We are informed that the female is sometimes charmed through the power of song; that at other times she is captivated by the diversified means which have been acquired by male insects and birds for producing various sounds resembling those proceeding from certain kinds of musical instruments; and not unfrequently she is won by means of antics or love dances performed on the ground or in the air. On the pairing-ground, combs, wattles, elongated plumes, top-knots, and fancy-coloured feathers are paraded for the admiration and approval of the females. Led by the all-absorbing instinct of desire, the males display their charms with elaborate care and to the best effect; and this is done in the presence of the females.... To suppose that the females do not appreciate the beauty of the males, is to admit that their splendid decorations, and all their pomp and display, are useless; and this is incredible.[8] [8] _The Descent of Man_, 1877, p. 496. Topknots, gaudy feathers, elongated plumes among birds, huge tusks, horns, etc., among mammals, the mane of the lion, and the beard of man, may be noticed among the many characters which have been acquired through Sexual Selection. Although the immense teeth, tusks, horns, and various other weapons or appendages which ornament the males of many species of mammals, have all been developed through Sexual Selection for contending with their rivals for the favours of the females, it is observed that the “most pugnacious and best armed males seldom depend for success on their ability to drive away or kill their rivals,” but that their special aim is to “charm the female.” Mr. Darwin quotes from a “good observer,” who believes that the battles of male birds “are all a sham, performed to show themselves to the greatest advantage before the admiring females who assemble around.”[9] [9] _Ibid._, p. 367. In _The Descent of Man_ is quoted the following from Mr. Belt, who, after describing the beauty of the _Florisuga mellivora_, says: I have seen the female sitting on a branch, and two males displaying their charms in front of her. One would shoot up like a rocket, then suddenly expanding the snow-white tail, like an inverted parachute, slowly descend in front of her, turning round gradually to show off back and front.... The expanded white tail covered more space than all the rest of the bird, and was evidently the grand feature in the performance. Whilst one male was descending, the other would shoot up and come slowly down expanded. The entertainment would end in a fight between the two performers; but whether the most beautiful or the most pugnacious was the accepted suitor, I know not.[10] [10] _The Descent of Man_, 1877, p. 443.