The record-union., 1899-05-07
THE LovE-G1Frs OF BIRDS.
Acts of Self-Denial During Pairing
and Nesting Season,


and Nesting Season.
OF course, if adult birds of any species
habitually fed each other on ordinary
occasions the same behavior in the
breeding season would be no evidence
that it had anything to do with love
But the converse lis the case. l have
never heard of a wild bird which habit
,ually shares its food with a mate In
times of scarcity, however, a bird has
sometimes been observed to feed a. COM,
panion In the severe winter of 1879
so there was a good deal of snow in
the western counties. and the rocks
had a bad time, finding diet of man.
gold insufficient. Several of them came
to a garden i'm which the birds were
fed. Another rock, whose. flight, be-
trayed its lghtness and weakness
perched in 9. tree there. and one Of
the usual two or three took up a piece
of bread directly to the newcomer and
gave it up to him without any show Of
resistance or anger. I saw this from
a distance of about twenty-five yards.
Quite possibly the birds were 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 we'll known. The rock,
for instance, brings food to his mate,
who, when receiving it, f1utters 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. 1 have
seen this done by the chaffinch, green
finch, llnnet and lesser redpole. The
recipients snook their wings and utter
ed call notes. The food thus bestowed
could hardly be termed a 'love gift';
butt when, before birds have 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 1t is, in fact, a love gift
L 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:
and if he will use a small telescope. and
be silent, he should easily obtain in
formation from this source.
Among the raptores it is probable that
the brooding female obtains food chiefly
by the agency of her mate Major c.
Hawkins Fisher (the we'll known falco-
Ner) informs me that the male peregrine
huntS all DAY to supply the domestic
larder, which is in charge of his mate
Among domestic birds the common
fowl affords a conspicuous instance of
gaHantry when the male calls the fe-
males to some choice morsel. He OBJ
viously intends the tidbit only for the
hens, and any rival attempting to par
take of it is at once attacked.
In regard to domestic pigeons, I have
obtained information from my brother.
E. n. Mitchell, who has been for MANY
years a successful flier of honing mig
cons, and has from childhood kept this
and other varieties. One of the indi-
cations of pairing by pigeons is the in
sertion of the beak of the male into that
of the female, and this is accompanied
by shuft1ing of the wings exactly as
occurs when the young are fed. 1t
does not appear, however, that any con-
siderable amount of food Gf any at alb
passes from the male. Homers never
omit this performance before pairing
The male homer is passionately fond
of his home, and his mate and his
young 1t Is a general rule for the
COCK to feed only his 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 it. It
should be remembered that homers live
the most naturally of any except farm
mouse pigeons, and they may therefore
be supposed to possess the natural in
stincts of their race in greater vieor
than any other fancy breed
Returning to wild birds. nv opportu-
mites have been too limited to enable
me to generalize, but the following OH
servations may be not without value to
those who try to see in the bird a sem
tient and tender being.
A few days after the arrival of the
spotted fiycatcher a pair of them were
IN near tree. The male often at
tempted a song, and was evidently FOL
lowing the female He suddenly went
forth on longer journey than usual,
as though for larger insect, turned
and went to the female, and in the
gentlest manner presented to her the
captured insect (Which appeared to be
Of the size Of a bee). She took it Sc
dately Shortly after she received an
other gift of the same kind. a second
pair of the f1ycatchers behaved in nre-
cisely the same manner. Last Anril a
male robin gave some food in the same
way to it's mate. Both birds often NJ
tered their call note.
Several male chaffinches. before nest.
ing time, gave captured insects, to fheir
intended mates. All these insects wore
captured in flight. The chafinehes vera
full of ardor, the males all a-fiutter- with
excitement following the females. and
with the cuckoo-like flight. which IS ona
of the birds surest signs of love. and
repeating the soft love note almost in
ceSsantly.
On one of the first days of MAY two
willow wrens We're busy in a hedge
The male often sang, but was mainly
intent on keeping near his companion.
VINO appeared to- be a female bird. She
was seemingly Indifferent to his pres-
ence, and hunted for insects with all tho
graceful activity of her species. But
she remained in the same spot. The
male was greatly. excited, his wings
lowered and pulsating. andI his call note
prolonged to scream rather than a
chirp. Through the telescope it was
evident that she also was trembling
little. Suddenly the male darted forth
returned and alighted near the other.
He then without haste went to her and
her beak met his. The incident was
so brief that the telescope could not be
used, but it was perhaps fair to as
sumo that he had found and bestowed
love Gift She accented. il 1,ritb the &C ,,oo