BIRDS COURTSHIP

Hokitika Guardian, 10 July 1937, Page 6

BIRDS COURTSHIP

ROMANCE AND CON STAN CY PARENTS’ SENSE OF DUTY ‘ ’ AUCKLAND, July 4. “Courtship, Marriage and the Family Among the Birds” was the subject of an address given at the War Memorial Museum yesterday afternoon by Colonel E. R- Sawer, curator of the Auckland Zoological Park. The president of fob Auckland Zoological Society, Dr W. A. Fairclough, presided over a large attendance. The more one studied the animal world,, and particularly the birds, the more crie felt; that human .beings’ selfsatisfied sense of •. superiority as. being above and - . apart from the so-called brute creation was based on profound ignorance, .said Colonel Sawer. There was more beauty, poetry and romance in the courting : and mating of birds than in many a human alliance. ■

Among birds there are many examples of a high and beautiful love morality. If their mates were lost, some birds lyotild refuse food and even 1 die. Many always perched together and, when they fall asleep, one usually the male, covered the other with its wing. Monogamy was the rule among 90 per cent of birds and in many cases unions, were for life. '■Among a number of birds the mating season was also the. season of battle, nature’s object being the survival of a healthy and vigorous race. A great majority, however, won their mates by rnoreiaesthetic means than strength and victory in battle. Strength was often quite set" aside and the eye and the ear.of the female were alone Appealed to. § Eligible hen birds were attracted by personal ornaments, such as crests, brilliantly-coloured plumage, dances and displays, song, and exhibitions of art.

In “married” life the various attractive qualities had less value than an all-pervading sense of duty. Few birds were bad fathers, many were devoted parents, and mother love and maternal self-sacrifice were well known. Tn a large number of cases tKe male rivalled the female in love, of the young.