the hens. and any rival
attempting to partake of it is at once
attacked.
In regard to domestic pigeons I have
obtained information from my brother,
E. N. Witchell, who has been for many
years a successful fiier of homing
pigeons. and has from childhood kept this
and other varieties. One Of the ndica
tions Of pairing by pigeons is the inser-
tion of the beak of the male into that of
the female. and this is accompanied by a
shuffling of the wings exactly as occurs
when the young are fed. It does not APP
pear, however. that any considerable
amount of food df any at alD passes from
the male. Homers never omit this per-
Torrance before pairing. The male homer
is p~assionately o Of his home, his mate
and his young. 1t is a general rule for
the cock to feed only his own hen, though
there are exceptions to this rule. This
very curious fact has often been noticed
by my brother. 1t indicates that to the
wife OF the nest this courtesy of the
pigeon Is reserved, and that the other
birds are deemed unworthy of 1t. II
should be remembered that homers= live
the most naturally of any except farm
house pigeons. and they may therefore
be supposed to possess the natural in
sttncts of their race in greater vigor than
any other fancy breed.
Returning to wild birds, my opportuni-
ties have been too limited to enable mi
to generalize: but the following observa.