Page:Which Sex Selects the Nesting Locality - William Henry Mousley - The Auk, 38(3) - P0321-p0328.pdf/4

324 familiar to them, and they could always make sure of meeting one another again, which might not be the case if they wandered off to an entirely new locality in search of a fresh nesting site. However, in any case it shows their strong attachment to the chosen area, to which they often return year after year as already recorded. Now as is well known the males of the Ruffed Grouse are polygamous, and in this part of the country there are not a great many to the square mile. How then are the females to find them at the psychological moment without having to wander over a large tract of country? Why, surely, by means of the "drumming log," to which the males repair at certain times of the day, giving notice thereof by the rapid beating of their wings, which can be heard a great way off, and which guides the females to the desired spot. Once having located this, they always know where the male is to be found, and in like manner, surely, the female warbler, let us say, having once located a male at his favourite "singing tree," can always find him there again should she so desire, or they become separated accidentally. I am of course referring here to the initial stages of courtship (which, however, often last for a considerable time), for directly the nest is commenced that of course would take the place of a "singing tree." Reverting to the Warbling Vireo and the Baltimore Oriole, I may say that in both these cases the nests were eventually built in the principal "singing tree" of the male, another indication that this sex again was the chief factor in determining the general nesting site. Of the dozens of warblers' nests that I have found within a very short distance of the "singing tree" or trees of the male, it is unnecessary to go into details, for all I think clearly show, that in this family if in no other, the males are the ones that without doubt are instrumental in determining the general site of the nest. Likewise in other families, I could quote innumerable instances which all seem to confirm the view I have taken up regarding the part exercised by the male in the selection of the general nesting site. Now let us try to examine what the part exercised by the female may be. In the first place, I think it may be rightly assumed, that in the large majority of cases it is the female who generally does most, if not all of the construction work, in which case it seems reasonable enough to suppose that, being the most adept builder, she should